final fy2016 multistate nofo.docx

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Multistate Conservation Grant Program Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 15.628

Notice of Funding Opportunity and Application Instructions

Federal Agency Name:

Department of the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Announcement Type: Announcement of availability of grants for fiscal year (FY) 2016 and application instructions.

Funding Opportunity Title: Multistate Conservation Grant Program (MSCGP)

Funding Opportunity Number: F15AS00181

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 15.628

Dates: The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Association) accepts Letters of Intent (LOIs) in the first stage of the application process. LOIs are due to the Association by May 11, 2015. Only eligible LOIs will be processed. In the second stage of the application process, the Association will invite full proposals based on high-ranking LOIs. Mandatory grant forms (i.e., SF424s) are only required to be submitted with the full proposal. Full proposals must be submitted by 5 pm EDT August 14, 2015. In addition to applying directly to the Association, full proposals may also be submitted (although not required) electronically via Grants.gov. LOI’s and/or proposals submitted via Grants.gov will be forwarded to the Association. For specific information on the requirements for submitting LOIs, refer to the Association’s website at http://www.fishwildlife.org. We plan to send award letter announcements to successful grantees by January 2016.

I. Description of Funding Opportunity The Sport Fish Restoration Act and the Wildlife Restoration Act, as amended by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-408) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make up to $6,000,000 ($3,000,000 each from the Sport Fish Restoration and Wildlife Restoration Program trust funds) available annually under the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program for the purpose of funding multistate conservation project grants.

II. Award Information The Association and the Service work cooperatively to manage the Program. The Association administers the grant application process, providing oversight, coordination and guidance, and the Service awards and manages the grants. The MSCGP is a competitive grant program where eligible LOIs and proposals are submitted to the Association’s National Grants Committees for review to develop a relative ranking order to aid in the selection process. LOIs and proposals must address one or more of the Association’s National Conservation Needs (NCNs) to be eligible.

NCNs are annually solicited and selected by the Association to establish the state fish and wildlife agencies’ conservation priorities, and they are used to guide proposal development and grant selection for the MSCGP. NCNs selected for the FY 2016 cycle are on the Association’s website within their MSCGP Announcement at http://www.fishwildlife.org. A final “Priority List” of projects will be approved by the Association’s National Grants Committee and State Directors at the Association’s annual meeting in September. The list of priority projects will be forwarded to the Service by the mandated October 1 deadline. The Service selects projects to fund from the “Priority List” and announces successful grant recipients in January/February, then will manage the grants to ensure grantees adhere to the terms of their grants.

MSCGP project examples include: 1) coordination of Farm Bill implementation to optimize fish and wildlife benefits to the States; 2) producing a practitioners guide that summarizes national hunting, fishing and shooting recruitment and retention programs; 3) promoting strategic fish habitat conservation through Regionally-coordinated science collaboration; 4) understanding trends in public values toward wildlife as a key to meeting current and future wildlife management challenges; 5) improving the conservation of fish and wildlife populations and habitats during energy exploration, development and transmission through enhanced industry/agency coordination; and 6) development and implementation of a national initiative for hunting and shooting sports recruitment, retention, and reactivation.

III. Basic Eligibility Requirements Eligible Applicants:

Eligibility is limited to: 1) agencies with lead management responsibility for fish and wildlife resources in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or a group of these agencies; 2) The Service, only for the purpose of carrying out the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation; or 3) Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), subject to the following restrictions. NGOs, including educational institutions, which are invited to submit full proposals, must submit a certification that their organization will not use grant funds to fund, in whole or in part, any activity that promotes or encourages opposition to the regulated hunting or trapping of wildlife or the regulated taking of fish in their application.

· Projects are eligible for a grant only if the project will benefit: 1) at least 26 States; or 2) a majority of the States in a Region of the Service; or 3) a regional association of State fish and wildlife agencies. Only projects that benefit sport fish, wild birds and mammals are eligible.

Federal law mandates that all entities applying for Federal financial assistance must have a valid Dun & Bradstreet Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number and have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). The SAM registration requirement does not apply to individuals submitting an application on their own behalf and not on behalf of a company or other for-profit entity, state, local or Tribal government, academia or other type of organization.

A. DUNS Registration:

Request a DUNS number online at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. U.S.-based entities may also request a DUNS number by telephone by calling the Dun & Bradstreet Government Customer Response Center, Monday – Friday, 7 AM to 8 PM CST at the following numbers:

U.S. and U.S Virgin Islands: 1-866-705-5711 Alaska and Puerto Rico: 1-800-234-3867 (Select Option 2, then Option 1) For Hearing Impaired Customers Only call: 1-877-807-1679 (TTY Line) Once assigned a DUNS number, entities are responsible for maintaining up-to-date information with Dun & Bradstreet. This number will need to be included on the SF424 form.

B. Entity Registration in SAM:

Register in SAM online at http://www.sam.gov/. Once registered in SAM, entities must renew and revalidate their SAM registration at least every 12 months from the date previously registered. Entities are strongly urged to revalidate their registration as often as needed to ensure that their information is up to date and in synch with changes that may have been made to DUNS and IRS information. Foreign entities who wish to be paid directly to a United States bank account must enter and maintain valid and current banking information in SAM.

C. Excluded Entities:

Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov Exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted or excluded from receiving Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program.

D. Cost Sharing or Matching:

Although there is no cost sharing or match requirement for this program, the Association does add points during the scoring/ranking process for proposals that provide match.

E. Period of Availability:

Amounts made available under this grant program will remain available for obligation the first two fiscal years. Grant funds can be obligated for grant periods from one to three years. Any grant funds remaining after a third year at grant closeout are returned to the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program.

IV. Application Requirements:

Application Package

Specific LOI submission requirements are available from the Association’s MSCGP webpage http://www.fishwildlife.org. If potential applicants who have submitted a LOI are invited to submit a full proposal, they can receive application forms and other material necessary to apply for this program from the Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Toolkit (http://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Forms) or from the Association’s MSCGP webpage.

The required Federal Forms are the SF424, SF424A, SF424B, SF424C, and SF424D depending on the grant activity. When submitting the Standard SF424 form, it is recommended that any partnership contribution considered essential to the project’s success be included in box 15 as appropriate to acknowledge that contribution to the project.

Submission of the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form (SFLLL) is only required of grantees and sub grantees if their awards exceed $100K and if these entities intend to use any funds other than Federal appropriated funds for lobbying activities in connection with a Multistate awarded grant.

In addition to the required federal forms, any prospective recipient or sub-recipient that intends to charge indirect costs must provide their most recent approved copy of the negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA) as part of their proposal package if they have an approved NICRA. Recipients must follow their required responsibilities to their sub-recipients according to guidelines in 2 CFR 200.331. Recipients are responsible for providing all sub-recipient indirect cost documents necessary and should provide one of the following indirect cost statements appropriate for each of their sub-recipients.

V. Required Indirect Cost Recipient/Sub-Recipient Statement

All applicants except individuals applying for funds separate from a business or non-profit organization he/she may operate must include in their application one of the following statements, and attach to their application any required documentation identified in the applicable statement:

“We are:

· A U.S. state or local government entity receiving more than $35 million in direct Federal funding each year with an indirect cost rate of [insert rate]. We submit our indirect cost rate proposals to our cognizant agency. A copy of our most recently approved rate agreement/certification is attached.

· A U.S. state or local government entity receiving less than $35 million in direct Federal funding with an indirect cost rate of [insert rate]. We are required to prepare and retain for audit an indirect cost rate proposal and related documentation to support those costs.

· A [insert your organization type; U.S. States and local governments, please use one of the statements above or below] that has previously negotiated or currently has an approved indirect cost rate with our cognizant agency. Our indirect cost rate is [insert rate]. A copy of our most recently approved rate agreement is attached.

· A [insert your organization type] that has never submitted an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency. Our indirect cost rate is [insert rate]. In the event an award is made, we will submit an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency within 90 calendar days after the award is made.

· A [insert your organization type] that is a sub-recipient that has previously negotiated or currently has an approved indirect cost rate with our cognizant agency. Our indirect rate is [insert rate]. A copy of our most recently approved rate agreement is attached.

· A [insert your organization type] that is a sub-recipient that has never submitted an indirect rate proposal to our cognizant agency. Our indirect cost rate is [insert rate]. As is required, our rate has been negotiated with and approved by the recipient.

· A [insert your organization type] that has never submitted an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency. Our indirect cost rate is [insert rate]. However, in the event an award is made, will not be able to meet the requirement to submit an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency within 90 calendar days after award. We request as a condition of award to charge a flat de minimus indirect cost rate of 10% of modified total direct costs as defined in 2 CFR 200.68, “Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC).” We understand that the 10% de minimus rate will apply for the life of the award, including any future extensions for time, and that the rate cannot be changed even if we establish an approved rate with our cognizant agency at any point during the award period.

· A [insert your organization type] that will charge all costs directly.”

All applicants are hereby notified of the following:

· Recipients without an approved indirect cost rate (includes accepting the 10% de minimus rate, when eligible) are prohibited from charging indirect costs to a Federal award.

· Failure to establish an approved rate during the award period renders all costs otherwise allocable as indirect costs under the award unallowable.

· Only the indirect costs calculated against the Federal portion of the total direct costs may be charged to the Federal award. Recipients may not charge to their USFWS award any indirect costs calculated against the portion of total direct costs charged to themselves or charged to any other project partner, Federal and non-Federal alike.

· Recipients must have prior written approval from the USFWS to transfer unallowable indirect costs to amounts budgeted for direct costs or to satisfy cost-sharing or matching requirements under the award.

· Recipients are prohibited from shifting unallowable indirect costs to another Federal award unless specifically authorized to do so by legislation.

For more information on indirect cost rates, see the Service’s Indirect Costs and Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements guidance document on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/grants/.

Negotiating an Indirect Cost Rate with the Department of the Interior:

The Federal awarding agency that provides the largest amount of direct funding to your organization is your cognizant agency, unless otherwise assigned by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). If the Department of the Interior is your cognizant agency, your indirect cost rate will be negotiated by the Interior Business Center (IBC). For more information, contact the IBC at:

Indirect Cost Services Acquisition Services Directorate, Interior Business Center U.S. Department of the Interior 2180 Harvard Street, Suite 430 Sacramento, CA 95815 Phone: 916-566-7111 Email: ics@nbc.gov Internet address: http://www.aqd.nbc.gov/Services/ICS.aspx

D. Statements Regarding Single Audit Reporting:

Following 2 CFR 200, Subpart F, all recipients expending $750,000 USD or more in Federal award funds in a fiscal year must submit a single audit report for that year through the Federal Audit Clearinghouse’s Internet Data Entry System. All recipients must provide a statement regarding whether your organization was/was not required to submit a single audit report for the organization’s most recently closed fiscal year and, if so, state if that report is available on the Federal Audit Clearinghouse Single Audit Database website (http://harvester.census.gov/sac/). Include these statements at the end of the Project Narrative in a section titled “Single Audit Reporting Statements.”

F. Assurances:

Include the appropriate signed and dated Assurances form available online at http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/FormLinks?family=15. Use the Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF 424B) if the project does not involve construction. Use the Assurances for Construction Programs (SF 424D) if the project does involve construction or land acquisition. Signing this form does not mean that all items on the form are applicable. The form contains language that states that some of the assurances may not be applicable to your organization and/or your project or program.

G. Certification and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities:

Under Title 31 of the United States Code, Section 1352, an applicant or recipient must not use any federally appropriated funds (both annually appropriated and continuing appropriations) or matching funds under a grant or cooperative agreement award to pay any person for lobbying in connection with the award. Lobbying is defined as influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress connection with the award. Submission of an application also represents the applicant’s certification of the statements in 43 CFR Part 18, Appendix A-Certification Regarding Lobbying. If you/your organization have/has made or agrees to make any payment using non-appropriated funds for lobbying in connection with this project AND the project budget exceeds $100,000, complete and submit the SF LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form. See 43 CFR, Subpart 18.100 for more information on when additional submission of this form is required. Submission of an application also represents the applicant’s certification of the statements in 43 CFR Part 18, Appendix A-Certification Regarding Lobbying.

Application Checklist

· SF 424, Application for Federal Assistance: A complete, signed and dated SF 424, SF 424-Mandatory, or SF 424- Individual form

· Project narrative

· Single Audit Reporting statement: If a U.S. state, local government, federally-recognized Indian tribal government, or non-profit organization, statements regarding applicability of and compliance with Single Audit Reporting requirements (2 CFR 200.501)

· SF 424 budget form: A complete SF 424A or SF 424C Budget Information form

· Budget justification

· NICRA: When applicable, a copy of the organization’s current Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement

· SF 424 Assurances form: Signed and dated SF 424B or SF 424D Assurances form

· SF LLL form: If applicable, completed SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form

Failure to provide complete information may cause delays, postponement, or rejection of the application.

VI. Submission Information:

DEADLINE: LOIs must be received no later than May 11, 2015 by the Association. LOIs received after the deadline will not be considered. Any LOIs submitted by the May 11, 2015 deadline through Grants.gov will be forwarded to the Association. Full proposals must be submitted to the Association or via Grants.gov by August 14, 2015. LOIs submitted directly to the Association must be emailed (in Word, not pdf) to Ashley Salo, the Association’s MSCGP Coordinator, at asalo@fishwildlife.org; you will receive a confirmation within 48 hours. If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Salo, at 202-624-7821 or John C. Stremple the Service’s MSCGP Coordinator at 703-358-2066, John_Stremple@fws.gov.

Once invited by the Association to submit full proposals, recipients can submit their grant documents to the Association or through Grants.gov. Download the Application Package linked to this Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov to begin the application process. Downloading and saving the Application Package to your computer makes the required government-wide standard forms fillable and printable. Completed applications may be submitted by mail, or email to the Association, or electronically through Grants.gov, or as otherwise described in the Grants.gov funding opportunity.

1. Electronic Submission Instructions:

a. Go to www.grants.gov

b. Click the “Apply for Grants” tab and use the CFDA number (15.628) to search for the funding opportunity.

c. The following are items that need to be done before a grant application package can be submitted electronically through Grants.gov:

i. Applicants must register as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) and have a user ID and password. The applicant can register on the web at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp;

ii. Applicants must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view files on the web. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.

d. Standard forms such as SF 424, SF 424A, SF 424B, SF 424 C, and SF 424D are fillable forms on Grants.gov. The project narrative and budget narrative must be attachments in one of the following formats: MS Word, Adobe PDF, or MS Excel.

e. All forms and attachments mentioned above must be submitted with the grant application package.

f. Important note on Grants.gov application attachment file names: Please do not assign application attachments file names longer than 20 characters, including spaces. Assigning file names longer than 20 characters will create issues in the automatic interface between Grants.gov and the Service’s financial assistance management system.

2. Mail or Email Submission Instructions:

a. Applicants can obtain forms, in PDF fillable/printable formats, from the WSFR Toolkit at http://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Toolkit+Homepage.

b. The required SF 424 Application for Federal Assistance and Assurances forms and any other required standard forms MUST be signed by your organization’s authorized official. The Signature and Date fields on the standard forms downloaded from Grants.gov are pre-populated with the text “Completed by Grants.gov upon submission” or “Completed on submission to Grants.gov”. Remove this text (manually or digitally) before signing the forms.

VII. Proposal Review and Selection Process LOIs will be reviewed by the Association’s National Grants Committee, who will select the most competitive submissions to invite for full proposals. Once received, eligible proposals will be distributed to appropriate Association committees for all committee members to review, score, and rank using 10 technical scoring criteria. NGOs that are members of a committee, as well as those that are not, are allowed to review proposals, however only one representative from each NGO can score, rank, and comment on proposals. Input from the Committee will be compiled to generate a relative ranking of proposals, which is used as a starting point by the Association’s National Grants Committee when it meets in September 2015. The National Grants Committee will recommend a “priority list” of projects for approval by state directors at the Association’s business meeting.

Additional information about the MSCGP and how the Association solicits, reviews, and recommends proposals to be funded to the Service is available at the Association’s web site at http://www.fishwildlife.org within their FY2016 Program Announcement.

VIII. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices By October 1, the Association must submit a priority list of projects recommended for funding to the Service’s Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs. The Service must select projects to fund from the Association’s priority list.

Awarded grantees will get an award letter with standard terms and special conditions information, which specifies terms of acceptance, cost accounting requirements, payments and reporting requirements. The Service is not responsible for costs incurred prior to the start date of a signed agreement unless pre-award costs are approved by the Service during grant document processing and provided that all pre-award costs are identified in the project proposal within the Application for Federal Assistance at the time of document submission. The start date for FY 2016 agreements may be January 1, 2016, or later.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements All financial assistance awards are subject to Federal financial administration requirements. The Service’s Headquarters WSFR Office will work with applicants to ensure that all financial arrangements comply with these requirements.

To find out more about the rules, including administrative requirements and cost principles, you can review them on the WSFR Toolkit (http://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Code+of+Federal+Regulations).

a. Compliance with environmental laws such as the ESA, NEPA, and NHPA must be satisfied before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can approve a grant proposal.

b. In accepting Federal funds, applicants must comply with Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 200.

c. All organizations must obtain a DUNS number, a unique identifying number, before applying for Federal funds. Only private individual landowners are exempted. Organizations can receive a DUNS number at no cost by calling the DUNS number request line at 1-866-706-5711 or online at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform.

d. All organizations must have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). Register in SAM online at http://www.sam.gov/. Once registered in SAM, entities must renew and revalidate their SAM registration at least every 12 months from the date previously registered. Entities are strongly urged to revalidate their registration as often as needed to ensure that their information is up to date and corresponds with changes that may have been made to DUNS and IRS information. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov Exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted or excluded from receiving Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program.

e. All organizations must complete and submit an Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system Participation Form. If you have an existing account with another Federal agency, please indicate your ASAP ID on the form. Recipients need to be registered in ASAP with the Service in order to draw down funds. For further instructions visit the FA Wiki.

f. Acceptance of a financial assistance award (i.e., grant or cooperative agreement) from the Service carries with it the responsibility to be aware of and comply with the terms and conditions applicable to the award. Acceptance is defined as the start of work, drawing down funds, or accepting the award via electronic means. Awards are based on the application submitted to and approved by the Service and are subject to the terms and conditions incorporated into the notice of award either by direct citation or by reference to the following: Federal regulations; program legislation or regulation; and special award terms and conditions. The Federal regulations applicable to Service awards are available on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/grants/. If you do not have access to the Internet and require a full text copy of the award terms and conditions, contact the Service point of contact identified in the Agency Contacts section above.

3. Transmittal of Sensitive Data: Recipients are responsible for ensuring any sensitive data being sent to the Service is protected during its transmission/delivery. The Service strongly recommends that recipients use the most secure transmission/delivery method available. The Service recommends the following digital transmission methods: secure digital faxing; encrypted emails; emailing a password protected zipped/compressed file attachment in one email followed by the password in a second email; or emailing a zipped/compressed file attachment. The Service strongly encourages recipients sending sensitive data in paper copy to use a courier mail service. Recipients may also contact their Service Project Officer and provide any sensitive data over the telephone.

4. Recipient Reporting Requirements:

Interim financial reports and performance reports will be required and are due within 90 calendar days of each 12 month cycle. A final financial report and a final performance report will be required and are due within 90 calendar days of the end date of the award.

Reporting requirements are specified in 2 CFR 200.327 and 200.328. Additional details regarding new requirements, guidance, consequences, etc. are available in the document “Interim Guidance for Financial and Performance Reporting, dated May 15, 2009 and can be found on the WSFR Toolkit (http://fawiki.fws.gov/category/wsfr).

When submitting the Federal Financial Report (SF425), it is recommended that grants that have included partnership contributions as part of their total budget acknowledge these contributions in box 12 (Remarks) of the SF425, if those contributions are considered essential to the project’s success.

5. Other Information The Federal government is not bound to fund any project until the Service WSFR representative has approved the award.

IV. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: The Paperwork Reduction Act requires us to tell you why we are collecting this information, how we will use it, and whether or not you have to respond. A response to this Notice of Funding Availability is required to receive funding. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB has approved this collection and assigned OMB Control No.1018-0109, which expires on 9-30-2015. The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average of 40 hours per application and 6 hours per performance report. These burden estimates include time for reviewing instructions and gathering data, but do not include the time needed to complete government-wide Standard Forms associated with the application and financial reporting. You may send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PDM, Falls Church, VA 22041.