hw-consortium-grant-rfp.pdf

Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds

Funding Opportunity Title: Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant

Announcement Type: Request for Proposals (RFP)

Catalog of Domestic Assistance Number: 66.441

Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-OW-OWOW-14-03

Dates: Proposals must be received in hard copy by the Agency Contact (See Section IV of this RFP) by 4:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST) January 5, 2015 or by electronic submission through Grants.gov by 11:59 P.M. EST January 5, 2015. Late proposals will not be considered for funding. Questions about this RFP must be submitted in writing via e-mail and must be received by the Agency Contact identified in

Section VII by December 4, 2014. Written responses will be posted on EPA’s website at: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/consortiumgrant.cfm.

Following EPA’s evaluation of proposals, all applicants will be notified regarding their status. Final applications will be requested from the eligible entity whose proposal has been successfully evaluated and preliminarily recommended for award. The entity will be provided with instructions and a due date for submittal of the final application package.

Note to Applicants: If you name subawardees/sub-grantees and/or contractor(s) in your proposal to assist you with the proposed project, pay careful attention to the information in the CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS provision found at http://www.epa.gov/ogd/competition/solicitation_provisions.htm.

SUMMARY

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting proposals from eligible applicants to manage the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant. The objective of the

Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant is to accelerate and expand the strategic protection of healthy freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds across the country. The grant program will advance the protection of healthy watersheds by supporting an array of projects that assess, identify, communicate the value, and demonstrate protection of these watersheds.

This RFP sets forth a process that will be used to competitively select a grant recipient who will administer a subaward program on a competitive basis to meet expected

Healthy Watershed Program (HWP) environmental results. EPA plans to award one assistance agreement under this announcement and is soliciting proposals to fund an eligible applicant to manage the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant. For the purposes of this program, a consortium is one entity who is linked with or in a http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/consortiumgrant.cfm http://www.epa.gov/ogd/competition/solicitation_provisions.htm collaborative partnership with other groups or organizations having similar healthy watersheds protection goals that are also providing support to the HWP. EPA envisions a highly leveraged Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant with multiple partners that provide leveraged funds beyond the cost share/match requirements of this RFP. The recipient will manage the assistance agreement including bringing together partners and providing subawards to eligible subawardees.

Specifically, EPA is soliciting proposals from eligible applicants to:

1. Prepare and advertise a Request for Proposals (RFP), establish review criteria and expert panels for evaluating and selecting subawardee proposals, and make subawards to support the goals of the HWP;

2. Oversee and monitor subawardees for successful completion of healthy watershed program development and local demonstration/training projects;

3. Provide technical support to subawardees through peer-to-peer outreach for interstate, state, tribal, basin-scale, or regional-scale healthy watershed plan or strategy development, assessments, and local demonstration/training projects. Conduct two national meetings for subawardees for the purpose of providing an opportunity for subawardees to learn from each other;

4. Qualitatively and quantitatively measure and report the outputs and outcomes of the environmental results of the healthy watersheds projects accomplished through the subawards;

5. Develop a strategy through partnerships, networking and facilitating the consortium to promote, grow, and sustain the Consortium, including program development and advancing protection over the life of the cooperative agreement; and

6. Communicate the successes of the subaward projects and the healthy watersheds protection approach through written documents such as fact sheets and media outlets such as press releases, blogs, and websites.

The competitive subaward must be national in scale allowing for subaward proposals for projects from across the 50 United States, Tribal Lands, the District of Columbia, and

U.S. Territories.

Funding provided under this announcement supports Goal 2 of the Fiscal Year (FY)

2014-2018 EPA Strategic Plan - Protecting America’s Waters: Protect and Restore

Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems. EPA’s Strategic Plan is available at http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.

Eligible applicants under this RFP are non-profit, non-governmental organizations, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia which are capable of undertaking activities http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan that advance healthy watershed programs on a national basis.1 The term "interstate agency" is defined in CWA Section 502 as "an agency of two or more States established by or pursuant to an agreement or compact approved by the Congress, or any other agency of two or more States, having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the control of pollution as determined and approved by the Administrator." Intertribal consortia must meet the requirements of 40 CFR Part 35.504.

While non-profit private universities and colleges and non-profit institutions of higher education are considered non-profit organizations, they are ineligible under this announcement. Individual states, tribes, local governments, and for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply under this announcement. Non-profit organizations described in

Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply under this announcement.

The total federal amount of funding to be available under this announcement is approximately $3,750,000, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of proposals received, and other applicable considerations. It is anticipated that one cooperative agreement will be incrementally funded under this announcement over a six-year project period, at an average of $625,000 per year. EPA will fund a maximum of 75 percent of the total project cost (see Section III.B for information on the minimum non-federal 25 percent cost share/match requirement).

Funding for each subaward is expected to be in the range of $50,000 to $150,000.

Applicants may identify a slightly different range for each subaward as part of their proposal narrative. The subawards funded under the cooperative agreement must be completed prior to the end of the cooperative agreement project period. The subawards need to be completed in sufficient time for the recipient to, for example, aggregate results and ensure that subawardees have been reimbursed for all incurred costs. In addition to the cost share/match requirements, EPA envisions additional leveraging from project partners and/or subawardees.

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. BACKGROUND

The objective of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) is to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters." Significant progress has been made in cleaning up polluted waters in the United States as a result of CWA requirements. Recently, protection of healthy waters has become an integral component of EPA’s Non-Point Source Control Section 319 grant guidance and a component of the

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. Despite these efforts, there continues to

1 In accordance with the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act at 31 USC Sec. 6101, the term “nonprofit organization” means “any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization that - (A) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public interest; (B) is not organized primarily for profit; and (C) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operations of the organization.”

be the loss of remaining healthy aquatic ecosystems. EPA’s HWP takes a proactive, holistic approach to protecting aquatic ecosystems. The overarching goals of the HWP are to maintain existing healthy watersheds and increase their numbers over time and to raise the visibility and importance of protecting high quality waters. The HWP is focused on protecting freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds holistically as dynamic systems interconnected in the landscape. Protecting healthy watersheds maintains the resilience of aquatic ecosystems to climate change. Intact natural systems are more resilient because base flows are preserved during periods of drought, impacts of floods are mitigated through storage of surface and ground water in floodplains and wetlands, riparian corridors allow for species migration, and carbon is sequestered in the natural land cover. For additional background on the HWP, please refer to:

http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm .

The HWP promotes a strategic, systems approach to identify and protect healthy watersheds based on integrated assessments of habitat, biotic communities, water chemistry, and watershed processes such as hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, and natural disturbance regimes. These integrated assessments can range from table-top synthesis of GIS-based and other data to more in depth assessments that include data integration, synthesis and modeling. For examples of integrated assessments, please refer to: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm. and http://ecosystems.usgs.gov/fishhabitat. Once healthy watersheds or healthy components of watersheds are identified, priorities can be set for protection and restoration/enhancement, with the best chances of recovery likely to be in waters near existing healthy ecosystems.

While the HWP is intended to be implemented to support strategic statewide and tribal decisions, the assessment data and other information generated as part of a healthy watersheds assessment can also be used to inform management decisions at the basin or local watershed levels, including implementing water quality and other programs. The anticipated outcomes of the HWP are integrated aquatic ecosystem protection programs that maintain and increase the number of healthy watersheds in our nation. (US EPA, 2012. Identifying and Protecting Healthy Watersheds: Concepts, Assessments, and

Management Approaches. U.S. EPA, EPA-841-B-11-002).

For the purposes of the grant program, a

Healthy Watershed is one in which natural land cover supports dynamic hydrologic and geomorphic processes within their natural range of variation (i.e., sediment storage and deposition); habitat of sufficient size and connectivity to support native aquatic and riparian species; and water quality that supports healthy biological communities. (US

EPA, 2012. Identifying and Protecting

Healthy Watersheds: Concepts, Assessments, and Management Approaches. U.S. EPA, EPA-841-B-11-002).

http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/ upload/hwi-watersheds-complete.pdf http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm http://ecosystems.usgs.gov/fishhabitat

B. HEALTHY WATERSHEDS CONSORTIUM GRANT OBJECTIVES

The objective of the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant is to accelerate and expand the strategic protection of healthy watersheds across the country through the cooperative agreement and subsequent subawards. The focus of this grant program is on protecting freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds. For the purposes of this RFP, EPA considers strategic protection to be based on large-scale (e.g., interstate, state, tribal, basin-scale, regional-scale, or other large geographic area) multi-stakeholder strategies or plans that prioritize proactive protection and targeted enhancement or improvement within a systems context. Aquatic ecosystems are dynamic and interconnected in the landscape through hydrologic, biological, and land-based processes and must be protected as systems in order to maintain their integrity and benefits they provide. Understanding and maintaining these system characteristics are also important for adapting to climate change. For example, healthy watersheds help to offset the potential impacts of climate change by maintaining baseflow during periods of drought; providing flood mitigation;

providing air and water temperature regulation; providing riparian and stream habitat corridors for species migration to more suitable environments; and providing carbon sequestration in native flora and soils. Protection approaches at multiple scales are critical to being successful at protecting and restoring healthy watersheds. Finally, prioritization based on vulnerability and/or other factors is necessary given limited resources.

Healthy watersheds protection is defined broadly as actions that preserve, enhance or improve aquatic ecosystems and supporting natural landscape and watershed processes such as hydrology in largely healthy watersheds. The overall principle is to protect and enhance healthy watersheds that can be sustained into the future and continue to provide ecological services such as clean water, habitat for fish and wildlife, recreation, and protection from natural hazards. Strategic protection refers to the implementation of protection and enhancement priorities from an interstate, state (including territories), tribal, basin-scale, or regional-scale healthy watersheds plan or strategy. Although implementation projects are not authorized with the federal funds associated with this announcement, demonstration projects are permitted. Demonstration projects are new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not a demonstration. However implementation projects funded by partners using funds that are independent of this federal funding and are not part of the cost-share/match (required and voluntary cost share/match) are permitted. (See Section

III.B of the announcement for information on leveraged funding/resources).

In their proposals for this RFP, applicants should demonstrate their ability, and describe an approach, for serving as an intermediary organization to manage the Healthy

Watersheds Consortium Grant including how they will use partnerships to leverage and sustain the Consortium. Specifically, as part of their project approach in the proposal narrative, applicants should demonstrate their ability to, for example:

1. Prepare and advertise a RFP, establish review criteria and expert panels for evaluating and selecting subawardee proposals, and make subawards to support the goals of the HWP;

2. Oversee and monitor subawardees for successful completion of healthy watershed program development and local demonstration/training projects;

3. Provide technical support to subawardees through peer-to-peer outreach for interstate, state, tribal, basin-scale, or regional-scale healthy watershed plan or strategy development, assessments, and local demonstration/training projects. Conduct two national meetings for subawardees, for the purpose of providing an opportunity for subawardees to learn from each other;2

4. Qualitatively and quantitatively measure and report on the outputs and outcomes of environmental results of the healthy watersheds projects accomplished through the subawards;

5. Develop a strategy through partnerships, networking and facilitating the consortium to promote, grow, and sustain the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant, including program development and advancing protection over the life of the cooperative agreement; and

6. Communicate the successes of the subaward projects through written documents such as fact sheets and media outlets such as press releases, blogs, and websites.

The competitive subaward process proposed in the project approach must be on a national scale by allowing for subawardee proposals for healthy watershed program development and local demonstration/training projects from across the 50 United States, Tribal Lands, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories (i.e., Guam, the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa). At a minimum, the projects funded as subawards should have the following components: 1.) include a variety of partners; 2.) develop or represent priorities of an interstate, state, tribal, basin-scale, or regional-scale plan or strategy intended to protect healthy watersheds, or some other prioritization scheme based on a healthy watersheds assessment; and 3.) track and communicate the successes of the subaward projects and the healthy watersheds system-based approach.

It is anticipated that the subaward projects will be either healthy watershed program development projects or local demonstration/training projects.

2 Applicants may propose to use a portion of the assistance funds to defray transportation and subsistence expenses for non-federal attendees to attend the national meetings. The applicant is solely responsible for determining a methodology for selecting and funding reimbursement requests and providing a report on how participating non-federal attendees benefited from the meetings. EPA will not participate in the selection or approval of individuals who receive travel assistance.

1. For healthy watershed program development projects, the subaward funds should be provided for projects that develop and/or support state, interstate, and tribal healthy watersheds programs. Projects should include a variety of partners to develop and/or support existing state, interstate, or tribal healthy watersheds strategies or plans that employ a systems-based, integrated approach to protection based on priorities identified through a healthy watersheds assessment. Projects should also leverage participation from multiple agencies responsible for aquatic ecosystem, land, habitat, and water resource protection/management as well as other appropriate partners (e.g., non-governmental organizations, other federal agencies). Projects may also include state, tribal, and interstate healthy watersheds assessments and assessments of environmental flows, geomorphology, aquatic habitat, and ecological hubs and corridors and public outreach and education on the importance of healthy watersheds.

2. For local demonstration/training projects, subaward funds should be provided to carry out demonstration (new or experimental approaches) projects and training projects related to local healthy watersheds protection. The local projects should include a variety of partners and represent strategic priorities from an interstate, state, tribal, basin-scale, or regional-scale plan or strategy intended to protect healthy watersheds, or from some other prioritization scheme based on a healthy watersheds assessment. Local projects must be in areas that are supported by identified healthy watersheds. Demonstration and training projects include both protection of healthy watersheds and restoration/enhancement of habitat or key functions in primarily healthy watersheds. For example, new and innovative local demonstration and/or training projects can include protection of forested drinking water sources in headwaters, forest riparian buffer protection/restoration projects, restoration of hydrologic connectivity, channel morphology, riparian and floodplain protection/restoration projects, development of local conservation zoning and easement program plans, forest stewardship plans, development of local government or utility fee plans for source water protection or, demonstration of ecological hub and corridor green infrastructure projects. Demonstration projects must involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches.

EPA expects that the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained from the demonstration projects. New approaches may include applications of new settings or environments that are not yet well studied. Training projects should relate to the gathering or transferring of information or advancing the state of knowledge. The projects should emphasize the “learning” concept, as opposed to the “fixing” of a problem via a well-established method. Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant funds cannot be used

An example program development project that uses a systems-based approach would be to complete a report on the status and vulnerability of watershed health which integrates the best available data from state and federal agencies to characterize relative landscape condition, watershed health, and watershed vulnerability to climate change, land use change, and water use. The assessment can then guide state, interstate, or tribal efforts to protect and enhance healthy watersheds.

for the purchase of land or conservation easements. Partner funds that are independent of this federal funding and are not part of the cost share/match

(required and voluntary cost share/match) may be used to purchase land or conservation easements.

Applicants may include any other activities in the subaward RFP that they believe will help promote and attain the objectives and goals described in the announcement.

Eligible entities for the competitive subawards include public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations, federally recognized Indian tribal governments, states, local governments, U.S. territories or possessions, and interstate agencies. For the purposes of this announcement, EPA has determined that for-profit entities and all federal agencies are ineligible for the competitive subawards. EPA award officials will disapprove the costs of proposed subaward work to 501(c) (4) organizations identified in an application, or workplan changes requiring prior approval, if the work involves lobbying activities or would otherwise violate the principles of EPA’s subaward policy.

Effective partnerships are very important to the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant program. In their proposals for this RFP, applicants should identify appropriate and necessary partnerships to successfully conduct the Healthy Watersheds Consortium

Grant. Applicants should also include a clear description of the roles of specific partners in the project’s components/tasks. Partnerships may, for example, provide technical expertise, and/or provide leveraged resources and opportunities for implementation projects. If the applicant chooses to identify any partner entities who will receive subawards or procurement contracts (including consultants), please pay careful attention to the CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS provision found at http://www.epa.gov/ogd/competition/solicitation_provisions.htm EPA will not consider their qualifications unless the applicant selects them in compliance with applicable regulations and provisions.

To maximize the effectiveness of this grant program, EPA envisions the Healthy

Watersheds Consortium Grant to be highly leveraged with partner organizations. Thus, applicants should identify how they will partner with other organizations to coordinate the use of EPA funding with other federal and/or non-federal sources of funds/resources to leverage additional resources beyond the assistance agreement and required cost share/match funds. Applicants should describe the type and amount of leveraging, how the leveraged funds shall be obtained, and the likelihood that the leveraging will materialize during the grant project period.

C. STATUTORY AUTHORITY

The statutory authority for the assistance agreement and the subaward agreements to be awarded under this announcement is Section 104(b) (3) of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

For the purposes of this announcement, project proposals must be limited to activities that conduct or promote the coordination and acceleration of investigations, training, demonstrations, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. Implementation projects are not eligible for funding under this announcement. Demonstration projects are new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of knowledge, however worthwhile the project might be, is not a demonstration. Funds received through this competition cannot be used for the purchase of land or conservation easements. However, partner funding that is independent of this federal funding and not part of the cost share/match (required and voluntary cost share/match) may be used for implementation projects, such as for example, the purchase of land or conservation easements.

Proposal tasks that are or might be required by a previous or pending permit (e.g., CWA

Section 404 permit, CWA Section 402 permit, CWA Section 401 certification) or federal, state, tribal, or local government regulatory requirement(s) are not eligible for funding because they are implementation tasks. Purchase of vehicles (including boats, motor homes, etc.) and office furniture are not eligible for funding under this program. The lease of vehicles may be eligible for funding, but is contingent on justification of need in the proposal narrative. Proposed projects must comply with all state and federal regulations applicable to the project area. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure compliance.

D. EPA’S STRATEGIC PLAN AND ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL

RESULTS

The Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant supports Goal 2 of the FY 2014-2018 EPA

Strategic Plan - Protecting America’s Waters: Protect and Restore Watersheds and

Aquatic Ecosystems. EPA’s Strategic Plan is available at http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.

All proposed projects must demonstrate a linkage to the Strategic Plan and include specific statements describing the environmental results of the proposed subaward project in terms of well-defined outputs, and, to the maximum extent practicable, well-defined outcomes that demonstrate how the project will contribute to the overall goal of developing healthy watersheds programs and demonstrating local protection projects.

Environmental outputs (or deliverables) refer to an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal or objective, that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during an assistance agreement funding period.

Examples of anticipated environmental outputs from the cooperative agreement to be awarded under this announcement (including subawards awarded under the cooperative agreement) include, but are not limited to:

http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

Development of national consortium of partners implementing healthy watersheds protection.

Number of environmental flows, aquatic habitat, or fluvial geomorphic assessments underway or completed.

Development of healthy watersheds protection/landscape level strategies/plans which include natural green infrastructure protection strategies.

Number of local land use protection demonstration/training zoning code projects completed.

Development of healthy watershed protection strategies/plans that include watershed health tracking systems.

Environmental outcomes are the result, effect, or consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program or activity that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective, and are used as a way to gauge a project’s performance.

In general, outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related or programmatic in nature. Outcomes must be quantitative and may not necessarily be achieved within an assistance agreement funding period. Outcomes may be short term (changes in learning, knowledge, attitude, skills), intermediate (changes in behavior, practice, strategies or decisions), or long-term (changes in condition of the natural resource).

Examples of anticipated environmental outcomes from the cooperative agreement

(including subawards awarded under the cooperative agreement) to be awarded under this announcement include, but are not limited to:

Application of systems-based, integrated approaches to healthy watershed protection based on priorities identified through a healthy watersheds assessment.

Accelerated healthy watershed protection at the state, regional and local level through use of healthy watershed assessments and plans.

Number of stream miles, acres of lakes and wetlands protected in outstanding or exceptional resource waters, nature preserves, or other land protection.

Acres of sensitive lands including forests, grasslands, springs, groundwater recharge areas and riparian, lake, wetland, and source water buffers within watersheds protected through comprehensive plans and local zoning ordinances.

Establishment of enduring networks among partners that result in protection of healthy watersheds.

Additional information regarding EPA’s discussion of environmental results in terms of

“outputs” and “outcomes” can be found at:

http://www.epa.gov/ogd/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf .

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AMOUNT OF FUNDING

EPA anticipates awarding one cooperative agreement under this announcement with a total federal funding level of at least $3,750,000. The cooperative agreement is anticipated to be incrementally funded at an average of approximately $625,000 per year, http://www.epa.gov/ogd/epa_order_5700_7a1.pdf over a six-year project period, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of proposals received, and other applicable considerations. The successful applicant should provide EPA with a negotiated, six-year work plan covering six distinct one-year periods of performance. Subawards awarded under the cooperative agreement are anticipated to have project periods ranging from one to five years. The subawards need to be completed in sufficient time for the recipient to, for example, aggregate results and ensure that subawardees have been reimbursed for all incurred costs. Funding for each subaward may range from $50,000 to $150,000 per project. Applicants may identify a slightly different range for each subaward as part of their proposal narrative.

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

EPA reserves the right to make no awards under this announcement. In addition, EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with

Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six months after the original selection decisions.

B. TYPE OF FUNDING

It is anticipated that a cooperative agreement will be funded under this announcement.

When cooperative agreements are awarded, EPA will have substantial involvement with the project workplans and budget. Although EPA will negotiate precise terms and conditions relating to substantial involvement as part of the award process, the anticipated substantial federal involvement for the project selected may include:

1. Close monitoring of the recipient’s performance to verify the results proposed by the applicant;

2. Collaboration during the performance of the scope of work;

3. In accordance with 40 CFR 31.36(g) and 40 CFR 30.43(e), review of proposed procurements;

4. Review of qualifications of key personnel (EPA does not have authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient);

5. Review and comment on content of tasks/deliverables and reports prepared under the cooperative agreement (the final decision of the content of reports rests with the recipient);

6. Review of evaluation criteria in selecting subawardees (the final decision on the evaluation criteria rests with the recipient);

7. EPA staff will review the subaward RFP and may provide comments to ensure consistency with the applicant's scope of work (the recipient is responsible for the content of, and all final decisions regarding, the subaward RFP including the disposition of any EPA comments on the subaward RFP);

8. EPA staff participation in the review process for selection of subawardees (the majority of the selection panel members must be non-federal members);

9. EPA review and approval of the substantive terms of subawards to verify compliance with federal requirements (the final decision on the selection of subawardees rests with the recipient); and

10. Upon request by the recipient and subject to the availability of personnel, EPA will provide the recipient with access to EPA scientific expertise, sampling protocols, publicly available data, and other forms of technical assistance.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Eligible applicants under this announcement are non-profit, non-governmental organizations, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia which are capable of undertaking activities that advance the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant on a national basis.3 Universities and colleges and institutions of higher education are not eligible under this announcement. Individual states, U.S. Territories, tribes, local governments, and for-profit organizations are not eligible under this announcement.

Non-profit organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of

1995 are not eligible to apply under this announcement. EPA may ask applicants to demonstrate that they are eligible for funding under this announcement including demonstrating that they are capable of undertaking activities that advance the Healthy

Watersheds Consortium Grant on a national basis.

The term “interstate agency” is defined in CWA section 502 as “an agency of two or more states established by or pursuant to an agreement or compact approved by the

Congress, or any other agency of two or more states, having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the control of pollution as determined and approved by the Administrator.”

An intertribal consortium is a partnership between two or more tribes that is authorized by the governing bodies of those tribes to apply for and receive assistance (see 40 CFR

35.502.). The intertribal consortium is eligible only if the consortium demonstrates that all of its members meet the eligibility requirements and authorize the consortium to apply for and receive assistance in accordance with 40 CFR 35.504 at the time of proposal submission. An intertribal consortium must submit with its proposal to EPA adequate documentation of the existence of the partnership and the authorization of the consortium by its members to apply for and receive the grant (see 40 CFR 35.504.). Nonprofit organizations may be asked to provide documentation that they meet the definition of a nonprofit organization in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Cost Circular 2

CFR Part 230 (non-profit organizations). Copies of OMB circulars can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/. Interstate agencies may be asked to provide a citation to the statutory authority, which establishes their status.

3 In accordance with the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act at 31 USC Sec. 6101, the term “nonprofit organization” means “any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization that - (A) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public interest; (B) is not organized primarily for profit; and (C) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operations of the organization.”

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

B. COST SHARING/MATCH REQUIREMENTS

All applicants must demonstrate in their proposal submission how they will contribute a minimum non-federal cost share/match of 25 percent of the total project cost (which equals the requested total federal share and match). This means that EPA will fund a maximum of 75 percent of the total project cost. Cost shares/matches can be in the form of cash or can come from in-kind contributions, such as the use of volunteers and/or donated time, equipment, expertise, etc., subject to the regulations governing matching fund requirements at 40 CFR 31.24 or 40 CFR 30.23, as applicable. In-kind contributions often include salaries or other verifiable costs and this value must be carefully documented. In the case of salaries, applicants may use either minimum wage or fair market value. The cost share/match must be for allowable project costs. Cost share/matching funds are considered grant funds and are included in the total award amount and should be used for the reasonable and necessary expenses of carrying out the work plan. All grant funds are subject to federal audit. Any restrictions on the use of grant funds (examples of restrictions are outlined in Sections I.B, III.D, and III.E of this announcement) also apply to the use of cost share/matching funds. Other federal grants may not be used as cost shares/matches without specific statutory authority. Applicants that do not demonstrate how they will meet the minimum cost share/match requirement in their proposal submission will not be considered for funding.

The minimum match is determined by dividing the total project cost by four. EPA will use the following formula:

Total Project Cost ($) = minimum cost share/match ($)

For example, if the total project cost is $5,000,000 the applicant must be able to provide

$ 1,250,000 in cost share/match and the total federal portion would be $3,750,000.

OR

Total Federal Funds Requested ($) = minimum cost share/match ($)

For example, if the total federal funds requested are $3,750,000 the applicant must be able to provide $1,250,000 in cash or in-kind contributions as cost share/match.

Although a twenty-five cost share is required as a condition of eligibility under this competition, EPA will also evaluate proposals based on a leveraging criterion.

Leveraging is generally when an applicant proposes to provide its own additional funds/resources or those from third party sources to support or complement the project they are awarded under the competition which are above and beyond the EPA grant funds awarded. Any leveraged funds/resources, and their source, must be identified in the proposal (see Section IV of this announcement). Leveraged funds and resources may take various forms. Applicants may choose to demonstrate either or both types of leveraging as described below.

1. Voluntary cost share is a form of leveraging. Voluntary cost sharing is when an applicant voluntarily proposes to legally commit to provide costs or contributions to support the project when a cost share is not required. Applicants who propose to use a voluntary cost share must include the costs or contributions for the voluntary cost share in the project budget on the SF-424. If an applicant proposes a voluntary cost share, the following apply:

A voluntary cost share is subject to the match provisions in the grant regulations (40 CFR 30.23 or 40 CFR 31.24, as applicable).

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

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

The recipient is legally obligated to meet any proposed voluntary cost share that is included in the approved project budget. If the proposed voluntary cost share does not materialize during grant performance, then EPA may reconsider the legitimacy of the award and/or take other appropriate action as authorized by 40 CFR Parts 30 or 31 as applicable.

2. Other leveraged funding/resources that are not identified as a voluntary cost share. This form of leveraging may be met by funding from another federal grant, from an applicant's own resources, or resources from other third party sources.

This form of leveraging should not be included in the budget and the costs need not be eligible and allowable project costs under the EPA assistance agreement.

While this form of leveraging should not be included in the budget, the grant workplan should include a statement indicating that the applicant is expected to produce the proposed leveraging consistent with the terms of the announcement and the applicant's proposal. For example, implementation projects such as purchase of conservation easements would be allowed with these leveraged funds.

If applicants propose to provide this form of leveraging, EPA expects them to make the effort to secure the leveraged resources described in their proposals. If the proposed leveraging does not materialize during grant performance, then EPA may reconsider the legitimacy of the award and/or take other appropriate action as authorized by 40 CFR Parts 30 or 31 as applicable.

C. THRESHOLD ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

These are requirements which if not met by the time of proposal submission will result in elimination of the proposal from consideration for funding. Only proposals that meet all of these criteria will be evaluated against the ranking factors in Section V of the announcement. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

1. An applicant must meet the eligibility requirements in Section III.A at the time of proposal submission.

2. An applicant must demonstrate that it can meet the cost share/match requirements in Section III.B of this announcement at the time of proposal submission.

3. Proposals must address how the applicant will establish and manage a competitive subaward program on a national scale by allowing for subaward proposals for healthy watershed program development and for demonstration and training projects across the 50 United States, Tribal Lands, the District of Columbia, and

U.S. Territories.

4. Proposals must be limited to activities that conduct or promote the coordination and acceleration of investigations, training, demonstrations, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. Other activities under CWA section 104(b)(3) will not be considered for funding.

5. Proposals must substantially comply with the proposal submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or else they will be rejected. Where a page limit is expressed in Section IV.C.3 with respect to the proposal narrative, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed.

Section IV.C.3 establishes a 15-page, single-spaced proposal narrative page limit that includes the cover page.

6. Proposals must be received by EPA or received through Grants.gov, as specified in Section IV of this announcement, on or before the proposal submission deadline published in Section IV of this announcement. If submitting a hard copy proposal, applicants are responsible for ensuring that their proposal reaches the designated person/office specified in Section IV of the announcement by the submission deadline. Proposals received after the submission deadline will be considered late and returned to the sender without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems solely attributable to the Grants.gov website and not the applicant. For hard copy submissions, where Section IV requires proposal receipt by a specific person/office by the submission deadline, receipt by an agency mailroom is not sufficient. Applicants should confirm receipt of their proposal with Laura Gabanski at hw-rfp@epa.gov as soon as possible after the submission deadline -- failure to do so may result in your proposal not being reviewed.

7. Hard copy proposals must be submitted by hand delivery, express delivery service, or courier service. Proposals submitted by any type of U.S. Postal

Service mail will not be considered. EPA will not accept faxed submissions or e-mailed submissions.

8. Proposals must be consistent with the funding restrictions set forth in Section

III.D.

9. If a proposal is submitted that includes any ineligible activities set forth in Section

III.E using federal funds, that portion of the proposal will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the application, render the entire proposal ineligible for funding.

mailto:hw-rfp@epa.gov

D. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

All costs incurred under this program must be allowable under 40 CFR 30.27 or 40 CFR

31.22, as applicable, and the applicable Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Cost

Circulars: 2 CFR Part 225 (State, local, or Indian tribal governments), 2 CFR Part 230

(non-profit organizations), or 2 CFR Part 220 (Educational institutions). Copies of these circulars can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/. In accordance with applicable law, regulation, and policy, any recipient of funding must agree to comply with restrictions on using assistance funds for unauthorized lobbying, fund-raising, or political activities (i.e., lobbying members of Congress or lobbying for other federal grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts). Funds generally cannot be used to pay for travel by federal agency staff. Proposed project activities must also comply with all state and federal regulations applicable to the project area. The applicant must also review the solicitation for any other programmatic funding restrictions applicable to this program. If awarded funding, the recipient must refer to the terms and conditions of its award for other funding restrictions applicable to its award. It is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure compliance with these requirements.

For the purposes of this announcement, EPA has determined that the following types of entities are ineligible for the competitive subaward program: for-profit entities and all federal agencies. EPA award officials will disapprove the costs of proposed subaward work to 501(c)(4) organizations identified in an application, or workplan changes requiring prior approval, if the work involves lobbying activities or would otherwise violate the principles of EPA’s subaward policy.

E. INELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

Funds cannot be used for the purchase of land or conservation easements.

Proposal tasks that are or might be required by a previous or pending permit (e.g., CWA Section 404 permit, CWA Section 402 permit, CWA Section 401 certification) or federal, state, tribal, or local government regulatory requirement(s) are not eligible for funding because they are implementation tasks.

Purchase of any type of equipment including vehicles, boats, motor homes office furniture valued at $5,000 or more is not eligible for funding.

Lease of a vehicle(s) may be permitted, but is contingent on justification of need in the proposal narrative.

Projects must be performed entirely within the 50 United States, Tribal Lands, the

District of Columbia, and the U.S. Territories (i.e., Guam, the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American

Samoa).

IV. PROPOSAL AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN A PROPOSAL PACKAGE

Applicants can download individual grant application forms, including Standard Forms

(SF) 424 and SF 424A, from EPA’s Office of Grants and Debarment website at:

http://www.epa.gov/ogd/forms/forms.htm. If you cannot access the electronic forms, a paper application kit will be mailed upon request. Please send an e-mail to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_default http://www.epa.gov/ogd/forms/forms.htm

GAD_OGDWEB@epamail.epa.gov with ‘PAPER APPLICATION KIT’ in the subject line to request a paper application kit.

B. FORM OF PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Applicants have the option to submit their proposal packages (as described in Section

IV.C below) in one of two ways: 1) electronically via www.grants.gov or 2) hard copy with compact disc (CD) to the Agency Contact identified in Section IV.B.2 via express delivery service, hand delivery, or courier service. Proposals submitted by any type of

U.S. Postal Service mail will not be considered. EPA will not accept faxed or e-mailed submissions. All proposals must be prepared, and include the information, as described in Section IV.C, CONTENT OF PROPOSAL SUBMISSION, below, regardless of mode of submission.

1. Grants.gov Submission The electronic submission of your proposal must be made by an official representative of your institution who is registered with…