PKG00250259-instructions.pdf

Competitive State Wildlife Grant Program Fiscal Year 2019 Notice of Funding Opportunity

Notice Overview Federal Agency Name Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR)

Funding Opportunity Title Competitive State Wildlife Grant (C-SWG) Program

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number 15.634

Authorizing Legislation Consolidated Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law No. 116-6)

Announcement Type Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2019

Funding Opportunity Number

F19AS00191

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement We are collecting this information in accordance with the authorizing legislation identified above. Your response is required to obtain or retain a benefit. We will use the information you provide to evaluate your application for potential award of Federal funding through the C-SWG Program and, if awarded, to evaluate performance. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. We estimate that it will take you about 40 hours to complete an initial application, three hours to revise the terms of an award, and eight hours to prepare and submit performance reports, including time to maintain records, and gather information. You may send comments on the burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

OMB Control Number 1018-0100 (Expires: 7/31/2021)

Submission Deadline and Other Information You must ensure that we receive your application through Grants.gov no later than July 12, 2019 at 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). We recommend that you submit your application early enough to address any unforeseen technical complications and verify that all documents have been received by your WSFR Regional Office before the deadline. We recommend you also submit via email a single document in PDF format containing the entire proposal to your

WSFR Regional Office (see Section VIII, Agency Contacts) prior to the deadline in case you experience difficulties in submitting your application through Grants.gov. We will not consider applications received after the deadline.

You are encouraged to submit a draft of your application to your WSFR Regional Office at least four weeks prior to the due date. Although there is no guarantee that our staff will be able to provide comments, feedback may include recommendations to improve the application.

Contents Notice Overview

Federal Agency Name

Funding Opportunity Title

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number

Authorizing Legislation

Announcement Type

Funding Opportunity Number

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

OMB Control Number

Submission Deadline and Other Information

I. Description of Funding Opportunity

Adaptive Management

II. Award Information

Competitive Grants

Maximum Awards and Partnership Requirements

Funding Restrictions

III. Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants

DUNS and SAM Registration

Excluded Entities

Prohibition Regarding Internal Confidentiality Agreements

Cost Sharing or Matching

Letters Authorizing Associations to Apply

IV. Application Requirements

Standard Form (SF)-424

Project Summary

Project Statement (15 page limit)

Need

Objectives

Approach

Expected results

Project location

Budget Form

Budget Narrative

Letters of Commitment

Required Indirect Cost Statement

Single Audit Reporting Statement

Assurances

Certification and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Required Overlap/Duplication Statement

Checklist of Items to Include in Your Grant Application

V. Submission Instructions

Submission Deadline

Intergovernmental Review

Electronic Submission Instructions

VI. Application Review

Scoring Criteria

Need (Criteria 1-2)

Objectives (Criterion 3)

Approach (Criteria 4-6)

Anticipated Outcomes and Benefits (Criteria 7-8)

Budget (Criterion 9)

Review and Selection Process

VII. Award Administration Information

Award Notices

Administrative and National Policy Requirements

Transmittal of Sensitive Data

Award Terms and Conditions

Recipient Reporting Requirements

Final Reports

Interim Reports

Real Property Reports

Other Mandatory Disclosures

VIII. Agency Contacts

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

Region 5

Region 6

Region 7

Region 8

Attachment A: Department of the Interior Award Provisions

Attachment B: Fiscal Year 2018 Competitive State Wildlife Grant (SWG) Program Questions and Answers

Will grant applications from a single State be considered for funding?

What are the minimum and maximum Federal awards through the C-SWG Program?

What are the Federal cost-sharing requirements for this competitive program?

Will the C-SWG Grant Program continue in future years?

How long are funds available for obligation?

How must a Project Statement document an emerging issue?

For projects involving multiple States, should one State be the project lead?

For projects involving multiple States, does each State need to contribute the minimum required match?

What activities are eligible for funding under this program?

What are the compliance requirements for activities funded under this program?

Are there additional formatting criteria?

Where should an applicant submit C-SWG Program applications?

Who announces the awards, and what additional documentation is required of selected applicants?

What must be done during the grant period if a change in objectives or approach is needed?

Who has the authority to terminate a grant?

What is included within the 15 page limit for the Project Statement, and what is not?

What resources are available to help with project design and proposal development?

Are land values eligible as match?

Ranking criteria provide extra points for certain classes such as amphibians. Are projects targeting birds, mammals, and fish projects still eligible?

Is student tuition an eligible cost under the C-SWG Program?

Are pre-award costs eligible under the C-SWG Program?

I. Description of Funding Opportunity

References to “you” in this NOFO refer to the State, Commonwealth, or Territory agency or the regional association of fish and wildlife agencies completing the application and any sub-recipient, if applicable. References to “we,” “our,” or “us” in this NOFO refer to the Service.

The State Wildlife Grant (SWG) Program provides Federal grant funds to help you and your partners implement programs for the benefit of wildlife and their habitats, including species that are not hunted or fished. Eligible activities include planning and conservation implementation. Planning activities must contribute directly to the development or modification of your Wildlife Action Plan (Plan) approved by the Director of the Service.

Implementation activities are those that you carry out to execute your Plan. Priority for use of these funds must be placed on identified species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) and should take into consideration the relative level of funding available for the conservation of these species. Ineligible activities include wildlife education and law enforcement activities, unless they are a minor or incidental component considered critical to the success of your project. Additional information about the SWG Program is available here.

WSFR’s mission is to work through partnerships to conserve and manage fish and wildlife and their habitats for the use and enjoyment of current and future generations. WSFR’s vision is of healthy, diverse, and accessible fish and wildlife populations that offer recreation, economic activity, and other societal benefits, in addition to sustainable ecological functions. WSFR’s guiding principle is that society benefits from conservation-based management of fish and wildlife and their habitats and opportunities to use and enjoy them. The SWG Program and subprograms including the C-SWG Program align with WSFR’s mission, vision, and guiding principle, and support three of the Department of the Interior’s priorities including:

1) Creating a conservation stewardship legacy second only to Teddy Roosevelt;

2) Utilizing our natural resources; and

3) Restoring trust with our local communities.

http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/GrantPrograms/SWG/SWG.htm https://www.doi.gov/ourpriorities

The C-SWG Program is successful when it leverages Program funding through cost-sharing provisions with you and your partners to design and implement proactive conservation actions in a strategic fashion, as articulated in your Plan. In doing so, it helps protect your authority to identify, study, and conserve those species you deem most in need of conservation while helping reduce the need for more prescriptive Federal regulatory requirements associated with listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A core principle of the C-SWG Program is the utilization of effective partnerships that demonstrate the spirit of cooperation and sharing of resources to achieve our common conservation goals.

Adaptive Management You are encouraged to design and manage your project within an adaptive management framework. Adaptive management in the context of natural resources conservation involves the integration of design, management, and monitoring to systematically test your assumptions in order to adapt and learn. Adaptive management is a form of structured decision-making that requires careful goal setting, identifying management objectives and causal hypotheses, taking action, measuring results, and evaluating, documenting, interpreting, and sharing outcomes of management actions. We utilize the Strategic Habitat Conservation framework to improve our ability to define desired biological outcomes and articulate the consequences of site-scale actions on landscape-scale functions. Other, similar adaptive management frameworks may be used. For more information, see:

• Strategic Habitat Conservation: Final Report of the National Ecological Assessment Team (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey, 2006)

• Adaptive Management: The U.S. Department of the Interior Applications Guide (Williams and Brown, 2012)

• The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (The Conservation Measures Partnership, 2013)

• Measuring the Effectiveness of State Wildlife Grants (Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 2011)

II. Award Information Competitive Grants The C-SWG Program is funded through annual appropriations of Congress and total available funds may vary from year to year. There is no assurance it will be funded in future years.

Congress has appropriated $6.362 million for the FY 2019 C-SWG Program. We annually award approximately 12 to 18 grants, and the amount of each individual grant award varies. The maximum award is based on the number of your active participant partners as defined below.

Maximum Awards and Partnership Requirements You are encouraged to engage with partners as appropriate in planning, executing, and evaluating your conservation project(s). Partnership requirements differ between contiguous States (including the District of Columbia) and the island jurisdictions (Hawai’i, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and Alaska. These differing requirements address resource limitations and geographic https://www.fws.gov/landscape-conservation/pdf/SHC-slide.pdf http://www.fws.gov/landscape-conservation/pdf/SHCReport.pdf http://www.fws.gov/landscape-conservation/pdf/SHCReport.pdf http://www.usgs.gov/sdc/doc/DOI-Adaptive-Management-Applications-Guide-27.pdf http://cmp-openstandards.org/download-os/ http://www.fosonline.org/resource/effectiveness-state-wildlife-grants isolation of the latter States. Partnership requirements may only be met with documentation that a partner is an “active participant.” An active participant partner is defined as a partner that is requesting and/or matching at least ten percent of total project costs as described in your project statement and budget. Note that matching resources provided by a partner must be described in detail, appropriately valued (in the case of in-kind match), and documented in a letter signed by an individual with budgetary authority to commit the identified resources.

Partners may include but are not limited to: other State agencies (in or out of State), tribes, local governments or other jurisdictions, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, private landowners, industry groups, and international partners. A State partner must be a State fish and wildlife agency normally eligible to apply for and receive C-SWG Program funds.

Tier 1 – Maximum award up to $250,000 – Contiguous States must apply with at least one active participant partner, which can be any State or non-State entity. Alaska and the island jurisdictions do not need a partner to apply at this tier.

Tier 2 – Maximum award up to $500,000 – Contiguous States must apply with at least one State fish and wildlife agency active participant partner. Alaska and the island jurisdictions may apply with any active participant partner, including non-State partners.

Tier 3 – Maximum award up to $750,000 – All States must apply with at least two State fish and wildlife agency active participant partners.

Tier 4 – Maximum award up to $1,000,000 – All States must apply with at least three State fish and wildlife agency active participant partners.

If you have questions about these award caps or partnership requirements, contact your WSFR Regional Office (see Section VIII, Agency Contacts).

Funding Restrictions We will only award funds under the C-SWG Program for projects proposing to implement eligible actions or strategies identified in Service-approved Plans or to address eligible emerging issues. See Section 10.15 of our SWG Program policy chapter for more information on requirements for documenting emerging issues. In administration of the C-SWG Program, we adopt policies described in this chapter which are applicable to the non-competitive (Formula) SWG Program, except where such policies may conflict with information contained in this announcement.

III. Eligibility Information Eligible Applicants Participation is limited to State, Commonwealth, or Territorial agencies with lead management responsibility for fish and wildlife resources in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and to the four regional associations of fish and wildlife agencies applying on behalf of eligible State agencies. You must also have a Plan http://www.fws.gov/policy/517fw10.pdf that has been approved by the Director of the Service, or a revised Plan that has been submitted to a Regional Review Team.

DUNS and SAM Registration Federal law mandates that all entities applying for Federal financial assistance must have a valid Dun & Bradstreet Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number and have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). See Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 25 for more information.

Request a DUNS number at Dun & Bradstreet Registration. For technical difficulties, contact Dun & Bradstreet by email at: govt@dnb.com, or by calling the Government Customer Resource Center at voice phone: 866-705-5711 or TTY line: 877-807-1679 (hearing impaired customers only). Obtaining a DUNS number is free for all entities doing business with the Federal government. Once assigned a DUNS number, you are responsible for maintaining up-to-date information with Dun & Bradstreet.

Register in SAM online at the SAM website. Effective June 2017, you can no longer access SAM using Internet Explorer Versions older than IE11. You either need to upgrade to an Internet Explorer version of IE11 or higher, or access SAM with another supported browser type (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.). Once registered in SAM, you must renew and revalidate your SAM registration at least every 12 months, and you must continue to maintain an active registration through the life of your award(s). We urge you to revalidate your registration as often as needed to ensure that your information is up-to-date and consistent with changes that may have been made to DUNS and Internal Revenue Service information. We cannot award C- SWG Program funds to you if you have not completed your SAM registration. If you are selected for funding but have not completed your SAM registration by the time we are ready to make an award, we may determine that you are not qualified to receive an award. Note that the official U.S. Government website address for SAM is https://sam.gov/SAM/. There is no cost to register in or access SAM. Some third-party vendors charge a fee in exchange for registering entities in SAM; please be aware that you can register to do business with the U.S. Government for free directly at https://sam.gov/SAM/.

Excluded Entities We conduct a review of the SAM Exclusions database for you and your key project personnel prior to award. If you or your key project personnel are identified in the database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, or certain Federal assistance and benefits, you will not be considered for Federal funding through the C-SWG Program.

Prohibition Regarding Internal Confidentiality Agreements If you require your employees or your contractors to sign an internal confidentiality agreement or statement that prohibits or otherwise restricts your employees or contractors from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement official of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information, you are not eligible to https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr25_main_02.tpl https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr25_main_02.tpl http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform mailto:govt@dnb.com https://sam.gov/SAM/ https://sam.gov/SAM/ https://sam.gov/SAM/ compete for or receive a C-SWG Program award. See Pub. L. 113- 235, Title VII, Division E, Section 743 for more information.

Cost Sharing or Matching For the continental States, Hawai’i, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, the Federal share of C-SWG Program grants may not exceed 75 percent of the total cost (i.e., total requested C- SWG Program funds plus non-Federal matching funds, excluding other Federal funds). In accordance with 48 U.S.C. 1469(a), the Regional Director will waive up to $200,000 of the required match for each grant awarded to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Matching and cost-sharing requirements are discussed in 2 CFR 200.29 and 2 CFR 200.306.

If you are identified in your application as the designated lead for a multi-State project, you are accountable for the full amount of non-Federal cost share to be provided by all States and other partners involved in the proposed project, as detailed in your SF-424.

Letters Authorizing Associations to Apply If you are an association of fish and wildlife agencies applying on behalf of one or more State agencies with lead management responsibility for fish and wildlife resources, you must provide a signed statement from an authorized representative of each agency authorizing you to apply on its behalf. This statement may be provided in a letter signed by the director of the eligible agency or included within a letter of commitment as described in Section IV, Application Requirements. An agency may authorize you to apply on its behalf in the current fiscal year, in all future fiscal years, or both. If an eligible State agency authorizes you to apply on its behalf in all future fiscal years, a copy of the signed statement must be attached to future applications affecting the State agency on behalf of which you will apply.

IV. Application Requirements You can download the application package for the C-SWG Program here by entering Funding Opportunity Number F19AS00191. You can also download application forms through the WSFR toolkit. If you have trouble accessing the online forms, contact your WSFR Regional Office (see Section VIII, Agency Contacts). The page limit for the entire application package is 100 pages. If you do not limit the application to 100 pages, your application may be delayed, postponed, or rejected.

To be considered for funding under this opportunity, your application must contain the following items as applicable:

Standard Form (SF)-424 Submit a complete, signed, and dated SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Do not include other Federal sources of funding, requested or approved, in the total entered in the “Federal” funding box on the SF-424. Enter only the amount being requested under this Program in the “Federal” funding box. Include any other Federal sources of funding in the total funding entered https://www.congress.gov/113/plaws/publ235/PLAW-113publ235.pdf https://www.congress.gov/113/plaws/publ235/PLAW-113publ235.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=cd9fd2cc3cd740ba5b19c97d194473b6&mc=true&node=se2.1.200_129&rgn=div8 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=c16296aecfef71d582e0634cf6658cf1&node=2:1.1.2.2.1.4.29.7&rgn=div8 https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms_apps_idx.html http://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Forms http://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Forms in the “Other” box, and provide details on those Federal source(s) and funding amount(s) in your Budget Narrative (see “Budget Narrative” below).

Project Summary Briefly summarize the project in one page or less. Include the title of the project, geographic location, and a brief overview of the need for the project. Goals, objectives, specific project activities, anticipated outputs and outcomes can also be included in this section.

Project Statement (15 page limit) Submit a Project Statement of no more than 15 pages. Within your Project Statement, identify the locations of responses to criteria given in Section VI of this NOFO. For example, if you are responding to Criterion 3 within the narrative, identify the response by inserting “(Criterion 3)” at the end of the paragraph containing the response. Be as specific as possible when identifying responses to criteria so reviewers can easily identify them in the Project Statement.

Your Project Statement must be formatted to fit on 8.5” x 11” paper, with 1” margins at the top, bottom, and sides and page numbers at the bottom of the page (starting with the Project Statement). Font size should be no less than 12 point.

Your Project Statement must include all of the following elements:

Need Identify the need for the proposed project within the purpose of the Program. Your statement of need should address the following sub-elements:

1) Identify at least one targeted SGCN that is the subject of your proposed conservation actions, and describe the need for conservation action(s) to address it/them. Although it is not a requirement, we request that you identify any species named in the National Listing Workplan that you expect to benefit from proposed conservation actions;

2) Provide baseline data and information, if available, on the current status of targeted SGCN; and

3) Include specific references to your (and each of your State partner’s) Plan identifying priority conservation actions for targeted SGCN.

Objectives Objectives reference specific outcomes to be accomplished in order to reach the project goal(s).

The project objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound within the period of performance. If your project does not involve direct management of habitats or species, demonstrate how completion of your objectives will directly lead to or enable future actions that will benefit populations of targeted SGCN. If you expect your project performance period to be greater than one year, please use WSFR’s Standard Objectives when designing your project. We encourage you to work with your WSFR Regional Office if you have questions about formatting your objectives for entry in TRACS Enhancement.

https://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/listing-workplan.html https://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/listing-workplan.html https://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WSFR/Standard+Project+Statements?preview=%2F44957986%2F101187602%2FTRACS+Strategy+Fact+Sheets_All-Strategy-Sheets-Bundle.pdf

Approach The approach identifies activities to be used in meeting the objectives, including specific procedures, methods, schedules or timelines, key personnel, and cooperators. For projects conducted in the United States, provide a description of the proposed actions in sufficient detail so we are able to evaluate compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Section 7 of the ESA, and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

Your approach should address the following sub-elements:

1) Record name, work address, and work telephone number of the principal investigator(s). Please do not attach résumés or curriculum vitae. To prevent unnecessary transmission of Personally Identifiable Information, do not include Social Security numbers, the names of family members, or any other personal or sensitive information including marital status, religion or physical characteristics in the description of key personnel qualifications;

2) Include a description of conservation protocols and procedures with reference to applicable peer-reviewed literature, as available;

3) Provide a brief description of your agency and all participating agencies or other partners, and identify which of the proposed activities each agency or other partner is responsible for conducting or managing. For multi-State projects, identify whether you will be responsible for administering sub-awards to partnering States or if each partnering State will submit a separate SF-424 and manage its own award;

4) If your project involves direct species or habitat management, describe how you will use a standard, replicable monitoring regime across the targeted landscape to evaluate project results. If your project does not involve direct management, identify and describe key indicators you will use to measure and report your accomplishments;

5) Describe your data management plan including how and when you will manage, analyze and share results, especially with other conservation decision-makers;

6) Describe significant milestones in completing your project and any accomplishments to date; and

7) Describe any relationship between this project and other work funded by Federal grants that is planned, anticipated, or underway.

Expected results Expected results are the anticipated benefits from accomplishing your objectives. Your narrative must include the following sub-elements:

1) Describe the assumptions or hypotheses linking proposed conservation actions to expected results, and support the hypotheses with reference to available peer-reviewed scientific literature; and

2) Describe any tools such as habitat-population models or other science-based methods you plan to use to estimate the response(s) to proposed conservation actions.

Project location Describe the location(s) of project activities and the expected area(s) of impact resulting from these activities. Identify local, State, and Federal public lands, and any private or tribal lands where applicable. Provide maps or other geographic aids. Please include GPS Coordinates in degrees, minutes, and seconds, if available. If specific locations of project activities are unknown at time of application, please provide the county or counties where conservation actions are expected to take place.

Budget Form Complete the Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A) form, Budget Information for Construction Programs (SF-424C) form, or submit the equivalent or greater level of information in another budget format. You may use the SF-424A if your project does not include construction or land acquisition and the SF-424C if the project includes construction or land acquisition. When developing your budget, note that financial assistance awards and sub-awards are subject to the Federal cost principles in 2 CFR 200, Subpart E, as applicable to your organization type.

If your project budget includes multiple Federal funding sources, you must show the funds being requested from the C-SWG Program separately from any other requested or secured Federal sources of funding on the budget form. For example, enter the funds being requested from the C-SWG Program in the first row of the Budget Summary section of the form and then enter funding related to other Federal programs in the subsequent row(s). Be sure to enter each Federal program’s CFDA number in the corresponding fields on the form. The CFDA number for the C-SWG Program is 15.634.

Budget Narrative In a separate section titled “Budget Narrative,” explain and justify all requested budget items.

Detail how the SF-424 Budget Object Class Category totals were determined and demonstrate a clear connection between costs and the proposed project activities. The justification for each budget category should be a brief general description of the costs that make up that category, but should provide enough detail to demonstrate that you have a financial plan for implementation of the proposed objectives, including completion of any required compliance activities. For example, under personnel costs include the total number of staff and the various job titles anticipated to be charged to the project. Describe any item that under the applicable Federal cost principles in 2 CFR 200.407 requires our approval and estimate its cost (e.g., equipment and other capital expenditures, pre-award costs, etc.). Also include:

1) In-Kind Match – Include the source, the amount, and the valuation methodology used to arrive at the total;

2) Program Income, if applicable – Estimate the amount of program income that the project is likely to generate and indicate the method of applying and disposing of it;

3) If a copy of your current Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) is not on file in your WSFR Regional Office, you may attach a copy to your application;

4) Describe the method for allocating costs in multi-purpose projects and facilities; and, https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=2:1.1.2.2.1.5&rgn=div6 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=9557df1830f0558e853e91c94dd8a3ff&mc=true&node=se2.1.200_1407&rgn=div8

5) Propose a useful life and reference the method used to determine the useful life of any capital improvement with a value greater than $100,000 (see 2 CFR 200.436(d)(1) or contact your WSFR Regional office for assistance).

Letters of Commitment If you are providing State matching funds or other resources as the applicant, you are not required to submit a letter of commitment. However, any matching resources (cash and or in-kind) being provided by one or more partners must be documented in a letter of commitment that is signed by the director of the eligible State agency or an authorized designee. Letters must detail the amount of cost sharing funds and if applicable the value of staff time, donated services, equipment, or materials, and the valuation method used to arrive at the total. Letters of commitment from a non-State partner (for example, a non-governmental organization or university) must be signed by an individual with authority to commit funds on behalf of the entity. Matching funds identified in letters of commitment should align with figures given in the SF-424, budget, and budget narrative. Letters that do not explicitly value match contributions may impact proposal scoring. If you are unsure whether you are required to submit a letter of commitment, or need more information on documenting matching resources, contact your WSFR Regional Office (see Section VIII, Agency Contacts).

Required Indirect Cost Statement If you do not have an approved indirect cost rate you cannot charge indirect costs to your Federal award. You must include in your budget narrative one of the following statements and attach to your application any required documentation identified in the applicable statement:

“We are:

1) A State fish and wildlife agency or association of State fish and wildlife agencies receiving more than $35 million in direct Federal funding each year with an indirect cost rate of [insert rate]. We submit our indirect cost rate proposals to our cognizant agency.

A copy of our most recently approved rate agreement/ certification is on file with the WSFR Regional Office (or is attached if it is not on file);

2) A State fish and wildlife agency or association of State fish and wildlife agencies receiving less than $35 million in direct Federal funding with an indirect cost rate of [insert rate]. We are required to prepare and retain for audit an indirect cost rate proposal and related documentation to support those costs;

3) A State fish and wildlife agency or association of State fish and wildlife agencies that has never submitted an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency. Our indirect cost rate is [insert rate]. In the event an award is made, we will submit an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency within 90 calendar days after the award is made;

4) A State fish and wildlife agency or association of State fish and wildlife agencies that has never submitted an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency and has an indirect cost rate that is lower than 10 percent. Our indirect cost rate is [insert rate;

must be lower than 10 percent]. However, in the event an award is made, we will not be able to meet the requirement to submit an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency within 90 calendar days after award. We request as a condition of award to https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl charge a flat indirect cost rate of [insert rate; must be lower than 10 percent] of [insert a clear description of the direct cost base against which your rate is charged (e.g., salaries;

salaries and fringe benefits; or modified total direct costs). However, please note that your organization cannot charge indirect costs in excess of the indirect costs that would be recovered if applied against modified total direct costs as defined in 2 CFR 220.68].

We understand that we must notify the Service in writing immediately if we establish an approved rate with our cognizant agency at any point during the award period;

5) A State fish and wildlife agency or association of State fish and wildlife agencies that has never submitted an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency and has an indirect cost rate that is 10 percent or higher. Our indirect cost rate is [insert your organization’s indirect rate; must be 10 percent or higher]. However, in the event an award is made, we will not be able to meet the requirement to submit an indirect cost rate proposal to our cognizant agency within 90 calendar days after award. We request as a condition of award to charge a flat de minimis indirect cost rate of 10 percent of modified total direct costs as defined in 2 CFR 200.68. We understand that we must notify the Service in writing immediately if we do establish an approved rate with our cognizant agency at any point during the award period. We understand that additional Federal funds may not be available to support an unexpected increase in indirect costs during the project period and such changes are subject to review, negotiation, and prior approval by the Service; or,

6) A State fish and wildlife agency or association of State fish and wildlife agencies that will charge all costs directly.”

Please note the following:

● If you do not have an approved indirect cost rate you are prohibited from charging indirect costs to your Federal award. Accepting a flat de minimis rate as a condition of the award is an approved rate.

● Failure to establish an approved rate during the award period renders all costs otherwise allowable as indirect costs unallowable under the award.

● You may not charge to your Service award any indirect costs calculated against the portion of total direct costs paid by any other Federal funding source or partner.

● You must have prior written approval from us to transfer unallowable indirect costs to amounts budgeted for direct costs or to satisfy cost-sharing or matching requirements under your award.

● You are prohibited from shifting unallowable indirect costs to another Federal award unless specifically authorized to do so by legislation.

For more information on indirect cost rates, see our Indirect Costs and Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements guidance document.

Negotiating an Indirect Cost Rate with the Department of the Interior If you do not have a NICRA you must first have an open, active Federal award before you can submit an indirect cost rate proposal to your cognizant agency. The Federal awarding agency https://ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=1509909fef9ee9d91e6f44aa2f8f9d76&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=1509909fef9ee9d91e6f44aa2f8f9d76&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.fws.gov/grants/pdfs/USFWSIndirectCostsGuidance01-06-17.pdf https://www.fws.gov/grants/pdfs/USFWSIndirectCostsGuidance01-06-17.pdf providing you the largest amount of direct funding is your cognizant agency, unless otherwise assigned by OMB. If the Department of the Interior is your cognizant agency, your indirect cost rate is negotiated by the Interior Business Center. For more information:

Indirect Cost Services Acquisition Services Directorate, Interior Business Center U.S. Department of the Interior 650 Capitol Mall, Suite 7-400 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-930-3803 Email: Through Interior Business Center’s web form Website: Interior Business Center - Indirect Cost Negotiation Services

Single Audit Reporting Statement As required in 2 CFR 200, Subpart F, if you expend $750,000 or more in Federal award funds in a fiscal year, you must submit a Single Audit Report for that year through the Federal Audit Clearinghouse’s Data Entry System. You must provide in your application a statement regarding whether your organization was or was not required to submit a Single Audit Report for your most recently closed fiscal year and, if so, state if that report is available on the Federal Audit Clearinghouse Single Audit Database website and provide the EIN under which it was submitted. Include these statements in a paragraph titled “Single Audit Reporting Statements.”

Assurances If necessary, include the appropriate signed and dated Assurances form, which is available here.

Use the Assurances for Construction Programs form (SF-424D) for construction and land acquisition projects and the Assurances for Non-Construction Programs form (SF-424B) for all other projects. The form includes a statement that some of the assurances may not be applicable to you and/or your project or program. Signing this form does not make you subject to laws that are otherwise not applicable to you. Changing, crossing out, or making notations on the form before signing has no impact on the applicability of law. You are encouraged to submit a copy of the Assurances forms annually to your WSFR Regional Office. If you submit the form annually, please do not include an additional copy in your application.

Effective February 2, 2019, you may now submit and certify your SF-424B Assurances for Non- Construction Programs form when creating, updating, or renewing your SAM registration. If you have submitted the SF-424B as part of your SAM registration or renewal, or it is already on file with your WSFR Regional Office, please do not include an additional copy in this application.

The SF-424D cannot be updated via SAM; therefore, you may include a copy in your application, but should omit it if it is already on file with your WSFR Regional Office.

Certification and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities You must not use any federally appropriated funds (either annually appropriated or continuing appropriations) or matching funds identified in your application to pay any person for lobbying in connection with your award (Title 31 U.S.C., Section 1352). Lobbying is defined as influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an https://www.doi.gov/ibc/contactus/ibcfeedback https://www.doi.gov/ibc/services/finance/indirect-cost-services http://updates/As https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=6719d085f9fa95f3f83c12c8a9804d7e&mc=true&node=sp2.1.200.f&rgn=div6 https://harvester.census.gov/facweb/ https://harvester.census.gov/facweb/ https://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Forms https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title31/pdf/USCODE-2011-title31-subtitleII-chap13-subchapIII-sec1352.pdf officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with the award. Submission of an application also represents your certification of the statements in 43 CFR 18, Appendix A- Certification Regarding Lobbying. If you have made or agree to make any payment using non-appropriated funds for lobbying in connection with this proposal and the Federal share of the award exceeds $100,000, complete and submit the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form available at Grants.gov or WSFR’s Financial Assistance Wiki Forms Page. See 43 CFR 18.100 for more information on when additional submission of this form may be required.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure You must notify us in writing of any conflicts of interest that arise during the life of your award, including those reported to you by any sub-recipient under the award. You must notify us in writing if any employees, including sub-recipient and contractor personnel, are related to, married to, or have a close personal relationship with any WSFR or Service employee or anyone who otherwise may have been involved in the review and selection of the award. The term employee means any individual engaged in the performance of work pursuant to the Federal award. You may not have a former Federal employee as a key project official or in any other substantial role in the proposed project if his or her participation is not in compliance with the legal authorities addressing post-Government employment restrictions. See the U.S. Office of Government Ethics website for more information on these restrictions. We will examine each conflict of interest disclosure based on the particular facts and the nature of the proposed project and will determine whether a significant potential conflict exists and, if so, if there are any possible actions you may take to reduce or resolve the conflict. Failure to disclose and resolve conflicts of interest in a manner satisfactory to us may result in any of the remedies described in 2 CFR 200.338 Remedies for Noncompliance, including termination of the award.

Required Overlap/Duplication Statement You must provide a statement indicating if there is any overlap between your C-SWG Program application and any other Federal application, or funded project, in regard to activities, costs, or time commitment of key personnel. If no such overlap or duplication exists, please provide the following statement: “There is no overlap or duplication between this application and any of our other Federal applications or funded projects, including in regard to activities, costs, or time commitment of key personnel.” If any such overlap exists, provide a complete description of overlap or duplication between this proposal and any other federally funded project or application in regard to activities, costs, and time commitment of key personnel, as applicable.

Provide a copy of any overlapping or duplicative proposal submitted to any other potential funding entity and identify when that proposal was submitted, to whom (entity name and program), and when you anticipate being notified of their funding decision. When overlap exists, your statement must include: “We understand that if at any time we receive funding from another source that overlaps with or is duplicative of the funding we are requesting from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in this application, we will immediately notify the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service point of contact identified in this Funding Opportunity in writing.”

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=683823273fc0da6a1060883eda593fb8&mc=true&node=pt43.1.18&rgn=div5 http://www.grants.gov/ https://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Forms https://fawiki.fws.gov/display/WTK/Forms http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title43/43cfr18_main_02.tpl https://oge.gov/ https://oge.gov/ https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=4c57b6ab635c4b861f153e3cd79cf1c6&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5

Checklist of Items to Include in Your Grant Application

• SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance

• Project Summary

• Project Statement (15 page limit)

• A complete SF-424A, SF-424C, or equivalent budget information in another format

• Budget Narrative

• Any required letters of commitment identifying specific financial or other commitments that are signed by an authorized entity with budgetary authority

• Indirect Cost Statement and if applicable, a copy of your current NICRA (only if a current copy is not on file in your WSFR Regional Office)

• Statements on applicability of and compliance with Single Audit Report requirements

• SF-424B or SF-424D Assurances form (only if a current copy is not on file in your WSFR

Regional Office and you do not submit the SF-424B during SAM registration)

• If applicable, a completed SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form

• If applicable, a Conflict of Interest Disclosure

• Statement regarding Overlap/Duplication

• If you are an association of state fish and wildlife agencies, submit:

o A Section 501(c)(3) or (4) non-profit status determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service; and o A signed approval statement from all States on behalf of which you will apply (this statement may be included within a Letter of Commitment)

Failure to provide complete information may cause delay, postponement, or rejection of the application.

V. Submission Instructions Submission Deadline Grant application packages must be submitted via Grants.gov no later than July 12, 2019, at 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).

Intergovernmental Review Before submitting an application, you should visit the White House State Point of Contact List to determine whether your application is subject to the intergovernmental review process under Executive Order (E.O.) 12372 “Intergovernmental review of Federal Programs.” Note that this was the most recent point of contacts list as of the publication date of this NOFO and that updates may have occurred since then. E.O. 12372 was issued to foster intergovernmental partnership and strengthen federalism by relying on State and local processes for the coordination and review of proposed Federal financial assistance and direct Federal development. The E.O. allows States to designate an entity to perform this function. Contact your designated entity for more information on the required process when applying for assistance. States that do not have a designated entity listed on the website have chosen not to participate in the review process.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/home.html https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SPOC-February-2019.pdf

Electronic Submission Instructions

1) Go to www.grants.gov.

2) Click the “Apply for a grant” tab and read the instructions.

3) Before you submit your application:

• You must register as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) and have a user ID and password. You can register here;

• You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view files on the web. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

4) Standard forms such as the SF-424, SF-424A, SF-424B, SF-424C, and SF-424D are fillable forms in Grants.gov.

5) All the above forms and attachments above must be submitted through Grants.gov.

Please do not assign attachment file names longer than 20 characters, including spaces.

Assigning file names longer than 20 characters may create problems in the automatic interface between Grants.gov and our financial assistance management system.

Although it is not a requirement, we also encourage you to submit a single PDF copy of your entire application to your WSFR Regional Office in case you encounter difficulties in submitting your application through Grants.gov (see Section VIII, Agency Contacts).

VI. Application Review Scoring Criteria We use the following criteria to score your application(s). When preparing your Project Statement, please identify your response to each criterion within the narrative. For example, at the conclusion of the section in which you describe your project objective(s), add “(Criterion 3)” so reviewers can easily locate your response. You may also provide a table showing each criterion and page number(s) where you provide your response. You are not required to provide your responses in a separate section of your application(s).

Targeted species are those explicitly addressed in your project within an adaptive management framework. Secondary species are those that are expected to benefit from proposed actions, although adaptive management of these species is not anticipated.

Additional bonus points may be awarded for projects that address Department of the Interior, Service, and/or Congressional priorities as identified below. Point scales are guidelines and individual values may be assigned within the ranges identified. The maximum score is 68 points.

Need (Criteria 1-2)

Criterion One: Relevance to and Documentation of State Wildlife Action Plan(s) Do you provide evidence and information showing the importance, relevance, extent, and immediacy of the need for…