NRDA 2012 Implementation Grants

The principal objective of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) 2012 Multi-year Implementation Grants is to administer funds for sub-awarded coastal habitat conservation and restoration projects. The funded projects/sub-awards will be selected through NRDA restoration planning processes in response to natural resource injuries and lost use of natural resources due to those injuries. NOAA acts as a trustee on behalf of the public to protect and restore coastal and marine resources. For almost 20 years, NOAA has worked cooperatively with responsible parties (the individuals, companies, or government agencies responsible for an oil spill or hazardous substance release) and trustee councils (teams of state, tribal, and other federal agencies convened to respond to a specific spill, release, or grounding) to implement remedial actions that protect NOAA trust resources from additional harm. If an incident diminishes the services that natural resources provide, including human services (e.g., fishing, beach-going,) and ecological services (e.g., providing habitat, nutrient cycling), the trustees will seek to implement projects to restore those lost services. Since 1992, we have recovered more than $600 million from responsible parties to protect and restore coastal resources, including migratory fish, marine mammals, wetlands, reefs, and other coastal habitats. Applicants selected through this federal funding opportunity will be those capable of implementing trustee-selected NRDA restoration projects, or competitively soliciting projects to meet specific restoration goals determined by the trustee council. Projects selected by the trustees may be implemented through a subcontract to a specified organization, or may be directly implemented by the grantee requiring significant oversight, provided the trustees determine the applicant has relevant expertise. NOAA anticipates that approximately $750,000-$15,000,000 may be available to fund the awarded cooperative agreements over the life of any selected awards. Funding is expected to be provided on an as-available basis to maintain the grants for up to seven years, and is dependent upon the level of funding made available by trustee councils. NOAA anticipates that typical awards will range from $350,000 to $2,000,000 within the first year. NOAA will not accept proposals with a first year budget less than $300,000 or more than $5,000,000 under this solicitation. Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, non-profits, and commercial (for-profit) organizations. Applications for federal, state, tribal, or local governments will not be considered, due to their potential role as trustee council members. Eligible applicants must have managed at least $500,000 of federal funds per year over three or more of the past five years.