RPP Application Template.docx

Pollinator-Friendly Practices on Roadsides and Highway Rights-of-Way Discretionary Grant Program Fiscal Year 2023 Application Template This is the Application Template (Template) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Pollinator-Friendly Practices (PFP) on Roadsides and Highway Rights-of-Way Discretionary Grant Program, also known as the Roadside Pollinator Program. This Template is required for applicants of the Roadside Pollinator Program. Applicants should read the Roadside Pollinator Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in its entirety prior to filling out the Template.

Provide a response to each item below. Items in this section will be used to determine grant program eligibility, as detailed in Section C of the NOFO, and to determine how the project will address each Merit Criteria and Project Readiness Criteria, as detailed in Section E.1 of the NOFO. More information on completing specific elements of this Template can be found in Section D.2.i.f of the NOFO.

I. Basic Information

Applicant Information

Ranked _____ of ______

Title:

Physical Address:

Email Address:

Phone Number:

Cell Phone Number:

Name:

Title:

Physical Address:

Email Address:

Phone Number:

Cell Phone Number:

Summary of Funding Request

☐ Plan improvement

☐ Further development of the Plan

Eligibility Information

8. Type of Eligible Entity:

☐ State DOT

☐ Federal Land Management Agency

☐ Indian Tribe

List by name:

10. If the eligible applicant or Lead Applicant is a State DOT or Federal Land Management Agency, does the application include documentation of coordination with applicable State agencies in the development of the Plan?

Yes ☐ No ☐ N/A ☐

If “N/A” is selected, explain why this requirement does not apply in Section II:

11. If the eligible applicant or Lead Applicant is a State DOT or Federal Land Management Agency does the application include documentation of consultation with affected or interested Indian tribes in the development of the Plan?

Yes ☐ No ☐ N/A ☐

If “N/A” is selected, explain why this requirement does not apply in Section II:

12. Will all PFPs from Categories 1-4 take place on Right-of-Way or immediately adjacent land that is currently owned by the applicant?

Yes ☐ No ☐

Supporting Documentation attached ☐

Project Location Information

Project Schedule

Response

Environmental Review and Permitting

Response

☐ CE Expected ☐ EA/FONSI Expected ☐ EIS Expected ☐ Re-Evaluation ☐ Not Applicable

20. Will all necessary environmental approvals and permits meet the project delivery timeline specified in the project schedule?

☐ No

II. Narrative Responses Provide a narrative response to each section below. There is a word limit of 500 words for each response, excluding budget tables.

Consultation & Coordination Narrative Each response should be no longer than 500 words. Provide a narrative description of how the applicant has met the required consultation or coordination requirements in the development of the Pollinator-Friendly Practices Plan (Plan). Applicants who are State DOTs or Federal Land Management Agencies should describe their coordination with applicable State agencies and their consultation with affected or interested Indian Tribes in developing their Plan. For each applicable State agency and affected or interested Indian Tribe, provide the full name and describe the consultation or coordination that occurred. Provide any supporting documentation as a clearly labeled attachment or indicate which page of the Plan contains such documentation. Responses to the criteria listed below will be used to determine whether the Plan submitted with this application is eligible to receive Roadside Pollinator Program funding, as described in Sections C.3.iv and C.3.v of the NOFO. Applicants who do not believe these requirements apply to them because there are no applicable State agencies or affected or interested Indian Tribes should provide sufficient detail justifying this belief. Applicants who are an Indian Tribe do not need to complete this section.

1. Coordination with applicable State agencies.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

2. Consultation with affected or interested Indian Tribes.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

Merit Criteria Narrative Each response should be no longer than 500 words. Provide a narrative description of how you will address each Merit Criteria described in Section E.1.i of the NOFO. Responses to the criteria listed below will be used to determine the rating that an application receives for each Merit Criteria (High, Medium, and Low), and will partially determine an application’s overall rating.

3. Overall Benefits to Pollinator Species and Habitats.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

4. Context and Connectivity.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

5. Roadside Pollinator Project Design and Methods.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

6. Maintenance and Management.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

Project Readiness Criteria Narrative Each response should be no longer than 500 words. Provide a narrative description demonstrating how you will address each Project Readiness Criteria described in Sections D.2.i.f.i and E.1.ii of the NOFO. Responses to the criteria listed below will be used to determine the rating that an application receives for each Project Readiness Rating and will partially determine an application’s overall rating.

7. Environmental Review and Permitting Risk.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

8. Project Risks and Mitigation Strategies.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

9. Technical Assessment.

(INSERT TEXT HERE)

10. Financial Completeness.

Provide a budget table and brief narrative to show how different funding sources will share in each activity and present the data in dollars and percentages. The budget should identify other Federal funds the applicant is applying for, has been awarded, or intends to use. Funding sources should be grouped into three categories: non-Federal, current application Roadside Pollinator Project, and other Federal programs with specific amounts for each funding source.

III. Summary of Pollinator-Friendly Practices

1. Previously Implemented Pollinator-Friendly Practices Please complete the relevant sections of the following tables following the instructions provided below regarding PFPs an applicant has previously implemented. Applicants should only include information on PFPs included in the applicant’s Plan that were implemented by the Applicant for the 5-year period prior to the date this NOFO was released. Applicants are not required to have implemented PFPs in every category and there is no upper or lower limit on the number of PFPs an applicant may list. Applicants may add rows to the table or delete rows as required. There are completed examples in Appendix B of this document showing the required format. The number of PFPs an applicant has implemented will be considered in determining the amount of Roadside Pollinator Program funding a Satisfactory application will receive.

· Practice Number: Number each practice in the table starting with 1. There is no upper or lower limit on the number of PFPs, and applicants may add additional rows to the table as needed.

· Category: Indicate which category the practice belongs in, from the list of Eligible Categories using the Number and letter codes: ex. 3a, 7b. The list is provided in the NOFO Section C.3.iii and in Appendix A of this Template. For previously implemented practices, applicants may also include practices that do not fall under any such Category under “Any Additional Pollinator-Friendly Practices the Applicant has Implemented.” Such practices do not need to have a Category listed.

· Description: provide a brief text description of the practice. Examples of completed tables are provided in Appendix B.

· Location: provide a single latitude/longitude for each project in decimal degrees. For PFPs that fall under Categories 5-9 provide a central location.

· Start and End Date: provide the start and end dates in the format MM/YY

· Road Miles: (for PFPs that fall under Categories 1-4): Indicate the number of linear road miles that are affected. Applicants should count road miles separately for both directions of travel and for the median, as applicable.

· People reached: (for PFPs that fall under Categories 5-6): Provide the estimated number of people reached.

· Reference to Plan: Provide the page number or other easily identifiable reference to the practice’s inclusion in the Plan where applicable. FHWA does not require previously implemented practices to be included in a Plan.

Categories 1-4: Implementation of on-the-ground Pollinator-Friendly Practices from the Existing Plan

Totals

Categories 5-6: Implementation of Training or Outreach Activities from the Existing Plan

Totals

Categories 7-9: Planning

Totals

Any Additional Pollinator-Friendly Practices the Applicant Has Implemented.

Practice Number

2. Roadside Pollinator Project (request) Please complete the relevant sections of the following tables following the instruction provided below for each PFP that the applicant plans to implement using Roadside Pollinator Program funds. Applicants are not required to implement PFPs in every category or group of categories and there is no upper or lower limit on the number of practices. Applicants may add rows to the table or delete rows as required. There are completed examples in Appendix B of this document showing the required format.

· Rank: Rank each practice across the entire table in order of priority. If Roadside Pollinator Program funding is limited, FHWA may decide to only provide Roadside Pollinator Program funding to the highest ranked practices.

· Category: Indicate which category the PFP belongs in, from the list of Eligible Categories using the Number and letter codes: ex. 3a, 7b. The list is provided in Section C.3.iii of the NOFO and in Appendix A of this Template. All PFPs in the following tables must fall under at least one such Category to be eligible to receive Roadside Pollinator Program funding and to be used to determine the amount of award funding an applicant may receive. If multiple PFPs are to take place at one site, list them separately, ex. Site preparation via soil amendments, planting, ongoing removal of invasive species.

· Description: Provide a brief text description of the PFP. Examples of completed tables are provided in Appendix B.

· Location: provide a single latitude/longitude for each project in decimal degrees. For PFPs that fall under Categories 5-9, provide a central location.

· Road Miles (for PFPs that fall under Categories 1-4): Indicate the number of linear road miles that are affected. Applicants should count road miles separately for both directions of travel and for the median, as applicable.

· People reached (for PFPs that fall under Categories 5-6): Provide the estimated number of people reached.

· Total Cost: Provide the anticipated total cost to implement each PFP for which the applicant is seeking Roadside Pollinator Program funding, rounded to the nearest dollar.

· Roadside Pollinator Program Request: Provide the amount of Roadside Pollinator Program funds the applicant is requesting for each PFP. Round to the nearest dollar. If the Roadside Pollinator Program Request is less than the Total Cost of the PFP, applicants should briefly describe the plans for covering the full cost of the PFP from all sources in Narrative Response II.10, above.

· Reference to Plan: Provide the page number or other easily identifiable reference to the practice’s inclusion in the Plan. PFPs that are not included in the Plan will not be eligible to receive Roadside Pollinator Program funding and will not be used to determine the amount of award funding an applicant may receive.

Categories 1-4: Implementation of on-the-ground activities from the Existing Plan

Request Reference to Plan

Totals

Categories 5-6: Implementation of Training or Outreach Activities from the Existing Plan

Reference to Plan

Totals

Category 7-9: Planning and Modifications to Existing Plan

Reference to Plan

Totals

Total Direct Costs

Indirect Costs

Total Request: sum of direct and indirect costs (not to exceed $150,000)

Appendix A: Categories of Eligible Pollinator-Friendly-Practices

Categories of ELIGIBLE Activities. Each Pollinator-friendly-practice must fall under one of these categories. See section C.3.iii in the NOFO.

1. Pollinator-friendly mowing strategies

a) Implementation of mowing strategies that promote early successional vegetation and limit disturbance during periods of highest use by target pollinator species on roadsides and highway rights-of-way such as: reducing the mowing swath outside of the State-designated safety zone, increasing mowing height, reducing mowing frequency, refraining from mowing monarch and other pollinator habitat during periods in which monarchs or other pollinators are present; use of a flushing bar and cutting at reduced speeds to reduce pollinator deaths due to mowing; or reducing raking along roadsides and highway rights-of-way.

2. Implementation of an integrated vegetation management plan or Pollinator-Friendly Practices Plan

a) Implementation of additional vegetation management practices found in an integrated vegetation management plan that promote early successional vegetation and limits disturbance during periods of highest use by target pollinator species on roadsides and highway rights-of-way such as: mechanical tree and brush removal, targeted and judicious use of herbicides, mowing, controlled burns, grazing, and brush removal.

b) Implementation of policies that reduce the negative impacts of herbicides on pollinators and nontarget plants on roadsides and highway rights-of-way.

c) Creation of additional habitats on roadsides and highway rights-of-way that benefit pollinators such as overwintering areas, nesting areas, or other resources necessary to sustain their populations.

d) Monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management of pollinator habitat.

3. Planting or Seeding

a) Salvaging, collecting, purchasing, planting, or seeding of native, locally appropriate grasses and wildflowers on roadsides and highway rights-of-way to enhance pollinator habitat. Seeds must not be treated with any neonicotinoid pesticide for the PFP to be eligible for funding.

b) Carrying out site preparation to improve survival of native flowering plants on roadsides and highway rights-of-way to enhance pollinator habitat, such as the purchase and application of soil amendments or removal of invasive species.

c) Conducting maintenance during plant establishment on roadsides and highway rights-of-way, such as watering, weed control, replanting, and controlling invasive species.

4. Safety

a) Implementation of design, construction, or maintenance techniques to ensure that pollinator friendly habitat is protected but does not negatively impact roadway safety.

5. Obtaining expert training or assistance on pollinator-friendly practices

a) Training staff on the role of roadsides in pollinator conservation; the implementation of management techniques that benefit pollinators; the role of native plants in ecosystems; the identification of native plants; incorporating design elements, such as land management practices, to benefit pollinators and establish and manage locally-appropriate native plants; and pollinator-focused integrated vegetation management.

b) Obtaining expert training or assistance on PFPs described in this section and pollinator-friendly topics.

6. Outreach

a) Implementing outreach strategies to increase public support for pollinator habitat on roadsides and highway rights-of-way, including signage.

b) Coordinating with adjacent or nearby property owners and managers to roadsides and highway rights-of-way to promote pollinator habitat.

7. Updating, improving, or further developing the Pollinator Friendly Practices Plan

a) This may include updates and improvements to an applicant’s existing Plan, such as general improvements and updates; increase in scope; incorporating changing conditions, new science, increased collaboration; or other conditions that necessitate a Plan update or improvement.

8. Protecting existing habitat

a) Perform inventories and identify existing habitat for pollinators on roadsides and highway rights-of-way.

b) Create or maintain an inventory database of pollinator habitat on roadsides and highway rights-of-way.

9. Removing nonnative grasses from planting and seeding mixes

a) Development of, or updates to, seed lists and mixes that remove or omit nonnative species from planting and seeding mixes, except for use as nurse or cover crops. May include development of additional information on plant attributes, functional roles, and value to pollinators.

Appendix B: Examples of Completed Pollinator-Friendly Practices Table.

Example Table 1 Previously Implemented Pollinator-Friendly Practices Categories 1-4: Implementation of on-the-ground pollinator-friendly practices from the Existing Plan

Totals

Categories 5-6: Implementation of Training or Outreach Activities from the Existing Plan

Totals

Categories 7-9: Planning

Totals

Any Additional Pollinator-Friendly Practices the Applicant Has Implemented.

Practice Number

Example Table 2 Roadside Pollinator Project (request) Categories 1-4: Implementation of on-the-ground activities from the Existing Plan

Request Reference to Plan

· Spot spraying invasive species

· Close mowing Soil amendments

· Watering 2x week for 2 seasons

· Monthly monitoring and mechanical or hand removal or spot spraying of persistent invasive or noxious weeds Modified mowing schedule outside clear zone to encourage establishment.

Totals

Categories 5-6: Implementation of Training or Outreach Activities from the Existing Plan

Request Reference to Plan

Totals

Category 7-9: Planning and Modifications to Existing Plan

Request Reference to Plan

Totals

Total Direct Costs

Indirect Costs

Total Request: sum of direct and indirect costs (not to exceed $150,000)