NOAA-NOS-OCM-2023-2008068 NOFO Report_August_18_2023.pdf

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Inflation Reduction Act: NOAA Climate Resilience Regional Challenge

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description ________________________________________________ 4 A. Program Objective 4 B. Program Priorities 15 C. Program Authority 16

II. Award Information 17 A. Funding Availability 17 B. Project/Award Period 17 C. Type of Funding Instrument _______________________________________________ 18

III. Eligibility Information 19 A. Eligible Applicants 19 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement ______________________________________ 20 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility _________________________________________ 21

IV. Application and Submission Information _______________________________________ 21 A. Address to Request Application Package _____________________________________ 21 B. Content and Form of Application ___________________________________________ 21 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) _______________ 37 D. Submission Dates and Times ______________________________________________ 37 E. Intergovernmental Review ________________________________________________ 39 F. Funding Restrictions 39 G. Other Submission Requirements ___________________________________________ 40

V. Application Review Information _______________________________________________ 41 A. Evaluation Criteria 41 B. Review and Selection Process _____________________________________________ 49 C. Selection Factors 52 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates _________________________________ 53

VI. Award Administration Information ____________________________________________ 53 A. Award Notices 53 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements ______________________________ 54 C. Reporting 62

VII. Agency Contacts 63 VIII. Other Information 63

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NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: Inflation Reduction Act: NOAA Climate Resilience Regional Challenge

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NOS-OCM-2023-2008068

Federal Assistance Listings Number: 11.473, Office for Coastal Management

Dates: Letter of Intent Date: Letters of Intent are required and must be postmarked, provided to a delivery service, or received by electronic mail by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on August 28, 2023.

Use of a delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No facsimile applications will be accepted. Electronic mail must be sent to resiliencechallenge@noaa.gov. The Letter of Intent date is being extended following the Major Disaster Declaration for Hawaii on August 10th, 2023.

Full Application Date: Invited full applications must be postmarked, provided to a delivery service, or received by www.Grants.gov by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on February 13, 2024. Use of a delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted.

Funding Opportunity Description: The NOAA Climate Resilience Regional Challenge (Challenge) will support collaborative approaches to achieving resilience in coastal regions with an emphasis on risk reduction, regional collaboration, equity, and building enduring capacity.

The Challenge is a $575 million competition with a Letter of Intent phase and two exclusive funding tracks designed to meet the needs of coastal communities wherever they are in the resilience and adaptation process.

Regional Collaborative Building and Strategy Development (Track One) supports building capacity for, development of, and collaboration on transformational resilience and adaptation strategies for coastal communities. Successful applicants will receive $500,000 to $2,000,000 to support regional scale coordination, engagement, planning, advancement of equitable outcomes, and capacity building for resilience and adaptation. Total funding for all Track One awards may be up to $25 million.

Implementation of Resilience and Adaptation Actions (Track Two) supports implementation of transformational resilience and adaptation strategies and associated actions for coastal

Notice of Federal Funding Page 3 of 64 communities anchored in previous planning efforts. Applicants must propose a suite of complementary adaptation actions that together build the resilience of multiple communities within a coastal region, including those that have been marginalized, underserved, or underrepresented. Applicants can apply for not less than $15,000,000 and not more than $75,000,000, with most awards being between $25,000,000 and $50,000,000. Total funding available for all Track Two awards is up to $550,000,000.

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

1. Background

U.S. coastal counties are home to 40% of the nation’s population, employ 54.6 million people, and produce $9.6 trillion in goods and services. These counties and their communities are experiencing not just rapid but accelerating change and increased risks from the combined effects of storms, precipitation, sea level rise, and other physical stressors. The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4, 2018) highlighted the significant risk to coastal property and public infrastructure from increases in the frequency, depth, and extent of tidal flooding due to sea level rise, with cascading impacts to the Nation’s economy. Higher storm surges due to sea level rise and the increased probability of heavy precipitation events increase the risk. By the latter part of this century, many more coastal communities will suffer financial impacts as chronic high tide flooding leads to increased infrastructure damage. As the pace and extent of coastal flooding and erosion accelerates, climate change impacts along our coasts are compounding pre-existing social inequities and communities are facing difficult questions about the costs and tradeoffs associated with adaptation strategies, including if, how, or when to relocate infrastructure.

Coastal communities also face additional threats from the changing climate, including extreme heat, wildfire, drought, and ocean acidification. These stressors also impact coastal economies, social systems, and important coastal ecosystems. In response to these climate threats, the “Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad”, (E.O.

14008 at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202100095/pdf/DCPD- 202100095.pdf) lays out a range of responsibilities for federal agencies to tackle the climate crisis, including a directive to align Federal financial programs to support robust climate action and deliver environmental justice in communities across America. The order also calls upon federal agencies to align the creativity, courage, and capital necessary to make our Nation resilient and points to the essential role of coastal communities in improving our resilience to weather and climate impacts.

Climate change does not respect jurisdictional boundaries and poses a challenge that surpasses the capacity of any single organization or government agency to resolve, necessitating cross-jurisdictional and cross-sectoral adaptation solutions. While many coastal communities have begun to identify their climate risks, mechanisms are needed to effectively coordinate and execute resilience and adaptation actions across jurisdictions and

Notice of Federal Funding Page 5 of 64 sectors in a way that will meaningfully engage marginalized, underserved, or underrepresented communities. Regional collaboration can dramatically improve how we achieve coastal resilience by aligning adaptation strategies across jurisdictions and sectors to achieve co-benefits. Co-benefits are the supplemental positive impacts (e.g., job creation, habitat conservation, recreation, etc.) that can result from adaptation actions in addition to the direct risk reduction benefits (e.g., reduced cost of flooding). Regional collaboration on climate adaptation also promotes the leveraging of resources, enables collective action that includes input from and benefits to marginalized, underserved and underrepresented populations, and allows for development of more durable solutions that multiply the value of individual efforts.

Entire segments of our society have been marginalized, underserved, or underrepresented in efforts to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and adapt to weather and climate impacts, despite being at greater risk due to lack of resources, accessibility constraints, and systemic institutional barriers. This includes Tribes and Indigenous People who are disproportionately affected by climate change and face additional institutional barriers in order to adapt to the most severe impacts (Fourth National Climate Assessment). Executive Order 14096, Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All" (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/26/2023-08955/revitalizing-our-nations-commitment-to-environmental-justice-for-all), and it's predecessor E.O.13985 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government), emphasize the need for Federal agencies to take actions to redress unfair disparities and remove barriers to government programs and services. E.O. 14096 places even greater urgency on the Federal Government to “. . . build upon and strengthen its commitment to deliver environmental justice to all communities across America. Our Nation needs . . . ".

Executive Order 14008 also established the Justice40 Initiative, directing that 40% of the overall benefits from federal climate and clean energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities and that such communities accrue the benefits of those investments.

With funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169, Section 40001), NOAA has designed the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to catalyze equitable adaptation through regional scale collaboration and implementation of adaptation actions that will reduce future damage from weather and climate impacts. The Federal investments being made through NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge also provide a unique opportunity to build enduring capacity for adaptation in coastal areas, including marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented communities. This investment further supports the directive in Executive Order 14008 (referenced above) to secure environmental justice and spur economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities. Adaptation actions

Notice of Federal Funding Page 6 of 64 supported by this funding will contribute to the Interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Promoting Equitable Access to Nature in Nature-Deprived Communities, which seeks to support locally led conservation and park projects in nature-deprived communities.

NOAA will partner with award recipients to provide technical assistance (e.g., scientific expertise, knowledge of coastal resource management, technical and training capabilities) in support of these regional efforts and to help ensure lasting progress toward equitable resilience and adaptation. For more information on the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge and to learn about technical assistance from NOAA, visit:

https://coast.noaa.gov/funding/ira/resilience-challenge/

In recognition that some communities are just beginning to address climate challenges, while others have been planning for many years, this funding opportunity includes two distinct and exclusive tracks:

- Regional Collaborative Building and Strategy Development (Track One): Funding under Track One supports the development and operation of regional collaboratives to generate transformational resilience and adaptation strategies for coastal communities, including those that have been marginalized, underserved, or underrepresented. This funding track will meet communities where they are in the adaptation process, advance equitable resilience, adaptation planning and partnership building, and establish more entities with local capacity for implementing future on-the-ground resilience and adaptation actions. Track One funding, combined with technical assistance from NOAA, will allow successful applicants to plan for holistic resilience and adaptation investments, initiatives and policies, and build enduring capacity for future adaptation efforts.

- Implementation of Resilience and Adaptation Actions (Track Two): Funding under

Track Two supports transformational resilience and adaptation actions that are ready for implementation and will greatly and measurably reduce risk and vulnerability in coastal areas while advancing equity. This funding track supports implementation of a suite of complementary resilience and adaptation actions that:

- extend benefits beyond the boundaries of one town and avoid detrimental consequences for others (e.g. stormwater improvements that reduce coastal erosion in one community but increase flooding in another);

- are holistic and provide co-benefits (e.g., a system of nature-based installations that protect multiple communities and provide open space and access to nature);

and

- provide equitable outcomes that benefit the entire community, including marginalized, underserved, or underrepresented residents.

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This funding, combined with technical assistance from NOAA, will enable successful applicants to implement resilience and adaptation actions that provide measurable risk reduction outcomes and support related initiatives and policies, while building enduring capacity for future adaptation efforts.

2. Program Overview

The Climate Resilience Regional Challenge is a two-track competition. Applicants must clearly identify in their application the track that should be used to evaluate their proposal (Regional Collaborative Building and Strategy Development, or Implementation of Resilience and Adaptation Actions). Applicants should select a category based on the evaluation criteria in Section V.A. If a category is not identified by the applicant within the proposal, NOAA will identify a category for the applicant. No appeals regarding placement will be considered.

All applicants must identify the geographic region that they propose to serve for the purposes of this competition. The geographic region must be located within one or more coastal states or territories as defined in the Coastal Zone Management Act (See Section III.A Eligibility), and should be of a size and scope to be able to demonstrate, with the amount of funding available from NOAA, significant, tangible resilience and adaptation outcomes that benefit the identified region and local coastal communities. NOAA encourages applications that benefit tribal lands and/or tribal priorities, and a region may be made up of or include tribal lands. A region may include lands governed by multiple Tribes within a single compact area, such as a watershed. Alternatively, a region may include multiple parts of geographically connected states or tribal lands facing similar weather and climate impacts. Specified regions should be of a size and scope to facilitate the implementation of resilience and adaptation actions and ensure benefits at the community level.

All proposals should focus on regional efforts that:

1) provide local and regional co-benefits (e.g., reducing risk and improving public health, advancing equitable adaptation actions and increasing access to open space);

2) advance equity through meaningful community involvement in the identification and implementation of holistic resilience and adaptation strategies and actions;

and

3) contribute to enduring capacity for adaptation in the region.

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All proposals should demonstrate collaboration between relevant entities in the specified region and build upon previous and ongoing efforts related to achieving resilience within the specified region, where such activities exist. Successful proposals will leverage scientific information, indigenous knowledge, and local knowledge and technical skills that are distributed across a diverse group of organizations and sectors, including NOAA and other federal, state, tribal and local government agencies. These leveraging opportunities include previous or ongoing investments in resilience and adaptation, such as information sources (e.g., assessments, studies, plans, tools, training, technical assistance), and mechanisms (e.g., funding, programs, partnerships). Applicants can review the Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge (at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/OSTP-CEQ-IK-Guidance.pdf) for ways to improve the recognition and inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge.

Track One - Regional Collaborative Building and Strategy Development

Through Track One, NOAA will award $500,000 to $2,000,000 to successful applicants to support regional scale collaborative efforts focused on building resilience for coastal areas and communities. NOAA expects to select between 20-25 winning collaboratives but may select more or less based on the merits of the applications. Total funding for all Track One awards may be up to $25 million. Funding amounts listed here are approximate. Typical award amount is anticipated to be $1,000,000.

For the purposes of this program, regional collaboratives are defined as groups comprised of collaborators and partners (see Section I.A.3 for definitions) that are unified by a common vision for how to significantly increase the resilience of their region, are led by or include locally-oriented institutions and governments, and share adjacent and/or overlapping geographical interests or administrative boundaries or benefit from the same natural, social, economic, and/or infrastructure systems. The collaborators and partners that comprise the regional collaborative should have a clear, shared sense of the need for action and willingness to engage in a collaborative process that links diverse interests to achieve shared goals in a regional setting. This shared vision should align with the “NOAA 2022-26 Strategic Plan (https://www.noaa.gov/organization/budget-finance-performance/value-to-society/noaa-fy22-26-strategic-plan), and reflect the interests of relevant coastal Tribes and jurisdictions, such as states, territories, counties, parishes, cities, towns, villages, tribal lands and culturally significant areas. Collaboratives should include and/or engage with representatives from the relevant jurisdictions and sectors to collectively address weather and climate impacts.

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Entities applying to Track One should come together as a regional collaborative with a unified vision for increasing resilience at a regional scale. This vision and the preliminary strategies and activities needed to advance towards that vision should be clearly articulated in Letters of Intent and full applications. Track One funding can be used to support further development of the vision and strategy, including necessary coordination, engagement, and planning. Engagement must include convening multiple stakeholders from the public and private sectors (e.g., federal, state, and/or local agencies; Tribes, and tribal organizations;

non-governmental organizations; community-based organizations; and business and industry) and include- marginalized, underserved, or underrepresented communities.

Track One funding will support the building of new and strengthening of existing collaboratives toward identifying joint actions to advance climate resilience and adaptation in the respective region. Applicants to Track One should include a clear strategy for making significant progress toward implementation of adaptation actions within two years of the start of the award. Milestones that reflect progress of a collaborative include the following:

articulation of shared priorities; identification of a collaborative leadership structure, and the roles and responsibilities for each position; formulation of operating norms and practices, including decision-making processes; establishment of routine communication mechanisms, both within the collaborative and with stakeholders; initiation of strategic planning activities;

and pursuit of training and capacity-building events. Other activities that reflect progress toward implementation of adaptation actions include: identification and assessment of the most significant weather and climate risks and potential impacts; engagement of those most impacted by weather and climate impacts for co-development of solutions; initiation and/or completion of vulnerability assessment(s); collection of necessary data to evaluate options (e.g., economic data, modeling results); development and sharing of policy, program and technical advice; identification and evaluation of adaptation options and potential pathways to implementation; pursuit of activities that position the collaborative to undertake future implementation activities (e.g., design and engineering plans); and identification and evaluation of funding and financing sources.

Track One funding can be used for the following:

- Establishing and expanding durable regional partnerships, including organizational development of a regional collaborative, identification of strategies and actions, and strategic planning;

- Conducting outreach and communication activities related to regional resilience and adaptation;

- Convening inclusive and accessible engagement activities to enhance the breadth of the collaborative teams, especially with marginalized, underserved, and

Notice of Federal Funding Page 10 of 64 underrepresented communities;

- Analyzing risk, vulnerability and adaptation actions for the region and conducting related assessments;

- Planning for the implementation of equitable resilience and adaptation actions, including integration with other planning efforts;

- Undertaking environmental and engineering reviews needed to support future resilience and adaptation actions;

- Developing and implementing laws, regulations, and policies related to resilience and adaptation actions;

- Identifying and pursuing funding and financing options for resilience and adaptation actions;

- Identifying the workforce requirements to implement resilience and adaptation actions into the future;

- Developing and implementing training and capacity building for resilience and adaptation in coastal communities, especially for marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented communities;

- Designing, planning and implementing performance management and evaluation activities related to the collaborative partnerships; and

- Pursuing other activities essential to moving forward with regional coastal resilience and adaptation activities.

NOAA strongly encourages new collaboratives to form and apply to this Challenge.

Existing collaboratives are also encouraged to apply and build upon their current efforts and expand involvement to new collaborators and partners. Each collaborative must identify an eligible entity that will apply for and receive federal funds if the application is selected for funding (See Section III.A Eligible Applicants). The regional collaborative itself is not required to be a legal entity, nor will there be any competitive advantage for being a legal entity. For new and existing collaboratives that wish to establish themselves as a new legal entity, Track One funding may be used for that purpose.

Track Two - Implementation of Resilience and Adaptation Actions

Through Track Two, NOAA anticipates awards for no less than $15,000,000 to no more than $75,000,000, and anticipates that most awards will be between $25,000,000 and $50,000,000. Successful applicants will use the funding to support implementation of complementary adaptation actions (approximately three to eight), including construction and non-construction activities. NOAA expects to award no more than 15 Track Two awards but may select more based on the merits of the applications. Total funding available for all Track Two awards is up to $550,000,000. Funding amounts listed here are approximate.

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Track Two funding is intended to support the implementation of a complementary suite of ambitious and achievable actions (approximately three to eight) that are grounded in existing plans and/or strategies aimed at addressing the resilience and adaptation challenges within a specified region. Applicants for Track Two funding may be, but are not required to be, a regional collaborative as defined for Track One (i.e. they can be a single entity).

However, all entities interested in applying to Track Two should be committed to working closely with relevant partners, including representatives of underserved communities, on their applications and in potential implementation of funding under a collective vision for increasing resilience within their specified geographic region. The adaptation actions proposed for funding should have been developed through engagement with multiple stakeholders (e.g., federal, state, and/or local agencies; Tribes and tribal organizations; and non-governmental organizations), especially those that have been marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented, and aligned with the overall climate resilience and adaptation vision being proposed for the region. The collective vision and a list of collaborators and/or partners (see Section I.A.3) for the regional effort should be clearly identified in the Letter of Intent and full application. The proposed suite of actions to achieve the vision should measurably reduce risk and build resilience in the identified region, and provide benefit to those that are most at risk due to social and economic factors.

Applicants to Track Two should also propose efforts to build enduring capacity for continued pursuit of equitable adaptation within the region and include activities to transfer knowledge and experience gained from the implementation of adaptation actions to other jurisdictions and sectors within and beyond the geographic region. Applicants should also consider the workforce requirements for successful implementation of the proposed and future adaptation actions and include development of training programs or other capacity building services that strengthen or build the region’s talent pool, emphasize in-demand skills, connect workers with quality jobs, and develop accessible career pathways for professionals within the region (if relevant). Proposals including workforce development activities should follow Department of Commerce (DOC) best practices that can be found at https://www.commerce.gov/issues/workforce-development.

Example activities for Track Two include:

- Planning (including design and permitting) and construction of natural infrastructure that reduces weather and climate impacts;

- Acquiring land to reduce the impacts of weather and climate and to protect coastal habitats and human communities;

- Strengthening or protecting public access to ocean and coastal resources and

Notice of Federal Funding Page 12 of 64 related activities, including working waterfronts;

- Pursuing new or updated outreach and risk communication efforts;

- Planning, designing, or preparing for implementation of community-led relocation efforts;

- Advancing state/tribal/local standards, policies, and codes to build resilience;

- Acquiring coastal data and developing decision support tools to inform resilience and adaptation measures;

- Pursuing hybrid green (natural) and gray (structural) projects, including modifying public infrastructure to deliver multiple benefits and significant positive impact for the long-term;

- Establishing resilience hub(s) that use pre-existing facilities to support residents and coordinate resource distribution and services before, during, or after a natural hazard event;

- Development and implementation of performance measurement, monitoring, evaluation, and/or reporting mechanisms;

- Efforts that support relevant workforce needs, in line with Department of Commerce (DOC) best practices (https://www.commerce.gov/issues/workforce-development); and

- Activities under Track One that support the implementation of adaptation actions.

Any proposed construction activities are required to, at a minimum, be in conformance with the highest Federal standards available, unless higher local and state standards are available, and specifications that incorporate the latest hazard-resistant designs. Proposals should clearly describe how the construction activities, including construction of natural infrastructure, will measurably reduce exposure, vulnerability, or risk to known weather and climate impacts and/or decrease recovery time for future extreme weather events. This includes natural infrastructure projects that use existing or rebuilt natural landscapes (i.e., forests, floodplains, and wetlands) to increase resilience to climate impacts, often resulting in environmental, economic, and social co-benefits. It also includes hybrid green and gray projects that combine gray infrastructure with nature-based solutions to create systems that improve resilience to climate impacts, while also often resulting in environmental, economic, and social co-benefits. For more information on potential nature-based solutions, please see U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering with Nature Initiative; EPA’s Green Infrastructure website; and NOAA’s Natural Infrastructure for Coastal Hazards website.

Proposals for large scale actions that provide significant impact are encouraged;

however, ‘demonstration’ or ‘pilots’ are also eligible. If a ‘demonstration’ or ‘pilot’ scale effort is proposed, applicants should describe the need for the effort, expected positive benefits, and the steps to be taken to transfer knowledge and experience within and outside

Notice of Federal Funding Page 13 of 64 the region. All construction activities must be located on publicly owned land, tribal land, or land where a public entity holds a lease or easement which shall, at a minimum, be for the expected life of the project (as defined by the project applicant and NOAA, but for a minimum of 20 years). NOAA will review leases and easements conveying property to public entities to ensure that the public interest is adequate and consistent with competition requirements. All construction activities must be able to be completed within the period of performance. For additional information on application requirements for construction activities, see Section IV.B PDF 4 Supplemental Materials/Appendices.

All proposed land acquisitions must provide resilience and adaptation benefits to a coastal community. Resilience and adaptation benefits include reducing damages from weather and climate impacts or avoiding future losses caused by conversion of land from its natural, undeveloped, or recreational state to other uses. To be eligible, grantees and sub-awardees must acquire property or permanent conservation easements from willing sellers within eligible States and provide for non-Federal public or tribal ownership or ownership by a private entity whose organizational purpose or goal is conservation, restoration or preservation of land and natural resources. Interest in land must be held for conservation in perpetuity. If the grant recipient is a State agency that does not have authority to hold title to lands, the property may be held by another eligible non-Federal public entity if there is an appropriate Memorandum of Understanding, subaward agreement or other legal agreement in place with the State agency to ensure conservation and resilience benefits. Applications requesting funding for land acquisition should describe the proposed strategy for long-term stewardship of the site once acquired, including ongoing monitoring and management, and, if restoration of ecosystem services is proposed, how that will be accomplished. Land acquisitions must also provide for passive public access or other public benefit on some portion of the property, as appropriate and consistent with resource protection, or clearly describe why passive public access would be detrimental. For additional information on application requirements for land acquisitions, see Section IV.B PDF 4 Supplemental Materials/Appendices.

3. Definitions.

For the purposes of this competition:

- “Resilience” is defined as the ability of a coastal community to prepare and plan for, absorb impacts of, recover from, and more successfully adapt to weather and climate impacts.

- “Adaptation” refers to adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic changes and their effects.

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- “Regional collaborative” or “collaborative” or “collaborative teams” are interchangeable and are defined as a group of individuals or entities with a unified vision for resilience that choose to apply to this Challenge together.

Collaboratives are comprised of collaborators with a unified vision for resilience that are led by or include locally-oriented institutions and governments, and that share adjacent and/or overlapping geographical interests or administrative boundaries, or benefit from the same natural, social, economic, and infrastructure systems. Applicants to Track One must be collaboratives. Applicants to Track Two may be collaboratives.

- “Collaborator” is defined as an eligible entity who contributes substantially to the regional team’s overall strategic direction and decision-making, and is committed to long-term interactions based on shared missions and goals. Collaborators may receive federal funds as the lead recipient or through subawards and contracts, or may participate without federal funding. Collaborative teams in Track One must have collaborators and regional implementation efforts under Track Two may have collaborators.

- “Partners” are individuals and entities that are supportive of the proposed effort but do not participate in overall decision-making and do not commit to regular and sustained engagement in collaborative activities. Applicants to both Track One and Track Two may have partners. If the applicant to Track Two is not a collaborative, it must have strong partners. In both Track One and Track Two, partners may receive funds through subawards or contracts from the applicant or may participate without federal funding.

- “Equity” means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment (E.O. 13985).

- “Underserved communities” refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life (E.O. 13985).

- “Marginalized” refers to populations excluded from mainstream social, economic, educational, and/or cultural life. Examples of marginalized populations include, but are not limited to, groups excluded due to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, language, and/or immigration status (National Institutes of Health).

- “Underrepresented” means a population that is typically underrepresented in service provision, and includes populations such as persons who are minorities, poor persons, persons with limited English proficiency, older individuals, or persons from rural areas (see 29 U.S.C. § 3002(18)).

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- “Environmental justice” means the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment.

- “Disadvantaged communities” is defined by the Council on Environmental Quality as those communities that are marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution and they are identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screen Tool.

NOAA uses the phrase ‘marginalized, underserved and underrepresented’ throughout the

NOFO, which encompasses the concepts of environmental justice and disadvantaged communities.

B. Program Priorities

The NOAA Climate Resilience Regional Challenge seeks to transform the resilience of U.S. coastal communities, ecosystems, and associated economies to weather and climate impacts. Applications submitted for both Track One and Track Two should consider the following program priorities in the development of their proposals:

- Risk Reduction. Building resilience requires implementing adaptation actions that reduce risk to coastal populations, infrastructure, economies, and ecosystems from the impacts of drought, extreme heat, sea level rise, floods, and wildfires, and/or other future weather and climate impacts. For Track One, applicants should assess weather and climate risks and apply risk information to identity, plan and design future adaptation actions. For Track Two, applicants should propose a complementary set of adaptation actions (approximately three to eight) that collectively reduce risk by increasing community preparedness, decreasing community exposure, and/or improving community recovery. Proposed adaptation actions can include nature-based and hybrid green and gray actions. Those adaptation actions should provide co-benefits and alleviate multiple stressors within communities, such as improving public health, achieving reductions in pollution burden, enhancing habitat or other environmental benefits, and providing access to safe parks, natural areas, and waterways. Applicants must include metrics for risk reduction in their applications.

- Regional Coordination and Collaboration. Regional coordination and collaboration, driven by an integrated, achievable, and ambitious vision for how to improve the resilience of the region, is critical to addressing weather and climate impacts. All applicants to both tracks should focus on ensuring that relevant entities are engaged as collaborators and/or partners in building resilience across states, counties, cities, and Tribes within the region. Applicants should focus on the identification of shared

Notice of Federal Funding Page 16 of 64 needs, priorities, challenges, and strategies that can be addressed by actions at the local and regional scales. Successful applicants will support public engagement to inform planning efforts and build effective relationships between government entities and communities.

- Equity and Inclusion. Inclusive and equitable adaptation strategies and actions require co-development with members of marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented communities to ensure that benefits flow to them. These adaptation strategies and actions should include Tribes, tribal priorities, and indigenous knowledge.

- Enduring Capacity. Enduring capacity refers to sustaining a level of community readiness that promotes continuous adaptation to the impacts of weather and climate, including developing and maintaining specific workforce capabilities and capacities.

All applicants to both tracks should focus on building capacity for adaptation that can be sustained into the future within the region (post-award period) including with community-based organizations and for marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented communities. Successful applicants will also propose efforts to extend anticipated benefits beyond their region through information sharing and transfer of knowledge to other regions.

In addition to these program priorities, NOAA will consider other standard factors in evaluating the extent to which applications address these program priorities including:

technical merit; qualifications of the applicant(s); project costs; and outreach and engagement (See Section V.A. for the Evaluation Criteria and weighting for Track One and Track Two).

For additional information on the NOAA Climate Resilience Regional Challenge program, visit: https://coast.noaa.gov/funding/ira/resilience-challenge/.

C. Program Authority

The Secretary of Commerce is authorized under the following statutes to provide grants and cooperative agreements for the purposes described in this announcement, including Section 40001 of the Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law 117-169), Section 310 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S.C. § 1456c) (titled “Technical Assistance”), the Digital Coast Act (Public Law 116-223), the National Climate Program Act (Public Law 95–367), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Public Law 117-58).

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II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

Total funding for all Track One awards is anticipated to be up to $25 million. NOAA will not accept applications requesting less than $500,000 or more than $2,000,000 in federal funds from Track One under this solicitation. Total funding for all Track Two awards is up to approximately $550 million. NOAA anticipates receiving applications requesting not less than $15,000,000 and not more than $75,000,000 in federal funds for investments that will result in significant resilience and adaptation actions in the region. The exact amount of funds that may be awarded will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA. At its discretion, NOAA may reduce the scope and budget of a proposed award or provide separate awards for individual adaptation actions that are proposed as part of a Track Two proposal that may require additional oversight by or collaboration with NOAA.

Any funds provided to successful applicants will be at the discretion of NOAA Office for

Coastal Management and the NOAA Grants Management Division (GMD). NOAA or the Department of Commerce are not responsible for the direct costs of application preparation if the applicant fails to receive funding or efforts in their proposal are canceled because of other agency priorities. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds. There is no guarantee that sufficient funds will be available to make awards for all top-ranked applications. The number of awards to be made as a result of this solicitation will depend on the number of eligible applications received, the amount of funds requested, and the merit and ranking of the applications. Applicants should be in compliance with requirements in any existing NOAA grants. Top ranked proposals not initially funded may be considered for funding subsequently if additional funds become available, without NOAA repeating the competitive process outlined in this announcement.

B. Project/Award Period

Applicants may submit applications covering up to a 60-month period with an anticipated start date of October 1, 2024. Pre-award costs and advance payments may be considered during pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA. Incurring pre-award costs before the NOAA GMD provides an award document is at the applicant’s own risk. An award may be funded in full for all years, or in increments (usually annually) at NOAA’s discretion. More information on pre-award costs can be found in Section IV.F Funding Restrictions.

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C. Type of Funding Instrument

Selected applications will be funded through cooperative agreements, as described in 31 U.S.C. 6305 and 2 C.F.R. § 200.1, meaning that NOAA expects to be substantially involved in many aspects of the awards, which may include the provision of NOAA technical assistance and other activities. NOAA’s involvement is intended to support the success of award recipients by complementing regional and local knowledge and expertise with additional science and services. NOAA’s specific involvement will be negotiated with successful applicants and specific roles and responsibilities will be formalized as part of the final cooperative agreement. NOAA’s involvement may also include other roles described in OMB Guidelines at 43 Fed. Reg. 36860 (Aug. 18, 1978), including but not limited to further collaboration on the scope of work, training of recipient personnel, review of procurement materials to the extent authorized by 2 C.F.R. § 200.325, tracking progress towards the successful completion of the project, providing Federal personnel to work on the effort, and specifying direction or redirection of the scope of work due to inter-relationships with other efforts, such as requiring recipients to achieve a specific level of cooperation with other efforts.

Collectively, NOAA’s programs and partnerships encompass a significant amount of climate science as well as resilience and adaptation expertise. Applicants are encouraged to connect with relevant NOAA programs and partnerships as part of the application development process, however NOAA employees are not permitted to assist with writing applications for Federal funding. For more information on NOAA technical assistance and relevant NOAA programs and partnerships, visit:

https://coast.noaa.gov/funding/ira/resilience-challenge/.

If an applicant requests technical assistance and/or other involvement with current

NOAA programs or staff as part of an application, the applicant should describe the nature and extent of the desired roles and responsibilities within the application. The specific roles and responsibilities for NOAA involvement will be negotiated with successful applicants and included as part of the final cooperative agreement. Letters of support from NOAA employees are not allowable and will not be included among the application materials considered by merit reviewers.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to work with other relevant Federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and municipal and county governments. Planned involvement of other federal agencies should be clearly described in the project proposal.

Federal agencies and employees are not allowed to receive funds under this announcement but may serve as collaborative project partners. If federal agencies are partners, applicants

Notice of Federal Funding Page 19 of 64 are expected to provide detail on the planned level of federal engagement in the application.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible entities who may apply include:

- coastal States, territories, or Tribes;

- counties, cities, or other political subdivisions of a coastal State or territory, including special purpose units of government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities;

- the District of Columbia;

- institutions of higher education; and

- non-profit organizations or associations, including those acting in cooperation with a State, tribal, local or territorial government; regional councils of government and regional planning councils.

Coastal states are defined in the Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S.C. § 1453(4) as any state of the United States in, or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and former Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands including Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau.

The term ‘‘Tribe’’ is synonymous with “tribal government” and means any Indian or

Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component band, or component reservation, individually identified (including parenthetically) in the list published most recently as of the date of enactment of this subsection pursuant to 25 U.S.C.

5131. The term “tribal organization” means the recognized governing body of any Indian tribe; any legally established organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities (25 U.S.C 5304). While tribal organizations are eligible to apply on behalf of one or more Tribes, they must document tribal approval prior to commencing proposed activities (per 25 U.S.C. 5304). Non-profit organizations are eligible to apply, including state-recognized tribes, Native Hawaiian entities or other non-profit organizations serving the needs of indigenous peoples.

Institutions of higher education (as defined in subsection (a) of section 101 of the Higher

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Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)) are eligible.

For the purposes of this competition, a group of entities who are applying together are considered a regional collaborative (also referred to as a collaborative or a collaborative team). Collaboratives teams must identify a lead entity to submit an application (i.e., the funding recipient, who is the non-federal entity that receives a Federal award directly from a Federal awarding agency, per 2 CFR 200.1). The lead entity is responsible for the award as a whole, including monitoring, reporting, and communicating progress to NOAA. The lead entity should work with other collaborators and partners through subawards and contracts under 2 CFR 200.1 and other arrangements pertinent to the collaborative’s activities that do not involve the transfer of funds. In addition, the lead entity must identify a Project Director (PD), who is the individual with the appropriate level of authority and responsibility to direct the activities supported by the grant. Applicants should be aware that the terms Project Director (PD) and Principal Investigator (PI) are used interchangeably.