NOAA-NMFS-NCBO-2017-2005170 FFO Report.pdf

Fiscal Year 2017 Chesapeake Bay-Watershed Education and Training Program-Capacity Building

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 4

A. Program Objective 4 B. Program Priorities 8 C. Program Authority 10

II. Award Information 10 A. Funding Availability 10 B. Project/Award Period 10 C. Type of Funding Instrument 11

III. Eligibility Information 11 A. Eligible Applicants 11 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 12 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 12

IV. Application and Submission Information 12 A. Address to Request Application Package 12 B. Content and Form of Application 13 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 21 D. Submission Dates and Times 21 E. Intergovernmental Review 22 F. Funding Restrictions 22 G. Other Submission Requirements 22

V. Application Review Information 24 A. Evaluation Criteria 24 B. Review and Selection Process 26 C. Selection Factors 29 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 29

VI. Award Administration Information 29 A. Award Notices 29 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 30 C. Reporting 32

VII. Agency Contacts 32 VIII. Other Information 33

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 1 of 33

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: Fiscal Year 2017 Chesapeake Bay-Watershed Education and Training Program-Capacity Building

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NMFS-NCBO-2017-2005170

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.457, Chesapeake Bay Studies

Dates: The deadline for applications is 11:59 PM Eastern Time on April 6, 2017 when submitting through www.grants.gov (Grants.gov). PLEASE NOTE: for applicants that submit through Grants.gov, it may take Grants.gov up to two business days to validate or reject the application. Please keep this in mind in developing your submission timeline. If use of Grants.gov is impractical for technical or other reasons, paper copy applications will be accepted only as described in Section IV.C.

An informational webinar about the FY 2017 Chesapeake B-WET funding announcement will be held on February 17, 2017 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. To register for this webinar, please visit http://go.usa.gov/cjnAY.

Funding Opportunity Description: Chesapeake B-WET is a competitive grant program that supports existing, high-quality environmental education programs, fosters the growth of new, innovative programs, and encourages capacity building and partnership development for environmental education programs throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed. Successful projects advance the environmental literacy goal of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement and goals of the NOAA Education Strategic Plan by building capacity to support hands-on environmental education about issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed for students and related professional development for teachers, administrators, and other educators who serve formal K- 12 audiences. These Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) integrate field experiences with classroom activities and instruction in NOAA-related science content.

Through this funding announcement, NOAA is soliciting proposals that support two Priority Areas under the theme of Capacity Building for MWEEs: (1) State or Multi-State K-12 Environmental Literacy Initiatives, which advance MWEE Implementation, and, (2) MWEE Mini Grant Program Administration, which supports elements of MWEE implementation at the

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 2 of 33 school-level.

Chesapeake B-WET has traditionally issued one funding opportunity annually, however, in FY 2017, NOAA is issuing two separate funding opportunities under the Chesapeake B-WET program due to the variation in B-WET Program Priorities and the types of projects supported under these Priorities. This FFO is to support Capacity Building efforts that support MWEEs;

direct support for Systemic MWEE Implementation and Emerging MWEE projects is not covered under this FFO.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 3 of 33

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

a. Overview The NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program is a competitive environmental education grant program that promotes locally relevant, experiential learning in the kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) environment. B-WET supports projects that deliver students MWEEs and related professional development to teachers to foster stewardship of the Bay and its watershed. Environmentally literate citizens with the skills and knowledge to make well-informed environmental choices are key to sustaining the nation’s ocean and coastal environments. B-WET was established in 2002 in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and currently exists in seven regions: Chesapeake Bay, Gulf of Mexico, New England, California, Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, and Great Lakes.

The goal of this funding opportunity is to support projects that increase opportunities for MWEEs and improve the quality of MWEE programming. These capacity building projects complement the Systemic MWEE Implementation and Emerging MWEE projects that are being solicited through a separate funding announcement. Capacity building projects are not required to directly reach students and teachers, but can lay the foundation for MWEEs at the statewide, multi-state, or individual school level.

Successful B-WET projects provide formal education that supports the Environmental Literacy goal of the Chesapeake Bay Program Agreement (http://www.chesapeakebay.net/chesapeakebaywatershedagreement/page) and NOAA’s Education Strategic Plan (http://go.usa.gov/cjnMQ) Chesapeake B-WET recognizes that knowledge and commitment built from firsthand experience, especially in the context of one's community and culture, is essential for achieving environmental stewardship. Carefully selected experiences driven by rigorous academic learning standards, engendering discovery and wonder, and nurturing a sense of community will further connect students with their watershed, help reinforce an ethic of responsible citizenship, and promote academic achievement. Environmentally literate individuals can become effective future workers, problem solvers, and thoughtful community leaders and participants.

b. DEFINING THE MEANINGFUL WATERSHED EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

(MWEE)

MWEEs for students should be learner centered and focused on questions, problems, and

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 4 of 33 issues to be investigated through collecting, analyzing and sharing data; learning protocols;

exploring models; and examining natural phenomena. These activities, grounded in best practices and the context of the local community and culture, help increase student interest, motivation, and attitudes toward learning, and achieve environmental stewardship. As a result of the MWEE activities students should have an understanding of basic watershed concepts, as well as the interaction between natural systems (e.g. wildlife, plants, and water cycle) and social systems (e.g. communities, transportation systems, and schools), highlighting the connection between human activity and environmental conditions. MWEEs consist of multiple components as defined below.

1. MWEE Student Components

1.1 Issue definition and background research

Students focus on an environmental question, problem, or issue requiring background research and investigation. They learn more about the issue through classroom instruction, the collection of data, conducting experiments, talking to experts and reviewing credible publications. This process should be age appropriate with practices growing in complexity and sophistication across the grades, starting with educator guided investigation and progressing to student-led inquiry.

1.2 Outdoor field activities

Students participate in multiple outdoor field activities sufficient to collect the data or make observations required for answering the research questions and informing student actions, or as part of the issue definition and background research. Students should be actively involved in planning the investigation, taking measurements, or constructing the project within appropriate safety guidelines, with teachers providing instruction on methods and procedures, data collection protocols, and proper use of equipment as needed. These activities can take place off-site and/or on the school grounds.

1.3 Stewardship action projects

Students participate in an age appropriate project during which they take action to address environmental issues at the personal or societal level. Participants in B-WET MWEE activities should understand they have control over the outcome of environmental issues, be encouraged to identify actions to address these issues and understand the value of those actions. Examples of stewardship activities include:

• Watershed Restoration or Protection (e.g., create schoolyard habitat, planting trees or grasses, invasive species removal, community cleanup, stormwater management)

• Everyday Choices (e.g., reduce/reuse/recycle/upcycle, composting, energy conservation, water conservation)

• Community Engagement (e.g., presentations, social media, event-organizing, messaging at community events/fairs/festivals, mentoring, PSAs, flyers, posters)

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 5 of 33

• Civic Action (e.g., town meetings, voting, writing elected officials/decision makers, advocating for policy change)

1.4 Synthesis and conclusions

Students analyze and evaluate the results of projects and investigations. Students synthesize and communicate results and conclusions to an external audience such as other classrooms, schools, parents, or the community.

2. Support for MWEEs In addition to the components identified above, NOAA recommends that the following elements are in place to fully support successful MWEE implementation with students.

2.1 Teacher participation for the duration of the MWEE

While external partners are entirely appropriate to support MWEEs, teachers should support the experience in the classroom and in the field. Teachers are in the best position to help students make connections and draw on past lessons, serve as environmental role models, and enhance students overall outdoor education experience and should be involved in all components of the experiences detailed above. To support them in this role, teachers should have appropriate knowledge of environmental issues and watershed concepts, skill in connecting these issues to their curriculum, and competency in environmental education pedagogy, including the ability and confidence to teach outdoor lessons and to lead students in critical thinking about environmental issues.

2.2 Integration with classroom curriculum

Experiences should be integrated into what is occurring in the classroom, and can provide authentic, age appropriate, engaging multi-disciplinary content to address academic standards. Specifically, elements of science and social studies standards related to questioning and investigation, evidence-based analysis and interpretation, model and theory building, knowledge of environmental processes and systems, skill for understanding and addressing environmental issues, and personal and civic responsibility align well with MWEEs. Non-school activities may enrich traditional classroom curriculum when needed, though this need should be documented and supported by local education agencies.

2.3 Use of the local context for learning

The local community and environment should be viewed as a primary resource for student MWEEs. Place-based education promotes learning that is rooted in the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of a students’ schoolyard, neighborhood, town or community, and thus offering students and teachers the opportunity to explore how individual and collective decisions impact their immediate surroundings. Once a firm connection to their local environment is made, students are better positioned to expand their thinking to recognize the far-reaching implications of the decisions they make to the larger national and global environment.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 6 of 33

2.4 Experiences are a set of activities over time

The MWEE includes the full duration leading up to and following the outdoor field experiences. Each component should involve a significant investment of instructional time, incorporate time for reflection, and include all students. Experiences such as tours, simulations, demonstrations, or nature walks may be instructionally useful, but alone do not constitute an entire meaningful watershed educational experience as defined here.

2.5 Includes NOAA assets, including personnel and resources

NOAA has a wealth of applicable products and services as well as a cadre of scientific and professional experts that can heighten the impact of environmental instruction both in the classroom and in the field. Additionally, environmental professionals can serve as important role models for career choices and stewardship. For more on NOAA assets for education please see: http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/NOAA_assets.html

3. Teacher Professional Development for MWEEs Teachers should be skilled in using environmental education and MWEEs to address multiple subjects’ curriculum standards and local education agency initiatives. In order to gain and maintain environmental education competencies, teachers need access to sustained, high quality professional development that includes ongoing support and feedback. Teachers should gain confidence in the value of MWEEs and strategies for conducting them so that they will conduct MWEES after the B-WET supported program has ended. Specifically, the following elements are recommended for professional development to support teachers implementing MWEEs:

3.1 Increases teachers’ knowledge and awareness of environmental issues Teachers must have an adequate level of content knowledge for their MWEE topic area specific to their grade level and discipline, including an understanding of basic watershed concepts and the human connection to the watershed. Recognizing that environmental issues often include different perspectives and opinions, teachers must also have a deep understanding of the facts related to environmental issues along with an understanding of the various stakeholder values. In addition, teachers who demonstrate environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviors may be role models for their students and increase their ability to guide students in actions to address complex environmental issues.

3.2 Models environmental education pedagogy

Facilitators/trainers should utilize the same techniques and experiences in trainings that teachers are expected to use with their students, such as hands-on, place-based, outdoor field experiences and environmental issue investigation and action.

3.3 Allows for adequate instructional time

Professional Development trainings should be multi-day, occurring consecutively or over the course of several months. Trainings should include ample opportunity for teachers to reflect

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 7 of 33 on their own teaching practices and planning for how to use knowledge and skills gained from professional development in the classroom.

3.4 Provides ongoing teacher support and appropriate incentives Even in cases where teachers participate in robust multi-day trainings, such as a summer or weekend courses, it is still essential that professional development providers have a structure in place for on-going teacher support and enrichment. This can take the form of follow up meetings, creating web-based forums for communication and feedback, establishing mentor teachers who can serve as points of contact, or including teams of teachers from one particular school. Continuing education credits and stipends can be used to encourage participation in on-going professional development opportunities. Outreach and training opportunities for school administrators may help increase high level support for both environmental education and continuing teacher professional development for teachers.

3.5 Meets jurisdictional guidelines for effective teacher professional development Each jurisdiction has established guidance and recommendations germane to all forms of teacher professional development. When possible, professional development opportunities in environmental education should adhere to these general guidelines set forth by local education agencies.

Information on the Chesapeake B-WET program, including examples of education partnerships that have been funded to date, can be found at http://go.usa.gov/cjnuA.

Potential applicants may contact the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (contact information in Section VII) before submitting an application with questions about applicability of project activities to B-WET goals and objectives.

The definition of the MWEE included in this funding announcement is taken from the B- WET National Program and is used by all seven B-WET regions throughout the country. It is based largely on the MWEE definition adopted by the Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup, which is available at:

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/documents/Revised_MWEE_definition_-_FINAL.pdf

B. Program Priorities

Through this funding announcement, NOAA is soliciting proposals that support two Priority Areas under the theme of Capacity Building for MWEEs: (1) State or Multi-State K-12 Environmental Literacy Initiatives, which advance MWEE Implementation, and (2) MWEE Mini Grant Program Administration, which supports elements of MWEE implementation at the school-level. NOAA believes supporting both types of capacity building projects are essential to greater implementation and long-term sustainability of MWEEs. Proposals to this funding announcement must address only one priority area.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 8 of 33

1: Statewide or Multi-State K-12 Environmental Literacy Initiatives Proposals to this priority area build capacity for statewide or multi-state K-12 environmental literacy initiatives which support the policies and structures to advance environmental literacy at a statewide or multi-state level.

Increased capacity for environmental literacy efforts at a statewide or multi-state level creates opportunities for more and higher quality MWEEs in schools throughout the watershed. Proposals to this priority area should create the frameworks, incentives, support systems, and/or drivers for environmental literacy to lay the foundation for MWEE implementation in schools and school districts.

All proposals should clearly articulate how the project will help to advance MWEE implementation. Direct implementation of MWEEs for students should not occur in projects under this priority area, however, proposals may include activities involving teachers, administrators, and or support staff, such as the formation and support of teacher advisory groups, principal/supervisors academies, and sustainable school task forces. Proposals could also build capacity for agencies, organizations, and collaboratives that are working statewide or across state borders to modify or enhance existing programs to offer full MWEEs to students or related trainings for educators.

Proposals for statewide projects should include documented support from state departments of education, natural resource agencies, or other state agencies.

2. MWEE Mini-Grant Program Administration.

NOAA wishes to continue building capacity for MWEEs by supporting one organization to administer a watershed-wide mini-grant program for small scale MWEE projects. NOAA understands that MWEE implementation is both a “top down” and “bottom up” process.

Through a mini-grant program, NOAA supports individual teachers and schools that work at a smaller scale not supported by the larger NOAA B-WET grants. Mini-grants are a complement to the larger-scale MWEE implementation that NOAA supports through Systemic MWEE Implementation and Emerging MWEE projects, which are solicited in a separate funding announcement. In addition to MWEE mini-grant administration, up to 25% of requested funds under this focus topic may go toward other MWEE capacity building initiatives, such as planning and executing regional environmental literacy workshops and conferences, or supporting MWEE evaluation and monitoring initiatives of the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Applicants applying to administer the mini-grant program should have the organizational

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 9 of 33 capacity to effectively manage 30-40 mini-grants simultaneously to grantees in all Chesapeake Bay Watershed jurisdictions. Applicants must document prior experience administering federal grant funding to schools and non-profit organizations, and demonstrate previous experience with the MWEE and regional environmental literacy policy.

C. Program Authority

Under 33 U.S.C. § 893a(a), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is authorized to conduct, develop, support, promote, and coordinate formal and informal educational activities at all levels to enhance public awareness and understanding of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and atmospheric science and stewardship by the general public and other coastal stakeholders, including underrepresented groups in ocean and atmospheric science and policy careers. In conducting those activities, the Administrator shall build upon the educational programs and activities of the agency.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

Under this announcement, NOAA anticipates that approximately $500,000 may be available in FY 2017 to fund new Capacity Building applications, subject to the availability of appropriations. NOAA anticipates making 3-5 Capacity Building awards, of which one will be for mini-grant administration and the remainder for statewide or multi-state environmental literacy initiatives. NOAA anticipates that applications to administer the MWEE mini-grant program would not exceed $200,000 annually in Federal funds, while Statewide or Multi-state K-12 Environmental Literacy projects would not exceed $100,000 annually in Federal funds. The project period may be up to three years, but funding beyond the first increment, usually one year, is subject to the incremental funding policy described in Section II.B of this Announcement.

B. Project/Award Period

The project start date should not begin before July 1, 2017. Applications should cover a project period of between one and three years. Projects that request multi-year funding must include in their submission a full description of the activities and estimated budget by line item (e.g. personnel, equipment, supplies) for all proposed work for each year.

When an application for a multi-year award is approved, funding will usually be provided only for the first year of the project, and the award will be subject to incremental funding, usually annually. Once an incremental or multi-year project is awarded, the multi-year scope of work and budget is approved but funding beyond an initial increment is not provided.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 10 of 33

Future funding is anticipated to maintain such awards for project periods of up to three years; however, NOAA has no obligation to provide any additional funding in connection with that award beyond the initial funding increment awarded. Continuation of an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is at the sole discretion of NOAA and will be contingent upon satisfactory performance, continued relevance to the NOAA mission and priorities, and the availability of funds.

Recipients of incrementally-funded projects will not need to compete for funding in subsequent years, and current recipients seeking continued funding of previous awards issued under the incremental funding policy do not need to apply to this funding announcement.

Single-year requests or awards in which an applicant proposed a multi-year project but NOAA limited the period of performance to a shorter time period will be required to re-compete for further funding in subsequent years. Any renewal of the project will depend on the submission of a new proposal subject to review, adequate progress on previous award(s), and available funding.

Future opportunities for submitting proposals to the B-WET competitive process are anticipated, but will depend on funding levels and resources available to support new projects.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

Applications selected for funding will be funded through a cooperative agreement under the terms of this notice. Applications funded through cooperative agreements will include substantial involvement of the Federal government, which may include, but is not limited to, collaboration on the scope of work, such as liaison activities between the grantee and NOAA personnel who are contributing data or expertise to the project. Additional forms of substantial involvement that may arise are described in OMB Guidance, 43 Fed. Reg. 36860, 36863 (Aug. 18, 1978), found at http://go.usa.gov/x9Hjr.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are K-through-12 public and independent school systems, institutions of higher education, community-based and nonprofit organizations, state or local government agencies, interstate agencies, and Indian tribal governments. For profit organizations, foreign organizations, and foreign public entities are not eligible to apply;

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 11 of 33 however, for-profit and foreign organizations and foreign public entities may participate with an eligible applicant as a project partner. Likewise, Federal agencies are not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this announcement, but may be project partners.

The Department of Commerce/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to broadening the participation of historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and institutions that work in underserved areas. The NCBO encourages proposals involving any of the above institutions.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

Cost-sharing is not required for this program.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

Projects whose sole audience is outside the Chesapeake watershed are not eligible.

Applications received after the deadline will not be reviewed. Applications that are lacking any of the required elements of the application or do not follow the form prescribed in IV.B of this Announcement may not receive merit review as described in Section V.B.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

Electronic application packages are strongly encouraged and are available at:

http://www.grants.gov/ (Grants.gov).

If the applicant has difficulty accessing Grants.gov or downloading the required forms from the NOAA website, they should contact Kevin Schabow, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office;

410 Severn Avenue, Suite 207, Annapolis, MD 21403, or by phone at 410-295-3145, or fax to 410-267-5666, or via email at Kevin.schabow@noaa.gov. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office does not have a direct telephonic device for the deaf, however, TDD capabilities can be accessed through the State of Maryland-supplied TDD contact number, 800 735 2258, between the hours of 8 AM-4:30 PM.

Information on the Chesapeake B-WET program, including examples of currently supported projects, can be found on NOAA’s website at http://go.usa.gov/cjnhk. Potential applicants may contact the NCBO before submitting an application to discuss the applicability of project ideas to B-WET goals and objectives.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 12 of 33

B. Content and Form of Application

Required Elements for Applications:

(a) At the time of application submission, all applicants anticipating direct funding shall submit the following forms with signatures of the authorized representative of the submitting institution. (Note: submission through Grants.gov results in automatic electronic signatures on these forms.):

Application for Federal Assistance: Form SF-424 Budget Information, Non-construction Programs: Form SF-424A Assurances, Non-Construction Programs: Form SF-424B Certifications Regarding Lobbying: Form CD-511 Disclosure of Lobbying Activities: Form SF-LLL (if applicable, see instructions on form)

(i) Project Summary (1 page):

Project Title Priority Area(s):

Project duration: 12 to 36 month project period starting on the first of the month and ending on the last day of the month.

Organization and Partnerships: Briefly describe your organization and list your key partners for this grant, if applicable. Partnerships are encouraged.

Summary: Provide a brief statement that explains the need for your project and its goals and objectives. In addition, identify what NOAA priority you will address. Your summary should use layman's terms to provide reviewers with an understanding of the purpose and expected outcomes of your educational project. A person unfamiliar with your project should be able to read this paragraph and grasp your plan. More information about NOAA assets and educational resources can be found at: http://www.education.noaa.gov/.

Delivery Method: Explain how you will reach your audience, such as workshops, planning meetings, interactive programs, summer institutes, webinars, etc.

Audience: Describe the demographics of your target audience including the state or region(s) and the number and types of participants you expect to reach, such as teachers, environmental educators, principals, school facilities managers,etc.

Budget Information: Total Federal funding requested this fiscal year; Total Non Federal match for this fiscal year. Total multi-year request and match (if applicable). Please list requested amounts in whole dollars.

(ii) Project Description (up to 12 pages): Describe in detail what your project will achieve with the following headings: What, Who, Why, and How. Explain each aspect of your proposal clearly and address each topic below. Please address all of the following to ensure that grant reviewers can fully comprehend and score your project correctly. Specific

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 13 of 33

Evaluation Criteria is defined in Section V.A.

What: Explain the goals and objectives for your project. Include information about how the project builds capacity for environmental literacy and stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Identify the priority area you are addressing. If your project may implicate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as described in the NOAA NEPA policy in Section VI.B.4. of this Announcement, applicants should provide relevant information in the project description. Any applicable supporting documents may be included as attachments that do not count toward the page limit. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.1 (Importance/relevance and applicability of proposal to the program goals).

Who and Why: Identify the target audience that will served and discuss why this audience was chosen to build capacity for environmental literacy. Describe why this audience is positioned to advance and enhance MWEEs. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.1 (Importance/relevance and applicability of proposal to the program goals).

How: This is the work plan for your project. Define the activities that will be conducted during this project, and their frequency. Reviewers should be able to determine the duration and frequency of activities, such as professional trainings, planning meetings, webinars, workshops, etc.. If multi-year, provide deliverables for each year. Detail how the project meets or supports the definition of the meaningful watershed educational experience as defined in this funding opportunity and what NOAA products, services, or staff will be used in program delivery. This section addresses technical merit of the proposal. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.2 (Technical merit).

(iii) Sustainability: Discuss a plan for sustainability of project beyond NOAA funding.

Explain how requested funding can build a project that can be sustained after NOAA grant funds expire, or if funding will be necessary beyond the project period. List other sources of funding that have been sought for the project and the status of those requests. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.4 (Project Costs).

(iv) Outreach and Education: Projects should include significant external sharing and communication beyond the primary audience. Applications should discuss outreach strategies that enable the sharing of project outcomes and how they will communicate and disseminate information from the project to ensure broader MWEE implementation. This could include conference presentations or strands, web development and social media This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.5 (Outreach and Education).

(v) Project Evaluation: Evaluation here is defined as the systematic collection and documentation of information about your project's outcomes in order to improve the project's effectiveness, guide judgments about its impact, and/or inform decisions about future programming or funding. In this section, you must explain your plans for meeting the goals

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 14 of 33 and objectives of your project and for tracking and measuring progress on your outputs and your short-term outcomes. If your medium- and long-term outcomes can also be measured within the project period, explain your plans for that evaluation as well. Evaluation plans may be quantitative and/or qualitative and may include, for example, evaluation tools, observation, or outside consultation. No more than 10% of the budget can be spent on the evaluation component of your proposal. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.2 (Technical Merit).

If funded by NOAA, grant recipients must be willing to report evaluation results to NOAA.

For detailed information on how to create an evaluation plan visit NOAA’s website at http://go.usa.gov/cjQqF.

Participation in B-WET National Evaluation:

In addition to project evaluation, grantees will be asked to participate in data collection for the national B-WET evaluation. The B-WET national evaluation consists of two parts; part 1 is for all recipients of B-WET grants while part 2 is only for programs that work with teachers. The B-WET national evaluation is intended to monitor program implementation and outcomes on an ongoing basis. Results of this evaluation will be used to improve the B- WET program, document its value, and better tailor it to program audiences. Grantees with teacher participants will be able to view a summary of responses from their participating teachers. Success of this effort depends on grantee participation, so applicants are strongly encouraged to review the information about the national evaluation system (available here:http://go.usa.gov/x8xwp) and consider how they can support it as part of their projects.

National Evaluation Part 1 (for all B-WET grantees): As part of this evaluation system, one individual from each recipient organization will be asked to voluntarily complete an online questionnaire once per year of the award. The questionnaire should be able to be completed within 30-60 minutes (depending on the nature of the program) and may require some internal data compilation. Note the majority of capacity building projects will only participate in Part 1.

National Evaluation Part 2 (for programs with teacher professional development): For projects that work extensively with teachers, the teacher-participants will be asked to complete one questionnaire at the close of their professional development and one after implementing MWEEs with their students (at the end of the following school year). Each teacher questionnaire should be able to be completed within 30 minutes. Along with completing the recipient questionnaire, grantees will be asked to provide the email addresses of participating teachers (after notifying teachers that their email will be shared) and to encourage teachers to participate in the national evaluation.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 15 of 33

B-WET grantees who respond to the questionnaires will remain anonymous to B-WET and NOAA. NOAA will only view the resulting data in aggregate at the national or regional level.

All applicants should provide information about how they plan to support this national evaluation system, incorporate it into the project timeline, and ensure responses from participating teachers as part of their application. Applicants may incorporate staff time required to complete the B-WET national evaluation in their budget proposal. More information, including all of the survey instruments, is available on the NOAA B-WET National Evaluation website here: http://go.usa.gov/xkc7P.

Note that this evaluation system is not intended to replace project level evaluation. It may not provide the level of detail needed to fully understand, describe, and improve specific grant projects. Grantees are therefore encouraged to balance these needs within their planning and budgeting process.

Additional information about this project, including background, FAQs, survey instruments,and suggested text for communicating with your teacher participants about this project, is available here: http://go.usa.gov/xkc77

(b) APPENDICES (not included in 12-page limit):

(i) Budget Justification: Provide a detailed spreadsheet with narrative to support the requested items or activities (personnel/salaries, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contract costs, and indirect costs). If applying for multiple years of funding, the budget should be broken down for each year requested. Applicants are encouraged to use the B WET budget template found at http://go.usa.gov/cjQaG. The budget justification submitted with the application should match the dollar amounts on the required Forms SF- 424 and SF- 424A. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.4 (Project Costs).

For Maryland applicants: Specify how much funding has been requested from the Chesapeake Bay Trust Environmental Education Grants Program to support the project, if such funding has been requested.

For multi-year projects: Ensure that there is a detailed budget narrative detailing the budget requested for each year matching each Form SF-424A.

Grant recipients will be encouraged to attend a statewide or regional B-WET meeting once during the duration of their grant. This will be an opportunity for former and current B-WET grant recipients to present their B-WET projects and learn from each other. This meeting may be part of an existing state conference environmental or science education conference to

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 16 of 33 minimize travel expenses. Budgets should include, in the travel category, estimated funds this meeting (such as meals, lodging, and transportation including rental car, shuttle, or taxi).

No more than $1000 should be budgeted for this expense.

The budget may include an amount for indirect costs, which are essentially overhead costs for basic operational functions (e.g., lights, rent, water, insurance) that are incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be identified specifically within a particular project. See 2 C.F.R. 200.56-.57 and 200.412-.415 at http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4. An applicant may also propose all allowable project charges as direct costs.

An applicant requesting indirect costs should provide a current approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement established with its cognizant Federal agency or an acknowledgement letter from the cognizant agency to which the applicant has submitted a proposed rate. In addition, if an award recipient has never established an indirect cost rate with any Federal agency, the recipient may request to use the de minimus rate described at 2 C.F.R. 200.414 or it may negotiate a new rate with the Department of Commerce. The negotiation and approval of a new rate is subject to the procedures required by the NOAA and the Department of Commerce. The U.S. Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, http://go.usa.gov/hKbj, require that within 90 days of the award start date, recipients submit documentation (indirect cost proposal, cost allocation, plan, etc.) necessary to perform the review to establish a new rate to the address listed below.

Lamar Revis, Grants Officer NOAA Grants Management Division 1325 East West Highway, 9th Floor Silver Spring, MD 20910

(ii) Timeline: Include a project schedule that indicates when each action, event, milestone, product development, and evaluation will occur. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.2 (Technical Merit).

(iii) Logic Model: Projects should be accomplishment oriented and identify specific outputs and outcomes. Provide a logic model that displays these expected outputs and outcomes. A basic logic model template and instructions are available at http://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/b-wet-evaluation.html. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.2 (Technical Merit).

(iv) Technical Experience and Qualifications: Attach a description of your programmatic

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 17 of 33 capabilities and ability to successfully implement and manage the proposed project including staff expertise/qualifications, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them to successfully achieve the goals of the project, and your organizational experience and past history in performing tasks similar to the proposed project. Also include a paragraph describing qualifications of each of the key personnel conducting the project. If you send resumes for the key personnel conducting the project, please keep them to a maximum of three, one-page resumes. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.3 (Overall Qualifications of Applicants).

(v) Partnership Letters of Commitment: If the applicant organization has partners, such as state agencies, universities, or other organizations, include letters of commitment from partners explaining their role in and/or funding of the proposed project. Do not include letters of endorsement from previous participants, teachers, or others not directly involved in project implementation except letters demonstrating school or school district support. Letters should be received as part of application submission. This section will be scored using evaluation criterion V.A.3 (Overall Qualifications of Applicants).

(vi) Results from prior NOAA support: If any principal investigator (PI) or co-PI identified on the project has received support from NOAA in the past five years, information on the prior award(s) is required. The following information should be provided:

* The NOAA award number, amount and period of support;

* The title of the project;

* Summary of the results of the completed work (including # of teachers/students);

* If the proposal is for renewed support, a description of the relation of the completed work to the proposed work.

(vii) Data Sharing Plan: Proposals submitted in response to this announcement must include a Data Management Plan of up to two pages. This Data Management Plan does not count against the 12-page Project Description page limit. The Data Management Plan should be aligned with the NOAA B-WET Data Management Guidance provided below and will be considered as part of proposal review. NOAA may, at its own discretion, make publicly visible the Data Management Plan from funded proposals, or use information from the Data Management Plan to produce a formal metadata record and include that metadata in a Catalog to indicate the pending availability of new data. Proposal submitters are hereby advised that the final pre-publication manuscripts of scholarly articles produced entirely or primarily with NOAA funding will be required to be submitted to NOAA Institutional Repository after acceptance, and no later than upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made publicly available by NOAA one year after publication by the journal.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 18 of 33

Data Management Guidance to Applicants The NOAA B-WET program has developed this guidance to help grant applicants plan to share quality environmental data collected as part of their B-WET funded projects, where applicable. Environmental Data are defined by NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 212-15:

Management of Environmental Data and Information as recorded and derived observations and measurements of the physical, chemical, biological, geological, and geophysical properties and conditions of the oceans, atmosphere, space environment, sun, and solid earth, as well as correlative data such as socio-economic data, related documentation, and metadata. Digital audio or video recordings of environmental phenomena (such as animal sounds or undersea video) are included in this definition. Numerical model outputs are included in this definition, particularly if they are used to support the conclusion of a peer-reviewed publication. Data collected in a laboratory or other controlled environment, such as measurements of animals and chemical processes, are included in this definition.

Environmental data and information collected or created under NOAA grants or cooperative agreements must be made discoverable by and accessible to the general public, in a timely fashion (typically within two years), free of charge or at no more than the cost of reproduction, unless an exemption is granted by the NOAA Program. Data should be available in at least one machine-readable format, preferably a widely-used or open-standard format, and should also be accompanied by machine-readable documentation (metadata), preferably based on widely-used or international standards.

Proposals submitted in response to this announcement must include a Data Management Plan of up to two pages describing how these requirements apply to the proposed project and will be satisfied. The Data Management Plan will be considered as part of the proposal review. Note that the Federal Program Officer may require revisions to the applicant’s Data Management Plan prior to recommending the application for funding.

Applicant Data Management Plans should be aligned with the following Data Management Guidance.

If environmental data collected/generated as part of the project are primarily for education and/or the practice of making observations using scientific techniques/methods (e.g.

measuring pH of water with a refractometer, measuring atmospheric humidity with a sling psychrometer, measuring percent vegetative cover using a transect, etc.) and are not intended to be shared with scientists outside of the educational program, applicants may request permission not to make data publicly accessible and obtain approval from the Federal Program Officer, if funded. In this case, this element of the application should consist of a paragraph (under the heading "Data Management Plan") describing the intended use of the data and that an exemption from data sharing is requested.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 19 of 33

If environmental data collected/generated as part of the project are for purposes beyond education and/or the practice of making observations using scientific techniques/methods, applicants should describe (up to 2 pages, under the heading "Data Management Plan") how data will be shared, based on the following guidance:

Contents: A typical Data Management Plan should include descriptions of the types of environmental data and information expected to be created during the course of the project;

the tentative date by which data will be shared; the standards to be used for data/metadata format and content; methods for providing data access; approximate total volume of data to be collected; and prior experience in making such data accessible. The plan should describe or reference the data quality control techniques that will be used or note that the data will not be quality controlled. Data that is not quality controlled should include a description on the limitations of the data or an indication of degree of uncertainty.

Technical recommendations: The NOAA B-WET program does not offer specific technical guidance. Applicants should describe their proposed approach. Use of open-standard formats and methods is encouraged.

Data Accessibility: The NOAA B-WET program recommends that public access to grant produced data be enabled via an existing publicly accessible online data server at the funded institution is to be used to host these data (describe in application); or a public data repository appropriate to this scientific domain (describe in application). (e.g. The GLOBE Program - http://www.globe.gov/, CoCoRaHS Community - http://www.cocorahs.org/); or recipient-established data hosting capability (please describe in application’s Data Management Plan).

Resources: Proposals are permitted to include the costs of data preparation, accessibility, or archiving in their budgets.

Questions Regarding This Guidance Responsible NOAA Official for questions regarding this guidance and for verifying accessibility of data produced by funding recipients: Kevin Schabow, Chesapeake B-WET Coordinator, NOAA Fisheries, kevin.schabow@noa.gov, 410-295-3145; or Bronwen Rice, BWET National Coordinator, NOAA Office of Education, Bronwen.Rice@noaa.gov, 202- 482-6797.

(viii) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): Consistent with Section IV.B.(a)(ii) and Section VI.B.4. of this Announcement, if any permits, permit requests, maps, or other

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 20 of 33 supporting NEPA documents are applicable to your project, they may be included as attachments.

C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award…