oppNOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2018-2005502-cfda11.463-cid2706502-instructions.pdf

NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program (FY 2018)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 4

A. Program Objective 4 B. Program Priorities 5 C. Program Authority 6

II. Award Information 6 A. Funding Availability 6 B. Project/Award Period 8 C. Type of Funding Instrument 8

III. Eligibility Information 8 A. Eligible Applicants 8 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 9 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 10

IV. Application and Submission Information 12 A. Address to Request Application Package 12 B. Content and Form of Application 12 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 21 D. Submission Dates and Times 21 E. Intergovernmental Review 22 F. Funding Restrictions 22 G. Other Submission Requirements 23

V. Application Review Information 25 A. Evaluation Criteria 25 B. Review and Selection Process 29 C. Selection Factors 31 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 32

VI. Award Administration Information 32 A. Award Notices 32 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 33 C. Reporting 36

VII. Agency Contacts 37 VIII. Other Information 37

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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

Funding Opportunity Title: NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program (FY 2018)

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2018-2005502

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.463, Habitat Conservation

Dates: This program has a mandatory pre-proposal. Pre-proposals must be received by email at resilience.grants@noaa.gov by 11:59 PM Eastern time on March 7, 2018. See Section IV.B for more information regarding pre-proposal requirements.

The Full Application deadline will be no earlier than May 7, 2018 at 11:59 PM Eastern time. The actual deadline will be provided by direct notice to all eligible applicants, after pre-proposal review. At least 40 days will be provided for completion of a Full Application. Full Applications must be received by www.Grants.gov, postmarked, or provided to a delivery service by 11:59 PM Eastern time on the due date. The time the application was provided to a delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted for the Full Application. See Section III.C for more information, including a limit on transit time and Section IV.G for an address to submit paper applications.

Funding Opportunity Description: The principal objective of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program is to implement projects that build resilience of U.S. coastal communities and ecosystems. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, this solicitation is seeking coastal habitat restoration projects that build resilience by conserving and restoring sustainable ecosystem processes and functions and reducing the vulnerability of coastal communities and infrastructure from the impacts of extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions. This program supports activities that restore or create natural infrastructure and natural landscape features to provide valuable ecosystem functions and services, such as habitat for fish, improved water quality and quantity, flood reduction, and erosion protection. Proposed projects should also support sustainable fisheries managed by NOAA under the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (Managed Species), contribute to the recovery of protected resources managed by NOAA under the Endangered Species Act (Listed Species) – including species identified by NMFS as “Species in the Spotlight,” and/or benefit native fish species of the Great Lakes. Proposals may include: planning, feasibility and design projects;

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 2 of 38 implementation projects; or projects that combine the two.

Proposals selected for funding through this solicitation will be funded through cooperative agreements. One year or multi-year awards up to three funding years may be awarded, and additional releases of funds may be used to fund selected proposals through FY2020 without further competition, pending future budget appropriations. NOAA anticipates typical awards for planning, feasibility and design-only projects will range from $75,000 to $300,000. NOAA anticipates typical awards for implementation projects or design and implementation projects will range from $250,000 to $1,000,000. NOAA will not accept proposals with a federal funding request of less than $75,000 or more than $2,000,000. NOAA anticipates up to $9 million will be available under the Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) in FY2018. Funds will be administered by the NOAA Restoration Center, in coordination with the NOAA National Ocean Service’s Office for Coastal Management.

Federal funds awarded under this program must be matched with non-federal funds at a 2:1 ratio of federal to non-federal contributions. For example, an applicant requesting $500,000 in federal funding must provide at least $250,000 in non-federal matching contributions, for a total budget of $750,000.

This competition has a mandatory pre-proposal. Only applicants whose pre-proposals meet eligibility requirements, including strongly aligning with program objectives and goals, as determined by NOAA (through the review process described below in Section V.A.), will be invited to submit Full Applications. The goal of the pre-proposal process is to reduce the burden of preparing full proposals and streamline the review by inviting Full Applications only from those applicants whose projects are most likely to support NOAA's implementation of the Coastal Resilience Grants Program. Pre-proposals must be submitted by email, by the deadline stated in Section IV.D.

In FY2017, the Coastal Resilience Grants Program FFO contained two project categories—Strengthening Coastal Communities and Habitat Restoration. Pending FY2018 appropriations, NOAA plans to fund high-scoring proposals from the Strengthening Coastal Communities category submitted in response to the FY2017 FFO, in addition to new project proposals submitted under this FY2018 Coastal Resilience Grants Program FFO. The NOAA Office for Coastal Management will administer new awards established under the FY2017 FFO for Strengthening Coastal Communities. The NOAA Restoration Center will administer new awards that build resilience through coastal habitat restoration selected under this FY2018 FFO.

All potential applicants should review Section III.C, where ineligible project types are described.

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

1. Overview and Goals The principal objective of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program is to implement projects that build resilience of U.S. coastal communities and ecosystems. Resilience is the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and successfully adapt to adverse events. Specifically, the FY2018 Coastal Resilience Grants solicitation is seeking coastal habitat restoration projects that build resilience by conserving and restoring sustainable ecosystem processes and functions and reducing the vulnerability of coastal communities and infrastructure from the impacts of extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions.

Extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions can have significant impacts on coastal ecosystems and the human communities that rely on them.

Functional, healthy coastal ecosystems contribute to healthy coastal economies and communities. Because these three aspects of resilience (ecosystems, economies, and human communities) cannot be effectively addressed in isolation, this program intends to invest in collaborative projects that provide both ecological and socioeconomic benefits. This program supports activities that restore or create natural infrastructure and natural landscape features to provide valuable ecosystem functions and services, such as habitat for fish, improved water quality and quantity, flood reduction, and erosion protection. Proposed projects should also support sustainable fisheries managed by NOAA under the Magnuson- Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (Managed Species), contribute to the recovery of protected resources managed by NOAA under the Endangered Species Act (Listed Species) – including species identified by NMFS as “Species in the Spotlight” --and/or benefit native fish species of the Great Lakes.

In FY2017, the Coastal Resilience Grants Program FFO contained two project categories—Strengthening Coastal Communities and Habitat Restoration. Pending FY2018 appropriations, NOAA plans to fund high-scoring proposals from the Strengthening Coastal Communities category submitted in response to the FY2017 FFO, in addition to new project proposals submitted under this FY2018 Coastal Resilience Grants Program FFO. The NOAA Office for Coastal Management will administer new awards established under the FY2017 FFO for Strengthening Coastal Communities. The NOAA Restoration Center will administer new awards that build resilience through coastal habitat restoration selected under this

FY2018 FFO.

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2. Project Activities This competition seeks coastal habitat restoration activities that strengthen the resilience of coastal ecosystems and reduce vulnerability of coastal communities and infrastructure from impacts of extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions.

Successful projects should restore sustainable ecosystem processes and functions that provide habitat for fish, reduce vulnerability to hazards such as flooding and erosion, and result in improvements to communities and economies. Examples of community and economic benefits include improved commercial fisheries, agriculture, tourism, or public amenities.

Activities that strengthen the resilience of coastal ecosystems and human communities may include, but are not limited to:

-- re-establishing hydrologic connectivity (e.g. tide gate removal) and sediment processes that provide wetland habitat and reduce flooding (extent or frequency) in human communities;

-- removing dams that block migration for migratory fish and pose a risk to surrounding communities;

-- rebuilding coral reefs to recover Listed and/or Managed Species and reduce the energy and effects of storm waves, including erosion;

-- removing or replacing old levee infrastructure to restore functional floodplain habitat for fish, enhance flood storage capacity, and improve agricultural production through the resulting flood reduction; or -- improving stream flow levels to provide habitat for fish during migratory periods and reliable access to water for communities and agriculture.

Proposals for projects that assess project feasibility and result in project designs, rather than project implementation, will be considered under this competition.

3. Project Assessment Applicants should propose both ecological and socioeconomic metrics for evaluating the anticipated outcomes of the project. Proposals should include a plan for socioeconomic metric identification and quantification, as well as pre- and post-restoration ecological monitoring plans for implementation and basic effectiveness. See Section IV.B.2 (e) for further requirements related to monitoring plan development and data management and sharing requirements. Among the projects selected for funding, NOAA may provide funding to develop socioeconomic valuation studies or assess additional ecological effectiveness.

B. Program Priorities

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The NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program is intended to reduce risk associated with extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions, by supporting activities that strengthen the resilience of U.S. marine and coastal ecosystems and coastal communities. In FY2018, the NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants solicitation is seeking coastal habitat restoration projects that build resilience by conserving and restoring sustainable ecosystem processes and functions and safeguarding people and infrastructure.

Projects that are likely to achieve the following goals will be considered priorities by the panel reviewers and/or Selecting Official (see Section V.B):

-- Projects that demonstrate sustainability and result in resilience to extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions, through site location or natural landscape design features (e.g. allowing for wetland migration or water temperature refugia);

-- Projects that benefit all three components of resilience (ecosystems, economies, and human communities), as demonstrated by quantifiable ecological and socioeconomic metrics that assess habitat improvement, increased or maintained economic activity, improved or protected infrastructure and public safety, or enhanced recreation, etc.;

-- Projects that reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities and infrastructure, resulting in benefits to multiple stakeholders and sectors of the population;

-- Projects that demonstrate collaboration and alignment among multiple entities, including state and federal agencies, by proposing projects or project types described in comprehensive planning efforts such as coastal vulnerability or resilience studies, watershed management plans, species recovery plans, and/or fishery management plans.

C. Program Authority

The Secretary of Commerce is authorized under the following statutes to provide grants and cooperative agreements for habitat restoration and conservation: the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, 16 U.S.C. 661, as amended by the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970; the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act, 16 U.S.C.

1891a; and the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1535.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

Total anticipated funding for all awards is up to $9 million, subject to FY2018 appropriations. NOAA will not accept applications requesting less than $75,000 or more than $2 million in federal funds from NOAA under this solicitation. This federal funding opportunity is being released prior to final appropriations due to award process timeframes.

While the FY2018 President’s budget proposed $0 for this program, final Congressional

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 6 of 38 direction has not been determined.

NOAA anticipates typical awards for planning, feasibility and design projects will range from $75,000 to $300,000. NOAA anticipates typical awards for restoration implementation or design and implementation projects will range from $250,000 to $1,000,000.

Federal funds awarded under this program must be matched with non-federal funds (cash or in-kind cost share) at a 2:1 ratio of federal to non-federal contributions. For example, an applicant requesting $500,000 in federal funding must provide at least $250,000 in non-federal matching contributions, for a total budget of $750,000.

The exact amount of funds that may be awarded will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA. Although it is not required at the time of submitting a pre-proposal or Full Application under this announcement, NOAA will only award funds to projects that receive and demonstrate approval from the State’s Governor to implement the proposed project as evidenced by a letter or other form of documented correspondence. This requirement does not apply when the applicant is a federally recognized or non-federally recognized tribe conducting a project within the bounds of Tribal land. If a letter from the Governor cannot be obtained, a letter provided by a Governor's appointee, with a carbon copy (cc) to the Governor, will be sufficient. NOAA requests this letter be submitted by June 30, 2018 to ensure timely completion of the award process, pending final direction provided in the FY2018 Congressional appropriation.

Any funds provided to successful applicants will be at the discretion of the NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation and the NOAA Grants Management Division (GMD). NOAA and the Department of Commerce are not responsible for application preparation costs or efforts in the proposal that are canceled because of other agency priorities. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any project or to obligate any available funds. There is no guarantee that sufficient funds will be available to make awards for all top-ranked applications.

The number of awards to be made as a result of this solicitation will depend on the number of eligible applications received, the amount of funds requested and the merit and ranking of the applications. Applicants should be in compliance with the terms of any existing NOAA grants or cooperative agreements and otherwise eligible to receive federal awards, or make arrangements satisfactory to the Grants Officer, to be considered for funding under this competition. All reports due should be received and any concerns raised by the agency should be addressed in a timely fashion in order to receive a new award. Top ranked proposals not funded in the current fiscal period may be considered for funding in another

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 7 of 38 fiscal period without NOAA repeating the competitive process outlined in this announcement. NOAA may also fund a proposal in increments across one or more years; if requested, applicants will be required to develop a multi-year budget during award negotiation. This is anticipated most often for applicants that combine design and implementation costs into a single application.

B. Project/Award Period

Applications should cover a period of performance between 12 and 36 months. Proposed award periods should include the time needed to complete post-restoration monitoring and monitoring reports, if restoration implementation is proposed in the application. NOAA anticipates that the period of performance for most awards will be 36 months; however, an award performance period may be extended up to 48 months at the discretion of NOAA. The earliest anticipated start date for awards will be October 1, 2018. Pre-award costs are generally unallowable; however, pre-award costs may be considered during pre-award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA. Incurring pre-award costs before NOAA’s Grants Management Division (GMD) provides an award document is at the applicant's own risk.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

Selected applications will be funded through cooperative agreements, as described in 2 C.F.R. 200.24, meaning that NOAA expects to be substantially involved in many aspects of the awards. Substantial involvement may include, but is not limited to, collaboration on the scope of work, providing technical assistance, review and comment on design and/or monitoring plans, meeting planning and facilitation, or review of procurement materials to the extent authorized by 2 C.F.R. 200.324, and tracking the progress towards the successful completion of the project.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, non-profit and for-profit organizations, U.S. territories and states, Native American tribes, and local governments as defined at 2 C.F.R. 200.64, which includes counties, municipalities, and cities. To be eligible under this competition, applicants must conduct projects in coastal areas in one or more of the following U.S. jurisdictions: Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Federal Funding Opportunity Page 8 of 38

Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Washington, and Wisconsin.

For the purposes of this program, coastal areas are defined as those within coastal shoreline counties or coastal watershed counties. Coastal shoreline counties are directly adjacent to the open ocean, major estuaries, or the Great Lakes. Coastal watershed counties are located along inland rivers and streams with a significant impact on coastal and ocean resources.

Please review Section I.A.1 and the evaluation criteria in Section V.A.1 to understand the preferred target species within coastal areas.

Applications from individuals, federal agencies, or employees of federal agencies will not be considered. Individuals and federal agencies are strongly encouraged to work with states, non-governmental organizations, municipal and county governments, and others that are eligible to apply. Involvement of other federal agencies should be clearly described in the project proposal. Foreign governments are not eligible to apply for funding under this announcement.

The Department of Commerce and NOAA are strongly committed to increasing the participation of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), i.e., Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian institutions, and institutions that work in underserved communities.

This will be considered by the Selecting Official (SO) as he/she considers the balance/distribution of funds by type of institutions or partners, as described in Section V.C.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

A goal of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program is to fund projects that leverage the investment of federal funds with other contributions from a broad range of public and private partners. Cost sharing is required for eligibility. Federal funds awarded under this program must be matched with non-federal funds at a 2:1 ratio of federal to non-federal contributions. For example, an applicant requesting $500,000 in federal funding must provide at least $250,000 in non-federal matching contributions, for a total budget of $750,000.

"Cost sharing or matching" is defined by 2 C.F.R. 200.29 as "the portion of project costs not paid by federal funds (unless otherwise authorized by federal statute)." Any shared costs or matching funds and all contributions, including cash and third party in-kind contributions, will be accepted as part of an applicant's cost sharing or matching when the contributions meet the criteria listed in 2 C.F.R. 200.306. For example, matching funds may come from a variety of public and private sources and may include third party in-kind goods and services

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(e.g., private boat use, volunteer labor, etc.). In addition, applicants are permitted to combine contributions for allowable costs from non-federal partners when they meet the criteria in Section 200.306, such as not being contributed for any other federal award, and being available within the project period stated in the application. Federal contributions can be described in the budget narrative to demonstrate additional leverage and collaboration, but cannot be used as match without a specific legal authority. Applicants may also choose to designate part or all of their federally negotiated indirect costs as match, since the valuation of such costs has already been federally approved and documentation is readily available.

Refer to Section IV. F. "Funding Restrictions."

An applicant whose proposal is selected for funding will be bound by the percentage of cost sharing reflected in the award document signed by NOAA's Grants Management Division, unless amended based on extenuating circumstances. NOAA is under no obligation to amend the matching contributions once agreed to by the recipient. Successful applicants should be prepared to carefully document matching contributions, including the overall number of non-paid volunteers and third party in-kind participation hours. Letters of commitment for any secured resources that will be used as match for an award under this solicitation should be submitted as an attachment to the application (see Section IV.B).

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

This competition has a mandatory pre-proposal. Only those applicants whose pre-proposals strongly align with program objectives and goals, as determined by NOAA (through the criteria described below in Section V.A.), will be allowed to submit Full Applications. The recommended content and form of the mandatory pre-proposal are described in Section IV.B. The goal of the pre-proposal process is to reduce the burden of preparing full proposals and streamline the review by inviting full proposals only from those applicants whose projects are most likely to support implementation of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program goals as described in this announcement. Eligible full proposals should include the proposal ID provided by NOAA on form SF-424, field 5b.

Section III.A presents information distinguishing eligible versus ineligible organization types.

The following information describes ineligible project proposal types.

-- Proposals that solely benefit Listed Species under the jurisdiction of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service are not eligible, unless the species is jointly managed by NOAA.

-- Proposals that focus on marine debris prevention and removal, acquisition of real property, or beach renourishment that is solely for recreational purposes are ineligible.

-- Proposals addressing hard infrastructure only for water quality improvement are not

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 10 of 38 eligible.

Ineligible activities include, but are not limited to, wastewater treatment plant upgrades, elimination of combined sewer outfalls, and replacement of failing septic systems and implementation of agricultural animal waste management plans. However, projects that improve water quality through the creation or enhancement of fish habitat are eligible.

The following activities will not be considered for federal funding: (1) activities that alleviate the liability associated with legally required mitigation for the adverse effects of an activity regulated or otherwise governed by local, state or federal law; (2) activities that constitute compensatory restoration for natural resource damages under federal, state or local law; and (3) activities that are required by a separate consent decree, court order, statute, or regulation.

Applicants planning to combine grant or matching funds with mitigation should review the Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources; Final Rule at 73 Fed. Reg. 70 (April 10, 2008). Page 19636 describes scenarios where mitigation credits may or may not be obtained in association with federal financial incentives.

NOAA will not accept applications requesting less than $75,000 or more than $2 million in federal funds from the FY2018 Coastal Resilience Grants Program under this solicitation.

Pre-proposals and Full Applications must be submitted by the due dates and time provided in Section IV.D. Late applications will not be considered for funding.

For pre-proposals, submission time will be documented by the time stamp on the email.

For Full Applications, submission time will be documented by electronic submission to Grants.gov, a U.S. Postal Service postmark, or a delivery service receipt. Information regarding electronic submission through Grants.gov and the address for paper applications and the Governor's letter is contained in Section IV.G. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted. Applications submitted via the U.S. Postal Service must have an official postmark; private metered postmarks are not acceptable. All applicants wishing to submit a paper application package should contact the agency contact (Section VII) two days prior to the full proposal deadline. Applications received later than five business days following the closing date will not be accepted. All full proposals must contain all required forms; if these forms are not signed via the www.Grants.gov application process, they must be signed in ink (SF-424, SF-424B, CD-511). Failure to submit necessary signed forms shall result in disqualification from this competition.

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NOAA will establish cooperative agreement awards only with applicants that have successfully received approval from their State’s Governor, or their appointee, for the proposed project. NOAA requests this letter be submitted by June 30, 2018, to ensure timely completion of the award process. This requirement does not apply when the applicant is a federally recognized or non-federally recognized tribe conducting a project within the bounds of Tribal land.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

For pre-proposals, information about the recommended format is contained in Section

IV.B.

For full proposals, complete application packages, including required federal forms and instructions, can be found on www.Grants.gov. If a prospective applicant is experiencing problems using the Grants.gov Workspace feature, contact www.Grants.gov Customer Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@Grants.gov. Instructions for these forms are available at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/form-instructions.html.

If an applicant does not have Internet access, application packages can be requested from Melanie Gange at 301-427-8664 or via email to Melanie.Gange@noaa.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application

PRE-PROPOSAL CONTENT AND FORMAT

Applicants must submit a pre-proposal and receive an invitation from NOAA before submitting a full proposal. Pre-proposals must be submitted as an e-mail attachment to resilience.grants@noaa.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern time on the date stated in Section IV.D.

Please write "2018 Coastal Resilience Pre-proposal" in the email subject line. All applications will receive an automated email receipt confirming submittal. It is the responsibility of the applicant to notify NOAA within 24 hours of the deadline if they did not receive an email receipt. This email address is for pre-proposals only. Direct any questions to the agency contact identified in Section VII below.

The pre-proposal must include:

-- the Standard Form (SF)-424 (available at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms.html), -- a two-page narrative, and -- a single-page map or aerial photo of the project site (optional).

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The narrative must be no more than two (2) pages in length and should provide a concise description of the proposed work and its relevance to the competition’s priorities. NOAA requests that applicants use single-spacing, 11 or 12 point font, and one inch margins. We recommend you follow the format provided for the full proposal Project Summary, provided in Section IV.B.1. PDF is recommended for all files to ensure readability, and to reduce file size. Any text in the body of the email will NOT be considered part of the application.

Maximum total size of all attachments cannot exceed 25 MB, or the email will be rejected by NOAA’s email server.

If the pre-proposal is incomplete, is submitted late, or otherwise does not follow the requirements stated in this announcement, the pre-proposal may not be considered. The pre-proposal process is a critical step to determine if proposed projects are well-suited for this specific competition. Only those applicants whose pre-proposals strongly align with program objectives and goals, as determined by NOAA (through the criteria described below in Section V.A.), will be allowed to submit Full Applications. The goal of the pre-proposal process is to streamline the review process by inviting full proposals only from those applicants whose projects are most likely to support NOAA's coastal resilience goals as described in this announcement.

FULL PROPOSAL CONTENT AND FORMAT

If invited by NOAA to submit a full proposal, applicants should apply through the www.Grants.gov website. A complete standard NOAA financial assistance application package should be submitted in accordance with the guidelines in this document. Each full proposal must include the application forms from the SF-424 form family:

-- Application for Federal Assistance: Form SF-424 (7/03 version or newer), include proposal ID provided by NOAA to eligible full proposal applicants in field 5b, Federal Award Identifier.

-- Budget Information for Non-construction Programs: Form SF-424A -- Assurances for Non-construction Programs: Form SF-424B -- Certification Regarding Lobbying: Form CD-511 -- Disclosure of Lobbying Activities: Form SF-LLL (if applicable)

In addition, NOAA recommends the following as part of a complete application package for a full proposal:

-- Project summary (described below, 2 page limit) – recommended as the pre-proposal content, and may be updated for the full proposal;

-- Project narrative (described below, 15 page limit);

-- Data management plan (described below, 2 page limit);

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-- Budget narrative (described below, 6 page limit);

-- Project design plans, (if applicable);

-- Other relevant supporting materials (15 page limit) as applicable (see Section IV.B.6 below)

Applications submitted through the www.Grants.gov website should include a maximum of four files (PDF files only) in addition to the federal application forms: 1) Summary, narrative, and data management plan (not to exceed 19 pages total, as outlined above); 2) Budget narrative (6 pages); 3) Project designs (if applicable); and 4) Supporting materials -all other attachments combined into one indexed file, such as maps, curriculum vitae, and support letters (not to exceed 15 pages). NOAA requests that applicants use 11 or 12-point font and 1-inch margins.

1. Project Summary and Pre-proposal Format (2 page limit):

All proposals must briefly describe the activities to be implemented with the requested funds including:

-- Project title -- Project location (e.g. town, watershed, geographic coordinates, etc.)

-- Requested NOAA funding -- Proposed non-federal match -- The overall project cost including any leveraged funds beyond proposed non-federal match -- Briefly describe:

-- The vulnerability or issue(s) limiting the resilience of U.S. coastal ecosystems, human communities, and infrastructure to extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions.

-- The specific actions to be undertaken during the proposed award period, expected outcomes, and how the project and its expected outcomes align with the goals and objectives of the FY2018 Coastal Resilience Grants solicitation.

-- The measurable impact on the ecosystem and how resilience to extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions will be increased for surrounding coastal communities, including reduced vulnerabilities of social, economic, or ecological systems.

-- Project Performance Measures: Include both ecological and socioeconomic metrics as described in section IV.B.2 (e).

-- How the project restores or creates resilient, healthy habitat for the benefit of sustainable fisheries and contributes to the recovery of protected resources. Identify the Listed Species, including species identified by NMFS as “Species in the Spotlight;”

Managed Species; or native fish species of the Great Lakes that will benefit from the proposed project.

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-- How the project demonstrates collaboration and alignment among multiple entities and implements recommendations or projects described in multi-stakeholder, comprehensive planning efforts such as coastal vulnerability or resilience studies, watershed management plans, species recovery plans, fishery management plans, and/or other planning efforts related to ecosystem and/or community resilience.

-- Project timeline including key dates or milestones for the proposed project activities.

-- Permits and Approvals: Identify and list all consultations, permits, and regulatory approvals necessary for the proposed project and their status (e.g. not applied for, pending, secured).

-- Landowner(s): Provide name and address (if privately owned) or public agency contact and indicate their level of support for the proposed project.

-- Project partners and other project stakeholders.

2. Full Proposal Project Narrative (15 page limit):

The project narrative within a full proposal should closely follow the evaluation criteria (see Section V. A. Evaluation Criteria) to receive a consistent review against competing applications. Only those applicants whose pre-proposals strongly align with program objectives and goals, as determined by NOAA (through the criteria described below in Section V.A.), will be allowed to submit full proposals.

a. Background. Provide sufficient background information for reviewers to independently assess the significance of the proposed project. Summarize the historic and current condition of the site, the problem, and the risk or resilience need to be addressed. Provide context for the project based on physical and socioeconomic vulnerability to extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions. Describe who is at risk, the likelihood of people being harmed, places or infrastructure being damaged, and the anticipated impact/expense of extreme weather, climate hazards, or changing ocean conditions. NOAA’s Digital Coast website and the Sea Level Rise Viewer provide access to a variety of tools to begin identifying both physical and socioeconomic vulnerability (https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/slr.html). Describe the status of ongoing efforts and coordination to address the identified problem. Summarize the relationship of the proposed work to other ongoing efforts.

b. Goals and Objectives. Describe in the narrative the specific project goals and objectives to be achieved. Detailed, technical information about the proposed project activities and site should be fully described. Include the following information in the full proposal or supplemental materials: design plans; specifications; required permits and consultations;

scope of work for services; and/or cost estimates.

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This section should include:

-- the short-term objectives and long-term resilience goals of the proposed activities at the project site;

-- how the proposed project design, methodology, and techniques will create sustainable ecosystem processes and functions that will reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities and infrastructure from the impacts of extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions;

-- the expected human community benefits, including reduced risks to people or infrastructure (e.g. decreased flooding impacts or elimination of public safety hazards) and extent of these benefits;

-- the expected economic benefits such as avoided costs or improved economic opportunities (e.g. avoided property damage costs, reduced maintenance costs, or improved commercial and recreational fishing) and extent of these benefits;

-- the fish species (e.g. Managed or Listed Species) targeted by the project, their historic and current status or population estimates, and the quantification of the extent to which they will benefit from the proposed project;

-- existing data that can be used to provide a baseline for ecological monitoring, or quantification and valuation of socioeconomic benefits; and -- the extent of collaboration among stakeholders and how the project is associated with any relevant planning efforts, or demonstrates synergy with other resilience or conservation efforts in the watershed, such as coastal vulnerability or resilience studies, watershed management plans, Species Recovery Plans, Fishery Management Plans, or other strategic planning efforts.

For planning and design proposals, technical details should include the scope of services or tasks to be completed under this award, including field surveys, modeling, engineered designs, and/or permit preparation. Proposals should also describe any gaps in expertise in the project team that could be resolved with NOAA technical assistance.

For restoration implementation proposals, examples of requested technical details include:

-- Applicants proposing to install fish passage devices or operational control structures such as self-regulating tide gates as a component of the project should include discussion of a management plan that details who will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of such structures, and how they will be operated and maintained in the future.

-- Applicants proposing to alter tidal exchange should also provide a hydrograph showing any tidal restrictions and projected conditions with restoration.

-- Applicants proposing to enhance existing tidal wetlands (e.g. through sediment placement or beneficial re-use of dredged material) should provide information on the source of the sediment/materials, the site-specific rate of sea level rise and subsidence, target elevation, Federal Funding Opportunity Page 16 of 38 and how the restored site will keep pace with the rate of sea level rise and subsidence.

-- Applicants proposing to place plants or animals into the environment should include the origin/source and regional genetic stock of the plant or animal, and describe the proximity to any existing or remnant sources of similar type in the area.

-- Applicants proposing to restore floodplain habitat should describe how often the habitat will be accessible by the target species, both at current and predicted future hydrologic regimes. Describe how that frequency of access was developed.

-- Applicants proposing to conserve water for fish habitat use should describe both the physical and legal mechanisms necessary to implement the project.

If multiple sites are included within one application, the proposed sites or activities should be hydrologically or ecologically connected, follow a comprehensive and integrated approach, and feature shared or complementary goals. Applications that include multiple restoration sites should also fully describe the proposed activity at each site within the project narrative section. If page limits are restrictive, focus the application on the technical aspects of the proposed actions and on those actions with highest priority funding needs. If you cannot describe all aspects of a multi-site project within the recommended page limits, applicants should consider submitting an application for each site.

c. Milestone Schedule. Provide detailed timelines for major tasks, target milestones for important intermediate and final products, and key project outcomes. For each site, applicants should clearly identify the project phase(s) proposed (e.g. engineering design, construction) and provide an implementation plan, including all activities proposed under the award, and any critical activities prior to the award or after the award. This includes identifying all consultation and permitting requirements and their status (e.g. not applied for, pending, secured).

d. Public Engagement and Environmental Compliance. Describe how the public and stakeholders have been or will be engaged in the development of the project. This section should include any public engagement needed for environmental compliance and permitting.

For projects with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents completed or under development, please indicate the status and level of NEPA review (Categorical Exclusion, Environmental Assessment, or Environmental Impact Statement), the lead federal agency, contact information for the lead federal agency person, and where copies of the document are available. If no NEPA compliance has begun, the applicant should include a commitment to quickly provide information needed by NOAA to analyze project impacts under the NEPA (see Section VI.B.6).

e. Project Assessment. Describe the approach for evaluating project results using measure(s)

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 17 of 38 of success that can reach a conclusion during the award period. Applicants should include a plan for socioeconomic metric identification and quantification, as well as pre- and post-restoration ecological monitoring plans for implementation and basic effectiveness. Describe the existing data that can be used to provide a baseline for these measures. Applicants must plan for data management, as described in Section IV.B.3 of this announcement.

Restoration implementation proposals should include measures to enable NOAA to evaluate, upon completion, whether the project was executed as designed and provides a basic level of effectiveness. Examples include short-term measures such as as-built surveys of construction, post-planting inspection reports, or other appropriate measures. All proposals for fish passage barrier removal, hydrologic reconnection, coral recovery, and oyster restoration projects should include monitoring plans which include the measures described in "NOAA Restoration Center Implementation Monitoring: Guidance for Proposing and Conducting 'Tier I' Monitoring," available at:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/habitat-conservation/resources-noaa-restoration-center-applicants.

Proposals focused on planning and design for coastal habitat restoration projects that build resilience should include a monitoring plan, or discuss how a monitoring plan will be developed as part of the proposed work. This may include pre-project monitoring to collect data that informs the project design, or that serves as baseline data for post-implementation monitoring.

Applicants should also propose socioeconomic measures that demonstrate increases in the economic or human community components of resilience. Examples include short-term measures such as the number of structures benefitting from the project, change in the number of days that a road is flooded, change in shellfishery closing days, change in recreational use, or changes in other ecosystem services. Please identify the proposed measures, any data available to support the proposed measures, and a plan to quantify the measures during the award period.

Applicants should be willing to work with NOAA to adjust the monitoring plan, if necessary, to ensure sufficient, cost-effective implementation monitoring. Applicants may also describe their approach for monitoring ecological or socioeconomic effectiveness during and after the award period. Monitoring proposed beyond the award period should be supported by project partners who provide support letters describing their commitment. Among the projects selected for funding, NOAA may provide funding to develop socioeconomic valuation studies or assess ecological effectiveness.

f. Project Protection, Maintenance, and Long-term Viability

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To protect the federal investment, applicants should describe future management of the project site beyond the period of performance, including mechanisms to protect, maintain, or sustain the project site so the multiple benefits of the funded resilience project will be lasting. This should include documentation of landowner/land manager support for the project. For planning and design projects, proposals should describe the likelihood that the resilience project will be implemented after the award, such as potential funding sources, participation of key stakeholders, and ability to build consensus regarding the solution at the site. Letters of support may be used to show stakeholder support.

3. Data Management Plan (2 page limit) Proposals submitted in response to this FFO should include a Data Management Plan of up to two pages. NOAA’s Data and Publication Sharing Directive for NOAA Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts is available at https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/PD.DSP.php

The Data Management Plan should be aligned with the examples provided by NOAA at:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/habitat-conservation/resources-noaa-restoration-center-applicants. A typical plan should include descriptions of the types of environmental data and information expected to be created during the course of the project, the tentative date by which data will be shared, the standards to be used for data/metadata format and content, methods for providing data access, approximate total volume of data to be collected, and prior experience in making such data accessible. The costs of data preparation, accessibility, or archiving may be included in the proposal budget. Accepted submission of data to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is one way to satisfy data sharing requirements; however, NCEI is not obligated to accept all submissions and may charge a fee, particularly for large or unusual datasets. Final Data Management Plans may be developed in coordination with NOAA as part of NOAA’s substantial involvement, as described in Section II.C and VI.B.7.

4. Budget Narrative (6 page limit):

The budget justification narrative must include a detailed breakdown by category of cost (SF-424A object class) separated into federal and non-federal shares as they relate to specific aspects of the award, with a detailed narrative justification for both the federal and non-federal shares. Applicants should indicate whether or not the proposed non-federal share has been secured or not.

If funding will be used to complete part of a larger project with multiple funding sources, a budget overview for the entire project should be provided, to demonstrate how the NOAA request relates to the overall project budget and outcomes. If the project has been submitted

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 19 of 38 for funding consideration elsewhere, the amount(s) requested or secured from other sources, and whether the funds requested/secured are federal or non-federal should be included.

Additional budget development guidance, including a budget narrative template, is available at…