Office of Response and Restoration

To support efforts aimed at preparing for, evaluating, and responding to threats to coastal environments, including oil and chemical spills, releases from hazardous waste sites, and marine debris.

This assistance listing will support efforts aligned towards the mission and strategic goals of NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (ORR). ORR is a center of expertise in preparing for, evaluating, and responding to threats to coastal environments, including oil and chemical spills, releases from hazardous waste sites, and marine debris. ORR's mission is to develop scientific solutions to keep the coasts clean from threats of oil, chemicals, and marine debris. To fulfill this mission of protecting and restoring NOAA trust resources, ORR provides scientific and technical support to prepare for and respond to oil and chemical releases; determines damage to natural resources from these releases; protects and restores marine and coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs; and works with communities at all levels to address critical local and regional coastal challenges, such as reducing the impacts of marine debris. NOAA expects that the funding awarded through this solicitation will support efforts consistent with the above mission goals.

Eligible applicants for assistance typically include 1) state and local governments including public universities and colleges; 2) U.S. territorial agencies and organizations; 3) federally and State-recognized Indian Tribal governments; 4) private universities and colleges; 5) private / commercial for-profit organizations; and 6) nonprofit research and conservation organizations.

This program benefits Federal, State, and interstate marine resource conservation and management agencies; U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States; U.S. and foreign commercial and recreational fishing industries; conservation organizations, academic institutions; international and Indian Tribal treaties; private and public research groups; consumers; and the general public.

Financial assistance can be used to support the implementation of locally-driven projects that achieve the objectives of the program listed above. Funds must be spent to carry out the purpose of the program and the award in accordance with ORR's relevant authorities.

Preapplication coordination is often required. An environmental impact statement is required for this listing. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review.

Applications for financial assistance are funded through competitive solicitations for proposals, non-competitive awards, or unsolicited applications for which no competition exists. Proposals are evaluated in accordance with Department of Commerce processes, and scored according to the criteria and weights described in the specific funding opportunity description. These criteria address such things as the importance and applicability of a proposal to agency priorities; the technical and scientific merit of a proposal; the overall qualifications of an applicant; and project costs, among others. Reviewer comments, composite project scores, and a rank order of reviewed proposals are presented to the Office of Response and Restoration Selecting Official. The Selecting Official, in consultation with relevant Program staff, will identify the proposals to be recommended to the NOAA Grants Management Division for funding and will determine the amount of funds available for each approved proposal.

Proposals are evaluated by the appropriate NOAA subject matter experts, and are subject to review for technical merit, soundness of design, competency of the applicant to perform the proposed work, potential contribution of the project to national or regional goals, and appropriateness and reasonableness of proposed costs. Projects approved for funding will be submitted to the NOAA Grants Management Division and through any other agency or Departmental review processes that may be deemed necessary.

Refer to the federal funding opportunities posted on www.grants.gov for specific submission and deadline information.

Grants and cooperative agreements are approved on an annual basis. Financial assistance may be continued beyond the original project period, but cannot exceed 5 years unless otherwise approved by the NOAA Grants Management Division. Such extensions depend on NOAA approval of the project's scope of work, satisfactory progress toward project goals, and availability of agency funds. Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is at the sole discretion of the Department.