EPA-R5-LCD-2017 final.pdf

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U.S. EPA LAND AND CHEMICAL DIVISION

Sustainable Materials Management

2017 Request for Applications

Federal Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5

Funding Opportunity Title: Sustainable Materials Management Program

Announcement Type: Request for Applications

Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-R5-LCD-2017

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 66.808 Solid Waste Management

Assistance

DATES: The closing date and time for receipt of application submissions is by June 1, 2017, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time (ET) in order to be considered for funding. Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov) no later than June 1, 2017, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) in order to be considered for funding.

Important Dates:

Informational Call: April 4, 2017, 2p.m. CST (see section IV)

Applications are due: June 1, 2017, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)

EPA notifies selected finalists: July 14, 2017

EPA notifies all applicants: July 21, 2017

Expected Grant Awards by: October 1, 2017

Summary: EPA Region 5 is soliciting applications that address one of the two Sustainable

Materials Management priorities identified in Section I below. These projects must be implemented in Region 5. Region 5 includes Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and

Minnesota.

This funding supports EPA’s Strategic Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing

Sustainable Development.

Funding Availability/Awards: The total estimated funding for this competitive funding opportunity is approximately $100,000. EPA Region 5 anticipates funding up to approximately three grants and/or cooperative agreements from this announcement, ranging in value from

$30,000 to $60,000, contingent upon funding availability, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. Some awards are expected to be made from funds that have not been appropriated as of the date of the announcement. If appropriation is delayed beyond the date for selection of projects or if the appropriation is less than expected, the number, amount, and timing of awards could be affected. Additionally, EPA expressly reserves the right to make no awards under a particular Funding Opportunity or to adjust the number of awards originally anticipated under a specific Funding Opportunity. In 2015, approximately $80,000 was awarded to 2 projects ranging from $30,000 to $54,000.

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CONTENTS BY SECTION

I. Funding Opportunity Description

II. Award Information

III. Eligibility Information

IV. Application and Submission Information

V. Application Review and Selection Process, including Criteria

VI. Award Administration Information

VII. Agency Contacts

VIII. Appendix, Budget Narrative Sample

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A.) Region 5 Sustainable Materials Management Priority EPA Region 5 is soliciting applications that address one of the priorities listed below.

Applicants are encouraged to partner and collaborate on projects with other organizations involved in similar efforts in Region 5. Region 5 encompasses the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Region 5 Sustainable Materials Management Priorities:

1.) Prevent or Reduce Wasted Food in a Tribal Community

Currently, over 30% of the food grown and processed in the U.S. goes uneaten even while some individuals and families do not have enough food to eat. This waste of food impacts the environment, our communities, and the financial bottom line. Under this priority, applications should develop, implement and measure the results of innovative, culturally appropriate community-wide efforts to prevent and reduce the amount of food wasted in a Tribal community in Region 5. Applications should consider using and/or building on existing tools, resources and research from EPA and other organizations (e.g., the FTGTW toolkit:

http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-too-good-waste-implementation-guide-and-toolkit, the Wasted Food and Packaging Toolkit: http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/tools-assessing-wasted-food#packaging, Food Recovery Challenge:

http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-challenge-frc,or the Tribal

CBSM Training Guide: http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-

09/documents/socialmarketingguide_overall.pdf.)

Projects addressing this priority must:

Support the goals of the tribe’s approved Integrated Waste Management Plan.

Identify a baseline of the significant sources of wasted food in the community.

Track, evaluate, and report amounts of wasted food prevented or reduced.

Include plans to communicate the outcomes of the project with other tribes and communities, such as through a webinar, conference presentation, etc.

2.) Demystify Potential Midwestern Recycling End Markets through Collaboration Under this priority, applications should use a collaborative approach to identify existing and potential markets located in Region 5 for packaging materials (e.g., packaging made from ferrous https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-too-good-waste-implementation-guide-and-toolkit http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-too-good-waste-implementation-guide-and-toolkit http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-too-good-waste-implementation-guide-and-toolkit https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/tools-assessing-wasted-food#packaging http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/tools-assessing-wasted-food#packaging http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/tools-assessing-wasted-food#packaging https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-challenge-frc http://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-challenge-frc https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/socialmarketingguide_overall.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/socialmarketingguide_overall.pdf

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Sustainable Materials Management: https://www.epa.gov/smm/epa-sustainable-materials-management-program-strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2017-2022. Collaborations should engage a diverse array of industry, governmental, and other stakeholders, and result in an online information resource that would improve understanding of the local economic opportunity recycling presents.

Applications should consider using and/or building on these existing resources: Southeast

Recycling Development Council Resources: http://www.serdc.org/regionalresources, Michigan

Recycling Coalition's "State of Recycling in Michigan" Report:

http://www.michiganrecycles.org/images/bak-12-17-

2013/newpdf/StateofRecycling2011MRC.pdf, Indiana Recycling Coalition's "The Untapped

Potential of Indiana's Recycling Industry" Report: http://indianarecycling.org/jobs-study/, Report, EPA’s Recycling Economic Information Report: https://www.epa.gov/smm/2016-recycling-economic-information-rei-report-and-methodology.

Projects addressing this priority must:

Create an information resource to identify end markets as well as the economic opportunity afforded by these potential markets using economic indicators such as jobs, wages and/or tax revenues.

Provide estimates of the volume of materials that are and could be managed.

Include a long term strategy for maintaining and sharing the end market information.

Include a long term strategy for continuing and building on the collaboration established as part of the project.

B. EPA Strategic Plan Linkage & Anticipated Outcomes, Outputs & Performance

Measures

Pursuant to Section 6a of EPA Order 5700.7, “Environmental Results under EPA Assistance

Agreements,” EPA must link proposed assistance agreements to the Agency’s Strategic Plan.

EPA also requires that grant applicants and recipients adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements, http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-03/documents/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf ).

1. Linkage to EPA Strategic Plan. Linkage to EPA Strategic Plan. This funding supports

EPA’s Strategic Plan Goal 3 (Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable

Development, Objective 2 (Preserve Land), Sub-objective 2.10 Reduce Waste Generation and

Increase Recycling). For more information, visit:

http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-09/documents/epa_strategic_plan_fy14-18.pdf

Projects awarded under this announcement will support the reduction of waste generated or increase recycling and reuse of materials. These innovative waste management practices will support the preservation and restoration of land by reducing materials sent to waste management facilities and conserve natural resources.

https://www.epa.gov/smm/epa-sustainable-materials-management-program-strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2017-2022 https://www.epa.gov/smm/epa-sustainable-materials-management-program-strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2017-2022 https://www.epa.gov/smm/epa-sustainable-materials-management-program-strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2017-2022 https://www.epa.gov/smm/epa-sustainable-materials-management-program-strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2017-2022 http://www.serdc.org/regionalresources http://www.serdc.org/regionalresources http://www.michiganrecycles.org/images/bak-12-17-2013/newpdf/StateofRecycling2011MRC.pdf http://www.michiganrecycles.org/images/bak-12-17-2013/newpdf/StateofRecycling2011MRC.pdf http://www.michiganrecycles.org/images/bak-12-17-2013/newpdf/StateofRecycling2011MRC.pdf http://www.indianarecycling.org/recycle/jobs-study/ http://www.indianarecycling.org/recycle/jobs-study/ https://www.epa.gov/smm/2016-recycling-economic-information-rei-report-and-methodology https://www.epa.gov/smm/2016-recycling-economic-information-rei-report-and-methodology https://www.epa.gov/smm/2016-recycling-economic-information-rei-report-and-methodology http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-03/documents/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf

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2. Outcomes. The term “outcome” refers to the result, effect or consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program or activity that relates to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related or programmatic in nature must be quantitative, and may not necessarily be achievable within a cooperative agreement funding period.

Examples of outcome measures for projects under the Sustainable Materials Management program include, but are not limited to, pounds of material reused, recycled, composted, or rebought; tons of greenhouse gases reduced; BTUs of energy conserved; dollars saved through recycling or reuse efforts; or jobs created or retained.

3. Outputs. The term “output” refers to an environmental activity or effort and associated work product related to an environmental goal or objective that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specific date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative, but must be measurable during the assistance agreement funding period.

Examples of output measures include, but are not limited to, number of stakeholders involved in the process, number of workshops, web-site hits, or number of training sessions held or individuals trained.

4. Performance Measures. The applicant should also develop performance measures they expect to achieve through the proposed activities and describe them in the application. These performance measures will help gather insights and will be the mechanism to track progress concerning successful process and outcome strategies and will provide the basis for developing lessons to inform future recipients.

The following are questions to consider when developing output and outcome measures of quantitative and qualitative results:

i) What are the measurable short term and longer term results the project will achieve?

ii) How does the plan measure progress in achieving the expected results (including outputs and outcomes) and how will the approach use resources effectively and efficiently?

C. Supplementary Information

EPA has authority to award grants and cooperative agreements for research, investigations, experiments, training, surveys, demonstrations, public education programs, and studies in furtherance of the Solid Waste Management Plans. The statutory authority to take action is contained in Section 8001(a) of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976.

Demonstrations must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a

5 | P a g e task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not considered a demonstration project.

EPA Region 5 will not fund projects to support capital equipment or pay for construction or construction planning.

1. Subawardees and/or Contractors: If you name subawardees/subgrantees and/or contractor(s), including individual consultants, in your application as partners to assist you with the proposed project, pay careful attention to the information in Section III regarding

"Coalitions" and to the “Contracts and Subawards” provisions at:

http://www2.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses (incorporated by reference in Section IV).

2. Minority Serving Institutions: EPA recognizes that it is important to engage all available minds to address the environmental challenges the nation faces. At the same time, EPA seeks to expand the environmental conversation by including members of communities which may have not previously participated in such dialogues to participate in EPA programs. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants identified in Section III, including minority serving institutions, to apply under this opportunity.

For purposes of this solicitation, the following are considered MSIs:

1. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20

U.S.C. § 1061). A list of these schools can be found at White House Initiative on Historically

Black Colleges and Universities;

2. Tribal Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. §

1059(c)). A list of these schools can be found at American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities;

3. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. §

1101a(a)(5). There is no list of HSIs. HSIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25% Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application for this grant; and

4. Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions; (AANAPISIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059g(a)(2)). There is no list of

AANAPISIs. AANAPISIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is not less than 10 % students who are Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander.

II. Award Information

A.) Available Funding The total estimated funding expected to be available for awards under this competitive opportunity is approximately $100,000. EPA anticipates award of up to 3 cooperative http://www2.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses

6 | P a g e agreements under this announcement ranging in value from approximately $30,000 to $60,000, The number of projects EPA will fund as a result of this announcement will be based on the quality of applications received, the availability of funding, and other applicable considerations.

The anticipated total number and total amount of awards to be provided are estimates only and are being provided solely for application preparation purposes. Some awards are expected to be made from funds that have not been appropriated as of the date of the announcement. If appropriation is delayed beyond the date for selection of projects or if the appropriation is less than expected, the number, amount, and timing of awards could be affected.

B.) Funding Type Successful applicants will be issued a cooperative agreement. A cooperative agreement is an assistance agreement that is used when there is substantial federal involvement with the recipient during the performance of an activity or project. EPA awards cooperative agreements for those projects in which it expects to have substantial interaction with the recipient throughout the performance of the project. EPA will negotiate the precise terms and conditions of “substantial involvement” as part of the award process. Federal involvement may include close monitoring of the recipient’s performance; collaboration during the performance of the scope of work; in accordance with 2 CFR 200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318, as appropriate, review of proposed procurements; reviewing qualifications of key personnel; and/or review and comment on the content of printed or electronic publications prepared. EPA does not have the authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient. The final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient.

C.) Additional Funding EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with

Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made.

Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than 6 months after the original selection decisions.

D.) Partial Funding In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund applications by funding discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. If EPA decides to partially fund an application, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any applicants or affect the basis upon which the application or portion thereof, was evaluated and selected for award, and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.

E.) Start Date and Length of Project Period The estimated project period for awards resulting from this announcement will begin October 1, 2017, although project start dates can be negotiated. Projects are normally funded for one year.

If necessary, project periods can be extended.

F.) Duplicate Funding

Generally, applicants are not prohibited from submitting the same or virtually the same application to EPA under multiple EPA competitions, if appropriate. However, if an applicant does so, and the application (or one virtually the same) that was submitted under this solicitation is selected for award under another EPA competition, that may affect their ability to receive an

7 | P a g e award under this competition for that application. Moreover, if an applicant will be funded by

EPA or another agency or entity for the same or virtually the same project that it submitted to

EPA under this solicitation then that may affect their ability to receive an award under this competition.

III. Eligibility Information

A.) Eligible Applicants Consistent with the Applicant Eligibility Section of CFDA No. 66.808, applications will be accepted from State (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands), local, Tribal, interstate, and intrastate government agencies and instrumentalities, and non-profit organizations that are not 501(c)(4) organizations that lobby, including non-profit educational institutions and non-profit hospitals.

Non-profit organization, as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve and/or expand its operations. Note that

2 CFR Part 200 specifically excludes the following types of organizations from the definition of

“non-profit organization” because they are separately defined in the regulation: (i) institutions of higher education; and (ii) state, local and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments. While not considered to be a “non-profit organization(s)” as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, Institutions of

Higher Education and state, local and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments are, nevertheless, eligible to submit applications under this RFA. Hospitals operated by state, tribal, or local governments or that meet the definition of nonprofit at 2 CFR 200.70 are also eligible to apply. For-profit colleges, universities, trade schools, and hospitals are ineligible

Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible for funding under this opportunity.

Additionally, nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue

Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of

1995 are not eligible to apply. Eligible non-profit organizations must have documentation of non-profit status from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or their state of incorporation.

Coalitions: Groups of two or more eligible applicants may choose to form a coalition and submit a single application under this RFA; however, one entity must be responsible for the grant.

Coalitions must identify which eligible organization will be the recipient of the grant and which eligible organization(s) will be subawardees of the recipient. Subawards and subgrants must be consistent with the definitions of those terms in 2 C.F.R. § 200.92. The recipient must administer the grant, will be accountable to EPA for proper expenditure of the funds and reporting, and will be the point of contact for the coalition. As provided in 2 C.F.R. § 200.331(d), subrecipients or subgrantees are accountable to the recipient or grantee for proper use of EPA funding.

Coalitions may not include for-profit organizations that will provide services or products to the successful applicant. For-profit organizations are not eligible for subawards. For-profit organizations are eligible to receive contracts. Any contracts for services or products funded with

EPA financial assistance must be awarded under the competitive procurement procedures of 2

C.F.R. § 200.319, as applicable. The regulations also contain limitations on consultant

8 | P a g e compensation. (Please see 2 C.F.R. § 1500.9, formerly at 40 C.F.R. § 30.27(b) or 31.36(j), as applicable.) For additional information, please review the following Federal Register:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-7867.pdf .

B.) Eligible Activities

Unless specifically excluded under this RFA, assistance is available to eligible applicants for research, investigations, experiments, training, surveys, demonstrations, public education programs, and studies in furtherance of the Solid Waste Management Plans and Section 8001(a) of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. Proposed projects must also either:

develop, implement and measure the results of innovative, culturally appropriate community-wide efforts to prevent and reduce the amount of food wasted in a Tribal community, or must use a collaborative approach to identify existing and potential markets located in Region 5 for packaging materials (e.g., packaging made from ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics, glass, paper) and/or building materials (e.g., wood, metals, concrete). See section I for more details.

Project should be completed in Region 5 states including Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota. For more information, visit:

http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-09/documents/epa_strategic_plan_fy14-18.pdf.

Partially Ineligible Activities: If an application is submitted that includes any ineligible tasks or activities, that portion of the application will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the application, render the entire application ineligible for funding.

C.) Threshold Eligibility Requirements

These are requirements that if not met by the applicant by the time of application submission will result in elimination of the application from consideration for funding. Only applications for eligible activities from eligible entities (see above definitions of applicant eligibility, eligible activities, and ineligible activities) that meet these criteria by the time of application submission will be evaluated against the ranking factors in Section V of this RFA. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of the threshold eligibility review will be notified by e-mail within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

D.) Substantial Compliance

1. Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or else they will be rejected.

However, where a page limit is expressed in Section IV with respect to the narrative portion of the application and/or parts of the narrative portion of the application, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed.

2. In addition, initial applications must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this announcement on or before the application submission deadline published in Section

IV of this announcement. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this announcement to ensure that their application is timely submitted.

3. Applications submitted after the submission deadline will be considered late and deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-7867.pdf https://www.grants.gov/

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Grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to timely submit their application through Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission.

Applicants should confirm receipt of their application with Susan Vescovi at 312-353-2478 or by email at vescovi.susan@epa.gov as soon as possible before the submission deadline, failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

E.) Cost Sharing or Matching Matching funds are not required under this competition. All matching funds or other contributions provided by the grantee are subject to audits and all federal regulations. Although cost-sharing/matching is not required as a condition of eligibility under this competition, under

Section V of this announcement EPA will evaluate applications based on a leveraging criterion.

Leveraging is when an applicant proposes to provide its own additional funds/resources or those from third party sources to support or complement the project they are awarded under the competition which are above and beyond the EPA grant funds awarded. Any leveraged funds/resources, and their source, must be identified in the application (See Section IV of the announcement). Leveraged funds and resources may take various forms as noted below.

Voluntary cost share is a form of leveraging. Voluntary cost sharing is when an applicant voluntarily proposes to legally commit to provide costs or contributions to support the project when a cost share is not required. Applicants who propose to use a voluntary cost share must include the costs or contributions for the voluntary cost share in the project budget on the SF-

424. If an applicant proposes a voluntary cost share, the following apply:

A voluntary cost share is subject to the match provisions in the grant regulations (2

CFR 200.306).

A voluntary cost share may only be met with eligible and allowable costs.

The recipient may not use other sources of federal funds to meet a voluntary cost share unless the statute authorizing the other federal funding provides that the federal funds may be used to meet a cost share requirement on a federal grant.

The recipient is legally obligated to meet any proposed voluntary cost share that is included in the approved project budget. If the proposed voluntary cost share does not materialize during grant performance, then EPA may reconsider the legitimacy of the award and/or take other appropriate action as authorized by 2 CFR 200.

Other leveraged funding/resources that are not identified as a voluntary cost share. This form of leveraging may be met by funding from another federal grant, from an applicant's own resources, or resources from other third party sources. This form of leveraging should not be included in the budget and the costs need not be eligible and allowable project costs under the EPA assistance agreement. While this form of leveraging should not be included in the budget, the grant workplan should include a statement indicating that the applicant is expected to produce the proposed leveraging consistent with the terms of the announcement and the application. If applicants propose to provide this form of leveraging, EPA expects them to make the effort to https://grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ https://grants.gov/

10 | P a g e secure the leveraged resources described in their applications. If the proposed leveraging does not materialize during grant performance, then EPA may reconsider the legitimacy of the award and/or take other appropriate action as authorized by 2 CFR Parts 200 or 1500.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A.) Requirement to Submit Through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures

Applicants, except as noted below, must apply electronically through Grants.gov under this funding opportunity based on the Grants.gov instructions in this announcement. If an applicant does not have the technical capability to apply electronically through Grants.gov because of limited or no Internet access, which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials to Grants.gov, the applicant must contact OGDWaivers@epa.gov, or the address listed below in writing (e.g. by hard copy or email) at least 15 calendar days prior to the submission deadline under this announcement to request approval to submit their application materials through an alternate method.

Mailing Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Barbara Perkins

USEPA Headquarters William Jefferson Clinton Building

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Mail Code: 3903R

Washington, DC 20460

Courier Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Barbara Perkins

Ronald Reagan Building

1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Room #51267

Washington, DC 20004

In the request, the applicant must include the following information:

a. Funding Opportunity Number (FON)

b. Organization name and DUNS Please note, if your organization does not have a DUNS number it may take up to 2 weeks to receive one. A DUNS number is required when responding to this RFA.

c. Organization’s contact information (email address and phone number)

d. Explanation of how they lack the technical capability to apply electronically through

Grants.gov because of 1) limited internet access or 2) no internet access, which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials through Grants.gov.

EPA will only consider alternate submission exception requests based on the two reasons stated above and will timely respond to the request. All other requests will be denied. If an alternate submission method is approved, the applicant will receive documentation of the approval and further instructions on how to apply under this announcement. Applicants will be required to https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ mailto:OGDWaivers@epa.gov

11 | P a g e submit the documentation of approval with any initial application submitted under the alternative method. In addition, any submittal through an alternative method must comply with all applicable requirements and deadlines in the announcement including the submission deadline and requirements regarding application content and page limits (although the documentation of approval of an alternate submission method will not count against any page limits.

If an exception is granted, it is valid for submissions to EPA for the remainder of the entire calendar year in which the exception was approved and can be used to justify alternative submission methods for application submissions made through December 31 of the calendar year in which the exception was approved (e.g., if the exception was approved on March 1, 2016, it is valid for any competitive or non-competitive application submission to EPA through December

31, 2016). Applicants need only request an exception once in a calendar year and all exceptions will expire on December 31 of that calendar year. Applicants must request a new exception from required electronic submission through Grants.gov for submissions for any succeeding calendar year. For example, if there is a competitive opportunity issued on December 1, 2016 with a submission deadline of January 15, 2017, the applicant would need a new exception to submit through alternative methods beginning January 1, 2017. Please note that the process described in this section is only for requesting alternate submission methods. All other inquiries about this announcement must be directed to the Agency Contact listed in Section VII of the announcement. Queries or requests submitted to the email address identified above for any reason other than to request an alternate submission method will not be acknowledged or answered.

B.) Grants.gov Application Submission Instructions

The electronic submission of your application must be made by an official representative of your institution who is registered with Grants.gov and is authorized to sign applications for Federal assistance. For more information on the registration requirements that must be completed in order to submit an application through grants.gov, go to Grants.gov and click on “Applicants” on the top of the page and then go to the “Get Registered” link on the page. If your organization is not currently registered with Grants.gov, please encourage your office to designate an

Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) and ask that individual to begin the registration process as soon as possible. Please note that the registration process also requires that your organization have a DUNS number and a current registration with the System for Award

Management (SAM) and the process of obtaining both could take a month or more. Applicants must ensure that all registration requirements are met in order to apply for this opportunity through grants.gov and should ensure that all such requirements have been met well in advance of the submission deadline. Registration on Grants.gov, SAM.gov, and DUNS number assignment is FREE.

Applicants need to ensure that the AOR who submits the application through Grants.gov and whose DUNS number is listed on the application is an AOR for the applicant listed on the application. Additionally, the DUNS number listed on the application must be registered to the applicant organization’s SAM account. If not, the application may be deemed ineligible.

https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/

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To begin the application process under this grant announcement, go to Grants.gov and click on

“Applicants” on the top of the page and then “Apply for Grants” from the dropdown menu and then follow the instructions accordingly. Please note: To apply through Grants.gov, you must use

Adobe Reader software and download the compatible Adobe Reader version. For more information about Adobe Reader, to verify compatibility, or to download the free software, please visit Adobe Reader Compatibility Information on Grants.gov:

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html

You may also be able to access the application package for this announcement by searching for the opportunity on Grants.gov. Go to Grants.gov and then click on “Search Grants” at the top of the page and enter the Funding Opportunity Number, EPA-R5-LCD-2017or the CFDA number that applies to the announcement (CFDA 66.808), in the appropriate field and click the Search button. Alternatively, you may be able to access the application package by clicking on the

Package button at the top right of the synopsis page for the announcement on Grants.gov. To find the synopsis page, go to Grants.gov and click “Browse Agencies” in the middle of the page and then go to “Environmental Protection Agency” to find the EPA funding opportunities.

Please note that Grants.gov is strongly encouraging users to sign up for and use their

“Workspace” feature when applying for opportunities. Grants.gov will be phasing out the

“legacy” application process, so EPA recommends that all applicants begin using Workspace as soon as possible so they are prepared when the “legacy” application process is no longer available. Link is located below:

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html

C.) Application Submission Deadline:

Your organization’s AOR must submit your complete application package electronically to EPA through Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, June 1, 2017. Please allow for enough time to successfully submit your application process and allow for unexpected errors that may require you to resubmit. Please submit all of the application materials described below using the Grants.gov application package that you downloaded using the instructions above. For additional instructions on completing and submitting the electronic application package, click on the “Show Instructions” tab that is accessible within the application package itself.

F.) Technical Issues With Submission

Once the application package has been completed, the “Submit” button should be enabled. If the

“Submit” button is not active, please call Grants.gov for assistance at 1-800-518-4726.

Applicants who are outside the U.S. at the time of submittal and are not able to access the toll-free number may reach a Grants.gov representative by calling 606-545-5035. Applicants should save the completed application package with two different file names before providing it to the

AOR to avoid having to re-create the package should submission problems be experienced or a revised application needs to be submitted.

The application package must be transferred to Grants.gov by an AOR. The AOR should close all other software before attempting to submit the application package. Click the “submit” button of the application package. Your Internet browser will launch and a sign-in page will appear.

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Note: Minor problems are not uncommon with transfers to Grants.gov. It is essential to allow sufficient time to ensure that your application is submitted to Grants.gov BEFORE the due date identified in Section IV of the solicitation. The Grants.gov support desk operates

24 hours a day, seven days a week, except Federal Holidays. A successful transfer will end with an on-screen acknowledgement. For documentation purposes, print or screen capture this acknowledgement. If a submission problem occurs, reboot the computer – turning the power off may be necessary – and re-attempt the submission.

Note: Grants.gov issues a “case number” upon a request for assistance.

a. Transmission Difficulties. If transmission difficulties that result in a late transmission, no transmission, or rejection of the transmitted application are experienced, and following the above instructions do not resolve the problem so that the application is submitted to Grants.gov by the deadline date and time, follow the guidance below.

The Agency will make a decision concerning acceptance of each late submission on a case-by-case basis. All emails, as described below, are to be sent to Susan Vescovi with the FON in the subject line. If you are unable to email, contact Susan Vescovi at

312-353-2478. Be aware that EPA will only consider accepting applications that were unable to transmit due to Grants.gov or relevant www.Sam.gov system issues or for unforeseen exigent circumstances, such as extreme weather interfering with internet access. Failure of an applicant to submit timely because they did not properly or timely register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov is not an acceptable reason to justify acceptance of a late submittal.

a. If you are experiencing problems resulting in an inability to upload the application to Grants.gov, it is essential to call Grants.gov for assistance at 1-800-518-4726 before the application deadline. Applicants who are outside the U.S. at the time of submittal and are not able to access the toll-free number may reach a Grants.gov representative by calling 606-545-5035. Be sure to obtain a case number from

Grants.gov. If the problems stem from unforeseen exigent circumstances unrelated to

Grants.gov, such as extreme weather interfering with internet access, contact Susan

Vescovi at 312-353-2478.

b. Unsuccessful transfer of the application package: If a successful transfer of the application cannot be accomplished even with assistance from Grants.gov due to electronic submission system issues or unforeseen exigent circumstances, and you have already attempted to resolve the issue by contacting Grants.gov, send an email message to vescovi.susan@epa.gov prior to the application deadline. The email message must document the problem and include the Grants.gov case number as well as the entire application in PDF format as an attachment.

c. Grants.gov rejection of the application package: If a notification is received from

Grants.gov stating that the application has been rejected for reasons other than late submittal and it is too late to reapply, promptly send an email to Susan Vescovi with the FON in the subject line within one business day of the closing date of this solicitation. The email should include any materials provided by Grants.gov and attach the entire application in PDF format.

Please note that successful submission through Grants.gov or via email does not necessarily mean your application is eligible for award.

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E.) Content of Application Package Submission All application submissions must contain completed and signed grant application forms, as well as a Narrative Work Plan as described below.

Grant Application Forms: Please be sure to include the organization fax number and email address in Block 5 of the Standard Form SF 424. The forms are available at www.epa.gov/grants/epa-grantee-forms.

a. Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance

b. Standard Form 424A, Budget Information

c. Standard Form 424B, Non-Construction Programs

d. Standard Form 6600-06, Certification Regarding Lobbying

e. EPA Form 4700-4, Pre-Award Compliance Review Report for All Applicants Requesting

Federal Financial Assistance

f. EPA Form 5700-54, Key Contacts Form, including Authorized Official Representative and Project Manager contact information of the two individuals.

g. Narrative Work Plan (as described below)

Narrative Work Plan: The narrative work plan (sections 1-3 below) must not exceed a maximum of 10 single-spaced typewritten pages. Supporting materials such as resumes and letters of support can be submitted as attachments and are not included in the 10-page limit. The work plan must address all the relevant threshold criteria in Section III and the evaluation criteria in Section V.

1. Summary Information Page (recommended to not exceed one page)

a. Project title

b. Applicant information: include applicant (organization) name, address, project manager, phone number, fax, and email address

c. Funding requested. Specify the amount you are requesting from EPA

d. Total project cost. Specify total cost of the project. Identify funding from other sources including cost share or in-kind resources.

e. Project period. Provide beginning and ending dates.

f. DUNS number

2. Work Plan The work plan must explicitly describe how the proposed project meets the guidelines established in Sections I-III of this announcement (including the threshold eligibility criteria in

Section III.C.) and must address each of the evaluation criteria set forth in Section V.

Project Overview:

(1) Project Summary and Responsiveness to the Priority

Provide a summary of your project identifying the priority addressed (see the two priorities referred to in Section I.A) and outlining the objectives and your strategy for achieving those http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-grantee-forms

15 | P a g e objectives. This section should cover what you will do, why you will do it, how you will do it, and an estimate of how long it will take to complete each task.

(2) Anticipated Outcomes and Outputs and Performance Measures

a. Identify and estimate anticipated quantitative outcomes (See Section V, Evaluation

Criteria, of this solicitation for examples of outcome measures). Please specify a timetable for reporting quantifiable outcomes and describe how they will be measured. If certain outcomes will be measured after the overall project is completed, a grant may be extended to allow for reporting those outcomes. Project outcomes must be addressed in the final report submitted prior to closeout of grant.

b. Identify and estimate quantitative and qualitative outputs. Explain how and when the outputs will be measured and tracked.

c. Identify appropriate performance measures for the project as well as short and long term objectives for the project.

(3) Capability Documentation

Provide information on your organizational experience and plan for successfully achieving the objectives of the proposed project. Include your staff expertise/qualifications, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project.

(4) Programmatic Capability and Past Performance

Submit a list of federally funded assistance agreements (assistance agreements include Federal grants and cooperative agreements but not Federal contracts) similar in size, scope and relevance to the proposed project that your organization performed within the last three years (no more than

5 agreements, and preferably EPA agreements) and describe (i) whether, and how, you were able to successfully complete and manage those agreements and (ii) your history of meeting the reporting requirements under those agreements including whether you adequately and timely reported on your progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes of those agreements (and if not, explain why not) and whether you submitted acceptable final technical reports under the agreements. In evaluating applicants under these factors in Section V, EPA will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources, including information from EPA files and from current/prior grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement the information provided by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant or available past performance or reporting information, please indicate this in the application and you will receive a neutral score for these factors (a neutral score is half of the total points available in a subset of possible points). If you do not provide any response for these items, you may receive a score of 0 for these factors.

In addition, provide information on your organizational experience and plan for timely and successfully achieving the objectives of the proposed project, and your staff expertise/qualifications, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project.

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(5) Benefits to the Community

Explain how the results and outcomes of the project will benefit communities affected by the project.

(6) Collaboration, Outreach, and Transferability Identify key partners involved with the project and explain the collaborative nature of the project. Explain how the results of the project will be effectively communicated to interested stakeholders within Region 5. Explain how the proposed project will be useful to others in the

Region 5 area.

(7) Schedule with Milestones Identify project milestones and project schedule. Identify key tasks and subtasks, indicating what will be done, by whom, and when. The timeline must be closely linked to the proposed scope of work. Output and outcome reporting must be addressed in the timeline.

(8) Detailed Budget Narrative

Provide a clear description of the budget for the project. Describe how federal and matching funding (if any) will be spent. Applicants must itemize costs related to personnel, fringe benefits, contractual costs, travel, equipment, supplies, other direct costs, indirect costs, and total costs. See Section VIII for a Budget Narrative sample.

(9) Voluntary cost share/match and other leveraged funds (Also See Section III.C) Demonstrate how you will leverage…