Foa_Content_of_NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2026-33781.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 Habitat Conservation Program Office (HCPO)

Funding Opportunity Title DARRP Restoration Implementation Grants (2026)

Announcement Type Competitive

Funding Opportunity Number

NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2026-33781

Assistance Listing Number(s) 11.463

Dates Applications must be postmarked, provided to a delivery service, or received by www.grants.gov by 11:59 PM EST on November 18th, 2026. Use of a delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted.

Funding Opportunity Description The principal objective of the Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program (DARRP) Restoration Implementation Grants is for NOAA to collaborate with non-federal partners to implement marine and coastal habitat restoration and conservation in order to accomplish common goals related to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and other natural resource damages. Successful applicants will support and implement restoration activities authorized under the Oil Pollution Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Clean Water Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and other federal agencies' authorities related to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and natural resource damages, such as the RESTORE Act. Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be for those capable of implementing restoration and conservation activities across a wide geographic scale.

http://www.grants.gov/

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Restoration activities may include actions that rebuild productive and sustainable fisheries; contribute to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species; and improve economic vitality, including local employment. Recipients will be implementing activities identified in consent decrees or natural resource damage assessment and restoration plans, and may be developing or soliciting projects to meet restoration goals. This may include recipients reviewing restoration plans and: collaborating with the trustee to select activities to be contracted or sub-awarded by the recipient; collaborating with the trustee to select projects for which the recipient has direct implementation responsibility; competition management to sub- award projects; and implementing pre- and post-restoration project evaluation and monitoring. Projects may also include restoration planning and technique development activities that further the mutual interests of DARRP and of funding recipient partners, such as environmental compliance analyses or restoration planning for potential, future incidents.

Applications selected for funding through this solicitation will be funded through cooperative agreements.

As individual settlements and restoration plans can have funds committed for multiple decades into the future, the activities established under this competition may have long term planning goals and objectives common to the programmatic needs of both NOAA and the recipients. As such, the intent of the DARRP is to maintain a long-term partnership with recipients by establishing cooperative agreements in relevant situations as “institutional awards”. If a cooperative agreement is established as an institutional award, the initial cooperative agreement will be established for no more than five years and NOAA may issue new cooperative agreements to the recipient for similar or related activities through a non-competitive selection process based on the results of periodic independent merit reviews to validate the effectiveness and continued desirability of the use of institutional awards for the program.

Funding is expected to be provided on an as-available basis to maintain the initial cooperative agreement for up to five years, and is dependent upon the level of funding made available by trustee councils and NOAA. Total anticipated funding for initial cooperative agreements under this competition is up to $100 million. NOAA anticipates that a typical, awarded cooperative agreement will range from $2.5 million to $50 million, with a maximum award of $100 million. NOAA will not accept proposals with a first year budget less than $500,000 or more than $20 million under this solicitation.

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, non-profits, and commercial (for-profit) organizations. Applications from federal, state, or tribal governments will not be considered, due to their potential role as trustee council members. Applications from local governments will only be considered if they identify potential large scale restoration opportunities based on current or anticipated restoration plans. Applications from individuals or employees of federal agencies will not be considered. Non-eligible organizations are encouraged to work with those that are eligible to apply.

Full Text of Announcement I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Program Objective The principal objective of the Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program (DARRP) Restoration Implementation Grants is for NOAA to collaborate with non-federal partners to implement marine and coastal habitat restoration and conservation in order to accomplish common goals related to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and other natural resource damages. Successful applicants will support and implement restoration activities authorized under the Oil Pollution Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Clean Water Act; and other federal agencies' authorities related to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and natural resource damages, such as the RESTORE Act.NOAA acts as a trustee on behalf of the public to protect and restore coastal and marine resources. NOAA established the DARRP in 1992 after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The DARRP provides technical and legal expertise within NOAA to protect and restore injured natural resources. These Restoration Implementation Grants will be administered by the NOAA Restoration Center:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/habitat-conservation/how-we-restore.

http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/

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NOAA’s DARRP has worked to restore natural resources harmed by oil spills and releases of hazardous waste. NOAA works with responsible parties (the individuals, companies, or government agencies responsible for an oil spill or hazardous substance release), and trustee councils (teams of state, tribal, and other federal agencies) to respond to a specific spill or release. If an incident diminishes the services that natural resources provide, including human services (e.g., fishing, boating, beach-going, and wildlife viewing) and ecological services (e.g., providing habitat, nutrient cycling, and energy transfer through food webs), the co- trustees will seek to recover funds from responsible parties in order to implement projects to restore those lost services. NOAA and co-trustees have recovered more than $10.8 billion since 1992 from responsible parties to protect and restore coastal resources, including migratory fish, marine mammals, wetlands, reefs, and other coastal habitats.

Applicants selected through this NOFO will be those capable of identifying, selecting, implementing and overseeing restoration activities across a wide geographic scale to meet restoration goals common to NOAA and the applicant. This may include implementing activities identified in natural resource damage assessment and restoration plans, or developing or soliciting projects to meet restoration goals.

Project identification may include recipients, in collaboration with NOAA and trustees, reviewing established restoration plans and developing restoration planning activities. Project selection may include collaborating with NOAA and trustees to select activities to be sub-awarded by the recipient (e.g., competition management to sub-award projects); and collaborating with NOAA and trustees to select projects for which the recipient has direct implementation responsibility. Project implementation may include direct implementation by the recipient, or by the recipient administering a contract or sub- award.

Project oversight may include pre- and post-restoration project evaluation and monitoring and financial and project oversight of activities, contracts and sub-awards while the project is ongoing. Projects may also include restoration planning activities that further the mutual interests of DARRP and of funding recipient partners, such as environmental compliance analyses or restoration planning for potential, future incidents. Selected applicants will not become trustee council members. More information about DARRP is available at: http://www.darrp.noaa.gov.

Selected applications may be designated as “institutional awards.” As individual settlements and restoration plans can have funds committed for multiple decades into the future, the activities established under this competition may have long term planning goals and objectives common to the programmatic needs of both NOAA and the recipients. As such, the intent of the DARRP is to maintain a long-term partnership with recipients by establishing the option for cooperative agreements to be “institutional awards.” Institutional award recipients under this competition will be able to apply for future awards for related or similar activities on a non-competitive basis if the results of periodic independent merit reviews validate the effectiveness and continued desirability of the use of institutional awards for the program.

B. Program Priorities NOAA will support Restoration Implementation Grants in order to implement marine and coastal habitat restoration and conservation, including activities that offset injuries related to specific releases of oil or hazardous substances, and other natural resource damages. NOAA and its co-trustees seek to develop and implement plans and projects to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the injured natural resources and services under their trusteeship. Examples of past project types that the selected applicant may need to oversee include: habitat restoration or creation, habitat protection, species protection, public access to coastal properties, land acquisition, removal of debris and grounded vessels, removal of invasive/exotic species, enhancing species reproduction, stocking and transplanting target species, and recreational and educational projects. Specifically, actions may include restoration of wetlands and reefs, floodplains and streams, sea grasses, corals, and other fish or shellfish and their habitats, as well as restoring bird and other wildlife populations.

The program priorities for this opportunity primarily support NOAA's "Ecosystems" mission goal of "Protect, Restore, and Manage Use of Coastal and Ocean Resources through Ecosystem-Based Management."

http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/

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1. Desirable Recipient Capabilities Selected Restoration Implementation Grants are expected to thoroughly address the Evaluation Criteria (Section V.A.) below, and the capabilities outlined in this section. Restoration Implementation Grant applications that incorporate a combination of the capabilities identified below will be a higher priority for funding consideration. NOAA seeks recipients that:

Demonstrate Experience and Technical Knowledge of Marine and Coastal Resources, Restoration Activities and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Process:

• Organizational commitment to achieving marine and coastal conservation and restoration goals related to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and other natural resource damages;

• Ability to work across a wide variety of geographies and habitat types;

• Ability to work, and experience working, with a broad array of partners, including trustee councils, state agencies, and federal agencies;

• Ability to solicit restoration projects based on typical NRDA criteria: technical feasibility;

extent to which the projects meet goals and objectives the recipient shares with the trustees, that is, in returning the injured natural resources and services to baseline conditions; and/or compensating for interim service losses; likelihood of success of each project; extent to which each project will prevent future injury as a result of the incident, and avoid or minimize collateral injury as a result of implementing a project;

extent to which each project benefits more than one natural resource and/or human or ecological service; cost effectiveness; and effect of each project on public health and safety; and

• Ability to evaluate project success in collaboration with the relevant trustee council.

Project evaluation and/or monitoring may be conducted by the successful applicant, or be sub-awarded.

Demonstrate Effective Ability to Manage Funds:

• Existing staff with federal funds management experience;

• Organizational history of federal funds management and clean audits;

• Ability to scale administrative costs to maximize restoration (see Evaluation Criteria

Section V.A.); and

• Ability to maintain an administrative record to document expenditures of federally awarded funds.

Demonstrate Capacity to Manage Multiple Projects and Sub-awards:

• Manage multiple restoration projects (e.g., 5 - 10 new projects per year) at a variety of scales (typically $100,000-$3,000,000);

• Complete reporting requirements in a timely fashion, as well as other award conditions;

and

Document Experience in Soliciting Projects:

• Ability to solicit proposals through a competitive process; and

• Encourage potential applicants in local communities to respond to Requests for

Proposals (RFPs).

2. Examples of Existing Injuries and Areas under Active Restoration

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The following are examples of past injuries that have occurred and related Restoration Plans that could result in projects to be funded through this grant. Please also see the NOAA DARRP website for Restoration Plan details as well as other examples (http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/).

Applicants should be able to demonstrate shared conservation and restoration goals, and be capable of implementing actions and overseeing sub-awards in response to a range of injuries similar to those outlined in the cases below, with priority being placed on organizations with the widest geographic reach.

Northeast

Cornell-Dubilier: Cornell-Dubilier Electronics, Inc. manufactured electronic components on a 26-acre property in South Plainfield, NJ from 1936 to 1962. PCBs, metals, and other hazardous substances were released into the surrounding environment, including a stream on the property which flows into Bound Brook, a tributary of the Lower Raritan River, which ultimately discharges to Raritan Bay. PCBs and other hazardous substances have contaminated soils, surface water, sediments, fish, and groundwater at the Cornell-Dubilier site. Impacts extend throughout the Bound Brook corridor, including forested wetlands, marshes, and floodplain soils. Due to elevated levels of PCBs, the state of New Jersey issued a fish consumption advisory along the entire length of Bound Brook and its tributaries. The advisory, banning the consumption of all species of fish has been in effect since 1997. More than $27 million has been recovered from the potentially responsible parties in compensation for injuries to natural resources due to contamination from the Cornell-Dubilier facility. In October 2021, NOAA and co-trustees released a Restoration Plan that identifies appropriate restoration projects throughout the Raritan River watershed. Potential projects could include dam removal/fish passage to restore anadromous fish populations, riparian and wetland restoration, and recreational use improvements.

Southeast

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf America. The explosion caused the rig to sink and started a catastrophic oil leak from the well. Before it was capped three months later, approximately 134 million gallons of oil had spilled into the Gulf, the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The trustees assessed injuries to natural resources—such as fish, bottom-dwelling organisms, nearshore ecosystems, birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals—and lost recreation resulting from the spill. On April 4, 2016, the court approved a settlement with BP for natural resource injuries stemming from the spill. The trustees are now planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration as laid out in the final comprehensive restoration plan. Restoration projects are selected through Restoration Plans developed by seven Trustee Implementation Groups and posted to the Trustees’ website (www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov). NOAA is the lead implementing Trustee for over 50 approved restoration and monitoring projects, which include coastal habitat construction, restoration for marine mammals, sea turtles, and mesophotic and deep benthic communities, and regional-scale monitoring and assessment activities.

http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/)

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Northwest / Alaska Selendang Ayu: The M/V Selendang Ayu vessel grounded on December 8, 2004 in rough seas off Unalaska Island, Alaska. Following attempted rescue operations, the M/V Selendang Ayu broke in half, resulting in the immediate release of approximately 350,000 gallons of oil. A Restoration Plan was released September 2025 that focuses on the restoration of shoreline habitats, including gravel beaches, rocky shores, vegetated habitats, and stream channels and flats. The identified restoration project – the Aleutian Watch Program and Communication Upgrades Project - would support four inter-related efforts aimed at preventing future oil spills by providing upgrades to existing infrastructure and establishing new programs that are above and beyond what is currently in place. The efforts would include 1) Communication upgrades by increasing transmission capabilities at up to six existing Marine Safety Sites (MSS); 2) Administrative staffing to develop a communications plan and database for vessels in innocent passage status; 3) Establish the Aleutian Watch Program, a 24-hour dedicated watch of and automatic identification system (AIS)-transmitted vessel locations; 4) Maintain and enhance the operations of the Aleutian Islands Waterway Safety Committee. [Additional restoration activities to address remaining injuries may be proposed in future Restoration Plans.]

Lower Duwamish River: The waterfront of downtown Seattle is situated along Elliott Bay and the Lower Duwamish River. These two water bodies receive most of the stormwater runoff from 67 square kilometers of metropolitan Seattle and have become increasingly degraded by channelization and multiple industrial facilities. What was once a wide meandering river with thousands of acres of mudflats is now a highly industrialized area including port facilities, manufacturing plants, chemical and solid waste recycling companies, ship repair yards, and numerous city combined sewer overflows. Contaminants of concern include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, pesticides, dioxins/furans. The resources at risk include flatfish, salmon and steelhead. In particular, the Chinook salmon and steelhead are listed as threatened under the ESA. To date, more than $30 million in settlements has resulted in 15 restoration projects; and additional funds remain to establish a stewardship program for restoration in the bay.

Southwest

Refugio: The Refugio Trustee Council was established in response to the 2015 pipeline rupture involving a pipeline owned and operated by Plains All American Pipeline, which occurred near Refugio State Beach. This incident resulted in the spillage of over 100,000 gallons of crude oil, a significant portion of which entered the ocean via a storm drain and a ravine beneath the freeway. A settlement of $22.3 million was achieved for the restoration of natural resources that incurred damage, including shoreline habitats, marine mammals, subtidal habitats, and recreational use. NOAA serves as the lead implementing Trustee, managing over $8 million in restoration funds allocated to the Abalone Restoration Project, the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Project, the Whale Disentanglement Project, and the Santa Monica Dune Restoration Project.

3. Areas of Highlighted Expertise

In establishing these Restoration Implementation Grants, NOAA seeks to support recipients’ restoration-related efforts and to collaborate with recipients to meet multiple trustee council priorities through the desirable capabilities stated above (see Section I.B). Restoration Implementation Grant applicants may highlight their expertise in areas such as geographic reach and specific locations, target habitats or coastal communities, project sizes, long-term ecological monitoring or site maintenance, or specific natural resources (i.e. fish, marine mammals, birds, corals).

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NOAA intends to select one or more Restoration Implementation Grants applications in anticipation of needs related to existing injuries (see Section I.B.2) and past experience with injuries under the Oil Pollution Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Clean Water Act; and other federal agencies' authorities. In addition to considering where existing injuries and restoration needs exist, NOAA intends to select the fewest applicants necessary to fulfill the program priorities described in this NOFO to best ensure administrative costs are minimized while still maintaining a high level of preparedness for future unknown injuries. Once applications are approved by NOAA's Grants Management Division, NOAA will distribute funds based on the needs identified by NOAA, trustee councils, and the highlighted areas of expertise stated by the Restoration Implementation Grant recipients. Consequently, funds may not be distributed equally between award recipients.

C. Program Authority The Secretary of Commerce is authorized under the following statutes to provide grants and cooperative agreements for habitat restoration and conservation: Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 16 U.S.C. 661, as amended by the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970; Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, 16 U.S.C. 1891a; and Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1535.

In addition, restoration activities authorized under the Oil Pollution Act, 33 U.S.C. 2701; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42. U.S.C. 9601; Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C.

1251; and other federal agencies' authorities related to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and natural resource damages may arise under this program, such as the RESTORE Act, 33 U.S.C 1321(t).

II. Award Information A. Funding Availability Funding is expected to be provided on an as-available basis to maintain the initial cooperative agreement for up to five years, and is dependent upon the level of funding made available by trustee councils and NOAA. Total anticipated funding for initial cooperative agreements under this competition is up to $100 million. NOAA anticipates that a typical, awarded cooperative agreement will range from $2.5 million to $50 million. NOAA does not anticipate accepting proposals under this solicitation with a first-year budget less than $500,000 or more than $20 million, and with a total five-year budget less than $2.5 million or more than $100 million.

Any funds provided to successful applicants will be at the discretion of NOAA as described in Sections V.

and VI. of this Announcement. For reference, between FY07 and FY25, the NOAA Restoration Center used grants to provide over $125 million to implement projects selected by over 20 trustee councils and implementation groups. There is no guarantee that sufficient funds will be available to make awards for all top-ranked Restoration Implementation Grants applications. The number of awards to be made as a result of this solicitation will depend on the number of eligible applications received, the areas of expertise proposed by the applicants, the merit and ranking of the applications, and the financial amount of damages anticipated based on documented natural resource injuries at the time of award selection.

The exact amount of funds that may be awarded will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA representatives, and multi-year funding requests are expected to be funded on an as-available basis. Publication of this document does not obligate NOAA to award any specific project or obligate all or any portion of any available funds. In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for application preparation costs if programs fail to receive funding or are cancelled because of other agency priorities.

B. Project/Award Period Applications should cover a project period of five budget years. Award start dates will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA. The earliest start date for Restoration Implementation Grant awards is anticipated to be June 1, 2027. As described in Section II.A. Funding Availability, funding from NOAA will be provided on an incremental basis within the five-year project period.

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Pre-award costs will be considered during pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA.

Incurring pre-award costs before NOAA GMD provides an award document is at the applicant's own risk.

Permission to extend the period of performance beyond that stated in award documentation should be requested in writing at least 60 days in advance of an award's expiration date. Instructions will be provided in award conditions. Once Restoration Implementation Grant funds are awarded, recipients will not need to compete for funding in subsequent years within the timeframe of the award. NOAA expects to, but is not obligated to, provide additional funding in connection with awarded grants in subsequent years. A recommendation to NOAA GMD to continue an award in subsequent years, to extend the period of performance, or to determine annual Restoration Implementation Grants funding levels is at the discretion of the Selecting Official (SO), per Section II.A, above.

Receipt of funding increments is contingent upon the availability of additional funds, satisfactory performance, continued relevance to program objectives, and will be at the sole discretion of the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce is not liable for any obligations, expenditures, or commitments which involve any amount in excess of the Federal amount obligated. The recipient will be responsible for any and all termination costs it may incur should prospective funding not become available. No legal liability will exist or result on the part of the Federal Government for payment of any portion of the remaining funds that are not made available under the award. Notifications affecting funding or notice of non-availability of additional funding for prospective years will be made only by the Grants Officer.

NOAA anticipates reviewing the grant program within five years to validate the effectiveness and continued desirability of the use of institutional awards and may elect to continue the program issuing non-competitive award(s), hold a competition, revise the program, or discontinue the program.

C. Type of Funding Instrument The words “grant” and “cooperative agreement” are used interchangeably in this announcement for convenience. However, the funding instrument between NOAA and a selected funding recipient will be a cooperative agreement. A “cooperative agreement” is distinguished from a grant in 2 C.F.R. Sec. 200.1 meaning that NOAA expects to be substantially involved in many aspects of the awards. Substantial involvement may include, but is not limited to, participation by NOAA Fisheries staff (e.g. NOAA technical monitor and federal program officer), such as collaboration on the scope of work including restoration site selection, providing assistance with technical aspects of the program, review and comment on strategies and plans, review and comment on proposed subawards, review of procurement materials to the extent authorized by 2 C.F.R. Sec. 200.325, and tracking the progress towards the successful completion of the program and its related projects. This participation may occur in meetings and via emails between the recipient, sub-recipients and NOAA Fisheries. General DARRP partnership process guidance materials will be provided by the FPO to each recipient.

As previously described, successful applications may be designated as “institutional award” cooperative agreements.

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, non-profits, and commercial (for-profit) organizations. Applications from federal, state, or tribal governments will not be considered, due to their potential role as trustee council members. Applications from local governments will only be considered if they identify potential large scale restoration opportunities based on current or anticipated restoration plans. Applications from individuals or employees of federal agencies will not be considered. Non-eligible organizations are encouraged to work with those that are eligible to apply. Organizations with a financial relationship or other conflict with a responsible party may apply, but financial or organizational participation may not be feasible if conflicts of interest are not effectively addressed by recusal, mitigation, divestiture, or other action.

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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).

Registration Requirements: 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 required registrations. If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in this NOFO for submission instructions.

B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement Matching funds are not required. Applicants who contribute funds that could be counted as cost share, including waiving receipt of Federal funds for all or part of their Federally approved indirect costs, can document those funds as “leverage.” Leveraged funds will not be included in the award documentation as official match.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility NOAA does not anticipate accepting applications requesting less than $2.5 million or more than $100 million in federal funds from NOAA under this solicitation. Applications must be submitted by the due date and time provided in Section IV.D. Late applications will not be considered for funding. Submission time will be documented by electronic submission to Grants.gov, a U.S. Postal Service postmark, or a delivery service receipt. Information regarding electronic submission through Grants.gov is contained in Section IV.G. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted. Applications submitted via the U.S. Postal Service must have an official postmark; private metered postmarks are not acceptable.

Applications received later than seven (7) business days following the closing date will not be accepted.

All applications MUST contain ALL required forms; if these forms are not signed via the www.Grants.gov application process, they MUST be signed in ink (SF-424, SF-424b, CD-511). Failure to submit necessary signed forms shall result in disqualification from this competition.

IV. Application and Submission Information A. Address to Request Application Package Complete application packages, including required federal forms and instructions, and Supplemental Guidance for Prospective Applicants can be found on Grants.gov (www.grants.gov). If a prospective applicant is having difficulty downloading the application forms from Grants.gov, contact Grants.gov Customer Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application Applicants should apply through the Grants.gov website (www.grants.gov). A complete standard NOAA grant application package should be submitted in accordance with the guidelines in this document. Each application must include the application forms from the SF-424 form family:

• Application for Federal Assistance: SF-424 (7-97 version or newer)

• Budget Information for Non-construction Programs: SF-424A (prior to award, an SF- 424A for each year of funding will be required)

• Assurances for Non-construction Programs: SF-424B

• Certification Regarding Lobbying: CD-511

• Disclosure of Lobbying Activities: SF-LLL (if applicable) http://www.Grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:support@grants.gov

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In addition to the Federal application forms, NOAA recommends the following as part of a complete application package: (1) Summary, Narrative, and Data Management Plan; (2) Detailed Budget Justification; and (3) Supplemental Information. Applications submitted through the www.Grants.gov website should include a maximum of these three files (PDF files only; page limits assume a 12-point font and 1-inch margins).

1. Summary, Narrative, and Data Management Plan:

Summary (2 pages)

• Applicant Organization

• Restoration Implementation Grants Title

• Restoration Implementation Grants Areas of Expertise – Describe organizational commitment to achieving marine and coastal conservation and restoration goals related to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, and other natural resource damages. Also, state any and all highlighted areas of expertise as described in Sec. I.B.3.

• Project Identification, Selection, Implementation, and Oversight- Briefly describe the process that will be used to identify, select, implement and oversee projects. Project identification may include recipients, in collaboration with NOAA and trustees, reviewing established restoration plans and developing restoration planning activities, such as environmental compliance analyses or restoration planning for potential, future incidents. Project selection many include collaborating with NOAA and trustees to select activities to be sub-awarded by the recipient (e.g., competition management to sub-award projects); and collaborating with NOAA and trustees to select projects for which the recipient has direct implementation responsibility. Project implementation may include direct implementation by the recipient or by the recipient administering a contract or subaward, and may include meeting National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements as defined in V.D.4. Project oversight may include pre- and post-restoration project evaluation and monitoring; and financial and project oversight of activities, contracts and subawards while the project is ongoing. Please include a proposed timeline for project identification, selection, implementation and oversight.

• Example of Funds Management Capabilities - Provide one or two examples of significant awards that your organization has managed. Significance can be determined by the amount of award, complexity of the restoration project(s), importance of the effort, or for a reason of your choosing.

• Summary of Award Management Experience - State the total amount of funds that your organization has managed over the past five years and include the number of projects that those funds supported.

• Federal Funds Requested

• Letters of Support - List those included with the application.

Narrative (10 pages)

The Restoration Implementation Grants narrative should closely follow the organization of the evaluation criteria (see Section V.A Evaluation Criteria) for the application to receive a consistent review. The narrative should:

• Include a description of the applicant's relevant experience and technical capacity related to Program Priorities in Section I.B;

• Include any assumptions your organization has made related to the total funding available and the number of sub-awards to be managed;

• Process for Project Identification, Selection, Implementation, and Oversight - In detail, describe the process that will be used to identify, select, implement and oversee projects; and http://www.Grants.gov/

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• Projects and Detailed Work Plans – if the recipient has identified specific proposed project(s) or activity(ies) for implementation, summaries of the projects can be provided in the Narrative and detailed Work Plans.

• Note: this is optional as specific projects may also be developed in collaboration with NOAA Fisheries staff during the negotiation process.]

• Work Plans should be developed for specific projects from Restoration Plans that the recipient is proposing to implement

• The Work Plan should include the following information: Purpose, start/end dates, description of actions including goals and milestones, subawards and contracts, expected outcomes and monitoring plan, timeline, environmental compliance plan, points of contact, and a complete budget which must follow NOAAs Restoration Center Budget Narrative Guidance (pages 10-20, see link in Budget section below)

• Respond to all the Evaluation Criteria (below), focusing particular attention on the highest-weighted criteria.

Data Management and Sharing Plan (2 pages)

Proposals submitted in response to this NOFO should include a Data Management Plan of up to two pages describing how data management requirements will be satisfied. For additional details on Data Sharing Plan requirements, see section VI.B – Data Sharing Plan.

The following template may be used to satisfy the Data Management Plan requirement.

Template

The [project name (award #)], implemented by [applicant name] will generate environmental data and information, including [type(s) of data that will be collected]. Datasets will include [additional detail regarding data collection methods, quality control and metadata]. Data will be collected by [person/group collecting data] according to the procedures described in [application/manual/published article], and stored [location/method of data storage]. The data will be available [where/how] starting on [date no later than two years after data collected/created]. In the past, we have shared similar data by [past data sharing methods, if any]. All future sub-awardees not identified in this plan will have as a condition of their contract acceptance of this data sharing plan. Contact [name] at [phone/email] for more information.

2. Budget Justification:

The narrative budget justification must include a detailed breakdown by cost categories matching those found in the SF-424A form as they relate to specific aspects of the project, with appropriate narrative justification. While an SF-424A for each of the anticipated five years of work is required, NOAA does not expect the description of expenditures to change significantly between funding years, and recommends a full narrative for the first year, accompanied by a table that shows how costs might increase in future years (e.g., annual salary and benefits increases). Additional budget development guidance is available on page 10 of the Supplemental Application Guidance Document: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/Supplemental-Application-Instructions-and-Budget-Guidance.pdf#page=10

The NOAA Restoration Center and Grants Management Division staff will review budget information for recommended applications to determine if costs are allowable, allocable, reasonable, and realistic. The narrative budget justification should be sufficiently detailed to enable a clear understanding of the cost breakdown and calculations used to derive the line-item subtotals in each object class of the 424A budget form.

3. Supplemental information (not to exceed 40 pages):

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/Supplemental-Application-Instructions-and-Budget-Guidance.pdf#page=11 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/Supplemental-Application-Instructions-and-Budget-Guidance.pdf#page=11 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/Supplemental-Application-Instructions-and-Budget-Guidance.pdf#page=10 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/Supplemental-Application-Instructions-and-Budget-Guidance.pdf#page=10

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Supplemental information may include brief curriculum vitae or resume for up to five (5) key Restoration Implementation Grants personnel (maximum of 1 page per person); and any other relevant supporting materials such as letters of support, indirect cost rate agreements, restoration planning or prioritization documents, Work Plans, etc.

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.

No reference to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) questionnaire is required in the proposal.

C. Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) To enable the use of a universal identifier and to enhance the quality of information available to the public as required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, 31 U.S.C. 6101 note, to the extent applicable, any proposal awarded in response to this announcement will be required to use the System for Award Management (SAM), which may be accessed online at SAM.gov.

SAM.gov registration is required to do business with the U.S. government. Applicant organizations must first register with SAM.gov and obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) that will be used throughout the application process. 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. After you obtain your UEI, you can complete your Grants.gov and eRA Commons registrations concurrently. Additional information on SAM.gov registration is available here:

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

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.

D. Submission Dates and Times Applications must be postmarked, provided to a delivery service, or received by www.grants.gov by 11:59 PM EST on November 18, 2026. Use of a delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted.

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 19 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, contact the official listed in Section VII of this announcement for referral information.

F. Funding Restrictions There are no explicit funding restrictions on these projects.

G. Other Submission Requirements https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration

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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. Additional information on the grant application process an associated webinar is available here:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/funding-financial-services/grant-application-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/key-initiatives/gems/register-your-organization-era-commons

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 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/funding-financial-services/grant-application-process https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/key-initiatives/gems/register-your-organization-era-commons https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/key-initiatives/gems/register-your-organization-era-commons

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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.

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.

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