V15_Pilot Watershed_RFA FINAL.pdf

SOUTHEAST NEW ENGLAND PROGRAM

2021 Request for Applications for the Southeast New England Program Pilot Watersheds

Initiative

Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1

Funding Opportunity Title: Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Pilot Watersheds Initiative

Announcement Type: Request for Applications (RFA)

Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-R1-SNEP-2021B

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 66.129

Important Dates

Last day to Ask Questions 04/28/2021

Informational Webinar Early May 2021: see www.epa.gov/snep for details

Closing Date and Application Deadline 05/28/2021 is the closing date for application packages to be submitted in order to be considered for funding. Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through grants.gov (www.grants.gov) by

11:59p.m EST

Applicant Notification 07/30/2021 EPA expects to notify the selected applicants

Award of Funds 10/01/2021 EPA expects to award funds

Dates: Applications must be received by electronic submission through Grants.gov on or before

11:59P.M. EDT 05/28/2021. Late applications will not be considered for funding. Questions about this RFA must be submitted in writing via e-mail and must be received by the Agency

Contact identified in Section VII by 04/28/2021. EPA will post written responses on EPA’s website at: http:/www.epa.gov/snep. Following evaluation of applications, EPA will notify all applicants regarding their status.

Note to Applicants: If the applicant names sub-awardees/sub-grantee and /or contractor(s) in their proposal to assist with the proposed project, please pay careful attention to the information in the CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS provision founds at https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients.

Also Note: Funding under this announcement is currently authorized by the Consolidated

Appropriations Act, 2021. While EPA expects future funding to become available, applicants should be aware that if appropriations do not become available or significant changes are made to EPA’s funding authority, EPA may be required to modify or cancel awards made under this http://www.epa.gov/snep http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.epa.gov/snep https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients https://www.epa.gov/grants/grants-policy-issuance-gpi-16-01-epa-subaward-policy-epa-assistance-agreement-recipients announcement and determine whether and how to proceed. EPA expressly reserves the right to make no awards under this announcement or to incrementally fund a selected award subject to the availability of funding or other considerations.

For the purpose of this RFA:

• The “applicant” refers to the organization submitting an application.

• “We” refers to EPA

• “SNEP” refers to the Southeast New England Program. The term “SNEP geographic boundaries” refers to the area within Massachusetts and Rhode Island that includes the south-facing coastal watersheds between Westerly, Rhode Island and Chatham, Massachusetts, the watersheds of the Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay National

Estuary Programs (NEPs), and the offshore islands of Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Elizabeth Islands (Town of Gosnold, MA), and Block Island (Town of New Shoreham, RI). Projects must occur within this geographic area to be eligible to be considered for funding. A high-resolution map of the SNP aera is found in Appendix A and at.

https://www.epa.gov/snep/background-information-southeast-new-england-program

• “Watershed” refers to the direct surface water drainage/runoff and/or ground water recharge area to a receiving water.

• “Shall” means “must”.

• “Pilot Watershed” refers to the watershed proposed by the applicant for targeted restoration efforts under this RFA. These watersheds should be a manageable size to allow concentration of practices or approaches capable of showing restoration progress.

They should be smaller than the Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC)-12 scale and may include portions of receiving waters. In cases where a watershed area is large, the applicant shall identify a discrete subwatershed in which to focus its restoration efforts. The ultimate size of each Pilot Watershed should include about the area of a typical town boundary though it may include portions of several towns in its immediate vicinity.

SUMMARY

This RFA sets forth a competitive process to solicit and select up to four entities to establish up to four Pilot Watersheds under the SNEP’s new Pilot Watershed Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to demonstrate the effectiveness of concentrated, collaborative efforts and holistic

(watershed scale) planning to address common environmental challenges in the SNEP geographic boundary, and ultimately to support SNEP’s goals and priorities as set forth in

SNEP’s Five-Year Strategic Plan (https://www.epa.gov/snep/snep-strategic-plan). We plan to award up to four cooperative agreements under this announcement. Applications will be expected to include all the documentation necessary to respond fully to evaluation criteria described in this RFA and to serve as a grant application. We expect to select and notify applicants in July 2021 and fund up to four awards by October 1, 2021.

Led by EPA Region 1, SNEP is a geographically based program intended to serve as a collaborative framework for advancing ecosystem resiliency, protecting and restoring water quality, habitat, and ecosystem function, and developing and applying innovative policy, science, https://www.epa.gov/snep/background-information-southeast-new-england-program https://www.epa.gov/snep/snep-strategic-plan and technology to environmental management. It was created as a response to meeting the unique difficulties of vulnerable coastal watersheds in southeast coastal New England whose economy and community health are directly tied to its ecological systems. These systems are currently impaired by a variety of stressors including excessive nutrients from wastewater and septic systems, the legacies of past industrial uses, and shifting socio-economic patterns.

Traditionally, these problems have been addressed independently, separated by jurisdictions, institutional identities, and sometimes parochial interests. These factors call for a more holistic approach to protecting aquatic ecosystems and functions, one that also considers the resilience of local communities. EPA’s role as a SNEP partnership facilitator among multiple organizations is central to its mission to empower collective action in these areas, and its focus on the region’s ecosystems offers an opportunity to address complex common issues while also working at the local scale to align restoration and management efforts more broadly to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency.

This RFA and subsequent awards is intended to fund up to four selected entities to establish up to four Pilot Watersheds under the SNEP’s new Pilot Watershed Initiative in support of SNEP’s goals and priorities as set forth in SNEP’s Five-Year Strategic Plan

(https://www.epa.gov/snep/snep-strategic-plan). Applicants may submit projects for more than one Pilot Watershed; however each application must only address one potential Pilot Watershed.

If an applicant wishes to submit applications for more than one Pilot Watershed, they must submit a separate application for each. All funded work must address SNEP priorities as identified in this announcement and SNEP’s Five-Year Strategic Plan, and by EPA during the duration of the award, and should promote collaboration among governmental and community resource managers, technology and science practitioners, policy organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), tribes, and other groups, as applicable.

Specifically, we are soliciting proposals from eligible applicants to establish up to four (4) Pilot

Watersheds under the SNEP Pilot Watershed Initiative contingent upon funding availability, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations.

Subject to the availability of appropriated funds and Agency priorities, the total estimated funding available for each award under this competitive opportunity will be up to $150,000 per year for up to five (5) years, totaling up to $750,000 in federal funding, with a total project period of seven (7) years.

This RFA requires the applicant to provide a minimum non-federal match of 20% of the total

Federal request. See Section III.B for detailed information on the minimum cost share/match requirements. In addition to the cost share/match requirements, applicants may also include leveraging of finances and/or expertise from project partners. Leveraged resources will be evaluated as a part of the application scoring criteria.

Information relating to the RFA process as well as Q&As will be provided at www.epa.gov/snep.

We encourage all potential applicants to sign up for SNEP’s RFA mailing list by sending an email to SEcoastalNE@epa.gov with a request to be placed on the list to receive any updates https://www.epa.gov/snep/snep-strategic-plan http://www.epa.gov/snep mailto:SEcoastalNE@epa.gov regarding this RFA, the review process, and/or selections. Please reference the Opportunity

Number (EPA-R1-SNEP-2021B) in your email subject line.

Funding/Awards:

The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is up to $3 million. We anticipate awarding up to four cooperative agreements from this announcement, subject to availability of funds, the quality of applicants received, and other applicable considerations. We anticipate funding each award with $150,000 per year, for a total of up to $750,000 for each award over five (5) years. All actions under these awards must be accomplished within the seven (7) year project period.

CONTENTS BY SECTION

I. Funding Opportunity Description

II. Award Information

III. Eligibility Information

IV. Application and Submission Information

V. Application Review Information

VI. Award Administration Information

VII. Agency Contacts

VIII. Other Information

Appendices

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A) Background for the Southeast New England Program

The objective of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) is to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters." Despite continuing progress in achieving these goals, coastal ecosystems are recognized as particularly vulnerable to upstream pollution sources, fragmented management, and the impacts of climate change. The coastal watersheds of southeast New England are prime examples of this vulnerability. The economy and community health of this region are directly tied to its unique ecological systems, but these systems are currently impaired by excessive nutrients from wastewater and septic systems, by the legacies of past industrial uses, by shifting socio-economic patterns, and other factors.

Traditionally, these problems have been addressed independently, separated by jurisdictions, institutional identities, and sometimes parochial interests. It has become clear, however, that the scope and scale of these environmental stressors calls urgently for a more holistic approach to protecting aquatic ecosystems and sustaining local communities. Created by Congress to take this approach, SNEP’s and EPA’s role as a partnership facilitator among multiple organizations is central to its mission to empower collective action in these areas, and its focus on the region’s ecosystems offers an opportunity to address complex common issues while also working at the local scale to align restoration and management efforts more broadly to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency. SNEP’s priorities and goals for the coming years have been laid out in its Five-Year Strategic Plan (https://www.epa.gov/snep/snep-strategic-plan).

B) Pilot Watershed Initiative Grant Program Details

SNEP’s Five-Year Strategic Plan specifically includes a priority action to demonstrate ways to address common challenges. Under this RFA, EPA intends to award cooperative agreements to eligible entities to plan and execute collaborative restoration efforts on a small “Pilot Watershed”

(as defined in the Summary Section and below in this section, I.B) scale in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of concentrated, collaborative efforts and holistic (watershed scale) planning to address common environmental challenges in the SNEP geographic boundary. Ultimately, the results of the efforts in each Pilot Watershed will inform planning and implementation in watersheds facing similar challenges across the SNEP region.

Under this RFA, eligible applicants are asked to submit proposals in which they:

• Identify the watershed/subwatershed they wish to nominate as a SNEP Pilot Watershed.

• Identify at least one of the four key environmental challenges identified as a priority below in section I.B that they wish to address in the watershed.

• Provide any necessary background information on the watershed, its environmental issues, previous work done in the watershed, and any established partnerships in the watershed.

• Describe an initial plan to address the identified environmental issue(s) in the nominated watershed over the seven (7) year project period. Initial plans:

o do not need to be comprehensive but should adequately address the goals of this

RFA and should provide sufficient detail to describe proposed actions over the project period;

o should address how the applicant intends to leverage sources of funding and expertise from various organizations, build partnerships in the watershed, involve community members, and if appropriate, incorporate practices that promote multiple benefits of social and economic wellbeing;

o should address specifically how EPA SNEP funding will be used; and o should address match/cost share requirements, including confirming cost-share for the first year of funding.

• Provide (where possible and where applicable) landowner assurance of access by EPA and partners to private land and waters necessary to conduct monitoring throughout the project.

o Please note that the grantees will be expected to work with EPA and its partners to provide access to land and water for monitoring efforts.

• Describe how the Pilot Watershed will serve as a demonstration watershed for other cities or towns facing similar environmental challenges.

• Describe proposed program and environmental metrics to allow evaluation of outcomes resulting from the project.

• Explain how the grantee will implement the plan.

With this RFA, we seek to fund up to four eligible entities to operate in up to four Pilot

Watersheds in the SNEP region (Regional Map) to demonstrate the cumulative effectiveness of collaborative and coordinated funding, planning, and implementation of best management practices (BMPs) or new technologies and approaches to holistically address environmental issues in a watershed. Each application should only address one potential Pilot Watershed. These

“Pilot Watersheds” should be relatively small to confine activities to a manageable size to allow concentration of practices or approaches capable of showing restoration progress. They should be smaller than the Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC)-12 scale and may include portions of receiving waters. In cases where a watershed area is large, the applicant shall identify a discrete subwatershed to focus its restoration efforts. The ultimate size of each Pilot Watershed will be determined by the applicant. The application shall state the size of the proposed Pilot Watershed and explain why the size of the selected watershed is amenable to showing a positive environmental response to the applicant’s proposed environmental actions. The applicant should describe why the selected watershed size is amenable to a reasonable monitoring effort to show environmental results.

Projects must address at least one watershed in each of the four major SNEP regions, namely:

Buzzards Bay Watershed (jurisdiction of the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program https://buzzardsbay.org/watershed-study-area/watershed-jurisdiction/), Narragansett Bay

Watershed (jurisdiction of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program https://www.nbep.org/study-area), the southern draining portions of Cape Cod, and one from the off-shore islands of

Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Elizabeth Islands (Town of Gosnold, MA), and Block Island

(Town of New Shoreham, RI). A high-resolution map of the SNEP area is provided at https://www.epa.gov/snep/background-information-southeast-new-england-program and in

Appendix A. EPA intends to make at least one award to high ranking applicants addressing a

Pilot Watershed in each geographic area. If there are no high-ranking applicants in each geographic area, then EPA may make more than one award in each geographic area.

Applicants for the RFA should select a sub-watershed/watershed (“Pilot Watershed”) with a common environmental challenge important to the SNEP region as a whole, that the applicant wishes to address, and in which they plan to operate under this agreement. We are seeking Pilot

Watersheds that demonstrate solutions to the following priority challenges:

• (1) nutrient pollution leading to impairment of surface water;

• (2) harmful algal blooms, including both excessive nuisance algae and toxin producing algal blooms;

• (3) restoration of an impaired urban watershed by incorporating solutions that offer social and economic benefits as well as protect and improve water quality and/or habitat; and

• (4) restoration and/or protection of natural system function, including efforts to increase habitat connectivity, or prevent the potential loss of saltmarsh predicted from climate change.

https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=596401a1439e48a8a02ce9473b453c41

The strongest applicants will be active in the proposed watershed with connections to other organizations working in the area.

The applicant should build upon previous planning, implementation, or monitoring efforts in the proposed Pilot Watershed. These previous efforts could include watershed-based plans (WBPs), targeted watershed management plans, comprehensive wastewater management plans, total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), scientific studies, Comprehensive Conservation and

Management Plans (CCMPs) created by the two National Estuary Programs in the SNEP region, BMP implementation, environmental monitoring, and/or education and outreach efforts.

Previous efforts need not have been conducted by the applicant. Funding under this award may not be used towards projects funded by other awards (e.g. CWA 320 awards), but could instead be used to build upon projects, studies, or plans funded by other awards. To better illustrate where the applicant plans to work, the application shall include a map of the proposed sub-watershed area and shall indicate its location in one of the four major SNEP.

Applicants should describe how their plans will address the nominated watershed’s environmental challenge in a measurable way over a five to seven-year timeframe and include analysis of the need for the funding, BMPs/implementation projects, any new technologies or approaches to be used in the Pilot Watershed, partnerships and collaborative efforts, local, state, and federal government engagement, potential social and economic co-benefits, community outreach, and the planned use of additional leveraged funding, and any environmental monitoring, including proposed environmental metrics. See note below.

NOTE: In addition to SNEP funding for applicant activities under this RFA, we intend to fund

(through another mechanism) environmental monitoring in each selected priority watershed to evaluate the success of the applicant team’s efforts. This monitoring will be conducted before, during, and after BMPs are installed or other actions are taken in order to capture the cumulative effect of management actions and projects in the watershed and the extent to which the environmental challenge is being addressed or mitigated.

Selected applicants will be expected to report on program and environmental metrics as the award progresses. Because each Pilot Watershed will likely address differing environmental issues, specific metrics will be finalized by EPA and the applicant at the time of award, but generally are expected to be selected from a list of common SNEP metrics currently under development. These could include such measures as pounds of nitrogen removed per year by a

BMP, number of local entities engaged, or amount of funding leveraged. We will work with the grantee to ensure the reporting burden is commensurate with the funding level. Please see

Appendix D for the current list of proposed metrics.

It is critical for applications to demonstrate how applicants plan to effectively work with multiple organizations in the watershed to coordinate and leverage funds, time, and resources. Proposals must focus on at least one of the four (4) priority challenges outlined above, propose a combination of practices and approaches to solve the priority watershed issue(s), document commitments from current and future partners in the watershed, explicitly list federal and non-federal funding sources that the applicant intends to solicit/use to leverage against the funds provided by EPA (please note that only non-federal funds can be used as match), and describe how the applicant intends to involve multiple organizations in the planning, coordination, and implementation of practices. A letter of support and commitment to participate in the watershed pilot initiative must be provided by the municipal government(s) located in the watershed.

Ultimately, the applicant should propose how the project will build a sustainable coalition of funders and project partners from state, municipal, federal, non-governmental, foundation, tribal, and other organizations.

The importance of partnerships to the Pilot Watershed Initiative cannot be overstated. The purpose of the Initiative is to provide financial assistance to support a collaborative, holistic approach to addressing targeted water quality problems on the watershed scale. Key to this will be collaborative problem solving which builds upon existing stakeholder knowledge, utilizes inter-disciplinary approaches (social, economic, environmental), and community engagement.

The perspectives and knowledge of multiple partner organizations will foster a comprehensive solution to the water quality problems of the Pilot Watersheds.

The application should also describe how the applicant will communicate lessons learned from the project, including instructive case studies, to other cities and towns facing similar challenges in the SNEP region and beyond. The Pilot Watersheds are meant to serve as demonstration areas/examples for other watersheds, and as such applicants must describe how they will engage with other communities/groups at multiple levels (municipal, state, federal, tribal, NGO) both during and after the project period. Applicants must be able to provide evidence of support by the municipality(ies) in which they propose to work.

Applicants should also demonstrate how their Pilot Watershed plan addresses the goals and priority actions set forth in the SNEP Five-Year Strategic Plan. These include: 1) increase local capacity to complete projects and adopt new policies; (2) increase available solutions; (3) ensure diverse representation; (4) demonstrate ways to address common challenges; and (5) increase community leaders’ understanding of the benefit of restoration projects. Taking these actions will enable progress toward the desired outcomes of:

• waters that support native seagrasses and aquatic life, plentiful native fish and shellfish, and a variety of water-based recreation opportunities;

• watersheds that provide essential ecological functions, species diversity, and protection from both human-based and naturally occurring environmental stressors, and healthy, connected natural lands support a variety and range of native plant and wildlife communities; and

• communities that share robust water-based economies, strive to foster equity in environmental health and economic outcomes, protect and provide access to natural lands, open spaces and parks, encourage local food sources, and are adapting for resilience to expected impacts of climate change.

Applicants should also demonstrate how they plan to continue efforts begun under their award beyond the life of the grant. This should include plans to continue addressing the environmental challenge, keeping partnerships alive, continuing to seek sources of funding, providing operations and maintenance on any BMP implementation projects, and accounting for predicted impacts of climate change.

Although we expect that the majority of award and leveraged funds will go to implementation projects, funding may also be used as appropriate for permitting/financial streamlining efforts, funding coordinator or other critical staff position, or project administration. Applicants should ensure that if selected they will be able to be engaged with relevant monitoring activity(ies) during the life of the grant and provide input on the planning, coordination, and implementation of monitoring. While new monitoring is not required, applications that propose to assist with monitoring, as match or otherwise, may be considered stronger.

The applicant will be expected to confirm access for EPA or its contractors or partners to appropriate land and/or water monitoring sites. This can be done in the application if possible, but must be done, as a term of the award agreement, before monitoring can start.

Ultimately, the goal of the SNEP Pilot Watershed Initiative is to show how collaboration and targeted funding can be used effectively to address an environmental challenge at a watershed scale in a demonstratable way. EPA intends to use the lessons learned from these Pilot

Watersheds to demonstrate and apply solutions to similar issues in other watersheds across the

SNEP region.

C) EPA Strategic Plan Linkage

The activities to be funded under this solicitation support EPA’s FY 2018-22 Strategic Plan.

Awards made under this solicitation will support Strategic Plan Goal 1 “A Cleaner, Healthier

Environment: Deliver a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for all Americans and future generations by carrying out the Agency’s core mission”, Objective 1.2 “Provide for

Clean and Safe Water” of the EPA Strategic Plan. All applications must be for projects that support the goals and objectives identified above. The Strategic plan can be found at https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.

D) Expected Outputs and Outcomes

For this RFA:

• The term “outcome” means the result, effect or consequence that will be achieved by carrying out an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic in nature, must be quantitative, and may not necessarily be achievable within a grant funding period. For this RFA, “Desired Outcomes” describe the project metrics and conditions that we aim to achieve for the SNEP region that are found in the SNEP Strategic Plan. Efforts to achieve these outcomes will steer the actions necessary to meet specific five-year targets; these outcomes include:

• waters that support native seagrasses and aquatic life, plentiful native fish and shellfish, and a variety of water-based recreation opportunities;

• watersheds that provide essential ecological functions, species diversity, and protection from both human-based and naturally occurring environmental stressors, and healthy, connected natural lands support a variety and range of native plant and wildlife communities; and

• communities that share robust water-based economies, strive to foster equity in health and economic outcomes, protect and provide access to natural lands, open spaces and parks, encourage local food sources, and are adapting for resilience to expected impacts of climate change.

• The term “output” means an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal and objective that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable over the term of the grant funding period. For this RFA, “Outputs (Actions)” are detailed activities that SNEP and our partners will undertake during each five-year period in order to meet quantitative targets, work towards accomplishing desired outcomes, and ultimately achieve the 2050 regional vision and goals.

Applicants should consider the following questions when developing output and outcome measures of quantitative and qualitative results:

• What are the measurable short term and longer-term results the projects funded will achieve?

• How will progress be measured in achieving the expected results (including outputs and outcomes) and how will their proposed approach use resources effectively and efficiently?

• Are there ways to incorporate social and/or economic benefits as part of a broader environmental improvement effort?

E) Statutory Authorization for Award

Authorization for SNEP funding is contained in Public Law 116-260, Consolidated

Appropriations Act, 2021, which gives EPA the authority to award grants and cooperative agreements to carry out the SNEP, including planning, research, monitoring, outreach, and implementation projects within the SNEP geographic area.

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A) Funding Amount and Expected Number of Awards

EPA expects to award up to four (4) cooperative agreements for activities under this

RFA. The total estimated funding available for awards under this competitive opportunity is up to $150,000 per award per year for up to five years. Funding for each agreement is not to exceed $750,000 total over five years through FY2025. The total amount of funding competed under this opportunity is $3,000,000. All funding decisions are subject to funding availability, quality of proposals, and other applicable considerations.

EPA reserves the right to reject all proposals and make no award under this announcement. EPA intends to make at least one award to high ranking applicants addressing a Pilot Watershed in each geographic area. If there are no high-ranking applicants in each geographic area, then EPA may make more than one award in each geographic area. EPA also reserve the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy and guidance, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made. Any additional selection for awards will be made no later than six months after the original selection decision.

B) Award Type

We intend to award cooperative agreements under this solicitation. Cooperative agreements provide for substantial involvement between the EPA Project Officer and the selected applicant(s) in the performance of the work supported. Although EPA will negotiate precise terms and conditions relating to substantial involvement as part of the award process, the anticipated substantial federal involvement for these projects may include:

• close monitoring of the successful applicant’s performance to verify the results proposed by the applicant;

• collaboration during performance of the scope of work;

• in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.317 and 2 CFR § 200.318, review of proposed procurements;

• approving qualifications of key personnel (EPA will not select employees or contractors employed by the award recipient); and

• review and comment on reports prepared under the cooperative agreement (the final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient).

• Providing, through contracts, interagency agreement, or other mechanisms outside the scope of this RFA, environmental monitoring for the selected Pilot

Watersheds.

EPA does not have the authority to select employees or contractors employed by the recipient. The final content of Pilot Watershed final reports rests with the recipient.

C) Partial Funding

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

D) Expected Project Period

The expected project period for these assistance agreements is up to seven (7) years, with funding provided on an annual basis for up to five (5) years. No commitment of funding can be made beyond the first year. The expected start date for the awards resulting from this RFA is October 1, 2021.

E) Award Funding and Incremental Funding/Full Funding

Awards may be fully or incrementally funded, as appropriate, based on funding availability, satisfactory performance, and other applicable considerations.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A) Eligible Applicants

In accordance with Assistance Listing 66.129, assistance under this SNEP RFA is available to state, local, and Tribal governments; institutions of higher education;

nonprofit institutions and organizations; and interstate agencies. Private businesses, federal agencies, and individuals are not eligible to apply; however, they may work in partnership with eligible applicants on these projects.

For-profit organizations are not an eligible entity for this funding opportunity.

Additionally, non-profit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal

Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying

Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply.

B) Cost Sharing/Match Requirements

All applicants must demonstrate that they can contribute a minimum non-federal cost share/match of 20 percent of the federal request.

Match/cost shares can be in the form of cash or in-kind contributions, such as the use of volunteers and/or donated time, equipment, expertise, salaries, or other verifiable costs and must be carefully documented. Involvement from foundations, watershed groups, private sector, eligible governmental, as well as non-conventional partners can help with match. The match/cost share must be for allowable project costs under the SNEP funding authority described in sub-section I.E, and any restrictions on the use of grant funds also apply to the use of cost share/matching funds. In the case of salaries, applicants may use either minimum wage or fair market value. All funds are subject to federal audit.

Applicants that do not describe how they will meet the minimum match/cost share requirements in their submission will not be considered for funding. Other federal grants may not be used as cost share/match for this solicitation without specific statutory authority. Regulations governing match/cost share requirements are at 2 C.F.R. §

200.306. To calculate the minimum match under this RFA, divide the total federal request by five using the following formula.

Total Federal Funds Requested ($) divided by five (5) = minimum cost share/match ($)

In this instance, a request for $750,000 requires a match of $150,000 in cash and/or in-kind contributions. The federal funds plus the match is the total project cost.

Although cost share/ match is required as an eligibility condition under this competition, under Section V of this announcement EPA will evaluate proposals based on a leveraging criterion.

In order to be considered for evaluation, any leveraged funds/resources, and their source, must be identified in the proposal (See Section IV of the announcement). Leveraged funding or other resources need not be for eligible and allowable project costs under the

EPA assistance agreement unless the Applicant proposes to provide a voluntary cost share as its form of leveraging (see below). Leveraging other than match/ cost share is not included in the project budget on the grant forms but should be included in the grant workplan in the form of a statement to the effect that the applicant is expected to produce the proposed leveraging consistent with the terms of the announcement and their proposal.

If EPA accepts an offer for a voluntary cost share, applicants must meet their sharing commitment as a condition of receiving EPA funding. The recipient is legally obligated to meet any proposed voluntary cost share that is included in the approved project budget because the grant agreement includes the cost share/ match. Applicants may use their own funds or other resources for a voluntary cost share if the standards at 2 CFR 200.306 are met. Only eligible and allowable costs may be used for cost shares/ match. Other

Federal grants may not be used as cost shares/ match without specific statutory authority

(e.g. HUD's Community Development Block Grants).

C) Threshold Eligibility Criteria

Only proposals from eligible entities (see Section III.A above) that meet the following threshold eligibility criteria will be evaluated. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 15 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

a. Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this solicitation or else they will be rejected. However, pages in excess of the page limitation expressed in Section IV will not be reviewed and the information in those pages will not be considered in the evaluation.

b. In addition, initial applications must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this solicitation (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section

IV) on or before the application submission deadline published in Section IV of this solicitation. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this solicitation to ensure that their application is timely submitted.

c. Applications submitted after the submission deadline will be considered late and deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with Grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to timely submit their application through

Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov or

Grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission. Applicants should confirm receipt of their application with

[SECoastalNE@epa.gov] as soon as possible after the submission deadline— failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

d. Applications that do not address one of the four key environmental challenges identified as a priority in section I.B will be deemed ineligible.

e. Applicants must support projects that address SNEP priorities within the SNEP boundaries (see Section I).

f. Applications must address one watershed from one of the four major SNEP regions as described in Section I. Applications that do not address a watershed or address more than one watershed in the same application will be ineligible.

Applicants that wish to address more than one watershed must submit one application per watershed.

g. Applicants must indicate that they have the authority and ability to work in their proposed Pilot Watershed area.

h. Applicants must demonstrate that they have the support of the municipality(ies) in which the Pilot Watershed is located. This support may be in the form of an endorsement, commitment to participate in the project, match/cost share, or letter of support.

i. Projects must occur within the SNEP geographic area to be eligible to be considered for funding. A high-resolution map of the SNEP aera is found in

Appendix A and at https://www.epa.gov/snep/background-information-southeast-new-england-program

j. Ineligible activities: If an application includes any ineligible tasks or activities, that portion of the application will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the application, render the entire application ineligible for funding.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A) Requirement to Submit Through Grants.gov and Limited Exception Procedures

Applicants, except as noted below, must apply electronically through Grants.gov under this funding opportunity based on the grants.gov instructions in this announcement. If an applicant does not have the technical capability to apply electronically through grants.gov because of limited or no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials to Grants.gov, the applicant must contact OMS-ARM-OGDWaivers@epa.gov or the address listed below in writing (e.g., by hard copy, email) at least 15 calendar days prior to the submission deadline under this announcement to request approval to submit their application materials through an alternate method.

Mailing Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Jessica Durand

USEPA Headquarters

William Jefferson Clinton Building

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N. W.

Mail Code: 3903R

Washington, DC 20460

Courier Address:

OGD Waivers c/o Jessica Durand

Ronald Reagan Building

1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Rm # 51278

Washington, DC 20004

In the request, the applicant must include the following information:

• Funding Opportunity Number (FON)

• Organization Name and Unique Entity Identifier (e.g., DUNS)

• Organization's Contact Information (email address and phone number)

• Explanation of how they lack the technical capability to apply electronically through Grants.gov because of 1) limited internet access or 2) no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials through Grants.gov.

EPA will only consider alternate submission exception requests based on the two reasons stated above and will timely respond to the request -- all other requests will be https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ mailto:OMS-ARM-OGDWaivers@epa.gov https://www.grants.gov/ denied. If an alternate submission method is approved, the applicant will receive documentation of this approval and further instructions on how to apply under this announcement. Applicants will be required to submit the documentation of approval with any initial application submitted under the alternative method. In addition, any submittal through an alternative method must comply with all applicable requirements and deadlines in the announcement including the submission deadline and requirements regarding application content and page limits (although the documentation of approval of an alternate submission method will not count against any page limits).

If an exception is granted, it is valid for submissions to EPA for the remainder of the entire calendar year in which the exception was approved and can be used to justify alternative submission methods for application submissions made through December 31 of the calendar year in which the exception was approved (e.g., if the exception was approved on March 1, 2018, it is valid for any competitive or non-competitive application submission to EPA through December 31, 2018). Applicants need only request an exception once in a calendar year and all exceptions will expire on December

31 of that calendar year. Applicants must request a new exception from required electronic submission through Grants.gov for submissions for any succeeding calendar year. For example, if there is a competitive opportunity issued on December 1, 2018 with a submission deadline of January 15, 2019, the applicant would need a new exception to submit through alternative methods beginning January 1, 2019. Please note that the process described in this section is only for requesting alternate submission methods. All other inquiries about this announcement must be directed to the Agency

Contact listed in Section VII of the announcement. Queries or requests submitted to the email address identified above for any reason other than to request an alternate submission method will not be acknowledged or answered.

B) Submission Instructions

The electronic submission of your application must be made by an official representative of your institution who is registered with Grants.gov and is authorized to sign applications for Federal assistance. For more information on the registration requirements that must be completed in order to submit an application through grants.gov, go to Grants.gov and click on "Applicants" on the top of the page and then go to the "Get

Registered" link on the page. If your organization is not currently registered with

Grants.gov, please encourage your office to designate an Authorized Organization

Representative (AOR) and ask that individual to begin the registration process as soon as possible. Please note that the registration process also requires that your organization have a Unique Entity Identifier (e.g. DUNS number) and a current registration with the

System for Award Management (SAM) and the process of obtaining both could take a month or more. Applicants must ensure that all registration requirements are met in order to apply for this opportunity through grants.gov and should ensure that all such requirements have been met well in advance of the submission deadline. Registration on grants.gov, SAM.gov, and DUNS number assignment is FREE.

Applicants need to ensure that the AOR who submits the application through Grants.gov and whose Unique Entity Identifier (e.g., DUNS number) is listed on the application is an

AOR for the applicant listed on the application. Additionally, the Unique Entity Identifier listed on the application must be registered to the applicant organization's SAM account.

If not, the application may be deemed ineligible.

To begin the application process under this grant announcement, go to Grants.gov and click on "Applicants" on the top of the page and then "Apply for Grants" from the dropdown menu and then follow the instructions accordingly. Please note: To apply through Grants.gov, you must use Adobe Reader software and download the compatible

Adobe Reader version. For more information about Adobe Reader, to verify compatibility, or to download the free software, please visit Adobe Reader Compatibility

Information on Grants.gov

You may also be able to access the application package for this announcement by searching for the opportunity on Grants.gov. Go to Grants.gov and then click on "Search

Grants" at the top of the page and enter the Funding Opportunity Number, EPA-R1-

SNEP-2021B, or the CFDA number that applies to the announcement (CFDA 66.129

EPA), in the appropriate field and click the Search button.

Please Note: All applications must now be submitted through Grants.gov using the

"Workspace" feature. Information on the Workspace feature can be found at the Grants.gov Workspace Overview Page.

Application Submission Deadline: Your organization's AOR must submit your complete application package electronically to EPA through Grants.gov no later than 05/28/21 11:59 PM ET. Please allow for enough time to successfully submit your application and allow for unexpected errors that may require you to resubmit.

Please submit all of the application materials described below using the Grants.gov application package accessed using the instructions above.

Application Materials

The following forms and documents are required under this announcement:

Mandatory Documents:

1. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

2. Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A)

3. EPA Key Contacts Form 5700-54

4. EPA Form 4700-4 Preaward Compliance Review Report

5. Narrative Proposal (Project Narrative Attachment Form)-prepared as described in

Appendix B of the announcement (refer to Section I.B for required content)

6. Budget Detail (Budget Narrative Attachment Form) – See Appendix C for information https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html

7. Support Materials (Other Attachment Form)

a. Resumes of curriculum vitae of staff that will be working on the Pilot

Watershed Program

b. Letters of commitment from any partners identified in the proposal in order to confirm their partnership.

c. Letters of support and commitment for all cities and town government in which the Pilot Watershed is located.

d. Confirmation (or process to confirm) access to private property by their owner(s) required to carry out monitoring of water, priority habitat and practices installed as part of the agreement.

e. List documenting past or ongoing federal and/or non-federally funded assistance agreements administer by the applicant, including documentation supporting grant performance and meeting of reporting requirements.

f. Documents of non-profit status if appropriate.

g. Verification of proposed sources of non-federal match to the application. See

Appendix B for additional details.

Applications submitted through grants.gov will be time and date stamped electronically.

If you have not received a confirmation of receipt from EPA (not from grants.gov) within

30 days of the application deadline, please contact Ian Dombroski

(Dombroski.Ian@EPA.GOV; 617-918-1342). Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.

C. Technical Issues with Submission

1. Once the application package has been completed, the "Submit" button should be enabled. If the "Submit" button is not active, please call Grants.gov for assistance at

1-800-518-4726. Applicants who are outside the U.S. at the time of submittal and are not able to access the toll-free number may reach…