Foa_Content_of_NOAA-NMFS-FHQ-2025-28846.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

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Table of Contents

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Executive Summary Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description II. Award Information III. Eligibility Information IV. Application and Submission Information V. Application Review Information VI. Award Administration Information VII. Agency Contacts VIII. Other Information

Executive Summary Federal Agency Name Fisheries Headquarters Program Office (FHQ) Funding Opportunity Title National Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) - FY2025 Announcement Type Competitive Funding Opportunity Number

NOAA-NMFS-FHQ-2025-28846

Assistance Listing Number(s) 11.427 Dates Required Pre-proposals must be received by electronic mail to the BREP National Program Coordinator (NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov) by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 13, 2024.

Full proposals must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on March 21, 2025.

Funding Opportunity Description The mission of the National Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) is to support the development of technological solutions and changes in fishing practices designed to minimize bycatch of fish and protected species (including Endangered Species Act-listed fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles) and to reduce impacts to invertebrates (including sponges, deep-sea corals, and shallow (tropical) corals.) In addition, BREP may support projects that pursue ways to minimize mortality and injury of bycaught species (including post-release injury and mortality). Projects should produce outcomes that can directly influence management needs of federally managed living marine resources.

For Fiscal Year 2025, NMFS anticipates that approximately $2,300,000 could be made available for approximately 10-15 projects that address bycatch research as identified in the Program Priority Section (I.B.1 - I.B.5).

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NOTE: We strongly encourage all prospective applicants to being required registrations as early as possible. Completing the required registrations can take six weeks or longer.

Submission due dates will not be extended because of registration delays. Submissions received after the due date will be considered late and will not be accepted.

Applicant organizations and individuals must register for three different Federal systems prior to submitting an application through Grants.gov (SAM.gov, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov).

Applicant organizations and individuals must first register with SAM.gov and obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). After you obtain your UEI, you can complete your Grants.gov and eRA Commons registrations concurrently.

See Section IV(G) for detailed instructions on registration requirements. If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in this NOFO for submission instructions.

Full Text of Announcement I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Program Objective This grant program provides competitive grants to non-Federal researchers working to benefit U.S. fishermen and fisheries, including aquaculture, through the development of improved fishing practices and innovative gear technologies. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1865, requires that NOAA’s conservation and management measures minimize bycatch to the extent practicable and established the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) to support the development of technological devices and other conservation engineering changes to minimize bycatch and reduce post-release mortality of non-target species in our nation’s fisheries.

Bycatch reduction is a priority for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), as outlined in the NMFS National Bycatch Reduction Strategy (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/bycatch/national-bycatch-reduction-strategy).

Fisheries bycatch can contribute to overfishing, population declines for threatened and endangered species, and can result in commercial fishery closures. This Program seeks to support the development and testing of fishing gears and approaches that can be applied in commercial and recreational fisheries to reduce bycatch and post-release mortality and address the MSA requirements to minimize bycatch and habitat impacts.

B. Program Priorities The NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries (OSF) proposes to fund applied research projects in the five high-priority areas identified below. Proposals must address at least one of the priorities listed below, and the priority that most closely matches your project must be identified in your proposal. Competitive proposals under the BREP should also address bycatch research and management priorities of Fishery Management Councils (Councils), NMFS Regions and Science Centers, Interstate Marine Fisheries Commissions (Commissions), Marine Mammal Take Reduction Teams, Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel, etc. Finally, preference will be given to proposals that include involvement and/or collaboration with U.S. industry, fishermen, and/or underserved communities.

1. Developing innovative and effective technologies, gear modifications, avoidance programs and techniques, and/or improved fishing practices in commercial and recreational fisheries or aquaculture to reduce bycatch impacts. Proposals that specifically reduce impacts to the following are encouraged:

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a. Protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) or the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and vulnerable biogenic habitats that are essential fish habitat under MSA – in particular large whales (humpback, gray, fin, and blue), bottlenose dolphins, and leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles that interact with trap and pot fisheries; humpback whales, harbor porpoise and bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, Atlantic sturgeon, and smalltooth sawfish that interact with gillnet fisheries; and leatherback, loggerhead, olive ridley sea turtles, false killer whales, pilot whales, Giant manta rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks ; killer whales that interact with trawl and longline gear, and oceanic whitetip sharks that interact with pelagic longline fisheries; Atlantic sturgeon and sea turtles that interact with bottom trawl fisheries, and

b. Fish stocks that are overfished, where overfishing is occurring, or that are limiting the ability to harvest due to bycatch constraints -- i.e., under prohibited species catch limits (in particular but not limited to bigeye tuna, Pacific halibut, Gulf of Maine Atlantic cod, silky shark, and striped marlin, Pacific herring, Pacific salmon, king crab, snow crab, and Tanner crab];

c. Seabirds (in particular, but not limited to, short-tailed, black-footed, or Laysan albatrosses, Spectacled eider, Steller's eider)

d. Cultural, ceremonial, and subsistence fisheries whose target stocks may be negatively impacted by bycatch from commercial or recreational fisheries.

2. Further testing and/or development of technologies or gear modifications that have already been piloted, have been shown to successfully reduce bycatch, and that would encourage adoption at the fleet or fishery scale either voluntarily or by regulation.

3. Improving understanding and reduction of post-release and other indirect mortality, including barotrauma, decompression sickness, predation, depredation, and unaccounted mortality associated with both target and non-target species (including protected species) of commercial and recreational fisheries, especially for fisheries that are overfished, where overfishing is occurring, and/or that are limiting the ability to harvest due to bycatch constraints.

4. Conducting comprehensive international bycatch analyses or research that will inform conservation engineering in U.S. commercial, recreational, and aquaculture fisheries.

C. Program Authority The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended (MSA) (16 U.S.C. 1865), requires the Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Councils and other affected interests, and based upon the best scientific information available, to establish a Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP), including grants, to develop technological devices and other conservation engineering changes designed to minimize bycatch, seabird interactions, bycatch mortality and post-release mortality in federally managed fisheries.

The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C 661) authorizes the Secretary to provide assistance to, and cooperate with, Federal, State, and public or private agencies and organizations in the development, protection, rearing, and stocking of all species of wildlife, resources thereof, and their habitat, in controlling losses of the same from disease or other causes, and in minimizing damages from overabundant species.

The National Fisheries Research and Development Program (15 U.S.C. 713c-3(c) et seq.)

requires the Secretary to carry out a national program of research and development addressed to such aspects of United States fisheries (including, but not limited to, harvesting, processing, marketing, and associated infrastructures).

II. Award Information A. Funding Availability

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This solicitation announces approximately $2,300,000 in federal funds that may be available in FY 2025 to provide support for 10 to 15 projects at approximately $50,000 to $250,000 per project. NOAA does not anticipate funding project proposals requesting greater than $350,000 in federal funding. Most projects will be up to one year, as described in Section II.B. of this announcement. It is expected that the majority of funding will be towards projects that address the highest Program Priorities, I.B.1 and I.B.2.

There is no guarantee that sufficient funds will be available to make awards for all qualified projects. The exact amount of funds that may be awarded will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA representatives. Publication of this notice does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds. If applicants incur any costs prior to an award being made, they do so at their own risk of not being reimbursed by the government. Notwithstanding verbal or written assurance that may have been received, there is no obligation on the part of NOAA to cover pre-award costs unless approved by the Grants Officer as part of the terms when the award is made or the award is for research, per 2 C.F.R. 200.308.

B. Project/Award Period Applicants should propose a 12-18 month period of performance. Proposals should clearly identify objectives and products to be completed during that period of activity. The requested start date must begin on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month. The earliest start date for projects will be September 1, 2025.

C. Type of Funding Instrument Under this solicitation, NMFS/OSF will fund BREP Projects as cooperative agreements. The cooperative agreement has been determined to be the appropriate funding instrument because of the substantial involvement by NOAA. Substantial involvement means that, after award, NOAA scientific or program staff will assist, guide, coordinate, collaborate, or participate in project activities in a partnership role; it is not to assume direction, prime responsibility, or a dominant role in the activities. The dominant role and prime responsibility resides with the awardee for the project as a whole, although specific tasks and activities may be shared among the awardees and NOAA. The exact amount of funds, the scope of work, and terms and conditions of a successful award will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA/NMFS representatives.

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants Eligible applicants are individuals, institutions of higher education, other nonprofits, for-profit organizations, foreign public entities or foreign organizations, and state, local, U.S.

territorial, Alaska Native, and Indian tribal governments. Federal agencies or instrumentalities are not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this notice.

The Department of Commerce/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to the goals of advancing equity and support for underserved communities. NOAA encourages applicants to include and demonstrate principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility through proactive, meaningful, and equitable community engagement in the identification, design, and/or implementation of proposed projects. NOAA also encourages applicants to propose projects with benefits to tribal or underserved communities, as defined below. Applicants should identify if the project is located within a tribal or underserved community and/or whether the project will benefit tribal or underserved communities. Applicants should also identify if they work at or plan to partner with historically black colleges, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, or other institutions that work in underserved communities.

The following definitions apply to this funding opportunity:

Underserved communities: This term refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life. Underserved communities are defined in Executive Order 13895.

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Tribes: For this funding opportunity, this term refers to any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe.

Tribal entity: For this funding opportunity, this term refers to Tribes and any organization that self-identifies as an indigenous or native organization.

If a Tribe, Tribal entity, underserved community, or other eligible applicant has questions regarding this funding opportunity, they should contact:

Justin Pearce Office of Sustainable Fisheries 1315 East-West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-427-8521 NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov

B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement Applicants may include cost sharing, but it is not required and is not part of the evaluation criteria for this program.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility To facilitate the interest of BREP in addressing the bycatch research and management priorities of Councils, NMFS Regions and Science Centers, Commissions, etc., applicants are encouraged to engage with partners by subaward, contract, unfunded partnerships, or other collaborations. Applicants should consider the research and management priorities of Councils, NMFS Regions and Science Centers, Commissions, Marine Mammal Take Reduction Teams, etc., when developing proposals. Federal agencies and their personnel are not permitted to receive funding under this competition; however federal scientists can serve as uncompensated partners on proposals. Should you wish to partner with a particular NMFS employee, who will act as a partner in the proposed project, a written agreement of this participation must be provided detailing their involvement, signed by the employee’s supervisor. NMFS involvement could include planning, scheduling, conducting, and analyzing proposed project activities and frequent contact with the Applicant to help solve technical problems/situations as they arise during performance of the award. NOAA will implement appropriate mechanisms regarding any potential conflict of interest in the review process.

While proposing partnerships is encouraged, proposing a specific NOAA or Federal partner is not required. If a specific NOAA collaboration is not proposed, NOAA still expects to become substantially involved as described in Section II.C. of this Announcement.

IV. Application and Submission Information A. Address to Request Application Package No application package is required to submit a pre-proposal.

Electronic application packages for full applications are strongly encouraged and are available at: http://www.grants.gov.

If the applicant has difficulty accessing Grants.gov. or downloading the required forms, they should contact:

Justin Pearce Office of Sustainable Fisheries 1315 East-West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-427-8521 NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov

B. Content and Form of Application Format requirements for both pre-proposals and full proposals http://www.grants.gov mailto:NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov

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All application materials should be submitted in Adobe PDF or a common word processing format, and when printed out should meet all format requirements. All pages must be single- (pre-proposal) or double-(full proposal) spaced, printed or typed in at least 12-point font, and printable on 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper, with 1-inch margins.

Pre-proposal Format:

Pre-proposals are required. The pre-proposal process is intended to provide an indication to potential applicants of the technical merit and the relevancy of the proposed project to BREP before preparing a full proposal. The intent is to reduce the burden of preparing full proposals that do not have a high probability for being funded. When drafting a pre-proposal, applicants should clearly convey the management impact and applicability of their proposed research for the priority area to which they are applying. Late or incomplete pre-proposals, as well as those that deviate from content or format requirements will not be reviewed by NOAA.

Each pre-proposal may not exceed two pages, single-spaced (though may be formatted using double spacing), using the format described above and should provide:

1. Title of project.

2. Background section that sets the stage for the work and identifies which priority (or priorities) in Section I.B that the pre-proposal addresses directly.

3. Rationale of why the work should be conducted and how it is relevant to the BREP priorities.

4. Explanation of proposed project’s applicability to bycatch research and management priorities, describe the level of industry involvement, and, if applicable, how any underserved communities are involved and/or may benefit from the project.

5. Clear statement of research objectives and general methodology to be used;

6. Identification of required permits (i.e., ESA, MMPA) and permit numbers, if applicable.

7. Estimated budget amount.

In addition, and not counted towards the two-page limit, the applicant must provide:

1. Cover page that includes the title of the project, the name, affiliation, and address of the primary investigators with e-mail and phone contact information, the estimated total budget requested, and duration of the project (start and end dates).

Full Application Format:

The full application includes required Federal forms, a Project Summary (one-page limit), Project Narrative (15-page limit), Appendices or Attachments (15-page limit, including a Data Management Plan of up to two pages), and Budget Narrative (no page limit).

Applicants must submit the following forms during initial submission of the application:

• Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424).

• Budget Information, Non-construction Programs (SF-424A).

• Assurances, Non-construction Programs (SF424B).

• Certification Regarding Lobbying (CD511).

Applicants may submit the information typically included on these documents through the http://www.grants.gov/ website.

Proposal format should be in at least a 12-point font and double-spaced. Brevity will assist reviewers and program staff in dealing effectively with proposals. Therefore, the Project Narrative may not exceed 15 pages double-spaced. Tables and visual materials, including charts, graphs, maps, photographs, and other pictorial presentations are included in the 15-page limit. Budget justification, project summary, indirect cost rate documentation, and previous, current and pending support sections do not count towards the 15-page limit.

Appendices may be included but must not exceed a total of 15 pages in length. Appendices or attachments may be combined into a single file and include information such as resumes, and/or letters of support. Additional informational material beyond the page limits will be disregarded.

In addition to the Federal Forms listed above, proposals must include the following information in the format outlined below.

http://www.grants.gov/

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a. Project summary (one-page limit):

(1) Organization title.

(2) Principal Investigator(s) (PI).

(3) Address, telephone number, and email address of Principal Investigator(s).

(4) Area of interest for which you are applying (see section I. B.).

(5) Project title.

(6) Project objectives for the project period.

(7) Summary of work to be performed within the project period.

(8) Budget Information - Total Federal funds requested for federal fiscal year 2025 and federal fiscal year 2026 (if applicable).

b. Project Narrative (15-page limit): Each project must be completely and accurately described. The main body of the proposal should be a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and should include: specific objectives and performance measures for the period of the proposed work and the expected significance; relation to longer-term goals of the PI’s work; and relation to other work planned, anticipated, or underway through Federal assistance.

Each project must be described as follows:

(1) Identification of problem(s): Describe the specific problem(s) or area(s) of interest to be addressed. Applicants must identify the specific research priority or priorities in section I.B. to which they are responding. If the proposal addresses more than one priority, it should list first on the application the priority that most closely reflects the objective of the proposals.

(2) Project objectives: Objectives should be simple and understandable; as specific and quantitative as possible; clear as to the "what and when," but should avoid the "how and why" (which is fully addressed in the project description), and; attainable within the time, money and human resources available. Projects should be accomplishment oriented and identify specific performance measures.

(3) Project description: The project description is the scientific or technical action plan of activities that are to be accomplished during each budget period of the project.

This description must include the specific methodologies, by project job activity, proposed for accomplishing the proposal's objective(s).

Investigators submitting proposals in response to this announcement are strongly encouraged to develop inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary research teams in the form of single, integrated proposals or as individual proposals that are clearly linked together. The project description must include a milestone table that summarizes the procedures/objectives that are to be attained in each project month covered. Table format should follow sequential month rather than calendar month (i.e. Project period Month 1, Month 2... versus October, November...).

(4) Permitting: The proposal must describe any Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, or other permit requirements related to the proposed research. The proposal also must describe whether the investigators have the necessary permits in hand, or what steps the investigators have taken to obtain the necessary permits. All proposals must respond to this required element whether or not permits are required. If no permits are required, this section must indicate “no permits are required.” Permit information may be submitted as appendices or attachments.

(5) Impacts, benefits or results expected: Identify and document the results or benefits to be derived from the proposed activities. Specifically identify management applicability of the work being proposed.

(6) Need for Government financial assistance: Demonstrate the need for assistance.

Explain why other funding sources cannot fund all the proposed work. List all other sources of funding that are or have been sought for the project.

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(7) Federal, state and local government activities: List any programs (Federal, state, Tribal, or local government or activities, including Sea Grant, state Coastal Zone Management Programs, etc.) this project would affect and describe the relationship between the project and those plans or activities. Describe any coordination with other agency programs or on-going research efforts. Describe any other proposals or outside activities that are essential to the success of this proposal.

(8) Project management: Describe how the project will be organized and managed.

Include resumes of principal investigators, which may be appendices or attachments.

List all persons directly employed by the applicant who will be involved with the project. If a consultant and/or subcontractor is selected prior to application submission, include the name and qualifications of the consultant and/or subcontractor and the process used for selection. Describe who will monitor project performance. Also include participation by persons or groups other than the applicant. Describe how Federal, state, and non-governmental entities, particularly members of fishing communities, will participate in the project, and the nature of their participation.

(9) Project impacts: Describe how these products or services will be made available to the fisheries and management communities (including Tribes and underserved communities). Describe how the development and facilitation of innovative fishing practices and gear technologies is an identified NMFS management priority (please refer to Council research priorities, etc.) and will be transitioned from research to fisheries management.

(10) Education and outreach: How will this project provide a focused and effective education and outreach strategy regarding NOAA’s mission to protect the Nation’s natural resources? This includes the degree to which the potential users of the results, i.e., industry or state resource managers, have been involved in the planning of the activity, will be involved in the execution of the activity and/or are providing funds, and whether there is a plan to disseminate the results to user groups (such as Councils marine mammal take reduction teams, etc.) and the public.

(11) Evaluation of project: The applicant is required to provide a description of project accomplishments and progress towards the project objectives and performance measures at the end of each funding period and in the final report. The application must describe the methodology or procedures to be followed to quantify the results of the project.

(12) Data Management Plan (not included in the 15-page limitation; can be submitted as an appendix.)

• Environmental data and information collected or created under NOAA grants or cooperative agreements must be made discoverable by and accessible to the general public, in a timely fashion (typically within two years), free of charge or at no more than the cost of reproduction, unless an exemption is granted by the NOAA Program.

Data should be available in at least one machine-readable format, preferably a widely-used or open-standard format, and should also be accompanied by machine-readable documentation (metadata), preferably based on widely-used or international standards.

• Proposals submitted in response to this Announcement must include a Data Management Plan of up to two pages describing how these requirements will be satisfied. The Data Management Plan should be aligned with the Data Management Guidance provided by NOAA in the Announcement.

The contents of the Data Management Plan (or absence thereof), and past performance regarding such plans, will be considered as part of proposal review.

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A typical plan should include descriptions of the types of environmental data and information expected to be created during the course of the project; the tentative date by which data will be shared; the standards to be used for data/metadata format and content; methods for providing data access;

approximate total volume of data to be collected; and prior experience in making such data accessible.

Data Accessibility. The NOAA Program recommends that public access to grant/contract-produced data be enabled through one or more of the following means:

• Submission of data to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/), which will provide public access and permanent archiving.

• Submission of any telemetry or electronic tagging data to the U.S.

Animal Telemetry Network (https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/atn/).

• Submission of data to an existing publicly accessible online data server described in Data Management Plan.

• Establishment of applicant’s own data hosting capability as described in Data Management Plan.

• Request permission not to make data publicly accessible. (Proposal must explain rationale for lack of public access, and if funded, approval from Responsible NOAA Official (listed below) must be received).

Technical recommendations. Use of open-standard data formats and methods is encouraged. The Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program is not requiring any specific data format. Data Management Plans are to describe their proposed approach.

Resources. Proposals are permitted to include the costs of data sharing or archiving in their budgets.

For questions regarding this guidance and for verifying accessibility of data produced by funding recipients, please contact: Justin Pearce, 301-427-8521, NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov The costs of data preparation, accessibility, or archiving may be included in the proposal budget unless otherwise stated in the Guidance.

Accepted submission of data to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is one way to satisfy data sharing requirements; however, NCEI is not obligated to accept all submissions and may charge a fee, particularly for large or unusual datasets.

• NOAA may, at its own discretion, make publicly visible the Data Management Plan from funded proposals, or use information from the Data Management Plan to produce a formal metadata record and include that metadata in a Catalog to indicate the pending availability of new data.

• Proposal submitters are hereby advised that the final pre-publication manuscripts of scholarly articles produced entirely or primarily with NOAA funding will be required to be submitted to NOAA Institutional Repository after acceptance, and no later than upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made publicly available by NOAA one year after publication by the journal.

(13) Results from prior NOAA/NMFS support (not included in the 15-page limitation;

can be submitted as an appendix.): If any PI or co-PI identified on the project has received support from the NOAA/NMFS in the past 5 years, information on the prior award(s) is required. The following information should be provided and may be placed in the Project Narrative or in an Appendix:

(a) The NOAA award number, amount and period of support;

(b) The title of the project;

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/ https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/atn/

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(c) Summary of the results of the completed work, including, for a research project, any contribution to the development of human resources in science/biology;

(d) Publications resulting from the award (Reprints may be submitted, and are requested, for documentation if applicable);

(e) Brief description of available data, samples, physical collections and other related research products not described elsewhere; and

(f) If the proposal is for renewed support, a description of how the completed work relates to the proposed work.

c. Total project costs and Budget Narrative: Total project costs are the amount of funds required to accomplish what is proposed in the Project Description.

Provide a detailed table with Budget Narrative (as an attachment not included in the page limits for the Project Narrative or Appendices) to support the requested items or activities (personnel/salaries, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contract costs (such as vessel charters), and indirect costs.) Supplies and equipment should be broken out in as much detail as possible. The budget table and narrative submitted with the application should match the dollar amounts on the SF-424 and SF-424A forms. If indirect costs are proposed, include a copy of the current Federally approved rate if applicable; see also Section IV.F.1. below. Additional cost detail may be required prior to a final analysis of overall cost allowability, allocability, and reasonableness.

Please note the following restrictions for salaries and fringe benefits:

Funds for salaries and fringe benefits may be requested only for those personnel who are directly involved in implementing the proposed project and whose salaries and fringe benefits are directly related to specific products or outcomes of the proposed project. Hourly rates and projected hours worked on the project and/or percentage of time and yearly salary should be included for all salary requests. Applicants are strongly encouraged to request reasonable amounts of funding for salaries and fringe benefits to ensure the proposal is competitive.

Proposals submitted in response to this Announcement must include a Data Management Plan (up to 2 pages). See Section VI.B., Administrative and National Policy Requirements, below for additional information on what the plan should contain.

Applicants are expected to design their proposals so that they minimize potential adverse impacts on the environment. Applications will be reviewed to ensure that they have sufficient environmental documentation to allow program staff to determine whether the proposal is categorically excluded from further analysis, covered under an existing programmatic analysis, or whether additional analysis is necessary in conformance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). See Section VI.B. of this Announcement for more information about NEPA. For those applications needing further analysis, affected applicants will be informed after the merit review stage and asked to assist by providing any information necessary to complete a draft Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement.

C. Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) Each applicant (unless the applicant is an individual or Federal awarding agency that is excepted from those requirements under 2 CFR 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the Federal awarding agency under 2 CFR 25.110(d)) is required to: (i) Be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) Provide a valid unique entity identifier (UEI) in its application; and (iii) Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. NOAA may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time NOAA is ready to make a Federal award, NOAA may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

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D. Submission Dates and Times Pre-proposals must be received via e-mail (to NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov) by 5:00 p.m.

Eastern Time on December 13, 2024. By January 31, 2025, NOAA will inform applicants, based upon their pre proposal, if the BREP encourages or discourages submission of a full proposal. All those who submit complete and timely pre-proposals and meet all requirements are eligible to submit a full proposal.

Full proposals must adhere to the following provisions and requirements and must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 21, 2025. Failure to follow these requirements will result in proposals being returned without review.Applications must follow the format described in this document and must be complete. For applications containing more than one project, each project must be identified individually using the format specified in this section. Applicants should not assume prior knowledge on the part of NMFS as to the relative merits of the project described in the application.

E. Intergovernmental Review Applications submitted by state and local governments are subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." Any applicant submitting an application for funding is required to complete item 16 on SF-424 regarding clearance by the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) established as a result of EO 12372.

To find out about and comply with a State's process under EO 12372, the names, addresses and phone numbers of participating SPOC's are listed in the Office of Management and Budget's home page at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_spoc.

F. Funding Restrictions

1. Indirect Cost Rates: f the applicant does not have a current negotiated rate and plans to seek reimbursement for indirect costs, documentation necessary to establish a rate must be submitted within 90 days of receiving an award to Raishan Adams, Grants Officer, NOAA Grants Management Division, raishan.adams@noaa.gov. In accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f), a recipient that does not have a current negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 15% of modified total direct costs (MTDC).

2. Allowable Costs: Funds awarded cannot necessarily pay for all the costs that the recipient might incur in the course of carrying out the project. Allowable costs are determined by reference to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements, codified at 2 C.F.R. Part 200. Generally, costs that are allowable include salaries, equipment, supplies, and training, as long as these are "necessary and reasonable."

G. Other Submission Requirements Applicant organizations must complete and maintain three registrations to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. These registrations includeSAM.gov,Grants.gov,and eRA Commons. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. The complete registration process for all three systems can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants should begin this activity as soon as possible. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions.

Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicant organizations must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov, if needed (refer to Section IV. Applications and Submission Information, Section C). Organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_spoc

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The first PD/PI listed on the application must include their eRA Commons ID in the"Credential, e.g. agency login" Applicant Identifier field on the SF424 form.Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the Applicant Identifier field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application.

Registration requirements NOTE: We strongly encourage all prospective applicants to begin required registrations as early as possible. Completing the required registrations can take six weeks or longer.

Submission due dates will not be extended because of registration delays. Submissions received after the due date will be considered late and will not be accepted.

Applicant organizations and individuals must register for three different Federal systems prior to submitting an application through Grants.gov (SAM.gov, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov). See below for more detailed information on each required registration process.

1. System for Award Management (SAM.gov) SAM.gov registration is required to do business with the U.S. government. After registering with SAM.gov, you will receive a 12-character Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) that you will use throughout the application process.

We recommend allowing at least three weeks for initial SAM.gov registrations and at least two weeks for SAM.gov registration renewals. Additional information on SAM.gov registration is available here: https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration You must update your SAM.gov registration any time your entity’s information changes. You must also renew and revalidate your entity’s SAM.gov registration at least every 12 months from the date you last certified to and submitted the registration. The renewal process may take up to two weeks. Your SAM.gov account’s primary point of contact will receive an email message alerting them to the renewal requirement at 60 days, 30 days, and 15 days prior to expiration. If you do not renew your registration by the deadline, it will expire.

2. eRA Commons After completing your SAM.gov registration and receiving your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), you must register with eRA Commons and create several required user accounts. NOAA uses eRA Commons to process grant applications and manage grant awards.

NOTE: eRA Commons requires applicants to create one ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE and two USER ACCOUNTS before submitting an application. These requirements are described in detail below.

We recommend allowing at least three weeks for eRA Commons registration. This process can be completed concurrently with your Grants.gov registration. Additional information on the eRA Commons registration process is available here:

https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training After creating an overall account for your “institution”, which may be for your organization or yourself as an individual, eRA Commons requires you to set up at least two user accounts:

one Signing Official (SO) account and one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account.

• The Signing Official (SO) user account must be assigned to an individual with signature authority to legally bind the organization in grants administration matters.

The SO will receive 4-5 emails throughout the registration process.

• The Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account must be assigned to an individual with primary responsibility for the project(s) described in the grant application. The eRA Commons User ID (Username) for the PD/PI must also be listed on the SF-424 form for item 4 (Applicant Identifier).

Your SO and PD/PI user accounts must be active before you submit an application. Both accounts can be assigned to the same individual if appropriate.

3. Grants.Gov After completing your SAM.gov registration and receiving your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), you must complete a one-time registration process with Grants.gov. Grants.gov is a government-wide portal used to solicit and accept grant applications.

https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration

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We recommend allowing at least two weeks for Grants.gov registration. This process can be completed concurrently with your eRA Commons registration. Additional information on the Grants.gov registration process is available here:

https://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration Submission Validation The Grants.gov and eRA Commons validation processes for a submitted application can take up to two business days after submission. Only validated applications are sent to NOAA to review. To ensure successful submission of an application, we strongly recommend that you submit a final and complete application at least two business days prior to the submission deadline.

Grants.gov and eRA Commons will not accept submissions if the applicant has not been authorized or if credentials are incorrect. Submissions may also be rejected if:

• The Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI)’s account username within eRA Commons is not provided on the SF-424 form for item 4 (Applicant Identifier).

• The Universal Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov is not provided on the SF-424 form for item 8.c (UEI).

• The Congressional District is not entered in the correct format on the SF-424 form for item 16 (Congressional Districts). The correct format is: [State Abbreviation]-[three digit district number]. For example, Virginia’s 1st Congressional District would be listed as VA-001.

• PDF files are not flattened. To flatten a fillable PDF, you can use the “Print to PDF” function from any web browser or PDF reader application.

• File sizes exceed 100 MB.

• Page sizes are greater than 8.5x11.

• File names exceed 50 characters (including spaces).

• File names include special characters.

After you submit your application, you will receive an automatic acknowledgment of receipt that contains a Grants.gov tracking number. This notification indicates receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by NOAA. Applications submitted through Grants.gov will be accompanied by FOUR automated responses (1-Grants.gov Submission Receipt; 2-Grants.gov Submission Validation Receipt for Application; 3-Grants.gov Grantor Agency Retrieval Receipt for Application; 4-Grants.gov Agency Tracking Number Assignment for Application).

In addition to the Grants.gov automated notification messages, you may receive automated email notifications of any errors or warnings identified by eRA Commons. You must resolve all eRA Commons errors prior to the application due date in order for the application to be processed.

Once an electronic application is accepted in eRA Commons, you will receive an additional automated notification that the completed application was received and that an application number will be assigned.

You should save and print the proof of submission messages from both Grants.gov and eRA Commons. If you do not receive an acceptance message from both Grants.gov and eRA Commons, you should follow up with the agency contact listed in VII to confirm NOAA’s receipt of the complete submission.

Permits and Approvals: It is the applicant’s responsibility to obtain all necessary Federal, State, and local government permits and approvals where necessary for the proposed work to be conducted. If applicable, documentation of requests or approvals of permits must be included in the proposal package as attachments or appendices.

https://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration

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Most projects involving directed or incidental impacts (i.e., introducing sound into an animal’s environment or employing gear that may entangle or injure) affecting marine mammals and species listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA may require permits or authorizations under section 101 or 104 of the MMPA and/or section 10 of the ESA (50 CFR 222.307 and 222.308). If an ESA permit covering the proposed activities has already been issued, the permit number must be provided in the application. Issuance of the necessary ESA and/or MMPA permit(s) or authorization(s) or evidence that the applicant has submitted a permit application is required in order for a proposal to be considered for funding. If the grant applicant is not the Principal Investigator (PI) or the permit holder, a copy of the authorization to work under the permit and/or a letter of support from the permit holder is required.

Timelines for processing ESA and MMPA permit applications can take upwards of one year.

Please consider this timing when putting together your application for funding. For further information on ESA and MMPA permit requirements and application procedures, contact the NMFS Office of Protected Resources Permits Division (301-427-8401) or see https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permits-and-forms#protected-resources.

H. Address for Submitting Proposals Preproposal Submission All pre-proposals must be submitted via electronic mail to the BREP Program Coordinator (NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov). You will receive acknowledgment of your pre-proposal submission via email within 48 hours. If you do not receive such an acknowledgment, please contact the BREP Program Coordinator to assure successful receipt.

Application Submission Only applicants that submit complete and timely pre-proposals AND complete and timely full proposals will have their proposals reviewed and evaluated.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications electronically (through http://www.grants.gov/). If an applicant has problems with Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support at 1- 800-518-4726 or support@Grants.gov. If you do not have internet access, an application package may be received by contacting:

Justin Pearce Office of Sustainable Fisheries 1315 East-West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-427-8521 or via email:

NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permits-and-forms#protected-resources http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:support@Grants.gov mailto:NMFS.HQ.BREP@noaa.gov

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Important: All applicants, both electronic and paper, should be aware that adequate time must be factored into applicant schedules for delivery of the application. Electronic applicants are advised that volume on Grants.gov may be extremely heavy, and if Grants.gov is unable to accept applications electronically in a timely fashion, applicants are encouraged to exercise their option to submit applications in paper format. Paper applicants should allow adequate time to ensure a paper application will be received on time, taking into account that guaranteed overnight carriers are not always able to fulfill their guarantees.