Emergency Relief Program Outreach Education and Technical Assistance

The Emergency Relief Program (ERP) is intended to help agricultural producers offset the impacts of natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. The second phase of ERP is aimed at filling gaps and providing assistance to producers who did not participate in

The Farm Service Agency (FSA), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), seeks to partner with stakeholder organizations to effectively reach producers, including those that are small, underserved, and not currently participating in existing programs who did not apply under phase 1 of the ERP program. FSA is seeking proposals from eligible entities that focus on outreach for increasing awareness about ERP and have the primary goal of connecting landowners interested in program participation to apply under a traditional FSA application process. Expeditated outreach by stakeholders should include: • Technical assistance support • Tools for nontraditional customers • Office hours for stakeholders • Targeted, timely stakeholder feedback on areas that need improvement.

Applicants and applications must meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline to be considered for award. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program (2 CFR 200.206(d)).

Expeditated outreach by stakeholders should include: Technical assistance support, Tools for nontraditional customers, Office hours for stakeholders, Targeted, timely, stakeholder feedback on areas that need improvement.

Funding is available and must be spent by December 31, 2023.

Emergency Relief Program - Phase 2 - provides assistance to those producers not covered under Phase 1 and may include shallow losses, extended quality, and producers who did not avail themselves of risk management crop insurance/NAP. There will be noncompetitive agreements for eligible entities to provide technical assistance.

Applications will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this notice. Incomplete, noncompliant, and/or applications not meeting the formatting criteria may be eliminated from competition. In that event, the agency will send notification of elimination to the applicant. An applicant must meet the following standards to be considered for award: a. Financial Stability. The applicant maintains an adequate financial resources or cash flow to meet its financial obligations on a routine basis in order to successfully complete any agreement it may be awarded. b. Quality of Management Systems and Ability to meet Management Standards prescribed in 2 CFR Part 200. The applicant has a financial management system adequate to segregate and track federal funds. It has adequate systems in place for proper agreement administration; compliance with the standards outlined in 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart D for procurement, property, and records management; and required financial and performance reporting. c. History of Performance. If the applicant has previously obtained Federal financial assistance award, it has never failed to materially comply with the Federal award terms and conditions and further that it has never had an award terminated on that basis. Submission of an application constitutes certification that an applicant meets these standards (items a. through c. above). The agency may request documentation to substantiate the certification. Based on risk assessment, the agency may impose specific award conditions in accordance with 2 CFR 200.208. Awards Over the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (if applicable) a. Prior to making a Federal award with a total Federal share greater than the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000), the agency must review and consider any information about the applicant that is in the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM (the Federal Awardee Performance Integrity Information System, FAPIIS) (see 41 U.S.C. 2313 and 2 CFR 200.206(a)); b. An applicant may review information in FAPIIS accessible through SAM and comment on any information about it that a Federal awarding agency previously entered; c. The agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to the other information in the designated integrity and performance system, in making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 2 CFR 200.206, Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. Merit/technical reviews will be conducted by a technical review board nominated by the approving official. Risk reviews will be conducted by the FPAC Business Center, Grants and Agreements Division. The approving official will make the final award decisions. The approving official for this opportunity is the FSA Outreach Division Director.

The approving official for this opportunity is the FSA Outreach Division Director. Merit/technical reviews will be conducted by a technical review board nominated by the approving official. Risk reviews will be conducted by the FPAC Business Center, Grants and Agreements Division. The approving official will make the final award decisions.