NOAA-OAR-CPO-2022-2006799 NOFO Report.pdf

Climate Program Office FY2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 4

A. Program Objective 4 B. Program Priorities 4 C. Program Authority 11

II. Award Information 11 A. Funding Availability 11 B. Project/Award Period 12 C. Type of Funding Instrument 13

III. Eligibility Information 13 A. Eligible Applicants 13 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 13 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 14

IV. Application and Submission Information 14 A. Address to Request Application Package 14 B. Content and Form of Application 14 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 19 D. Submission Dates and Times 20 E. Intergovernmental Review 20 F. Funding Restrictions 21 G. Other Submission Requirements 21

V. Application Review Information 21 A. Evaluation Criteria 21 B. Review and Selection Process 22 C. Selection Factors 24 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 25

VI. Award Administration Information 25 A. Award Notices 25 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 25 C. Reporting 30

VII. Agency Contacts 30 VIII. Other Information 30

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NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: Climate Program Office FY2022

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-CPO-2022-2006799

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.431, Climate and Atmospheric Research

Dates: Letters of intent (LOIs) for all competitions should be received by email by 5:00 p.m.

Eastern Time on 08/09/21.

Full applications for all competitions must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, on 10/18/21.

Funding Opportunity Description: Climate variability and change present society with significant economic, health, safety, and security challenges. As part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate portfolio within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Climate Program Office (CPO) addresses these climate challenges by managing competitive research programs through which high-priority climate science, assessments, decision-support research, outreach, education, and capacity-building activities are funded to advance our understanding of the Earth’s climate system, and to foster the application and use of this knowledge to improve the resilience of our Nation and its partners. Through this announcement, CPO is seeking applications for eight individual competitions in FY22. Several of these competitions are relevant to four high-priority climate risk areas CPO is focusing on to improve science understanding and/or capabilities that result in user-driven outcomes: Coastal Inundation, Marine Ecosystems, Water Resources, and Extreme Heat. More information about CPO’s Climate Risk Areas Initiative can be found https://cpo.noaa.gov/News/ArtMID/7875/ArticleID/1945/NOAA%E2%80%99s-Climate- Program-Office-launches-Climate-Risk-Areas-Initiative.

NOAA, OAR, and CPO encourage applicants and awardees to support the principles of diversity and inclusion when writing their proposals and performing their work. Diversity is defined as a collection of individual attributes that together help organizations achieve objectives. Inclusion is defined as a culture that connects each employee to the organization. Promoting diversity and inclusion improves creativity, productivity, and the vitality of the climate research community in

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

Climate variability and change present society with significant economic, health, safety, and security challenges. As part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate portfolio within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Climate Program Office (CPO) addresses these climate challenges by supporting climate research, observations, monitoring, modeling, assessments, interdisciplinary decision-support research, outreach, education, and partnership development. These investments support NOAA’s mission of "Science, Service, and Stewardship" and are designed to advance our understanding of the Earth’s climate system and to foster the application and use of this knowledge to improve the resilience of our Nation and its partners. The position of CPO at the intersection of NOAA’s science and service missions, the climate research community, and the broader climate enterprise enables it to provide strategic vision, lead a research agenda and forge partnerships that enhance society's ability to make effective decisions. CPO also supports NOAA’s mandated responsibilities under the National Climate Program Act, the Global Change Research Act and its National Climate Assessment, the National Integrated Drought Information System Act, and similar international endeavors such as the World Climate Research Program.

CPO’s grant programs manage a competitive process through a NOFO announcement to make awards supporting high-quality research conducted across the United States and internationally on the most urgent climate science questions. While each program area has its own focus, together they advance understanding of Earth’s climate system through interdisciplinary, integrated scientific research, and leverage the resulting knowledge, data, and systems to enhance society’s ability to plan and respond to climate variability and climate change. Toward this end, CPO also supports partnerships that build end-to-end pipelines of information (e.g., integrated information systems) flowing from scientists to decision-makers.

B. Program Priorities

CPO supports competitive research through four major program areas: Earth System Science and Modeling (ESSM); Climate and Societal Interactions (CSI); Communication, Education and Engagement (CEE); and the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). Through this announcement, CPO is seeking applications for eight individual competitions in FY22. Several of these competitions are relevant to high-priority climate risk

Notice of Federal Funding Page 4 of 30 areas. CPO is organizing some of its activities around these areas to improve science understanding and/or capabilities that result in user-driven outcomes. Four climate risk areas of particular interest to CPO are: Coastal Inundation, Marine Ecosystems, Water Resources, and Extreme Heat. More information about CPO’s Climate Risk Areas Initiative can be found https://cpo.noaa.gov/News/ArtMID/7875/ArticleID/1945/NOAA%E2%80%99s- Climate-Program-Office-launches-Climate-Risk-Areas-Initiative. Prior to submitting applications, investigators are highly encouraged to learn more about CPO and its programs, as well as specific program priorities for FY22. In addition, interactions, partnerships, or collaborations with NOAA Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes are encouraged.

This information, along with the names and contact information for each Competition Manager, is provided in information sheets that can be found at the following website:

http://cpo.noaa.gov/Grants.

The eight competitions covered by this announcement are as follows:

-AC4: Fire and smoke at the wildland-urban interface -OAR/CPO/CVP - NWS/OSTI/Modeling Division - Joint Competition to Advance Process Understanding and Representation of Precipitation in Models (short name: “CVP/OSTI Joint Competition”) -CVP - Observation and Modeling Studies in Support of Tropical Pacific Process Studies, Pre-Field-II -COM/MAPP/CSI programs (Multi-program): Improving climate understanding and information for marine sanctuary management planning -ERB: Atmospheric aerosols and their potential roles in solar climate intervention methods -CEE: Climate-Smart Communities Initiative -NIDIS CWD: Ecological Drought -NIDIS CWD: Building Tribal Drought Resilience

1. CPO’s Earth System Science and Modeling (ESSM) Division

The mission of CPO’s Earth System Science and Modeling (ESSM) Division is to advance scientific understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, land, and cryosphere as an integrated system and to improve NOAA’s Earth system climate models and predictions. To accomplish this mission, ESSM funds a unique and highly flexible research enterprise, including process-level studies, predictability studies of climate phenomena, testing for research-to-operation and application transitions, improving model representations of key

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(A) Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Cycle, and Climate (AC4) Program

AC4 is a competitive research program that incorporates research on atmospheric chemistry and the carbon cycle. In collaboration with the NOAA Laboratories and the academic community, the AC4 program supports research to determine the processes governing atmospheric concentrations of trace gases and aerosols in the context of the Earth System.

The program aims to contribute a process-level understanding of the Earth System through observation, modeling, analysis, and field studies to support the development and improvement of models, and to inform carbon and air pollution management efforts.

In FY22, the AC4 Program is soliciting research proposals for the following competition:

Fire and smoke at the wildland-urban interface.

Please see the Competition Information sheet for full details for this competition.

(B) Climate Variability and Predictability (CVP) Program

The Climate Variability and Predictability (CVP) Program supports research that enhances our process-level understanding of the climate system through observation, modeling, analysis, and field studies. This vital knowledge is needed to improve climate models and predictions so that scientists and society can better anticipate the impacts of future climate variability and change.

In FY22, CVP is soliciting proposals for the following two competitions:

- OAR/CPO/CVP - NWS/OSTI/Modeling Division - Joint Competition to Advance Process Understanding and Representation of Precipitation in Models -- In FY22, CVP and OSTI are interested in understanding, diagnosing and modeling of key processes for improving the simulation of subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) precipitation in weather and climate models.

This timescale bridges the weather and climate continuum and is an expanding area of research interests in support of NOAA extended-range to seasonal operational forecast systems. Additionally, improving key processes associated with precipitation can provide benefits for information on timescales of weather through climate change. Focus Area A - Identifying and understanding key processes that influence model biases and systematic errors in the simulation of precipitation at the subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) timescale (CVP Program). Focus Area B - Research to advance NOAA’s Unified Forecast System (UFS) prototype operational system for subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) prediction (NWS/OSTI).

Please see the Competition Information sheet for the full details of this competition. [Note, Notice of Federal Funding Page 6 of 30 there are additional coordinated solicitations through the Weather Program Office (WPO) under the Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) and Climate Test Bed (CTB) Programs. Please see their Program’s Information Sheets in near future for details.]

- CVP - Observation and Modeling Studies in Support of Tropical Pacific Process Studies, Pre-Field-II -- In FY 2022, the CVP program solicits observationally-based and/or modeling projects that will build upon and refine the current scientific understanding of the equatorial Pacific climate system with a specific focus on two process studies identified in the TPOS 2020 First Report, “Pacific Upwelling and Mixing Physics (PUMP)” (section 6.2.1) and “Air–sea Interaction at the eastern edge of the Warm Pool” (section 6.2.3). Outcomes from the proposed projects will be used to further the development of a possible field campaign in this region. The CVP Program encourages the analysis of previously collected ocean and atmospheric observations and/or a hierarchy of modeling approaches that help to inform one or more of the guiding questions listed in the detailed description section of the competition Information Sheet.

(C) Multi-program: Climate Observations and Monitoring (COM) Program, Modeling Analysis Predictions and Projections Program (MAPP), and Climate and Societal Interactions Division Programs

In support of the Climate Program Office Risk Area Initiative, this multi-program solicitation leverages the strengths of the ESSM programs (COM and MAPP), increasing the use and value of observations, and enhancing NOAA’s ability to model and predict variability and change in the Earth’s climate system, as well as CSI Division programs’ tradition of targeting high impact, regionally-scaled, societally relevant interdisciplinary climate and adaptation research and engagement.

The Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) Program focuses on the development and application of Earth System models and analyses across NOAA, among partner agencies, and with the external research community. Primary objectives include: 1) improving Earth System models; 2) supporting an integrated Earth System analysis capability; 3) improving methodologies for global to regional scale climate analysis, predictions, and projections; and 4) developing climate modeling capabilities and applications relevant to decision makers based on climate analyses, predictions, and projections.

The Climate Observation and Monitoring (COM) Program focuses on supporting work that leverages existing in-situ and satellite-based observations to develop value-added datasets, products, and analyses. Primary objectives are to support work that 1) provides usable and

Notice of Federal Funding Page 7 of 30 useful datasets that further enable monitoring and modeling efforts and 2) provide authoritative, long-term datasets and analyses for assessment activities.

The Climate and Societal Interactions Division Programs focus on advancing the knowledge, methods and frameworks needed to move society beyond incremental adaptation toward more widespread, connected, adaptive pathways, and resilience strategies with clear economic and societal co-benefits.

In FY22, the COM and MAPP programs in collaboration with CSI programs are soliciting proposals for the following joint competition:

- Improving climate understanding and information for marine sanctuary management planning

The competition calls for research to improve understanding of long-term variability and change of physical or biogeochemical conditions in place-based managed ecosystems;

climate-related impacts on biological/ecologically-relevant physical processes; and/or the consequential impacts to outcomes desired by the communities that Sanctuaries serve and potential solutions with co-benefits to coastal community resilience and ecosystem conservation. Type 1 proposals are project-based. Type 2 proposals should include a team plan to organize and lead Task Force activities.

Advancing interdisciplinary climate science to co-develop insights important to ecosystem health and coastal communities (including promoting benefits to coastal communities), in the National Marine Sanctuary System supports recent Executive Orders that 1) call to bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change; restore and expand our national treasures and monuments and 2) request agencies to collect input from stakeholders (CPO-ONMS Workshop) on how to make protected resources more resilient to climate change, including changes in management and conservation measures and improvements in science, monitoring, and cooperative research. Please see the Competition Information sheet for full details for this competition.

(D) Earth’s Radiation Budget (ERB) Program

At the direction of Congress, the Earth’s Radiation Budget (ERB) Program supports research to:

• Improve the understanding of aerosol impacts on the Earth’s energy balance;

• Establish a capability to observe and monitor stratospheric conditions;

• Detect and accurately simulate the impacts of natural and human-caused aerosol

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• Apply this improved foundational understanding to Earth system prediction.

In FY22, ERB is soliciting proposals on atmospheric aerosols and their potential roles in solar climate intervention methods. The main focus areas of this competition are: improving numerical model representations of these proposed intervention approaches; and using models to assess the impacts of these aerosol perturbations on Earth’s radiative balance, atmospheric chemical processes, dynamics, weather, and climate. Please see the Competition Information sheet for the full details of this competition.

2. CPO’s Communication, Education, and Engagement (CEE) Division

An essential part of the mission of the NOAA Climate Program Office’s CEE Division is to help U.S. communities and businesses better understand and manage their climate-related risks and opportunities, which includes building resilience to climate-related hazards. To help achieve this mission, CEE manages and maintains the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (or USCRT, online at https://toolkit.climate.gov), which gives easy public access to federal science-based information, tools, data products, and expertise. The USCRT embraces an inclusive, all-of-government approach to helping decision makers find and use federal resources they need to assist them in building resilience. Scalability and replicability of successful tools and methods are of particular interest to this program and, therefore, partnerships across all four domains—government, academic, commercial, and non-profit organizations—are essential to our success..

CEE Climate-Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI) Project

In Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), pending availability of funds, NOAA CPO’s CEE Division will launch a new Climate-Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI) Project designed to scale up and accelerate the pace of climate resilience building, inclusively and equitably, in hundreds of communities all across the United States. In this project, a “community” is defined as any municipal, county, tribal, regional, or state government entity. The CSCI Project will help bring the commercial market for climate adaptation / resilience services to maturity through a public-private partnership that connects community decision-makers with technical resources and expertise for the purpose of co-developing finance-ready resilience plans that are equitable and guided by the best-available science. The CSCI Project vision is to co-develop, with community representatives, equitable climate resilience in every U.S.

community served.

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In FY22, the CEE Division is soliciting proposals for a U.S.-based academic, non-profit, or commercial organization to manage the CSCI Project, working very closely together with NOAA’s US Climate Resilience Toolkit (USCRT) team and its federal partners, via a 4-year cooperative agreement grant. The CSCI will be a cooperative agreement grant because NOAA will be substantially involved in the implementation of the project. The goal will be to develop climate action plans that identify and address the highest priority climate-related hazards in at least 300 communities around the United States; at least one in every state.

Each plan must explicitly help communities link their action plans to finance and funding opportunities by meeting climate risk assessment requirements for federal and/or private sources of funds. Please see the Competition Information sheet for full details about this competition

3. CPO’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) The mission of the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is to help the nation move to a more proactive approach to understanding and managing drought risks and impacts, and to improve long-term drought resilience. Since its inception (2006), and through two subsequent reauthorizations (2014, 2018), NIDIS has been working with various federal, state, local and tribal agencies as well as a network of researchers, academics, resource managers, and policymakers. The work is the basis for the regional Drought Early Warning Systems (DEWS) which provide a foundation for a National Drought Early Warning System. These systems are not simply in place to disseminate forecasts, but to encourage innovation by integrating new, locally relevant drought information and supporting the introduction of new technologies that detect and communicate drought risks and warnings.

In FY22, there will be two Coping with Drought competitions

a. NIDIS Coping with Drought: Ecological Drought For FY2022, the Coping with Drought: Ecological Drought competition will be focused on research and tools to improve our understanding and management of drought risk in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to inform more deliberate and expanded decision-making that supports sustainable, healthy and resilient ecosystems. Please see the Competition Information sheet for full details for this competition

b. NIDIS Coping with Drought: Building Tribal Drought Resilience For FY2022, the Coping with Drought: Building Tribal Drought Resilience competition will be focused on the implementation of actions - together with research on those actions - to build tribal drought resilience contained in existing plans and strategies. Please see the Competition Information sheet for full details for this competition

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C. Program Authority

49 U.S.C. 44720(b), 15 U.S.C. 2904, 15 U.S.C. 2931-2934

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

In FY22, approximately $15 million will be available for approximately 90 new awards pending budget appropriations (see section I.B above). It is anticipated that most awards will be at a funding level between $50,000 and $300,000 per year with exceptions for larger awards, unless otherwise noted below. Federal funding for FY 2023 may be used to fund awards submitted under this Notice of Funding Opportunity. Current or previous grantees are eligible to apply for a new award that builds on, but does not replicate, activities covered in existing or previous awards. Current grantees should not apply for supplementary funding through this announcement.

Funding availability per FY22 competition is provided below.

-AC4 - Fire and smoke at the wildland-urban interface. Proposals should budget for no more than $750,000 total over 3 years. A total of 7 to 9 awards is anticipated.

-OAR/CPO/CVP - NWS/OSTI/Modeling Division - Joint Competition to Advance Process Understanding and Representation of Precipitation in Models - Focus Area A: It is anticipated that there will be $1.5 million available in FY22 for CVP to fund new awards. It is anticipated that most awards will be at a funding level between $200,000 and $300,000 per year for three years. Funding of 5 to 7 projects is anticipated. Focus Area B: It is anticipated that there will be $1 million available in FY22 for NWS/OSTI/Modeling Division to fund new awards. It is anticipated that most awards will be at a funding level between $100,000 and $250,000 per year for 2 or 3 years. Funding of 4 to 6 projects is anticipated.

-CVP - Observation and Modeling Studies in Support of Tropical Pacific Process Studies, Pre-Field-II - It is anticipated that there will be $1.25 million available in FY22 for CVP to fund new awards in this competition. It is anticipated that most awards will be at a funding level between $150,000 and $300,000 per year for three years. Funding of 4 to 8 projects is anticipated.

-Multi-program COM/MAPP/CSI programs - Improving climate understanding and information for Sanctuary management planning. It is anticipated that a combined $2 million

Notice of Federal Funding Page 11 of 30 will be available in total first year funds from participating programs to fund new awards. It is anticipated that most awards will be at a funding level of $100,000 to $175,000 per year, depending on project scope (A-E), for up to three years. Task Force Team proposals may request additional funds. Up to 10 awards may be funded under this competition.

-ERB - Atmospheric aerosols and their potential roles in solar climate intervention methods - It is anticipated there will be $1.0-1.5 million awarded in the first year of funded projects.

Proposals should budget for no more than $750,000 total over 3 years. A total of 4 to 6 awards is anticipated, if funding allows.

-CEE: Climate-Smart Communities Initiative — It is anticipated that there will be $4 million in funding available for the first year of this cooperative agreement project. In years 2-4, the total NOAA funding amount available for the CSCI is anticipated to be approximately $10 million to $15 million per year, or a total of $34 million to $49 million for the entire four-year period. There will be appropriation of some funds at the start of the award. NOAA has no obligation to provide additional funding in connection with that award in subsequent years. Funding for each subsequent year of a multi-year proposal is at the discretion of NOAA and is subject to the availability of funds. There will be one award to one entity for a 4-year grant period.

-NIDIS Coping with Drought: Ecological Drought - It is anticipated that there will be approximately $2.0 million the first year of funded projects. Proposals may request funding of up to $600,000 to be expended over two years in the form of Cooperative Agreements. A total of 6-7 projects may be funded.

-NIDIS Coping with Drought: Building Tribal Drought Resilience - It is anticipated that there will be approximately $1.5 million the first year of funded projects. Proposals may request funding of up to $500,000 to be expended over two years in the form of Cooperative Agreements. A total of 6-7 projects may be funded.

B. Project/Award Period

1. AC4 Projects are expected to last 2-3 years.

2/3. CVP Projects across its competitions are expected to last 3 years, except as noted in the CVP/OSTI Joint Competition Focus - Area B projects, which are expected to last 2-3 years.

4. COM/MAPP/CSI projects are expected to last 2-3 years.

5. ERB - Projects are expected to last 2-3 years.

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6. CEE: The Climate-Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI) project is expected to last 4 years.

7. NIDIS Coping with Drought: Ecological Drought projects are expected to last up to 2 years.

8. NIDIS Coping with Drought: Building Tribal Drought Resilience projects are expected to last up to 2 years

C. Type of Funding Instrument

The funding instrument for awards will be a grant. If, however, it is anticipated that NOAA will be substantially involved in the implementation of the project, a cooperative agreement may be awarded. Examples of substantial involvement may include, but are not limited to, applications for collaboration between NOAA scientists and a recipient scientist or contemplation by NOAA of detailing Federal personnel to work on proposed projects.

NOAA will make decisions regarding the use of a cooperative agreement on a case-by-case basis. Funding for contractual arrangements for services and products for delivery to NOAA is not available under this announcement.

If the applicant is at an institution that has a NOAA Cooperative Institute (CI), the applicant is encouraged to submit a proposal that references the CI by attaching a cover letter to the proposal stating the desire to have the grant associated with the CI.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, other nonprofits, commercial organizations, international organizations, and state, local and Indian tribal governments. For “CVP/OSTI Joint Competition - Focus Area B” and for the “CEE/Climate-Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI)” competition, applicants are limited to U.S.-based eligible applicants. The CEE/CSCI competition is limited to institutions of higher learning, other non-profits, and commercial organizations. Federal agencies or institutions are not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this notice. Please see Section IV, “Application and Submission Information”, Subsection G. “Other Submission Requirements”, for additional information regarding Federal investigators/co-investigators.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

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All CPO programs have no cost sharing or matching criteria.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

None.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

Application packages are at grants.gov. For applicants without Internet access, please contact the CPO Grants Manager Diane Brown by mail at NOAA Climate Program Office (R/CP1), SSMC3, Room 12734, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 to obtain an Application Package

B. Content and Form of Application

The purpose of the LOI process is to provide information to potential applicants on the relevance of their proposed project to the competition in advance of preparing a full application. Full applications will be encouraged only for LOIs deemed relevant. Applicants who have not been encouraged may still submit a full application. While LOIs are strongly encouraged, applicants are not required to submit them and may submit a full application even if they have not submitted an LOI.

LOIs should be submitted by email (for COM/MAPP/CSI, CVP, ERB, and NIDIS competitions, applicants should check the information sheet for requested means of LOI submission) to the identified NOAA Competition Manager by the deadline specified in Section IV.D below (check competitions information sheet for contact information). The LOI should provide a concise description of the proposed work and a statement regarding its relevance to the targeted competition. The LOI should be no more than two pages in length and should include the items listed below. If these items are not included or the LOI is submitted late, the LOI may not be considered:

Identification of the competition that is being targeted in the LOI.

Competition Name A tentative project title.

Name(s) and institution(s) of the Lead Principal Investigator(s) and other Principal Investigator(s).

Statement of the problem.

Brief summary of work to be completed, methodology to be used, data sets needed or to be

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Approximate cost of the project.

Relevance to the Competition that is being targeted.

A response to the LOI from the Competition Manager (e-mail or letter) will be sent to the investigator within four weeks after the LOI’s due date encouraging or discouraging a full application based on its relevance to the targeted competition. It is then entirely up to the investigator whether to submit a full application.

Full Application Failure to comply with these provisions will result in applications being returned without review. Full applications are limited to 35 pages, single spaced, using 12-point font type with one-inch margins on standard 8.5 by 11 inch paper. For full applications with three or more Principal Investigators, the page limit is 40 pages. The page limit includes:

Title page Abstract Results from prior research Project Narrative Budget narrative Budget table Vitae Current and pending support Associated figures References Data/Information Sharing Plan Statement of Diversity and Inclusion.

For applications to the COM/MAPP/CSI Competitions, the form to request the use of NOAA’s high-performance computing platforms is considered part of the full proposal, but it will not be included in the page count. Furthermore, transition plans will not be counted toward the page count, but should not exceed one page in length.

For applications to the CVP/OSTI Joint Competition, in reference to high-performance computing (HPC) resources -- Due to NOAA’s shortage of high performance computing and storage for research, investigators are strongly encouraged to seek computing resources, including cloud computing resources, from other sources and should be aware that NOAA resources will most likely not be available for their project. The project description should clearly state whether the project intends to leverage computing resources from NOAA.

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The full proposal and Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (IDCRA) should be put into one electronic file. The budget table/justification should be submitted in a file labeled budget narrative. The Federal Forms (SF424, SF424A, SF424B, CD511) and other mandated forms should be inserted in separate files when submitted and are not included in the page count.

The following forms and elements are required in each application.

Title page: The title page shall identify the Principal Investigator(s) (PI) and institutional representative and clearly indicate which Competition is being addressed by name and Competition number. The title page should also include all co-PIs from Federal Institutions.

If more than one investigator is listed on the title page, please identify the lead investigator.

The lead PI and institutional representative should be identified by: full name, title, organization, telephone number, email, and address. For paper submissions, the lead PI and the institutional representative must sign the title page. The total amount of Federal funds being requested should be listed for each budget period. If there are several institutions submitting separate applications associated with the same project, the names of all component institutions along with their lead PI name, e-mail, and amount requested per year must also appear on the title page of all applications that anticipate being funded under the same project.

Abstract: A one-page abstract must be included and should contain the project title, an introduction to the problem, rationale, and a brief summary of the work to be completed.

Abstracts must identify the name of the Competition that is being targeted and must also include a paragraph describing the work’s broader impacts and relevance to the Competition that is being targeted as well as NOAA’s long-term climate research goals stated in section I.A. For multiple applications associated with the same project, the abstract must be identical in all applications. Failure to include this paragraph can result in the application being denied without additional review.

Results from prior research: The results of each prior research project led by the Principal Investigator(s) during the last three years relevant to the proposed effort (not limited to NOAA funding only) should be summarized in brief paragraphs. Because NOAA believes it is important that data sets developed with its support should be shared with the scientific community, PIs should also indicate how and when they have made their data accessible and usable by the community in the past. This section should not exceed two pages. For multiple applications associated with the same project, this section must be identical in all applications.

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Project Narrative: The proposed project must be completely described, including identification of the problem, scientific objectives, proposed methodology, and relevance to the Competition to which you are submitting the proposal and to NOAA’s long-term climate research goals. Benefits of the proposed project to the general public and the scientific community should be discussed. The statement of work, excluding references, figures, and other visual materials, must not exceed 15 pages of text. Applications from three or more investigators may include a statement of work containing up to 20 pages of overall project description. For multiple applications associated with the same project, all applications must have an identical statement of work, including a clear statement of the roles and responsibilities of each applicant.

Data/Information Sharing Plan:

Proposals submitted in response to this announcement must include a data management plan (up to 2 pages). See section VI.B Administrative and National Policy requirements below for additional information of what the plan should contain.

Statement of Diversity and Inclusion: CPO recognizes that it has a particular and unique opportunity to support NOAA’s commitment to diversity and inclusion by taking an intentional step that encourages program applicants to consider diversity and inclusion as part of their scientific projects. This action has the potential to make an impact on not only the diversity and inclusion in science at NOAA, but also beyond the agency. In this section, describe how well the proposed activity broadens the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.) including, but not limited to,how the project advances the organization or institution’s commitment to diversity and advances full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). If funded activities aligned with diversity and inclusion are being proposed, please include the description of those within the project narrative and budget justification. Examples could include ways in which the project will specifically: recruit or retain under-represented groups, collaborate with minority-serving institutions, foster an inclusive and safe environment, share data and/or information in ways that it is accessible to minority-serving institutions. Applicants are also encouraged to highlight past work in D&I and the value those experiences will add to the proposal.

Budget Table and Narrative:

Budget Table: An itemized budget for all years and a total itemized budget must be included as a separate table that breaks down the budget per object class category. Travel must be itemized to include destination, airfare, per diem, lodging, and ground travel.

For multiple applications associated with the same project, the Lead Principal Investigator

Notice of Federal Funding Page 17 of 30 should include a table that displays the total budget for all partners. All partners, including the Lead Principal Investigator and any co-PIs from Federal Institutions, should include a separate budget for their portion of the project.

Budget Narrative: A brief description of the expenses listed on the budget table and how they address the proposed work must be included. Item justifications must include salaries, equipment, publications, supplies, tuition, travel, etc. Investigators who will not be requesting funds for salaries must also be listed, indicating their estimated time of commitment. Purchases of equipment greater than $5000 must include a purchase versus lease justification.

Duplicate work with different federally funded projects, commonly referred to as "double dipping" is not permitted. As stated in the Code of Federal Regulations, more specifically, Subpart E- Cost Principles, 200.430 (i-vii), Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses. "Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed." Additionally, "Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities."

Federal Budget Forms: Budget numbers corresponding with the descriptions contained in the statement of work and budget table must be included. In addition to including the total budget on the SF424, the application must include the total budget and budgets for years 1, 2, and 3 in separate columns in Section B on page 1 on the SF424A. (Note that this revised 424A Section B format is a NOAA requirement that is not reflected in the Instructions for the SF 424A). Note that these forms are not part of the required page limit.

For multiple applications associated with the same project, each application requesting funding from NOAA needs to complete the federal budget forms for their specific institution.

Indirect Costs: A copy of the institution’s current Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (IDCRA) must be included. The IDCRA does not, however, count as part of the required page limit.

To obtain an indirect cost rate if your institution does not already have one, a grantee must submit an indirect cost proposal to its cognizant agency and negotiate an indirect cost agreement. If an applicant has not previously (ever) established an indirect cost rate with a Federal agency they may choose to negotiate a rate with the Department of Commerce or use the de minimis indirect cost rate of 10% of MTDC (as allowable under 2C.F.R. 200.414).

This document is not a part of the page limit.

Notice of Federal Funding Page 18 of 30

Vitae: Abbreviated curriculum vitae are requested with each application for PIs and Co-PIs.

Reference lists should be limited to all publications in the last three years with up to five other relevant papers. For multiple applications associated with the same project, each application should include identical vitae for all applications.

Current and pending support: For each Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator(s), submit a list of all current and pending Federal support that includes project title, supporting agency with grant number, investigator months per year, dollar value, and duration. Requested values should be listed for pending support. The list of support will be included in the page limit for the proposals.

For multiple applications associated with the same project, each application should include identical current and pending support information for all applications.

DUNS Number: All applications must have a DUNS (Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System) number when applying for federal grants. No application is deemed complete without the DUNS number, and only the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may grant exceptions.

Letters of Support are not required, except where noted in the CVP/OSTI Joint Competition program-specific information sheet. However they may be used to supplement information included in the Full Proposal if submitted as part of the application, they will be taken into consideration when evaluating the proposal. For example, unfunded collaborations should be documented in the body of the Full Proposal (the sections included in page count), and a Letter of Support from the unfunded collaborator could be included as a supplement. In another example, if the proposal includes key stakeholders or users, this should be documented in the Full Proposal, and a supplementary letter of support could be included to convey the value of the project to the stakeholder or user. Please see the competition information sheet for further competition-specific instructions.

C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

In order to submit an application through Grants.gov, an applicant must register for a Grants.gov user ID and password. Note that this process can take between three to five business days or as long as four weeks if all steps are not completed correctly. To avoid delays, applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the approaching application deadline before registering, logging in, reviewing the application instructions, and applying. Information about the Grants.gov registration process for organizations can be

Notice of Federal Funding Page 19 of 30 found at http://grants.gov/applicants/organization_registration.jsp.

Please note that organizations already registered with Grants.gov do not need to re-register;

however, all registered organizations must keep their Grants.gov password and SAM database (which now incorporates CCR) registration up-to-date or their applications will not be accepted by Grants.gov. Note that your CCR username will not work in SAM. You must create a new SAM user account to renew or update your registration. Registration on SAM is a requirement. To obtain additional information and to verify that all required registrations are current, please visit www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM.

If you experience a Grants.gov systems issue (technical problems or glitches with the Grants.gov website) that you believe threatens your ability to complete a submission before the application deadline, please do all of the following:

Print any error message received Call the Grants.gov Contact Center at 1-800-518-4726 for immediate assistance Contact NOAA using the contact information in section VIII. of this NOFO prior to the close of the competition Ensure that you obtain a case number regarding your communications with Grants.gov

In the event of a confirmed systems issue, NOAA reserves the right to accept an application in an alternate format prior to the application deadline. Problems with an applicant organization’s computer system or equipment are not considered system issues. Similarly, an applicant’s failure to do the following are not considered systems issues:

Complete the required registration Ensure that a registered Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) submits the application Read an email message with guidance from Grants.gov

D. Submission Dates and Times

Letters of intent (LOIs) for all competitions should be received by email by 5:00 p.m.

Eastern Time on 08/09/21.

Full applications for all competitions must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, on 10/18/21.

E. Intergovernmental Review

Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.

Notice of Federal Funding Page 20 of 30

F. Funding Restrictions

Fees and profits are disallowed.

G. Other Submission Requirements

All applications should be submitted through grants.gov. If an applicant does not have Internet access, CPO Grants Manager Diane Brown should be contacted by mail at NOAA Climate Program Office (R/CP1), SSMC3, Room 12734, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 for hard copy submission instructions.

Faxed or emailed copies of applications will not be accepted.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

Importance/Relevance and Applicability of Application to the Program Goals (Stage 1 Weight=0%) (Stage 2 Weight=100%) (Final Weight=25%) This criterion ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, federal, regional, state, tribal, or local activities. For the CPO Grant Program Competition, this includes importance and relevance to the program objective in Section I.A, scientific program priorities of the selected Competition(s) in Section I.B, the Statement of Diversity and Inclusion described in Section IV.B(6), the PI’s record of making his/her data accessible and usable by the scientific community in the past and the present Data/Information Sharing Plan described in Section IV.B(5) will also be considered when evaluating the importance and relevance of the application. For the multi-program COM/MAPP/CSI competition, the above stated relevance score will also include the applicant’s approach for engaging resource managers (e.g. Sanctuaries) and/or decision makers and building networks of relationships to help support managers and/or decision makers with scientific information.

For the NIDIS CWD competition the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=0%) (Stage 2 Weight=100%) (Final Weight=40%). For the CEE CSCI competition, the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=0%) (Stage 2 Weight=100%) (Final Weight=40%).

Technical/Scientific Merit (Stage 1 Weight=70%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=52.5%) This criterion assesses whether the approach is technically sound and/or innovative, if the methods are appropriate, and whether the goals of the Competition will be realized through

Notice of Federal Funding Page 21 of 30 clear project goals and objectives. For the multi-program COM/MAPP/CSI competition, the above stated merit score will also include the applicant’s credibility in capacity-building approaches. For the NIDIS CWD competition the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=83.34%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=50%). For the CEE CSCI competition, the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=34%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=20%).

Overall Qualifications of Applicants (Stage 1 Weight=20%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=15%) This criterion assesses whether the applicant team possesses the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and/or administrative resources to accomplish the project. For multiprogram COM/MAPP/CSI competition, the above stated qualifications score will also include the PIs’ record of collaborating with resource managing and/or decision-making communities. For the NIDIS CWD competition the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=8.33%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=5%). For the CEE CSCI competition, the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=33%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=20%).

Project Costs (Stage 1 Weight = 10%) (Stage 2 Weight = 0%) (Final Weight =7.5%) This criterion evaluates the budget to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time frame. For the NIDIS CWD competition the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=8.33%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=5%). For the CEE CSCI competition, the weight of the evaluation criteria will be (Stage 1 Weight=33%) (Stage 2 Weight=0%) (Final Weight=20%).

B. Review and Selection Process

Once a full application has been received, an administrative review will first be conducted to determine compliance…