oppNOAA-NOS-OCM-2018-2005474-cfda11.482-cid2702194-instructions.pdf

Public-Private Partnership for Coral Reef Conservation and Marine Debris Programs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 4

A. Program Objective 4 B. Program Priorities 6 C. Program Authority 7

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

III. Eligibility Information 9 A. Eligible Applicants 9 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 10 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 12

IV. Application and Submission Information 12 A. Address to Request Application Package 13 B. Content and Form of Application 13 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 24 D. Submission Dates and Times 25 E. Intergovernmental Review 26 F. Funding Restrictions 26 G. Other Submission Requirements 27

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

VI. Award Administration Information 32 A. Award Notices 32 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 32 C. Reporting 35

VII. Agency Contacts 37 VIII. Other Information 37

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 1 of 38

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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

Funding Opportunity Title: Public-Private Partnership for Coral Reef Conservation and Marine Debris Programs

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NOS-OCM-2018-2005474

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.482, Coral Reef Conservation Program

Dates: Proposals must be received through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, February 28, 2018. For proposals submitted through Grants.gov, a date and time receipt indication by Grants.gov will be the basis of determining timeliness. Please note:

Validation or rejection of your application by Grants.gov may take up to 2 business days after submission. Please consider this process in developing your submission timeline. Applicants with technical access issues may apply through postal mail provided the application package is postmarked no later than Wednesday, February 28, 2018. Applications submitted via U.S. Postal Service must have an official postmark; private metered postmarks are not acceptable. In any event, applications sent by surface mail and received more than 10 business days following the postmarked closing date will not be accepted.

Funding Opportunity Description: The purpose of this notice is to solicit proposals for a single cooperative agreement to implement the public-private partnership with both the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) as authorized in the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) and the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) as authorized in the Marine Debris Act (MDA) (33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.). The public-private partnership provides a mechanism for NOAA to collaborate with a single external non-Federal partner in order to promote investment in coral reef and marine conservation efforts, marine debris prevention, and removal of derelict fishing gear, in the U.S. and abroad. The public-private partnership involves administration of subawards made through multiple competitions including the Coral Reef Conservation Fund, which was established by statute to leverage NOAA CRCP resources with investments made by private donors, foundations and other Federal government agencies.

Funding awarded through the partnership is intended to provide support for priority coral reef conservation projects, administration of the Fishing for Energy partnership, and marine debris prevention and removal of derelict fishing gear projects. Eligible applicants for this public-

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 2 of 38 private partnership are limited to non-profit organizations. Applicants should have significant experience working in partnership with NOAA program offices to be competitive.

Funding for this program is subject to the availability of Fiscal Year 2018 and future appropriations and other programmatic considerations and is expected to range between approximately $800,000 and approximately $2,000,000 per year.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 3 of 38

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

The purpose of this notice is to solicit proposals for a single cooperative agreement to implement the public-private partnership with both the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) as authorized in the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) and the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) as authorized in the Marine Debris Act (MDA) (33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.). The public-private partnership provides a mechanism for NOAA to collaborate with a single external non-Federal partner in order to promote investment in coral reef and marine conservation efforts, marine debris prevention, and removal of derelict fishing gear, in the U.S. and abroad. The public-private partnership involves administration of subgrant awards made through multiple competitions including the Coral Reef Conservation Fund, which was established by statute to leverage NOAA CRCP resources with investments made by private donors, foundations and other Federal government agencies. Funding awarded through the partnership is intended to provide support for priority coral reef conservation projects, administration of the Fishing for Energy partnership, and marine debris prevention and removal of derelict fishing gear projects.

Coral reefs and associated seagrass and mangrove communities are among the most complex and diverse ecosystems on earth. They support important fishing and tourism industries, protect coasts from wave and storm damage, build tropical islands, contain an array of potential pharmaceuticals, and provide essential services like food security, livelihood, and culture, among other benefits.

As shallow-water, near shore communities, coral reef ecosystems are ecologically linked to adjacent watersheds and are highly vulnerable to human activity. Stresses in the coral reef environment include poor water quality from runoff and inadequate sewage treatment, destructive fishing practices, sedimentation, recreational overuse and misuse, and impacts from climate change and ocean acidification.

To address these threats, Congress passed the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (Act), which established the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program and provided guidance for allocation of federal funding toward efforts to conserve coral reef ecosystems in the United States and internationally. As required in the Act, one of the primary functions of the CRCP is to provide financial assistance to external partners for coral reef conservation projects consistent with the Act and CRCP priorities. CRCP is currently undergoing a strategic planning process that will result in a new CRCP National Goals and Objective document and

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 4 of 38 priorities. For this application, the existing CRCP priorities outlined in the CRCP National Goals and Objectives 2010-2015 (https://ocmcoralreef.blob.core.windows.net/coralreef-prod/conservation/resources/3threats_go.pdf) and the CRCP International Strategy 2010- 2015 (https://docs.lib.noaa.gov/noaa_documents/CoRIS/intl_strategy_2010-2015.pdf) should be used. Jurisdictional priorities for the seven U.S. states, territories, and commonwealths that have primary authority for managing coral reefs are outlined in their respective Jurisdictional Management Priority Setting Documents (https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/management_priorities). All applicants should demonstrate a willingness to adjust to these new priorities either during negotiations or post-award as they become available.

Section 205 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) authorized the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program to enter into an agreement with a nonprofit organization in order to establish the Coral Reef Conservation Fund, whose purpose is “solely to support partnerships between the public and private sectors that further the purposes of this Act and are consistent with the national coral reef action strategy.”

The NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), a division of the Office of Response and Restoration, leads national efforts to address marine debris. The NOAA MDP mission is to investigate and solve the problems that stem from marine debris through research, prevention, reduction, and removal activities, in order to protect and conserve our nation’s marine environment and ensure navigation safety.

Marine debris is defined as "any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes" (15 CFR Part 909).

Specifically, this effort should support the NOAA MDP in meeting its mandates in the Marine Debris Act of 2012 to “identify, determine sources of, assess, prevent, reduce, and remove marine debris, with a focus on marine debris posing a threat to living marine resources and navigation safety” and to “identify and undertake efforts to reduce adverse impacts of lost and discarded fishing gear on living marine resources and navigation safety, including:

(A) Research and development of alternatives to gear posing threats to the marine environment and methods for marking gear used in certain fisheries to enhance the tracking, recovery, and identification of lost and discarded gear; and

(B) The development of effective non-regulatory measures and incentives to cooperatively reduce the volume of lost and discarded fishing gear and to aid in gear recovery.”

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 5 of 38

Applications will be accepted from recipients that propose to manage and support the Fishing for Energy public-private partnership developed in 2008 to facilitate prevention and removal of derelict fishing gear. The Fishing for Energy initiative seeks to prevent inappropriate dumping of retired fishing gear and to facilitate state and local government, non-governmental organizations and fishing industry involvement in removal of derelict gear in priority areas. Information on Fishing for Energy can be found at https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/prevention/fishing-energy.

In FY 2018, the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program and Marine Debris Program intend to initiate a new multi-year cooperative agreement to establish a public-private partnership that will implement Section 205 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act and support the mandates of the Marine Debris Act focusing on prevention of lost and discarded fishing gear through the Fishing for Energy public-private partnership. All of the following information pertains only to this funding announcement.

B. Program Priorities

NOAA will accept applications that propose to implement the public-private partnership authorized by Congress in the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and support the implementation of priorities related to Marine Debris removal, monitoring and assessment as described in the Marine Debris Act (MDA).

With regard to Coral Reef Conservation Program, proposals submitted should address the following programmatic priorities, which coincide with the major themes related coral reef conservation recognized by the CRCP (and expected to be included in the new CRCP priorities documents):

1. Land-based sources of pollution;

2. Fishing impacts;

3. Climate change and ocean acidification;

4. Coral restoration; and

5. Emerging management issues.

Proposals submitted should also address the following Marine Debris programmatic priorities focusing on the reduction and prevention of derelict fishing gear as described in the Marine Debris Act:

1. Through administering the Fishing for Energy partnership, preventing inappropriate dumping of retired fishing gear by coordinating with fishing ports to provide a space for gear

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 6 of 38 disposal. Ports should be selected by working with the NOAA Marine Debris Program as well as local state and federal fisheries managers and fishing industry representatives.

2. By providing seed funding to ports with the intent that the disposal of gear become sustainable over time. Selection of new local partners to help with disposal of gear should be considered through the Fishing for Energy Partnership,

3. By working with state and federal resource managers and the fishing industry to identify solutions to prevent gear from becoming derelict and to provide a measureable conservation benefit to marine communities by removing direct threats to species and habitats that are killed or damaged as a result of derelict gear.

The single selected proposal, written as a cooperative agreement, will:

1. Provide for close collaboration with the staff of NOAA.

2. Demonstrate the availability of suitable support personnel, facilities, and infrastructure, including:

a. Office space, facilities, and communication equipment;

b. Grants administration infrastructure, software, checks and controls;

c. Administrative processes aligned with federal financial assistance rules and regulations.

3. Support objectives and priorities consistent with all of the following: the current Coral Reef Conservation Program’s Goals and Objectives 2010-2015 (https://ocmcoralreef.blob.core.windows.net/coralreef-prod/conservation/resources/3threats_go.pdf) and coral restoration activities; the CRCP International Strategy 2010-15 (https://docs.lib.noaa.gov/noaa_documents/CoRIS/intl_strategy_2010-2015.pdf); and other activities that further the coral reef conservation objectives of the Act and the marine debris mandates in the MDA.

4. Include a continuing review of the grant program administered under this award and a written assessment of progress towards meeting the goals and objectives of the public-partnership and attracting private investment in coral reef conservation and marine debris initiatives.

C. Program Authority

Authority for the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program and the public-private partnership is provided by Sections 6403 and 6404 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 7 of 38

2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq).

The Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) authorizes the NOAA Administrator to provide cooperative agreements to address the adverse impacts of marine debris on the United States economy, the marine environment, and navigation safety through identification, determination of sources, assessment, prevention, reduction, and removal of marine debris.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

Funding for this program is subject to the availability of FY 2018 and future appropriations and other programmatic considerations and is expected to range between approximately $800,000 and approximately $2,000,000 annually. The intent is to make a single award for a 48-month performance period. If no proposal is funded in the current fiscal period a proposal may be considered for funding in another fiscal period without NOAA repeating the competitive process outlined in this announcement.

Publication of this announcement does not obligate NOAA to establish any specific partnership or to obligate available funds for partnership activities. There is no guarantee that funds will be available to make awards for this funding opportunity or that any proposal will be selected for funding. If an applicant incurs any costs prior to receiving an award agreement signed by an authorized NOAA official, it does so at its own risk of not being selected or of these costs not being included in a subsequent award. NOAA or the Department of Commerce are not responsible for any proposal preparation costs. In addition, NOAA and the Department of Commerce will not be responsible for any incurred project costs if this program fails to receive funding. Recipients and subrecipients are subject to all federal laws and agency policies, regulations, and procedures applicable to federal financial assistance awards. Applicants must be in good standing with all existing NOAA awards in order to receive funds.

B. Project/Award Period

An award funded in FY 2018 or a subsequent fiscal year shall have a performance period of 48 months and an award start date of the first day of any month, August through October, 2018. Successful applicants may be selected as an institutional award recipient and asked to revise the performance period to 60 months during negotiations (see Section II.C.

below).

C. Type of Funding Instrument

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 8 of 38

Successful applicants will enter into a cooperative agreement with NOAA's National Ocean Service, Office for Coastal Management, Coral Reef Conservation Program.

Applications must be written as cooperative agreements and the proposal should clearly identify this funding instrument in the proposal abstract and cover sheet. Federal cooperative agreements are different from traditional grants in that they allow for 'substantial federal involvement' in the planning and implementation of funded projects. Substantial involvement on the part of NOAA may include the collaboration and participation of NOAA program officers, other OCM staff in project development, planning and implementation;

technical monitoring of award activities; and coordination of funded projects with other NOAA-funded efforts as needed. NOAA’s substantial involvement may include collaboration, guidance, and direction during performance, review and approval of milestones, and other actions described in Office of Management and Budget Guidance at 43 Fed. Reg. 36860-65 (Aug. 18, 1978) and in Sec. 5.C. of the Department of Commerce Grants and Cooperative Agreements Manual, available at http://www.osec.doc.gov/oam/grants_management/policy/documents/Grants%20Manual%2 0-%2024%20October%202016.pdf . NOAA will determine the substantial Federal involvement appropriate for a project, but applicants may suggest anticipated federal roles and responsibilities in their proposals. Applicants tentatively selected for potential funding are expected to discuss the federal involvement in the project during project negotiations.

Successful applicants may be considered for an institutional award if approved by the Coral Reef Conservation Program, the Marine Debris Program, and the NOAA Grants Office.

Institutional awards are made with the intent to maintain a long-term partnership between DOC and the recipient for those projects established under long term planning goals and objectives common to the research and programmatic needs of both parties. The applicant may be asked to revise their application to lengthen the period of performance by an additional 12 months with an additional year of funding. Institutional awards may also be eligible for at least one non-competitive continuation grant for up to 60 months with a successful periodic review.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible funding applicants are limited to non-profit organizations. Applicants should have demonstrated experience in coral reef conservation and marine debris issues, as well as the organizational and administrative resources necessary to administer merit-based competitive grant programs, to be competitive. Refer to the Evaluation Criteria in Section V.

Federal agencies and employees are not allowed to receive funds under this announcement

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 9 of 38 but may serve as collaborative project partners and may contribute resources or in-kind goods or services. Federal agencies’ and employees’ ‘in-kind’ services cannot be considered as part of an applicant’s match on shared costs unless authorized by a specific legal authority. If federal agencies are collaborators, applicants are expected to provide detail on the planned level of federal engagement in the application. Examples might include, but are not limited to partnership services; serving in a review capacity; or participating in priority task teams, working groups, or leadership teams.

DOC/NOAA supports cultural and gender diversity and encourages women and minority individuals and groups to submit applications to this program. In addition, DOC/NOAA is strongly committed to broadening the participation of historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and institutions that work in underserved areas. DOC/NOAA encourages applications involving any of the above institutions to apply.

The lead applicant on any proposal will be responsible for ensuring that allocated funds are used for the purposes of, and in a matter consistent with this program, including any funds awarded to an eligible sub-awardee.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

All awards of financial assistance provided by the NOAA Marine Debris Program under the authority of the Marine Debris Act require a 1:1 contribution of non-federal matching funds. In addition, all financial assistance awards made by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program under the authority of the Coral Reef Conservation Act are also subject to the same 1:1 matching funds requirement, which stipulates that federal funding may account for no more than 50% of the cost of an award.

"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, match can come from a variety of public and private sources and can include third party in-kind goods and services (e.g., private boat use, volunteer labor, etc.). To meet the 1:1 match requirement, applicants are permitted to combine contributions from multiple non-federal project collaborators, as long as such contributions are not being used to match any other funds and are available within the project period stated in the application. As previously noted - federal sources cannot be considered for matching funds, but can be described in the budget narrative to demonstrate additional leverage. Applicants may also choose to designate part or all of their federally-

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 10 of 38 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. E. 2.

"Indirect Costs." Applicants should also note that the following activities, in general, will not be considered as match under project awards: (1) activities that constitute legally required mitigation for the adverse effects of an activity regulated or otherwise governed by local, state or federal law; (2) activities that constitute 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 must specify in their proposal the source(s) of match and may be asked to provide letters of commitment to confirm stated match contributions. Applicants whose proposals are selected for funding will be bound by the percentage of cost sharing reflected in the award document signed by the NOAA Grants Officer and the recipient organization.

Applicants must be prepared to document matching contributions for each project selected for funding.

With regard to the Coral Reef Conservation portion of an application, applicants should identify any additional public and private sources of funds or third party in-kind contributions outside of the non-federal matching requirement that may be available to the Coral Reef Conservation Fund in order to further leverage federal and non-federal matching funds. Applicants may request a waiver to the matching requirement as described below.

Section 6403(b)(2) of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 gives the NOAA Administrator the authority to waive all or part of the matching requirement if the Administrator determines that the project meets the following two requirements:

1. No reasonable means are available through which an applicant can meet the matching requirement, and,

2. The probable benefit of such project outweighs the public interest in such matching requirement.

In the case of a waiver request, the applicant must provide a detailed justification explaining the need for the waiver including attempts to obtain sources of matching funds, how the benefit of the project outweighs the public interest in providing match, and any other extenuating circumstances preventing the availability of match. Match waiver requests, including the appropriate justification, must be submitted as part of the final application package.

With regard to the marine debris portion of the application, a major goal of the NOAA MDP

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 11 of 38 is to fund projects that leverage funds and other contributions from a broad public and private sector. To this end, the Marine Debris Act requires applicants to demonstrate a minimum 1:1 ratio of non-federal matching contributions to NOAA funds requested to conduct the proposed project. In addition to formal match, NOAA strongly encourages applicants to leverage additional investment to the extent feasible. However, selected proposals will be held to this amount for financial reporting as described below.

If the match requirement cannot be met, the Marine Debris Act allows the NOAA Administrator to waive all or part of the matching requirement if the applicant can demonstrate the following:

1. No reasonable means are available through which applicants can meet the matching requirement, and

2. The probable benefit of such project outweighs the public interest in such matching requirement.

The Marine Debris Act also allows the NOAA Administrator to authorize, as appropriate, the non-federal share of the cost of a project to include money paid pursuant to, or the value of any in-kind service performed under, an administrative order on consent or judicial consent decree that will remove or prevent marine debris.

Any applicant wishing to request a match waiver must provide a match waiver request letter or provide other language in the required budget narrative as a part of the application package being submitted. The request must contain a detailed justification explaining the need for the waiver, descriptions of attempts to obtain sources of matching funds, how the benefit of the project outweighs the public interest in providing match, and any other extenuating circumstances preventing the incorporation or local availability of matching contributions. However, if available, the inclusion of matching contributions is encouraged.

If applying for a match waiver for both CRCP and MDP, separate letters are required. For more information, refer to Section IV.B.11.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

This section intentionally left blank.

IV. Application and Submission Information

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 12 of 38

A. Address to Request Application Package

Standard application packages are available through the apply function on Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms.html). If an applicant does not have effective internet access, application packages may be requested from Craig Reid at 301-533-0783 or via e-mail at craig.a.reid@noaa.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application

A complete standard NOAA financial assistance application package should be submitted in accordance with the guidelines in this document.

All application materials should use a legible 11- or 12-point font with 1-inch margins on all sides.

The complete application package should include the following forms and documents and should be grouped in two separate files:

A project narrative (proposal), as described in the application component section below, should be limited to no more than a total of 30 pages, single spaced. The project narrative should also include a title page and a table of content but these pages (title and table of content) will not count towards the project narrative 30-page limit.

Project narratives that exceed the 30-page limit will be shortened by removing pages at the end of the proposal narrative (see element 2 of the component section below) before being forwarded to merit reviewers for evaluation. Pages excised from lengthy applications will not be reviewed or considered. Applications that are incomplete, unclear, or contain numerous typographical errors may not be understood effectively by reviewers, resulting in lower evaluation scores, so applicants are advised to review their application materials closely before they are submitted to the agency for consideration.

Federal forms from the SF-424 Form family should include the following forms as applicable:

--Application for Federal Assistance: Form SF-424 --Budget Information for Non-construction Programs: Form SF-424A (prior to award, a Form SF-424A for each year of funding will be required) --Assurances for Non-construction Programs: Form SF-424B --Certification Regarding Lobbying: Form CD-511 --Disclosure of Lobbying Activities: Form SF-LLL (if applicable)

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 13 of 38

Appendices should be limited to materials that directly support the main body of the proposal (e.g., resumes, references, lists of relevant work products or reports, detailed methodologies, data sources, detailed budget narrative, letters of collaboration, letters of support, lists of data sources, and maps). Applicants should paginate their proposal and any appendices. Appendices should not total more than 30 total pages excluding forms, information to complete forms, detailed budget narrative, Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and environmental compliance information.

Federal forms, Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, and NEPA and environmental compliance information can be separately submitted or combined and submitted in one PDF document.

Please keep in mind that the total electronic file size of the proposal narrative and appendices combined shall not exceed 5 megabytes. Files that are larger than five megabytes may not be properly downloaded, uploaded, or received by the agency or the reviewers. Files that cannot be opened or downloaded will not be reviewed.

In addition to the required forms, all funding application packages must contain the following 12 components:

1. Application Cover Sheet, which includes:

a) Project title;

b) Applicant organization (must match registered name in Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS));

c) Recipient DUNS number (must match applicant information in SAM.Gov)

d) Primary and alternate points of contact regarding the application (contact information including address, phone number, and email address);

e) Principal and other investigators (names, organization, and contact information);

f) Financial representative (names, organization, and contact information);

g) Geographic location(s) of the proposed project;

h) Amount of federal funding requested;

i) Amount and source(s) of matching funds provided;

j) Requested award start date (which must be the first day of the month), end date (which must be the last day of the month) and an award period of 48-months duration. Proposals to this competition may include an award start date of the first day of any month, August through October 2018;

k) Application summary: please provide a brief, one-paragraph description of the application including an overview of the types of activities that are proposed for funding.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 14 of 38

2. Project Narrative. The project narrative comprises the majority of the application and must include a clear and thorough description of the proposed work, including key milestones.

The narrative must be composed of two sections: CRCP and MDP. The applicant may choose to distribute funding between CRCP and MDP at their discretion, however, these totals may need be negotiated based on available funding per respective program. Each task within these sections must be completely and accurately described.

Elements of a good project narrative include:

a) Identification of issue(s): Identify the problem/issue the project intends to address and describe its significance.

b) Project Objectives: Identify the specific objective, listed under Section I (B.) Program Priorities, to which the project's objective(s) corresponds. Objectives must be simple and understandable, as specific and quantitative as possible, and attainable within the proposed timeframe, the described budget, and the human resources available. Projects must be accomplishment-oriented and identify obtainable goals, outcomes, and products. Describe expected outcomes, results, or products resulting from the specific activities undertaken during the project period.

c) Project Narrative: The project narrative is the scientific or technical plan of activities that are to be accomplished. Project narratives must include detailed descriptions of each activity, including the rationale for the activity, how it will be accomplished, specific milestones, who will do the work, and expected products. The narrative must include information on dissemination of the findings/results to resource managers, local communities, and other stakeholders as appropriate. The project narrative also must include information on how the project will be evaluated for success.

Sufficient detail should be provided to enable reviewers to evaluate the relevance and applicability of proposed work to program priorities described in Section I.B of this announcement; to determine the technical/scientific merit of the proposed work; to adequately review the qualifications of the applicants; and to assess whether the proposed scope of work raises any concerns with regard to federal policy considerations, such as those related to the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Historic Preservation Act, and Marine Mammal Protection Act.

d) List the programs (federal, state, territorial or local governmental activities) this project may affect and describe how the project coordinates with relevant state, territorial, or local governmental and non-governmental agencies, and if applicable, NOAA activities.

e) Describe how the project will be organized and managed, and include the qualifications of the principal investigator(s) through a summary of professional backgrounds, curricula vitae, or resumes. The principal investigator may or may not be the applicant. However, if the applicant is not the principal investigator, there must be an explanation of the relationship between the applicant and principal investigator (e.g., the applicant may be

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 15 of 38 responsible for managing the grant funds and the principal investigator will be responsible for completing the work). Applicants must include information about the specific responsibilities of other personnel funded through the proposal, including the technical and administrative points of contact as appropriate.

f) Anticipated benefits. Identify the users of the information derived from the work, and the benefits that will be achieved for those users, as well as society as a whole. Document how beneficiary needs are guiding the proposed work. Describe how the information from the project will be delivered to beneficiaries, and any special considerations or requirements for ensuring or improving the delivery of information.

g) Milestone Schedule. Identify time for major tasks and target milestones for important intermediate and final products and key project outcomes.

3. Table of Products and Outcomes. Please provide a table to summarize the specific products/outputs and outcomes that will be produced under the award. All products resulting from the award must be provided to NOAA within 90 days of the end of the award period and must be of publishable quality. NOAA may make award products available to the public, so recipients are encouraged to omit sensitive information (i.e., budget or salary information) from products submitted to NOAA. All products must explicitly acknowledge the support of NOAA. For the Coral Reef Conservation Program elements, more specific acknowledgement guidance and logos are available at:

https://coralreef.noaa.gov/about/graphicid.html.

The information in the table must include all products and outputs that will be developed in conjunction with the award. For each entry, please provide a description of the product, a working title for the product, the type or format of the product (e.g., journal publication, public service announcement, watershed management plan, presentation, newsletter, metadata record, annual monitoring summary), and the expected date(s) when the product will be submitted to NOAA. NOAA will use this information to ensure that products are submitted to the agency in a timely manner and made available to the public whenever possible.

4. Budget Narrative and Justification. In order to allow reviewers to evaluate the appropriateness of all costs, applications should include a detailed budget narrative and a budget justification broken out by individual task. The budget narrative submitted with the final application should match the dollar amounts included on all required forms and clearly link to the project narrative. Please explain each calculation and provide a narrative justification to explain expenditures for each budget category. The budget narrative should describe, by category of expenditure, the total funding needed to accomplish the objectives described in the project narrative for the entire award period. Please explain how categorical costs are derived in sufficient detail to enable reviewers to determine if costs are 'allowable

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 16 of 38 and reasonable' according to the cost principles referenced in 2 CFR 200, Subpart E. Budget narrative categories should correspond to the standard object class categories listed in Section B of the SF-424A. For additional details, please review the budget guidance provided at: https://coast.noaa.gov/funding/_pdf/forms/budget-narrative-guidance-for- NOAA-grants.pdf

Applicants should include detailed budget information regarding all known contracts and subawards, and indicate the basis for the cost and price estimates in the narrative. Describe activities to occur or products or services to be obtained and indicate the applicability or necessity of each to the project. Each subaward known in advance should include form SF- 424A. Detailed budget information includes:

• Name of identified qualified subrecipient or contractor, affiliation, contact information, and method of selection. Information must include the name and location (city, state, and Congressional district) of the entity receiving the funds and the location of the primary place of performance under the contract or sub award. For “to be determined,” describe plans for selection.

• Period of Performance. Include the dates for the performance period. If it involves a number of tasks, include the performance period for each task.

• Scope of Work. List and describe the specific activities or tasks to be performed.

• Criteria for Measuring Accountability: Include an itemized line item breakdown as well as total contract/award amount. If applicable, include any indirect costs paid under the contract/award and the indirect cost rate used.

• Itemized Budget. Include categories used in program budget for subrecipients or cost-based contractors. If applicable, include any direct cost paid under the subaward or contract and the indirect cost rate used.

All subawards and contracts must be made consistent with the requirements of 2 CFR 200.330-200.332 for subawards, and 200.317-200.326 for procurements.

For any equipment, a description of the item and associated costs or price is required, including a description of how it will be used in the project. Note that equipment is defined as tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. See 2 CFR 200.33 Equipment, 2 CFR 200.313, and 2 CFR 200.317-326.

Non-federal applicants should identify, if this information is known when submitting the grant application, who they plan to request that NOAA transfer equipment or property ownership titles to after the project ends. The decision on grant ownership requests will be made by the Grants Officer during the grant closeout process.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 17 of 38

The cost or price, purpose, and method of selection for identified and planned acquisition contracts should be thoroughly justified in the Budget Narrative. Describe products or services to be obtained and indicate the applicability or necessity of each to the project.

Procurements are subject to policies described in 2 CFR 200.317 - .326. For “to be determined,” describe plans for selection.

The budget narrative should also provide, to the extent possible, detailed information on travel, including costs, a description of anticipated travel, destinations, the number of travelers, and a justification of how the requested travel is directly relevant to the successful completion of the project. If actual trip details are unknown, applicants should state the basis for the proposed travel charges. Applicants should allocate travel funds for any coordination meetings at regional or national levels.

If a foreign air carrier is anticipated to be used for any portion of travel, prior approval is required under the DOC Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, Section G.05.c., http://www.osec.doc.gov/oam/grants_management/policy/documents/Department%20of%20 Commerce%20Standard%20Terms%20&%20Conditions%2031%20March%202017.pdf, and therefore, such travel should be included in the proposal to avoid having to request prior approval after the project starts. Applicants may factor in travel costs for participation in an annual NOAA Grants Management Division (GMD) workshop for recipients.

Refer to item 12 below in this Section regarding treatment of Indirect Costs in the Budget Narrative. NOAA will not consider expenses associated with fees, fund-raising activities, or travel for activities not directly related to project implementation, travel or salaries for federal employees, or profit as allowable costs in the proposed budget. The total costs of a project consist of all allowable costs incurred in accomplishing project activities during the project period. Project costs can only include support for activities conducted between the effective start date and end date of the award, and cannot include activities undertaken either before or after the agreed upon dates. Applicants will not be reimbursed for time expended or costs incurred in developing a project or in preparing an application, or in any discussions or negotiations with the agency prior to the award. Such expenditures may not be considered as part of the applicant's cost share or matching funds.

5. Appendices. Only material submitted as a single appendix package will be reviewed.

Appendices must be paginated and limited to materials that directly support the main body of the proposal (e.g., detailed budget information, letters of collaboration, resumes, references, data sources, maps, NEPA information).

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 18 of 38

a) Mandatory Detailed Budget Information, including budgets and separate SF424As of subawards. Information should include the name of the entity receiving funds, the location of the entity receiving the funds (e.g., city, state, and Congressional district), the location of the entity receiving funds (city, state, and Congressional district), and the location of the primary place of performance under the award.

b) Resumes. Provide curriculum vitae (CV) for the Principal Investigator, and abbreviated CVs for other key personnel critical to the success of the project. Ensure that CVs address qualifications relevant to conducting the proposed work. For other than the Principal Investigator, publication, presentation, and fieldwork listings should be limited to those in the last five years with up to five other relevant publications.

c) Letters of Collaboration. All supporting letters from partner organizations that are instrumental to the project shall be included in the application package. Letters must clearly indicate the level of commitment and/or collaboration. Letters of collaboration do not need original signatures.

d) Data Management Plan:

1. Environmental data and information collected or created under NOAA grants or cooperative agreements must be made discoverable by and accessible to the general public, in a timely fashion (typically within two years), free of charge or at no more than the cost of reproduction, unless an exemption is granted by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation or Marine Debris Programs. Data should be available in at least one machine-readable format, preferably a widely-used or open-standard format, and should also be accompanied by machine-readable documentation (metadata), preferably based on widely used or international standards.

2. Proposals submitted in response to this Announcement must include a Data Management Plan of up to three pages describing how these requirements will be satisfied.

The Data Management Plan should be aligned with the Data Management Guidance provided by both NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program and Marine Debris Program in the Announcement (see Section IV.B.5-6 below). The contents of the Data Management Plan (or absence thereof), and past performance regarding such plans, will be considered as part of proposal review. 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 unless

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 19 of 38 otherwise stated in the Guidance. 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.

3. NOAA may, at its own discretion, make publicly visible the Data Management Plan from funded proposals, or use information from the Data Management Plan to produce a formal metadata record and include that metadata in a Catalog to indicate the pending availability of new data.

4. Proposal submitters are hereby advised that the final pre-publication manuscripts of scholarly articles produced entirely or primarily with NOAA funding will be required to be submitted to NOAA Institutional Repository after acceptance, and no later than upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made publicly available by NOAA one year after publication by the journal.

NOAA's Administrative Order on the Management of Environmental Data Management and Information is available under:

http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/ames/administrative_orders/chapter_212/212- 15.html. Principal Investigators should indicate how and when they have made their data accessible and usable by the community in the past.

More information about the NOAA Data Sharing Policy is available on NOAA's Environmental Data Management Committee website at:

www.nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/PD.DSP.php. Refer also to Section VIB. of this announcement.

5. Coral Reef Conservation Program Data Management Guidance to Proposal Writers:

Responsible NOAA Official for questions regarding this guidance and for verifying accessibility of data produced by funding recipients: Craig Reid, Federal Program Officer, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, craig.a.reid@noaa.gov, 240-533-0783.

Data Accessibility: The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program requires that public access to grant/contract-produced data be enabled. Funding recipients are expected to submit data to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), which will provide public access and permanent archiving. The NOAA Program has held preliminary consultation with NCEI regarding these pending data.

Technical Recommendations: The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program is not offering specific technical guidance. Proposals are to describe their proposed approach. Use of open-standard formats and methods is encouraged.

Resources: NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program resources for data sharing or archiving have already been identified; proposals should not include such costs (unless data volume is expected to exceed 20GB). NOAA may, at its own discretion, make publicly visible the Data Management Plan from funded proposals, or use information from the Data Management Plan to produce a formal metadata record and include that metadata in a Catalog to indicate the pending availability of new data.

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 20 of 38

6. Marine Debris Program Data Management Guidance to Proposal Writers:

Responsible NOAA Official for questions regarding this guidance and for verifying accessibility of data produced by funding recipients: Tom Barry, Federal Program Officer, Marine Debris Program, tom.barry@noaa.gov, 240-533-0425.

Data Accessibility: Funding recipients are responsible for establishing their own procedures and hosting…