NOFO P2 Grant Program BIL final-3-17-24_b.pdf

FEDERAL AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE: FY 2024 – FY 2025 Pollution Prevention Grant Program Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This is the initial announcement for this funding opportunity.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: EPA-I-HQ-OCSPP-OPPT-FY2024-002

ASSISTANCE LISTING NUMBER: 66.708

KEY DATES:

March 18, 2024 NOFO OPENS March 26/April 11, 2024 GENERAL INFORMATION SESSIONS March 27, 2024 May 17, 2024 August 30, 2024 November 30, 2024

INFORMATION SESSION FOR TRIBES

NOFO CLOSES – APPLICATIONS DUE BY 11:59 PM (ET)

ANTICIPATED NOTIFICATION OF FUNDING SELECTION

ANTICIPATED AWARD APPLICATION SUBMISSION

DEADLINE: Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through Grants.gov, no later than May 17, 2024, to be considered for funding.

Note: Prior to naming a contractor (including consultants) or subrecipient(s) in your application as a “partner” or in any other capacity, please carefully review Section IV.D. of EPA’s Solicitation Clauses that are incorporated by reference in this announcement and discussed in relevant part here. Applicants are not required to identify subrecipients and/or contractors (including consultants) in their grant1 application. However, if they do, the fact that an applicant selected for award has named a specific subrecipient, contractor, or consultant in the application EPA selects for funding does not relieve the applicant of its obligations to comply with subaward and/or competitive procurement requirements as described in Section IV.D. of EPA’s Solicitation Clauses. Applicants must compete contracts for services and products, including consultant contracts, and conduct cost and price analyses, to the extent required by the procurement provisions of the regulations at 2 CFR Part 200. Please note that applicants may not award sole source contracts to consulting, engineering, or other firms assisting applicants with the application solely based on the firm’s role in preparing the application or based on an assertion that the individual or firm has “unique qualifications.”

EPA will not consider the qualifications, experience, and expertise of named subrecipients and/or named contractors during the application evaluation process under criteria #3 for Partnerships and criteria #6.c. for Description of Organizational and Staff Experience, 1 For the purposes of this funding opportunity, the term “grant” refers to the grant or cooperative agreement that EPA will award to a successful applicant.

https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses worth 10 points total, unless the applicant provides documentation that it has complied with these requirements. Failure to provide this information may adversely impact the scoring of the application.

For additional guidance, applicants should review EPA’s Best Practice Guide for Procuring Services, Supplies, and Equipment Under EPA Assistance Agreements, EPA’s Subaward Policy, and EPA’s Subaward Policy Frequent Questions. EPA expects recipients of funding to comply with competitive procurement contracting requirements in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1500 as well as EPA’s rule on Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in EPA Programs in 40 CFR Part 33.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance https://www.epa.gov/grants/best-practice-guide-procuring-services-supplies-and-equipment-under-epa-assistance https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/documents/gpi-16-01-subaward-policy_attachments.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/documents/gpi-16-01-subaward-policy_attachments.pdf https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/epa_subaward_policy_frequent_questions.pdf

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Contents by Section

SECTION I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Background

B. Pollution Prevention Definition

C. Practices that are not P2

D. Statutory/Regulatory Authority Criteria

E. Environmental Justice (EJ)

F. P2 National Emphasis Areas and Program Priorities

G. Technical Assistance (TA) Approaches

1. On-site TA

2. Off-site TA

3. Safer Chemical Substitution

4. Training

H. Engaging Partners in Technical Assistance

I. Linkage to EPA Strategic Plan and Goals

J. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation

SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Number of Expected Awards and Funding Amounts

B. Partial Funding

C. Funding Agreement Types

SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants

B. Cost Sharing and Matching Requirements

C. Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) Agreements

D. Threshold Eligibility Criteria

1. Statutory Criteria

2. Support of NEAs

3. Link to EPA Strategic Plan

4. Eligibility

5. Submission Instructions

6. Application Submission Information Through Grants.gov

SECTION IV. APPLICATION SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Application Submission Deadline

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B. Grants.gov Submission Instructions

C. Prior to Applying through Grants.gov – Applicants must:

D. Content and Forms for Application Submission

1. Mandatory Forms and Documentation:

2. Optional Documents

E. Releasing Copies of Applications

F. Opportunity for Questions and Answers Regarding this Announcement

SECTION V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. Merit Evaluation Criteria

B. Review and Selection Process:

1. Review

2. Selection

SECTION VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. Award Notification

B. Submission Requirements

C. Administrative Requirements

1. Awards Management

2. Quality Assurance Documentation

3. Mark-up showing Guidance on Reporting Requirements

4. Progress Reports and Final Technical Reports

SECTION VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

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Appendices

Appendix A: Project Narrative Example

Appendix B: Measurement and Reporting Requirements

Appendix C: Guidance for Developing P2 Case Studies

Appendix D: Guidance for Developing P2 Success Stories

Appendix E: Examples of P2 Technical Assistance Projects Under this Grant Program

Appendix F: Budget Guidance and Optional Budget Table Example

Appendix G: Grants.gov Instructions and Limited Exception Procedures Appendix H: NEAs with Applicable NAICS14 Codes

Appendix I: Further Information Regarding Contracts, Subawards, and Participant Support Costs

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SECTION I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Background Applicants are strongly encouraged to read this funding announcement in its entirety. It provides important information on the goals and priorities of the program, explains statutory program requirements, explains criteria used to evaluate and score grant applications, and explains agency grant policies and procedures.

In addition to this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), EPA is publishing a second Pollution Prevention (P2) NOFO using ongoing appropriated P2 State and Tribal Grant (STAG) funds.

The NOFOs are similar. The ongoing STAG-funded NOFO grants have a fifty (50) percent cost share/match requirement as required by section 6605(c) of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990, a larger award funding ceiling, are eligible for inclusion in performance partnership grant agreements and will be incrementally funded over a two-year funding period.

Applicants are welcome to apply to one or both NOFOs. However, applicants should clearly indicate that the work described in each application and workplan is either separate from or in addition to the work described in the application and workplan submitted under the other P2 grant announcement. If applicants apply to both NOFOs, the work described in each application should be self-contained and implementable as proposed. The work in one proposal should not be dependent on the work proposed in the other proposal, which might not be selected for funding.

For more information on this second P2 grant announcement, see EPA’s P2 Grant Program page.

This grant opportunity is announced under the authority of the PPA and is funded by IIJA. EPA is announcing a two-year competitive funding opportunity for awards to eligible entities to provide technical assistance (TA) (e.g., information, training, tools, expert advice) to businesses2 to encourage the development and implementation of source reduction practices (also known as “pollution prevention” or “P2”). The priorities for P2 TA, or National Emphasis Areas (NEAs), are described in Section I.F. below. Across all the industrial sector NEAs, where feasible and appropriate, EPA strongly encourages applicants to emphasize TA that addresses environmental justice for disadvantaged communities (see Section I.E.) and/or reduction in the use of hazardous, harmful or toxic materials or substances (toxics).3 Entities that are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity include the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States, federally recognized tribes and intertribal consortia, and any agency or instrumentality of a state

2 For the purposes of this announcement, the term “businesses” may represent for-profit or not-for-profit entities (as defined in 2 CFR 200.1). A “business” could also include certain public service entities that involve a fee for service like public hospitals or healthcare facilities, public colleges or universities, childcare centers, and water or wastewater treatment plants.

3 Toxic chemicals can be identified through different EPA toxic or hazardous chemical lists, such as the Toxic Substances Control Act inventory, Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and EPA's List of Lists. Applicants may use other approaches to defining toxics that may be appropriate for their state and project(s) but must specify those approaches in their grant applications.

https://www.epa.gov/p2/grant-programs-pollution-prevention

5 | P a g e or federally recognized tribe, including colleges and universities.4 Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to develop partnerships where they can strengthen their ability to provide P2 TA to businesses. The goal of this grant opportunity is to provide P2 TA to businesses that will allow those businesses to reduce the use of toxic chemicals and reduce pollution from air, water and land that can adversely impact human health and the environment. This will also help businesses save money by reducing their resource use, expenditures, waste, and liability costs.

To allow a greater number of businesses and communities to benefit from the results and lessons learned from projects funded by these grants, EPA is requiring recipients to develop at least one P2 case study and one P2 success story during the grant period. A P2 case study should provide detailed technical information on one or two specific source reduction/P2 practices implemented by a business, and the benefits achieved, so that other P2 TA providers or interested businesses have enough technical information that they can learn from and replicate those P2 practices. A P2 case study should focus on P2 approaches that are new and not widely known or adopted and/or where the recipient believes detailed information on the project could support more widespread project replication. Case studies submitted by recipients will be used to build and share a body of knowledge about P2 approaches. See Appendix C for guidance on developing case studies. In contrast, a P2 success story is targeted for a very broad audience and succinctly describes how a P2 grantee helped specific businesses adopt P2 approaches, and the environmental and economic benefits achieved from the P2 implementation. Success stories are meant to communicate the value of specific source reduction/P2 actions and the success of the TA provider, with only general information about the technologies and P2 practices. See Appendix D for more guidance on the elements and purpose of a P2 success story. EPA also encourages other means to document, amplify, and widely share projects and lessons learned through the TA provided through these grants. This could include development of videos, training, webinars, or other outreach materials.

B. Pollution Prevention Definition Section 6603(5)(A) of the PPA defines source reduction, also called pollution prevention or P2, as any practice which reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling of discarded material, treatment, or disposal; and reduces the hazards to public health and the environment associated with the release of those substances, pollutants, or contaminants. EPA has also interpreted P2 to include practices that may protect natural resources through conservation methods, or in-process recycling (i.e., process improvements to reuse materials within the same business in the production process). Reducing the amount of pollution in the environment means producing less waste to control, treat, or dispose. Less pollution means fewer hazards posed to public health and the environment.

P2 practices may involve but are not limited to: making equipment or technology modifications to reduce the amount of chemicals used or released into the environment, using environmentally preferable materials to reduce or eliminate the use of raw materials or more hazardous chemicals, 4 Colleges or universities that are agencies or instrumentalities of a state government and/or federally recognized tribe are eligible. Colleges and universities must be chartered, commissioned, and/or publicly-owned/operated by the state or tribe in order to be deemed eligible.

6 | P a g e minimizing packaging and products, making process or procedure modifications to conserve energy or natural resources, reformulating or redesigning products to reduce or eliminate hazardous materials or pollutants, retooling/retrofitting (accessorizing) equipment, or improving inventory control to reduce the likelihood of the release of pollutants. See Appendix E for examples of P2 approaches and TA projects.

C. Practices that are not P2 As described in Section 6603(5)(B) of the PPA and 40 CFR 35.343(b) and 35.662(b), P2 does not involve practices which alter the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics or the volume of a pollutant, hazardous substance or contaminant through a process or activity which itself is not integral to and necessary for the production of a product or in providing a service.

Providing TA on practices that are not considered P2 cannot serve as the basis for P2 grant funding. These non-P2 practices include: recycling of discarded materials, waste clean-up, disposal activities, managing or processing of non- hazardous solid waste (e.g., paper, cardboard, glass, plastics), and the implementation of Lean manufacturing activities that do not involve reductions in the use/release of hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, greenhouse gas releases or water use. If any of these activities represent more than a small and ancillary part of the proposed project, EPA will not consider the application for an award. For assistance with recycling of discarded materials, waste clean-up or disposal, and/or management or processing of non-hazardous solid waste activities, please refer to EPA’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle website.

D. Statutory/Regulatory Authority Criteria Pursuant to Section 6605(b) of the PPA which authorizes these grants and EPA’s P2 regulations at 40 CFR 35.342 and 35.661, a P2 grant application must address at least one of the following:

1. Makes specific TA available to businesses seeking information about source reduction opportunities, including funding for experts to provide on-site technical advice to businesses seeking assistance and to assist in the development of source reduction plans;

2. Targets assistance to businesses for whom lack of information is an impediment to source reduction; or

3. Provides training in source reduction techniques. Such training may be provided through local engineering schools or other appropriate means.

E. Environmental Justice (EJ) This grant program is responsive to the Administration’s call for agencies to advance environmental justice in Executive Order 14096: Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All. Environmental justice, which is defined by the EPA as the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment.

Where appropriate and feasible, EPA encourages applicants to design their projects to incorporate opportunities for meaningful community engagement to consider and address community concerns.

https://www.epa.gov/recycle https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/learn-about-environmental-justice

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Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” issued on January 27, 2021, also affirms the Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice by creating the Justice40 Initiative. The Justice40 Initiative establishes a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments—including those in climate change; clean energy and energy efficiency; clean transit; affordable and sustainable housing;

training and workforce development; the remediation and reduction of legacy pollution; and the development of critical clean water infrastructure—flow to disadvantaged communities. In addition, Section 219 of the Executive Order stresses that environmental and economic justice are key considerations to factor into governmental decision-making and that transforming disadvantaged communities—historically marginalized, underserved, and overburdened—into healthy, thriving communities, and undertaking robust actions to mitigate climate change while preparing for the impacts of climate change across rural, urban, and Tribal areas are governmental priorities. The Executive Order also calls for making environmental justice part of Agency missions by developing programs, policies, and activities to address the disproportionately high and adverse human health, environmental, climate-related and other cumulative impacts on disadvantaged communities, as well as the accompanying economic challenges of such impacts.

To address EJ and meet the goals of the Justice40 Initiative, EPA is issuing this grant solicitation requesting applications for P2 projects that emphasize environmental or public health concerns in disadvantaged communities. For the purposes of this grant, a disadvantaged community can be characterized by a particular geographic area identified through the geospatial mapping tools described below, and/or by the relationships among members with similar interests and can be characterized as part of a broader national or regional community where organizations can be focused on the needs of urban, rural, and/or tribal areas, workers, displaced workers, children with high levels of lead, asthmatics, subsistence fishers, and other similar groups. These projects will help transform these disadvantaged communities into healthy, thriving communities capable of addressing the environmental and public health challenges they have historically faced, as well as current and future challenges.

Disadvantaged communities can be identified through The Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), which is a geospatial mapping tool developed by CEQ, and using Supplemental Indexes available in both:

The Environmental Justice Web-based Screening Tool - Applicants are encouraged, as appropriate, to include data from EPA’s EJScreen Supplemental Indexes tool (or other EJ-focused geospatial mapping tools) as part of their application to help characterize and describe the affected communities/populations and area(s). Data from other sources (e.g., studies, census, and third-party reports) may also be included to give a more complete picture of the impacted communities and populations. Instructions, resources, and tutorials on how to use the EJScreen Supplemental Indexes are included at the hyperlink above; and, The P2 EJ Facility Mapping Tool, which allows users to identify industrial businesses located in or adjacent to US Census tracts. Applicants should choose the “Supplemental Demographic Index” feature in the tool to identify and characterize the affected communities/populations and area.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/ https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/ https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen/ej-and-supplemental-indexes-ejscreen https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen/ej-and-supplemental-indexes-ejscreen https://www.epa.gov/p2/p2-ej-facility-mapping-tool

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Applicants may use other approaches and demographic indicators for identifying disadvantaged communities that may be appropriate for their state but must specify those approaches in their grant applications. Applications from federally recognized tribes and intertribal consortia do not need to demonstrate a focus on disadvantaged communities but will need to identify how the projects will have public health and environmental impacts on the tribe.

F. P2 National Emphasis Areas and Program Priorities EPA’s P2 Program has adopted six (6) program priorities referred to as P2 National Emphasis Areas (NEAs), which are described below. Focusing technical assistance (e.g., information, training, tools, expert advice) on these NEAs provides the opportunity for synergies among P2 grantees, businesses and other partners/stakeholders affiliated with similar sectors or communities. By encouraging this collaborative engagement, information, expertise, lessons learned, training, and tools can be more easily shared among grantees working in similar NEAs.

Under this grant competition, five of the P2 Program NEAs address industrial sectors and the sixth is available to federally recognized tribes and intertribal consortia working in Indian country. EPA has posted fact sheets on each of the five industrial sector NEAs which help characterize some P2 opportunities which may exist within that sector.

Across all five industrial sector NEAs, where feasible and appropriate, EPA strongly encourages applicants to emphasize P2 TA that can reduce the use of toxic chemicals and address EJ concerns in disadvantaged communities. Applicants should describe in their project narrative how they will do this.

Applicants may refer to Appendix H for North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes covered by the industrial sector NEAs, and to Appendix E for examples of possible P2 grant projects that can support all NEAs.5 The project examples in Appendix E are provided for illustrative purposes only.

Applications must address at least one of the NEAs to be eligible for award. Addressing more than one NEA or all NEAs will not give an applicant ranking preference in EPA’s selection process. Grants must prioritize and emphasize P2 technical assistance within the NEAs. P2 applications and grants may also address some P2 technical assistance outside of the industry sectors represented by the NEAs:

NEA #1: Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Processing: Carry out P2 technical assistance and projects with food and beverage manufacturing and processing businesses normally associated with NAICS codes 311 and 3121 for the purpose of reducing toxic air emissions or water discharges, water or energy usage, hazardous materials generation and use. TA projects or activities associated with entities that are not included under NAICS codes 311 or 3121, such as restaurants, grocery stores and other retail establishments, do not qualify for this NEA.

5 North American Industry Classification System, or “NAICS” is the “standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.” Refer to https://www.census.gov/naics.

https://www.epa.gov/p2/p2-national-emphasis-areas-neas https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=311&year=2022&details=311 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=3121&year=2022&details=3121 https://www.census.gov/naics/

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NEA #2: Chemical Manufacturing, Processing and Formulation: Carry out P2 TA and projects with businesses normally associated with NAICS code 325 and associated subsectors (4-6 digit NAICS codes under 325). Projects under this NEA should facilitate and encourage businesses within this NAICS code to identify, develop, and adopt P2 practices in the production of chemical products and formulations. Projects can also include working with businesses within this NAICS code to promote research, development, and marketing of green chemistry products and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances.

NEA #3: Automotive Manufacturing and Maintenance: Carry out P2 TA and projects with businesses in the automotive industry, normally associated with NAICS codes 3361, 3362, 3363, and 8111 and associated subsectors. Projects under this NEA should facilitate and encourage businesses within these NAICS codes to identify, develop and adopt P2 practices in manufacturing and maintenance of automobiles and automotive products.

NEA #4: Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing and Maintenance: Carry out P2 TA and projects with businesses in the aerospace industry, normally associated with NAICS codes 3364 and subsectors for manufacture and 488190 for maintenance. Projects under this NEA should facilitate and encourage businesses within these NAICS codes to identify, develop and adopt P2 practices in any aspect of aerospace product and parts manufacturing and maintenance.

NEA #5: Metal Manufacturing and Fabrication: Carry out P2 TA and projects with businesses normally associated with NAICS codes 331 and 332, (primary metal manufacturing and/or fabricated metal manufacturing and subsectors). Primary metal manufacturing is associated with smelting and/or refining ferrous and nonferrous metals from ore, pig or scrap, using electrometallurgical and other process metallurgical techniques. Fabricated metal product manufacturing includes transforming metal into intermediate or end products, such as forging, stamping, bending, forming, and machining, used to shape individual pieces of metal; and other processes, such as electroplating, polishing, coating, welding and assembling. Projects under this NEA should facilitate and encourage businesses within these NAICS codes to identify, develop and adopt P2 practices in any aspect of primary metal manufacturing and/or fabricated metal. manufacturing and subsectors.

NEA #6: Supporting Pollution Prevention in Indian Country and Alaska Native Villages:

This NEA is only available to federally recognized tribes and intertribal consortia. Carry out P2 TA and projects with businesses in Indian country and Alaska Native Villages.

Projects under this NEA should facilitate and encourage businesses and their facilities in Indian country or in Alaska Native Villages to identify, develop and adopt P2 practices and do not need to support the previous five NEAs or any other specific industrial sector.

Note: TA may also be provided to businesses operated by the federally recognized tribe or intertribal consortium and/or to businesses located in Indian country or in Alaska Native Villages.

https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=325&year=2022&details=325 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=3361&year=2022&details=3361 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=3362&year=2022&details=3362 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=3363&year=2022&details=3363 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=8111&year=2022&details=8111 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=3364&year=2022&details=3364 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=488190&year=2022&details=488190 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=331&year=2022&details=331 https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=332&year=2022&details=332

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Note that EPA is considering whether to phase out and replace some or all of the NEAs in future P2 Grant solicitation cycles. EPA will seek stakeholder engagement on future NEAs.

G. Technical Assistance (TA) Approaches All applications must describe how the P2 technical assistance will be provided to businesses (Section I.A, Section I.B). The following approaches may include but are not limited to those listed below, and should, where feasible, prioritize P2 TA where the approaches are new, not widely known or adopted, or where the recipient believes detailed information on the project could support more widespread project replication. Additional examples can be found in Appendix E.

1. On-site TA: Conducting TA on pollution prevention practices at businesses.

2. Off-site TA: Providing information on P2 practices to businesses remotely, such as by phone, video conferencing, e-mail or through on-demand video instruction.

3. Safer Chemical Substitution: Helping businesses assess and redesign their operations, processes and supply-chain practices to replace harmful toxic chemicals with safer chemical alternatives.

4. Training: Developing and conducting training for businesses on use of P2 tools, adopting P2 practices on preventing and/or reducing the release of hazardous materials, reducing the use of toxic chemicals in business operations, or adopting environmental management system protocols.

H. Engaging Partners in Technical Assistance Applicants are strongly encouraged to develop partnerships that strengthen their ability to provide P2 TA to businesses and facilitate the development, adoption, and dissemination of P2 solutions. Applications will be evaluated on the extent they leverage expertise through partnerships or describe why partnerships are not needed for the proposed work (see Section V.A.3.). EPA’s P2 Technical Assistance Resources may be useful for identifying potential partners. Partnerships may include, but are not limited to, university-based TA and cooperative extension programs, environmental assistance programs offered within a State, Tribe or community, local governments, nonprofit or for-profit organizations, businesses, organizations representing disadvantaged communities to ensure equity in participation and others.

Partnerships may also include but are not limited to trade organizations, federal programs, EPA’s Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs (SBEAPs), the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Industrial Assessment Centers.

NOTE: If you intend to fund a partner’s participation in the project, your application must describe how the proposed financial transaction complies with the applicable requirements in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1500, 40 CFR Part 33 (EPA’s Disadvantaged Business Participation Rule), EPA’s Best Practice Guide for Procuring Services, Supplies, and Equipment Under EPA Financial Assistance Agreements, EPA’s Subaward Policy, and/or EPA’s Guidance on Participant Support Costs. EPA will not consider the qualifications, experience, and expertise of named subrecipients and/or named contractors during the application evaluation process under https://www.epa.gov/p2/p2-technical-assistance-resources https://www.epa.gov/p2/p2-technical-assistance-resources

11 | P a g e criteria #3 for Partnerships and criteria #6.c. for Description of Organizational and Staff Experience, worth 10 points total, unless the applicant provides documentation that it has complied with these requirements. Failure to provide this information may adversely impact the scoring of the application.

Naming a contractor (including a consultant) as a “partner” does not relieve the applicant from complying with competitive procurement requirements in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1500 as well as 40 CFR Part 33. EPA will not accept sole source contract justifications for professional services (including environmental consulting services and consulting services on preparing grant applications) that are available in the commercial marketplace. (Appendix I)

I. Linkage to EPA Strategic Plan and Goals EPA must review the linkage of proposed applications to the Agency’s Strategic Plan. The grants and cooperative agreements funded under this announcement will need to support EPA’s FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, under Goal 7: Ensure Safety of Chemicals for People and the Environment, Objective 7.2: Promote Pollution Prevention. Project narratives must explain how the work proposed will support the EPA Strategic Plan goal and objective identified above.

The program anticipates that assistance agreements (grants and cooperative agreements) awarded under this announcement will achieve the Agency’s goals and objectives for P2 by addressing the required output and outcome performance measures described in Appendix B.

J. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into the Solicitation Additional provisions that apply to Sections III, IV, V, and VI of this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation, can be found at EPA's Solicitation Clauses. These provisions are important for applying to this solicitation and applicants must review them when preparing applications for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contacts listed in Section VII of this solicitation to obtain the provisions.

SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Number of Expected Awards and Funding Amounts The total estimated funding for awards under this competitive opportunity is approximately $13.9 million, issued in full at the time of award. Individual award ceilings are $350K. EPA anticipates issuing up to 50 awards.6 EPA will release awards in the form of grants or cooperative agreements under the authority of Section 6605 of the PPA and IIJA. As provided in IIJA, recipients will not be expected to provide funds to match the federal award.

The awardee’s budget and workplan may set aside funds from the two-year award for an optional third year to obtain and report the required information as described in Appendix B of this NOFO. If funds are set aside for an optional third year, the third year should be included in the proposal's period of performance on the SF-424 and be included in the workplan timeline.

6 Recipients may partner with other states and tribes within the EPA Region they are located.

https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

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In their application, applicants should identify what region their project will be performed in. For a list of EPA regions and the states within each region refer to Section VII.

The number and dollar amount of P2 grants issued will be dependent on funding availability, Congressional appropriations, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. Funding is not guaranteed. EPA anticipates that final selections will be made 180 days after this announcement is published. EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and issue no awards or issue fewer awards than anticipated under this solicitation. All awards will be consistent with applicable EPA regulations and grant policies. In addition, EPA reserves the right to issue additional awards under this announcement, if additional funding becomes available.

Any additional awards will be made no later than six months from the date of the original selections.

B. Partial Funding In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund applications by funding discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. If EPA decides to partially fund an application, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any applicant or affect the basis upon which an application or a portion thereof was evaluated or selected for an award, therefore maintaining the integrity of the competition and selection process.

C. Funding Agreement Types Successful applicant(s) will be issued funds in the form of a grant or cooperative agreement under the authority of PPA Section 6605 to cover a two-year funding period7 as appropriate. A cooperative agreement is an assistance agreement that is used when there is substantial federal involvement with the recipient during the performance of an activity or project. EPA awards cooperative agreements for those projects in which it expects to have substantial interaction with the recipient throughout the recipient’s performance of the project. EPA will negotiate the precise terms and conditions of “substantial involvement” as part of the award process.

The anticipated substantial federal involvement for cooperative agreements under this NOFO may include: close monitoring of the recipient’s performance to verify compliance with the EPA-approved workplan and achievement of environmental results; collaboration during the performance of the scope of work, including participation in project activities, to the extent permissible under EPA policies; reviewing proposed procurements in accordance with 2 CFR

200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318; and/or reviewing and commenting on reports prepared under the financial assistance agreement (the final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient). For more information see: https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-funding-instruments-and-authorities.

SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Note: Additional provisions that apply to this section can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses.

7 Awardee budgets and workplans may set aside funds from the potential two years of federal funding to allow time for a third year to perform the required follow-up with facilities for reporting and developing case studies.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-funding-instruments-and-authorities https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-funding-instruments-and-authorities https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-funding-instruments-and-authorities

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A. Eligible Applicants Section 6605 of the PPA and applicable parts of 40 CFR Part 35, Subparts A and B (40 CFR

35.340 et seq. and 35.660 et seq.) authorize EPA to award grants and/or cooperative agreements to the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States. (40 CFR 35.345), federally recognized tribes that meet the requirements as described in 40 CFR 35.663, Intertribal Consortia that meet the requirements in 40 CFR 35.504, and any agency or instrumentality of a state or federally recognized tribe, including colleges and universities.8 Colleges and universities must be chartered, commissioned or publicly-owned/operated by the state or the federally recognized tribe in order to be eligible. Colleges and universities must include documentation within their applications indicating or confirming that they are an instrumentality of a state or a federally recognized tribe. This documentation may include, but is not limited to, a state constitutional reference, college/university charter or a W-7 tax form. EPA strongly encourages minority serving institutions (MSIs) that meet the eligibility criteria to apply for these grants. Note: Local governments, private universities, for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations (which are not state or tribal entities), private businesses, and individuals are not eligible to apply for funding under this announcement but can partner with eligible applicants.

B. Cost Sharing and Matching Requirements There is no cost share/match requirement under this program as authorized under IIJA – Pub. L.

117-58, 135 Stat. 1404.

C. Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) Agreements Because of the budget accounting that is required for IIJA-appropriated funds, assistance agreements issued under this program are not eligible for inclusion in PPGs.

D. Threshold Eligibility Criteria Each application must meet the Threshold Eligibility Criteria provided below at the time of submission to be considered for funding. If these requirements are not met by the time of submission, the application will not be considered for funding. Only applications from eligible entities (Section III.A) that meet all threshold eligibility criteria will be evaluated against the merit evaluation criteria in Section V.A of this NOFO. If necessary, EPA may contact applicants to clarify threshold eligibility questions prior to making an eligibility determination. If applications are deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of the threshold eligibility review, the applicants will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

1. Statutory Criteria: Applications must adhere to the statutory criteria for P2 grants by addressing one or more of the Statutory/Regulatory Authority Criteria in Section I.D and the definition of P2 in Section I.B. The focus of work described in

8 Under this grant program, federally recognized tribes and intertribal consortia are not required to have “treatment in a manner similar to a state” (TAS) authorization in order to apply or receive grant funding. The requirements as noted in the code of federal regulations (CFR) and in the preamble to 40 CFR Part 35 provide that the grant program shall have the authority and discretion to evaluate based on the merit evaluation criteria the extent to which federally recognized tribes or intertribal consortia have the capacity to successfully execute the proposed grant activities.

https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ58 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ58

14 | P a g e applications must provide technical assistance to businesses on source reduction, such as providing information, training, tools, or expert advice. For the purposes of this announcement, the term “businesses” may represent for-profit or not-for-profit entities (as defined in 2 CFR 200.1). A “business” could also include certain public service entities that involve a fee for service like public hospitals or healthcare facilities, public colleges or universities, childcare centers, and water or wastewater treatment plants.

Non-P2 technical assistance to businesses may only represent a small and ancillary part of the proposed work and must be funded from other sources. If applications include ineligible tasks or activities (i.e., those not considered to be pollution prevention/source reduction, or P2 technical assistance to business) then those activities may be found ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent of the ineligible activities, render the entire application unsuitable for funding.

2. Support of NEAs: Applications must support at least one of the P2 National Emphasis Areas (NEAs) described in Section I.F. Note that P2 technical assistance described in the application must prioritize and emphasize work within the NEAs. P2 activities outside the NEAs may be conducted at low levels, but substantial activities outside the P2 NEAs may be found ineligible for funding and may render the application unsuitable for funding.

3. Link to EPA Strategic Plan: Applications must specify how the grant activity links to and supports the goal and objective of EPA’s FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan for P2 and must explain how the grant activities will support expected outputs and outcomes

– Section I.I and Section I.J.

4. Eligibility: Applications must be from eligible applicants Section III.A.

5. Submission Instructions: Application packages must substantially comply with the submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement. Project Narratives must be 15 pages or less with a minimum font size of 11.5. Any pages submitted in excess of the 15-page limit will not be reviewed.

6. Application Submission Information Through Grants.gov: Application information must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV.A of this announcement (except in limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section IV and Appendix G) on or before the application submission deadline noted in Section IV.A. of this announcement. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this announcement to ensure that their application is timely and properly submitted. Please note that applicants experiencing technical issues with submitting through Grants.gov should follow the instructions provided in Section IV, which include both the requirement to contact Grants.gov and email a full application to EPA prior to the deadline. Applications submitted outside of Grants.gov will be deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with Grants.gov or the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). An applicant’s failure to timely submit their application through Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov will not be considered http://grants.gov/ mailto:kelly.bridget@epa.gov

15 | P a g e an acceptable reason to consider a late submission. See Section IV and Appendix G of this solicitation for instructions to submit through Grants.gov.

NOTE: DO NOT WAIT! Register in SAM.gov and Grants.gov as soon as possible.

Finalizing these registrations could take a month or more. Late registration in SAM.gov can prevent timely application submission to Grants.gov.

If more than one application is submitted for an identical project by the same applicant (either in error or to replace a previously submitted application), EPA will only review the most recently submitted application, unless notification is sent to p2grants@epa.gov specifying which application to review.

SECTION IV. APPLICATION SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Note: Additional provisions that apply to this section can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses.

A. Application Submission Deadline The submission deadline is May 17, 2024, 11:59 PM (ET). To apply, the applicant’s Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must submit a complete application package electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov).

B. Grants.gov Submission Instructions Complete application instructions for applying through Grants.gov can be found in Appendix G of this announcement. Applications submitted through Grants.gov will be time and date stamped electronically. If you have not received a confirmation of receipt from EPA (not Grants.gov) within 30 days of the application deadline, please contact the EPA representative listed in Section VII. Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

Please reserve enough time to successfully submit your application in the event unexpected errors require you to resubmit your application.

C. Prior to Applying through Grants.gov – Applicants must:

1. Designate an AOR as the individual who will submit the application through Grants.gov.

2. Be registered and have an active SAM account to apply for federal assistance.

3. Be registered in Grants.gov.

Note: The registration process for SAM.gov and Grants.gov may take a month or more to complete. Please register early.

D. Content and Forms for Application Submission Submit all materials as described below. Please see Appendix G of this announcement for instructions on how to submit your application through Grants.gov.

1. Mandatory Forms and Documentation:

a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance: To properly prepare and submit www.grants.gov http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:p2grants@epa.gov https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://sam.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/

16 | P a g e this form – Existing and new SAM.gov registrants will be assigned a free SAM-issued Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

b. SF-424A, Budget Information, Non-Construction Programs: Prepare form as indicated to address the budget categories of grant work. NOTE: The dollar totals on the SF-424, SF-424A, and the detailed budget submitted as part of the narrative proposal MUST all be the same.

c. EPA Form 4700-4, Pre-Award Compliance Review Report for All Applicants Requesting Federal Financial Assistance: Prepare form as indicated. Helpful tips for completing the form can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/grants/tips-completing-epa-form-4700-4.

d. Key Contacts Form (5700-54): Identify key personnel who will file and manage the paperwork, fund activities, and direct funded work.

e. Eligible Applicant Documentation for Non-State Agencies (e.g., Colleges and Universities): Documentation within the application indicating or confirming that they are an instrumentality of a state or a federally recognized tribe. This documentation may include, but is not limited to, a state constitutional reference, college/university charter or a W-7 tax form.

f. Grants.gov Lobbying Form: To be submitted by applicants requesting more than $100,000 of EPA grant funding.

g. Project Narrative: The Project Narrative should contain the following: a cover page sharing contact details; responses to threshold criteria; merit evaluation criteria responses; and a timeline. All items described below must be 15 pages or less with a minimum font size of 11.5. Any pages submitted in excess of the 15-page limit will not be reviewed.

Project Narrative Components: The project narrative should include the following components:

o A cover page, including: grant name and funding opportunity number; applicant type; national emphasis area (NEA) supported by the project, EPA region where the work will be performed;

funding requested; SAM registration date; applicant contact information;

and a project summary that…