FY16 Coral Reef Conservation Program, Domestic Coral Reef Conservation Grants

The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program, 16 U.S.C. §§ 6401-6409, provides matching grants of financial assistance through the Domestic Coral Reef Conservation Grant program to institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, and local and Indian tribal government agencies. These awards are intended to support coral reef conservation projects in shallow water coral reef ecosystems, including reefs at mesophotic depths, in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and coral-dominated banks in U.S. portions of the Gulf of Mexico. Projects may be proposed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas, but these locations are not considered geographic priorities under this announcement. Proposals submitted to this competition must address at least one of the following four categories: 1) Fishing Impacts; 2) Land-Based Sources of Pollution; 3) Climate Change; and 4) Local and Emerging Management Issues. Each category is described in more detail in the Federal Funding Opportunity announcement. All proposed work must be consistent with Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) National Goals and Objectives 2010-2015 (http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcrcp/strategy/currentgoals/resources/3threats_go.pdf) and/or the relevant Jurisdictional Coral Reef Management Priorities (http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcrcp/strategy/reprioritization/managementpriorities) developed for each of the seven states and territories. Proposals selected for funding through this solicitation will be implemented through a grant and will require a 1:1 match of non-Federal funds. Funding for this program is subject to the availability of FY 2016 Congressional appropriations and is expected to range between approximately $800,000 to approximately $1,000,000. Funding made available from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program is intended to support priority coral reef management activities as described in Section I(B) of this Federal Funding Opportunity announcement. Funding will be divided among the U.S. Pacific and Atlantic regions to maintain the geographic balance of the CRCP portfolio overall, as required by the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000. NOAA expects that each applicant will request Federal funding at a funding level between $30,000 and $80,000 under this solicitation and that the average award size will be approximately $50,000, with a project period of 12 or 18 months.