NOAA-OAR-CPO-2022-2007019 NOFO Report.pdf

Climate Program Office (CPO), Regional Integrated Science and Assessments (RISA) FY2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 5

A. Program Objective 5 B. Program Priorities 6 C. Program Authority 12

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

III. Eligibility Information 14 A. Eligible Applicants 14 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 14 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 15 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 20 D. Submission Dates and Times 21 E. Intergovernmental Review 22 F. Funding Restrictions 22 G. Other Submission Requirements 22

V. Application Review Information 22 A. Evaluation Criteria 22 B. Review and Selection Process 24 C. Selection Factors 26 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 27

VI. Award Administration Information 27 A. Award Notices 27 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 27 C. Reporting 31

VII. Agency Contacts 32 VIII. Other Information 32

Notice of Federal Funding Page 1 of 32

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 (CPO), Regional Integrated Science and Assessments (RISA) FY2022

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-CPO-2022-2007019

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 October 19, 2021.

Full applications for all competitions must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, on January 11, 2022.

Funding Opportunity Description: The Regional Integrated Science and Assessments (RISA) Program resides in the Climate Program Office’s (CPO) Climate and Societal Interactions Division (CSI). CSI has traditionally been a home for high-impact science, catalyzing some of the earliest U.S. government investments in regionally scaled, societally relevant, interdisciplinary climate research and engagement focused on reducing vulnerability and risk through the use of climate knowledge and information. Today, CSI continues to work with partners to enhance community and national resilience in the face of climatic changes, through human-centered research and engagement activities designed to connect innovative science directly to complex and dynamic preparedness, adaptation, and resilience challenges. Programs managed by CSI are a key component of NOAA’s cutting-edge research enterprise, which has evolved over time to include the private sector, NGOs, interdisciplinary teams and the social sciences at large. Moving forward, the CSI Division is reorganizing to include the new Adaptation Science Program (AdSci) as well as continuing to support the RISA Program, in order to streamline, expand, and build upon past investments, and address emerging topics in adaptation science—a critical cornerstone to a more resilient future.

The RISA Program The RISA program builds relationships that help local decision makers and researchers collaborate on adapting to climate change. Through regionally-focused and interdisciplinary

Notice of Federal Funding Page 2 of 32 research and engagement teams, RISA expands the Nation's capacity to adapt and become resilient to extreme weather events and climate change. RISA teams accomplish this through applied and co-developed research and partnerships with communities. A central tenet of the RISA program is that learning about climate adaptation and resilience is facilitated by and sustained across a wide range of experts, practitioners, and the public. As such, the RISA program supports a network of people, prioritizing wide participation in learning by doing, learning through adapting, and managing risk with uncertain information.

Early decades of the program focused on understanding the use of climate information at regional scales (e.g., through experimental seasonal outlooks), improving predictions and scenarios, building capacity for drought early warning, and advancing the science of climate impact assessments. Much of this work is now the focus of other federal programs. More recently, emphasis has shifted to address the growing urgency to advance approaches that tackle the complex societal issues surrounding adaptation planning, implementation, and building community resilience that incorporate the intersection of multiple natural hazards and social stressors. To do so, RISA continues to prioritize collaborative approaches that incorporate multiple knowledge sources and integrate social, physical, and natural science, resulting in long-term support of and increased capacity for communities. In addition, RISA supports cutting-edge social science on the impacts of climate change on communities, challenges and opportunities for adaptation, and inclusive methods of engagement. As the adaptation community in the United States advances and evolves, RISA seeks to support new creative, solution-oriented approaches that are both responsive to communities and that integrate across silos of scientific knowledge and expertise. Central to achieving the RISA mission are:

-Regional Relevance, Local Expertise -Integrated Scientific Approaches -Knowledge-to-Action Partnerships -A National Network of Resilience Researchers and Adaptation Science Specialists

The RISA program encourages applicants and awardees to support the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion when writing their proposals and while performing their work.

Ensuring justice and equity means paying particular attention to populations most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which are often low-income communities, historically marginalized communities, indigenous and tribal communities, those already overburdened by pollution, those who lack economic or social opportunity, and people facing disenfranchisement.

Diversity here is defined as a collection of individual attributes that together help organizations achieve objectives. Inclusion is defined as a culture that connects each person to the larger organizing structure. Promoting justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion improves the creativity, productivity, and vitality of the communities in which the program engages.

Notice of Federal Funding Page 3 of 32

The RISA program is holding four competitions (competition 4 in partnership with the Adaptation Science Program [AdSci]) under this Federal Funding Opportunity:

1. RISA teams for the following regions currently covered by the RISA program: West & Southwest

2. RISA teams for the following regions new to the RISA program: U.S. Caribbean and Central Midwest

3. Collaborative Planning Activities in the Upper Northeast and Appalachia

4. Research on Complex Fiscal Pathways for Climate Adaptation in Rural Areas Across the U.S.

Notice of Federal Funding Page 4 of 32

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

The Regional Integrated Science and Assessments (RISA) Program resides in the Climate Program Office’s (CPO) Climate and Societal Interactions Division (CSI). CSI has traditionally been a home for high-impact science, catalyzing some of the earliest U.S.

government investments in regionally scaled, societally relevant, interdisciplinary climate research and engagement focused on reducing vulnerability and risk through the use of climate knowledge and information. Today, CSI continues to work with partners to enhance community and national resilience in the face of climatic changes, through human-centered research and engagement activities designed to connect innovative science directly to complex and dynamic preparedness, adaptation, and resilience challenges. Programs managed by CSI are a key component of NOAA’s cutting-edge research enterprise, which has evolved over time to include the private sector, NGOs, interdisciplinary teams, and the social sciences at large. Moving forward, the CSI Division is reorganizing to include the new Adaptation Science Program (AdSci) as well as continuing to support the RISA Program, in order to streamline, expand, and build upon past investments, and address emerging topics in adaptation science—a critical cornerstone to a more resilient future.

The RISA Program The RISA program builds relationships that help local decision makers and researchers collaborate on adapting to climate change. Through regionally-focused and interdisciplinary research and engagement teams, RISA expands the Nation's capacity to adapt and become resilient to extreme weather events and climate change. RISA teams accomplish this through applied and co-developed research and partnerships with communities. A central tenet of the RISA program is that learning about climate adaptation and resilience is facilitated by and sustained across a wide range of experts, practitioners, and the public. As such, the RISA program supports a network of people, prioritizing wide participation in learning by doing, learning through adapting, and managing risk with uncertain information.

Early decades of the program focused on understanding the use of climate information at regional scales (e.g., through experimental seasonal outlooks), improving predictions and scenarios, building capacity for drought early warning, and advancing the science of climate impact assessments. Much of this work is now the focus of other federal programs. More recently, emphasis has shifted to address the growing urgency to advance approaches that tackle the complex societal issues surrounding adaptation planning, implementation, and building community resilience that incorporate the intersection of multiple natural hazards

Notice of Federal Funding Page 5 of 32 and social stressors. To do so, RISA continues to prioritize collaborative approaches that incorporate multiple knowledge sources and integrate social, physical, and natural science, resulting in long-term support of and increased capacity for communities. In addition, RISA supports cutting-edge social science on the impacts of climate change on communities, challenges and opportunities for adaptation, and inclusive methods of engagement. As the adaptation community in the United States advances and evolves, RISA seeks to support new creative, solution-oriented approaches that are both responsive to communities and that integrate across silos of scientific knowledge and expertise. Central to achieving the RISA mission are:

-Regional Relevance, Local Expertise -Integrated Scientific Approaches -Knowledge-to-Action Partnerships -A National Network of Resilience Researchers and Adaptation Science Specialists

The RISA program encourages applicants and awardees to support the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion when writing their proposals and while performing their work. Ensuring justice and equity means paying particular attention to populations most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which are often low-income communities, historically marginalized communities, indigenous and tribal communities, those already overburdened by pollution, those who lack economic or social opportunity, and people facing disenfranchisement. Diversity here is defined as a collection of individual attributes that together help organizations achieve objectives. Inclusion is defined as a culture that connects each person to the larger organizing structure. Promoting justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion improves the creativity, productivity, and vitality of the communities in which the program engages.

B. Program Priorities

Through this announcement, the RISA program is seeking applications for four competitions in FY 2022. Prior to submitting applications, investigators are highly encouraged to learn more about the RISA program at cpo.noaa.gov/RISA, as well as program priorities for FY 2022. This information, along with contact details, is provided in an information sheet that can be found at the following website: https://cpo.noaa.gov/Grants.

The four competitions covered by this announcement are as follows:

Competitions 1 and 2: RISA Teams

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In competitions 1 and 2, the RISA program is soliciting applications to support up to one full RISA team to conduct research and engagement in each of the regions mentioned below. In Competition 1, the program is accepting applications for regions currently covered by the RISA Network—West and Southwest. In competition 2, the program is accepting applications for regions new to the RISA network—U.S. Caribbean and Central Midwest.

A maximum of one RISA team will be funded per region. With each team, we are aiming to build on-the-ground expertise, capacity, and trust-building within the specified region. The regions listed below and their states are priorities and guidelines for coverage, i.e. applicants are permitted to go beyond the borders of the states listed below within a region only IF there is strong justification for determining alternative boundaries. For geographic regions with coastal areas, applicants must balance issues for both inland and coastal areas;

proposals focused exclusively on coastal areas will not be deemed relevant. Please see the corresponding information sheet for details on how to determine regional coverage. The following are the regions being competed:

1. West: California, Nevada

2. Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico

3. U.S. Caribbean: Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

4. Central Midwest: Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska

Applicants applying to Competitions 1 and 2 are also eligible to apply for the optional Small-Grants Component (see below). NOTE: the small-grants component will only be awarded to teams that are successful in the core work of Competitions 1 and 2.

For both competitions 1 and 2, proposals should focus on multiple societal issues relevant to that region, and develop a set of interconnected projects related to these issues. Areas of focus for a RISA team should be guided by collaborative engagements and iterative assessment of opportunities and needs between RISA team members and regional partners and institutions, and should reflect current program objectives described in section I.A.

Teams should aim to balance scientific inquiry with engagement practices. Proposals must include a diversity of projects where some might meet the need for more actionable climate information, while others might support increased awareness and outreach, improve methods for adaptive management and implementation, compare climate impacts across communities, evaluate adaptation approaches, or support relevant decision making processes (from conceptualization through analysis of implementation strategies). Social science should be a cornerstone of these projects, ensuring that analysis is grounded in understanding of attitudes, behaviors, institutional processes, political norms, social barriers, etc. Projects might also include some areas of focus that are relevant across multiple regions and contexts and that have potential for scalability and national impact. Applicants should also consider

Notice of Federal Funding Page 7 of 32 mechanisms for conducting research under conditions that may change over the five-year period, as well as approaches for team management and decision making that allow for flexibility in adjusting projects in response to emerging regional concerns and events. Every proposal should include evaluation metrics and components both as a research method to identify successful adaptation approaches, but also as a means for ensuring active management to achieve project goals.

All projects should incorporate the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. To do so, applicants should consider the following factors when addressing team composition, team management and decision making, focus areas for research and engagement, geographies, and approaches employed in the proposed work.

- The vulnerabilities and disproportionate impacts of climate change on frontline communities including economically disadvantaged communities, historically marginalized communities, indigenous and tribal communities, and rural communities.

- Communities, towns, or neighborhoods under-resourced and underserved by technical, financial, and/or human resources (e.g. communities too small to qualify for FEMA grants) to address climate risks and vulnerabilities.

- The role of researchers and practitioners in carrying out work in ways that acknowledge existing legacies of social and environmental inequities and supporting actions that address them, including but not limited to the inclusion and compensation of frontline community members in setting project priorities.

- Regional diversity expressed in the team structure, roles and responsibilities, team decision making approaches, advisory boards composition, institutional roles, and broader networks and partnerships.

- Team contributions to a diverse, next-generation climate adaptation workforce through training, mentorship, education, and other means and by engaging with students and early career professionals.

Collaborative relationships within the region might include community-based organizations, universities serving diverse student populations (for example Minority Serving Institutions, two-year institutions etc.), state and local government entities, non-profit organizations, regional NOAA entities, existing climate networks such as the Regional Climate Centers, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, and USDA Climate Hubs, relevant federal agencies, and other groups involved in providing regional climate data and future projections, climate preparedness, adaptation, resilience, and mitigation efforts. Special consideration should be given to partnering with those communities or stakeholders within the regions for whom there is currently less direct engagement with climate information science and service

Notice of Federal Funding Page 8 of 32 providers, and/or for whom social and economic dimensions make vulnerability to climate impacts high and opportunities for recovery more challenging. NOTE: Teams new to RISA should consider activities early in the project to develop new partnerships, establish trust, and scope and identify opportunities for collaboration within their targeted region. See information sheet for additional details.

Where relevant and responsive to the needs of regional stakeholders, RISA activities might include some work on one or more of the following four climate-related risk areas being undertaken by the Climate Program Office: Extreme Heat, Coastal Inundation, Water Resources, and Marine Ecosystems. You can learn more about the risk areas here, https://cpo.noaa.gov/News/ArtMID/7875/ArticleID/1945/NOAA%E2%80%99s-Climate- Program-Office-launches-Climate-Risk-Areas-Initiative. It is not anticipated that a proposed RISA team would work solely in these topic areas. RISA team priorities should be determined, and will be evaluated, based on the unique contexts and collaborators needs of their respective regions. In addition, applicants should consider these topics in the context of complex societal and climate stressors as well as frequently cascading or concurrent events.

Small-Grants Component:

As an optional, complementary component to the core RISA team work, NOAA will support teams who wish to conduct a small-grants competition within the scope of their five-year award. The purpose of this component is to directly connect the RISA team’s core expertise with community-based organizations experienced in serving under-resourced frontline communities. The outcome of this partnership should benefit the community directly through the transfer of funds to build climate adaptation capacity, access to RISA expertise, and the establishment of foundational relationships for future collaboration. See corresponding information sheet for additional information.

Competition 3: Collaborative Planning Activities for the Upper Northeast and Appalachia

The RISA program is accepting applications to conduct multi-collaborator workshops or other innovative planning activities to identify and examine issues of regional importance within the Upper Northeast and Appalachia, related to social and economic dimensions of climate variability and change.

The regions listed below and their states are priorities and guidelines for coverage, i.e.

applicants are permitted to go beyond the borders of the states listed below within a region only IF there is strong justification for determining alternative boundaries. Please see the corresponding information sheet for details on how to determine regional coverage. For the purposes of this competition the regions are defined as:

Notice of Federal Funding Page 9 of 32

Upper Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, western Massachusetts, and upstate New York Appalachia: West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, and mountainous areas of western North Carolina and western Virginia

The goal of this competition is to support new RISA engagement activities related to resilience and adaptive capacity in the Upper Northeast and Appalachia regions of the United States where RISA teams do not currently operate. These activities support preliminary trust-building activities between partners and scoping activities for future collaboration. Proposals must reflect RISA program priorities and focus on regionally significant issues. Activities should accomplish this by 1) developing new collaborative relationships across the region (beyond a single state or subregion); and 2) co-developing community-relevant research questions and identifying research needs, methodological approaches, and/or potential user application. Every project must incorporate principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (See Competition 1 & 2 for RISA framework).

Proposals must focus on the intersection of socioeconomic and climate stressors, and can include but are not limited to: hazard mitigation and adaptation planning; local economic well-being and development; cascading and/or complex disaster impacts on communities (which can include COVID-19 impacts); housing and transportation planning, policies, implementation; challenges and opportunities for adaptation implementation; food systems;

business and commercial disruption; water resources including stormwater and/or floodplain management; and mental and physical health.

Awardees are expected to produce a white paper, to be made public and to be submitted to the RISA program, which scopes the issue/s explored in the planning activities and highlights regional needs and adaptation challenges and opportunities.

Competition 4: Research on Complex Fiscal Pathways for Climate Adaptation in Rural Areas Across the U.S.

RISA and the AdSci program are jointly soliciting proposals for research projects exploring fiscal pathways for climate adaptation in rural areas across the U.S. The goal of the collaboration is to support innovative social science research that can support successful adaptation across the nation. In the context of this competition, rural refers to areas of the U.S. with small, less densely situated populations, located across large geographic areas.

Rural areas make up 97 percent of geographic areas in the U.S. and include 19 percent of the total population (1). Rural areas are important not only to the populations who live there, but also because large amounts of water and other natural resources are located within them.

However, compared to urban areas, rural areas experience slower economic growth, high

Notice of Federal Funding Page 10 of 32 unemployment and poverty rates, and population decline. Climate change further affects these areas by exacerbating risks to health and safety (e.g., through heat events, higher nighttime minimums, changes in the intensity of storms, etc.), and causing further stress to local economies and industries, natural resources, infrastructure, and transportation (2).

Adaptation to climate change in rural areas is important for the direct wellbeing of its residents and local economies. In addition, investments into climate adaptation in rural areas can have an amplified impact, supporting overall national adaptation goals, and extending benefits to adjacent urban areas. For example, 99 percent of the U.S. wind power capacity is found in rural communities, providing an important component to the nation’s clean energy infrastructure (3).

Financing climate adaptation efforts in rural areas can be challenging and complex. Rural areas often lack capacity to solicit investments or successfully apply to public or private granting and other funding opportunities. For example, many rural communities find themselves non-competitive because of granting requirements, such as cost sharing or demonstrating positive cost-benefit ratios when the property values are low (4).

Furthermore, the needs of local governments to ensure consistent revenue for maintaining basic infrastructures and services in low income and poor areas often rely on existing industries (which are often extractive), and lack pathways for new, and possibly riskier, adaptation or mitigation measures (5). Relatedly, funding barriers include policies that limit revenue generation through taxes and caps which prohibit the diversification of spending (4).

Coupling challenges to investments with fiscal policies can create complex and unique hurdles for supporting adaptation in rural areas. These limitations increase injustices for rural populations.

Proposals to this competition should explore both the challenges and opportunities of fiscal pathways for adaptation in rural areas of the U.S. and should consider how this knowledge can be used to improve the abilities of rural communities to invest in climate adaptation. To this end applicants should consider engagement efforts with decision makers for whom the work is directly applicable. Proposals can address this topic at a local, regional, or national scale and should address the diversity of rural populations as well as the variety of rural sectors that might be impacted by climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Applicants should consider a variety of quantitative and qualitative social science methods and approaches from geography, sociology, history, law, political science, economics, anthropology, and similar disciplines to explore the complexity of fiscal pathways.

Specifically, projects should explore components of one or more of the following research questions:

1. How are the revenue sources and economies that support rural communities made vulnerable by climate change, and how do related current or potential climate change

Notice of Federal Funding Page 11 of 32 response strategies at the local, regional and national level exacerbate or alleviate those threats?

2. What are the conflicts that may arise between varying interests and strategies for supporting adaptation investments in rural communities? This might include the complex interactions between local climate adaptation needs, attitudes and beliefs related to investing in climate adaptation, opportunities for funding climate adaptation and mitigation form both public and private sources, and local fiscal policies and legal frameworks for investment in rural areas.

3. What are approaches to ensure rural communities receive equitable financial returns from adaptation solutions designed to support urban sustainability?

4. How might adaptation investment schemes in rural areas exacerbate or alleviate social inequalities and vulnerabilities? For example, where are the trade-offs between who funds initiatives and who benefits from them, and how might fiscal pathways be shaped to support fair, equitable, and lasting investments?

References:

(1) U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). New Census Data Show Differences Between Urban and Rural Populations. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html (Accessed August 10, 2021)

(2) Gowda, P. et al. (2018) Agriculture and Rural Communities (Chapter 10). In Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II [Reidmiller, D.R., et al. (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 391–437. doi: 10.7930/NCA4.2018.CH10

(3) Krishnaswami, A, & Mittelman, E. (2018). Clean Energy Sweeps Across Rural America.Natural Resources Defense Council. https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/rural-clean-energy-report.pdf. (Accessed August 8, 2021)

(4) Smith, K.K., & Hernandez, P. (2021, June 4). Why geography matters [RISA fiscal policy & adaptation working group webinar]. Headwaters Economics.

https://vimeo.com/573170914/a710ba10dc. Accessed August 10, 2021

(5) Haggerty, M. (2020). Fiscal Policy is Failing Rural America:Understanding barriers to economic development, conservation, and renewable energy. Headwaters Economics.

https://headwaterseconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/HE_FiscalPolicyFailingRuralAmerica.pdf, (Accessed August 8, 2021)

C. Program Authority

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

II. Award Information

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A. Funding Availability

1. Competition 1, RISA teams in current regions, proposals can request up to $1,000,000/year for core RISA work. For a total of $5,000,000. For proposals including a small-grants component, applicants can propose up to an additional $180,000 total to support the competition. It is anticipated that up to one full RISA team will be funded per region.

2. Competition 2, RISA teams in new regions, proposals can request up to $1,000,000/year for core RISA work. For a total of $5,000,000. For proposals including a small-grants component, applicants can propose up to an additional $180,000 total to support the competition. It is anticipated that up to one full RISA team will be funded per region.

3. Competition 3, Collaborative Planning Activities, will be at a funding level of up to $100,000 total per award. It is anticipated that 4-6 awards will be made.

4. Competition 4, Research on Complex Fiscal Pathways for Climate Adaptation in Rural Areas Across the U.S., will be at a funding level of up to $150,000 per award. It is anticipated that 4-6 awards will be made.

B. Project/Award Period

1. Competition 1: RISA Teams are expected to last for 5 years -Small-Grant Competition Components are expected to last 1-2 years, and can be carried out at any point throughout the five-year award period.

2. Competition 2: RISA Teams are expected to last for 5 years -Small-Grant Competition Components are expected to last 1-2 years, and can be carried out at any point throughout the five-year award period.

3. Competition 3: Collaborative Planning Activities are expected to last 1 year.

4. Competition 4: Research on Complex Fiscal Pathways for Climate Adaptation in Rural Areas across the U.S. are expected to last 2 years.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

The funding instrument for awards in competitions 1-3 will be a cooperative agreement.

For cooperative agreements, it is anticipated that RISA program managers will be substantially involved in the implementation of these projects. Examples of substantial

Notice of Federal Funding Page 13 of 32 involvement may include, but are not limited to, collaboration with Federal scientists and the participation of detailed Federal personnel to work on proposed projects, frequent communication on findings and progress between RISA teams and RISA program managers, yearly progress reports per the RISA template and metrics, submissions to the RISA project database, and participation of RISA investigators in RISA cross-network meetings, workshops, and monthly calls. Funding for contractual arrangements for services and products for delivery to NOAA is not available under this announcement.

For awards funded from competitions 1 and 2, NOAA will refer to teams by their regional name (e.g., Southwest RISA or Western RISA) to ensure consistency of communication and naming conventions across the network.

The funding instrument for awards in competition 4 will be a grant and will not feature substantial involvement of RISA program managers.

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.

Federal agencies or institutions are not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this notice.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

All CPO programs have no cost sharing or matching requirements.

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

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(R/CP1), SSMC3, Room 12734, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 to obtain an Application Package.

B. Content and Form of Application

1. Letter of Intent (LOI) 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 submitted an LOI or have not been encouraged may still submit a full application. LOIs are strongly encouraged.

LOIs for competition 1, 2, and 3 should be submitted by email to oar.cpo.risa@noaa.gov and for competition 4 to AdSci-RISAcompetition@noaa.gov by the deadline specified in section IV.C below. 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:

•Competition name •A tentative project title •Name(s) and institution(s) of the Lead Principal Investigator(s) and other Principal Investigator(s) •Email contact for Lead Principal Investigator •Statement of the regional climate issue/s to be addressed •Geographic coverage •Brief summary of work to be completed and methodologies to be used •Potential partners •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 either 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.

2. Full Application Failure to comply with these provisions will result in applications being returned without review.

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All proposals must be single spaced, written in plain language, using 12-point font type with one-inch margins on standard 8.5 by 11 inch paper. Proposals must include the following components:

•Title Page •Abstract •Results from Prior Research •Project Narrative/Statement of Work •Associated Figures References •Statement on Integration of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion •Data/Information Sharing Plan •Project Management Plan (Competitions 1 and 2 only) •Letter of Institutional Commitment (Competitions 1 and 2 only) •Budget Narrative •Budget Table •Federal Budget Forms •Indirect Cost •Vitae •Current and Pending Support •DUNS Number

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 to grants.gov and are not included in the page count.

The following forms and elements are required in each application, unless otherwise noted.

(1) Title page (one page): The title page must 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 year period.

(2) Abstract (one page): The 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.

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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.

(3) Results from prior research (two pages): The results of each prior research project led by the Principal Investigator(s) only during the last three years relevant to the proposed effort 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.

(4) Project Narrative/Statement of Work:

The statement of work for competitions 1 and 2 is limited to 30 pages including references and figures. An optional three pages for the small grants competition component are allowed in addition to the 30 page limit.

The statement of work for competitions 3 and 4 should be no more than 12 pages including references and figures.

The Statement of Work should include:

1. Identification of the problem. Describe the major climate risks and related adaptation challenges in the region, including a justification for its regional relevance. Explain the overarching and integrated approach the RISA team, planning activity, or fiscal pathways research project is taking to understand and/or address the identified problem.

2. Description of the proposed project(s). Include the goals and objectives for each project, their proposed methodology, community relevance, engagement strategies, partnerships, and their relevance to the RISA program goals (see information sheet).

3. Expected outcomes of the proposed project(s). Describe the scientific and societal contribution or advancement that each project will enable. How is this project moving science and/or adaptation forward? What are the short- and long-term outcomes of this work? What are the metrics of success and how will you evaluate project and team outcomes?

4. Societal benefits of the proposed project(s). Describe how this work will contribute to the well-being of society, particularly in expanding the capacity of people to adapt to climate impacts, and how you will measure or evaluate those contributions. Consider expected changes in behavior, practice, policies, guidance, rules, regulations, standards, understanding, use of information, attitudes, or budget allocations as a result of proposed work. Include direct and indirect benefits to communities and students or early career

Notice of Federal Funding Page 17 of 32 professionals.

Small-Grants Component (three pages) If applying for the optional Small-Grants Component, statements of work for this should include a description of the proposed competition including: the sector or climate issue the competition will focus on, the types of communities or organizations serving under-resourced and vulnerable communities you plan to target and why, goals and objectives of the competition for enhancing capacity for resilience and adaptation within the region, plans for outreach, anticipated metrics for evaluation and selection of proposals, and plans for evaluating the success of the competition. It is expected that funding from the small-grants will go to community-based organizations serving under-resourced communities.

(5) Statement on Integration of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (two pages):

Applicants should consider the role of the proposed activities and approaches in promoting justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to maximize transparency, accountability, and follow-through with collaborators and research participants.

In this section, describe how the project has incorporated the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups, consider injustices, remove barriers to action, and create the conditions needed for disadvantaged communities to adapt and thrive. Summarize where the project has integrated JEDI considerations into team composition, team management, leadership and decision making, focus areas, community partnerships, and approaches employed in the proposed work.

Include goals and metrics for assessing and adjusting JEDI efforts.

See section I.B. for more information on JEDI considerations in the RISA program.

(6) Data/Information Sharing Plan (two pages):

Proposals submitted in response to this announcement must include a data management plan.

See section VI.B Administrative and National Policy requirements below for additional information of what the plan should contain.

(7) Project Management Plan (Competitions 1 and 2 only) (3 pages) The Project Management Plan should (1) describe the organizational relationships and reporting structure related to the specific goals and objectives of the RISA team, including JEDI components, (2) describe the processes used to prioritize team activities, and (3) articulate how the management and leadership of the team will have mechanisms in place to allow projects to evolve as regional and partner needs emerge. The project management plan should include no more than two pages of text describing the plan and a graphic depicting

Notice of Federal Funding Page 18 of 32 team structure and decision making.

(8) Letter of Institutional Commitment (Competitions 1 and 2 only) Include a letter describing how the host institution(s) are committed to RISA team efforts.

The letter should describe anticipated benefits of hosting or participating in the RISA team, types of additional support for people, processes, or products during or after the RISA award, and any plans for other parts of the institution to collaborate with or complement RISA efforts.

Additional Letters of Support (all competitions) Letters of Support are not required. However, up to 10 letters may be submitted and can be used to supplement information included in the Full Proposal if submitted as part of the application, and they will be taken into consideration when evaluating the proposal. Please see the information sheet for further competition-specific instructions.

(9) Budget Table and Narrative:

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

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 $5,000 must include a purchase versus lease justification.

A separate budget table and narrative should be included in the application for RISA team award proposals (Competitions 1 and 2) that are competing for the small-grant component.

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.

(10) Federal Budget Forms: Budget numbers corresponding with the descriptions contained

Notice of Federal Funding Page 19 of 32 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 individual years (if multiple years awards are relevant to the competition) 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).

For RISA team awards (Competitions 1 and 2), please follow the following instructions when filling out budget forms: submit two SF424A forms, one for years 1-4 and the second for year 5 and the budget total. This is necessary because the NOAA budget forms are designed for 4 years or less. Note that all Federal forms (SF424, SF424A, SF424B, CD511) and other mandated forms are not part of the required page limit.

(11) 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 part of the page limit.

(12) Vitae: curriculum vitae of no more than two pages each are requested with each application for lead Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators. Reference lists should be limited to all publications in the last three years with up to five other relevant papers. For RISA team award applications (competition 1), CVs of no more than two pages should be provided for all core staff and investigators included on the team in addition to lead Principal Investigators.

(13) Current and pending support: For each lead 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.

(14) 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.

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

Notice of Federal Funding Page 20 of 32

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 found at https://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 systems 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.