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Wetland Protection Project Grants Request for Initial Proposals
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Funding Opportunity Description:
Proposal and Submission Information APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION |
OVERVIEW:
Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, Division of Environmental Planning and Protection, Water Programs Branch, Wetlands Protection Section
Funding Opportunity Title: Wetland Protection Project Grants Request for Initial Proposals
Announcement Type: Initial Announcement
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA):
66.436: Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstration and Training Grants
relating to the Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3) 
Action Date(s)
| Proposal Due Dates |
Postmarked or emailed by September 17, 2004
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|---|---|
| EPA Region 2 review / evaluation |
October 18, 2004
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| Request for Complete Application |
October 25, 2004
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| Receipt of Complete Application |
Postmarked no later than
November 22, 2004 |
| Expected funding decision |
January 21, 2005
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| Expected grant award notification |
January 28, 2005
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I Funding Opportunity Description
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, Division
of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), Water Programs Branch
(WPB), Wetlands Protection Section is soliciting proposals for surveys,
studies, investigations, demonstrations and training grants related to
wetlands protection. EPA is authorized to award the referenced grants
under the statutory authority of Section
104(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). EPA's Administrator is authorized
to make grants to State water pollution control agencies, interstate agencies,
other public or nonprofit agencies, institutions, organizations, and individuals
for the purposes of prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution.
Under the CWA 104(b)(3) statutory authority, grant efforts may conduct
and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations,
experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to
the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of
water pollution. The Clean Water Act has defined wetlands as waters of
the United States and recognizes the contribution of the nation's wetlands
to our water quality. The enduring mission of the Wetlands Protection
Program is to encourage and enable others to act effectively in protecting
and restoring the nation's wetlands and associated ecosystems. This announcement
refers to CFDA
66.436: Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstration and Training Grants
.
Priority for funding 2004 Wetland Protection Project Grants will be directed in the following areas:
Watershed-based Wetland Restoration and Management
Focus: research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies pertaining to wetland restoration projects within local or regional stream or watershed management programs.Assessing/Monitoring Wetland Health and Condition
Focus: research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies pertaining to wetland condition in one or more watershed(s) using established methodologies for biological and/or landscape level assessment. Methodologies must have been tested and verified for accuracy. Findings should be published in publicly available reports and/or on a World Wide Web site.Wetland Resource Awareness
Focus: research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies to identify and promote the importance of wetlands among local or regional planning, regulation, education, and/or conservation entities, e.g., (but not limited to) improving understanding of the natural resource contribution of wetlands in a locality or region; education-outreach projects; facilitation of a wetland protection coalition.
These funding priorities are emphasized but not limiting. Surveys, Studies,
Investigations, Demonstrations and Training grants may be used towards
any effective wetlands protection and/or restoration effort that is consistent
with CWA Section
104(b)(3) statutory authority.
ll Award Information
Grant funds are awarded through a competitive process. This year Region 2 anticipates the availability of approximately $60,000 for wetlands protection project grants.
- Proposals should not exceed $30,000.
- There is no minimum requirement.
- Matching Funds are not required.
The number of proposals that will be requested to submit a complete application and the number of applications recommended for award will depend upon the quality of the proposals received and the relative amount of funding requests in the context of fiscal year 2004 Region 2 monies. EPA reserves the right to reject all proposals or applications and make no awards.
These awards are project grants. Each grant project must be completed
with the initial award of funds. There is no renewal of these grant awards.
Funding and project periods can extend for more than one year, no longer
than five years, and preferably within one to three years.
III Eligibility Information
Assistance under this program is generally available to States, territories, Indian Tribes, and possessions of the U.S., public and private universities and colleges, hospitals, laboratories, other public or private nonprofit institutions, and individuals.
Threshold Criteria for Eligibility
Nonprofit 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.
Proposals which do not comply with the Clean Water Act 104(b)(3) statutory authority are not eligible. Under the CWA 104(b)(3) statutory authority, grant efforts may conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. Wetlands are defined in the Clean Water Act as waters of the United States. An example of an ineligible proposal is one which constructs a dam or performs dredging on a private lake for maintenance purposes.
All entities submitting proposals in response to this solicitation must meet the eligibility criteria above and all proposed project activities and costs must be eligible under the authorizing statute discussed in Section I. Funding Opportunity Description. Proposed projects must take place in one or more Region 2 states, i.e., New York, New Jersey, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Territory of the Virgin Islands. Proposals that do not meet these threshold criteria will be rejected without further evaluation
IV. Application and Submission Information
Project proposals should be mailed or e-mailed - with a subject header stating 2004 Wetland Protection Project Grant proposal - to Kathleen Drake:
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Kathleen Drake |
Telephone: (212) 637-3817 e-mail: Drake.Kathleen@epa.gov |
Any information that you consider confidential should be clearly marked.
EPA will make confidentiality decisions in accordance with 40
CFR Part 2, Subpart B.
The deadline for the submission of proposals is a postmark or e-mail date
no later than September 17, 2004 . If mailed, please submit two copies.
If e-mailed, please attach proposal as a WordPerfect, Microsoft Word,
or Adobe Acrobat pdf file. If proposals are not e-mailed or post marked
by 9/17/04, they will be rejected and will not be considered for funding.
Proposals must include:
- Contact information - project coordinator email, telephone, address;
- Work plan - see Clarity of Work Plan under Evaluation Criteria, page 6 below ;
- Proposed budget - must include only allowable costs, see Section IV Funding Restrictions, page 4 below;
- Listing of prior EPA grants (include award number) received and contact information for the affiliated EPA Project Officer.
Proposals will be reviewed and ranked using the evaluation criteria noted below. Submission of the proposal is the most significant phase in the competitive process. Those applicants whose proposals receive high rank in the evaluation criteria will be requested, by October 25, 2004 via e-mail or telephone, to submit a complete application. A complete application includes all items noted in the EPA Region 2 Web page, Grant Application Kit . Application forms can be printed from that web site or requested from Kathleen Drake (see Contacts, section VII).
Complete applications should be mailed to :
Mr. Roch Baamonde,
Chief, Grants and Contracts Management Branch,
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007-1866,
post marked no later than November 22, 2004. If a complete application is not post marked by 11/22/04, the application will be rejected and will not be considered for funding.
Applications may be subject to Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." The application kit includes information and contacts for this process
Grant applicants submitting a complete application package will be required to provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number when applying for Federal grants or cooperative agreements. Organizations can receive a DUNS number in one day, at no cost, by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number request line at 1-866-705- 5711 or by visiting http://www.dnb.com
Quality assurance/quality control and peer review, are sometimes applicable to grants awards (see 40 CFR 30.54 and 40 CFR 31.45). A Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) will require coordination with the EPA Region 2 offices. If a work plan involves environmental measurements or use of existing environmental data, an approved QAPP is required prior to the onset of data collection or application. Please request a copy of the Region 2 Quality Assurance Project Plan guidance from Kathleen Drake. Submission of proposals does not require inclusion of quality assurance plans. Contact Kathleen Drake (see Section VII. Agency Contacts, below) with quality assurance plan questions.
Submission Dates and Times
| Proposal Due Dates |
Postmarked or emailed by September 17, 2004
|
|---|---|
| EPA Region 2 review / evaluation |
October 18, 2004
|
| Request for Complete Application |
October 25, 2004
|
| Receipt of Complete Application |
Postmarked no later than
November 22, 2004 |
| Expected funding decision |
January 21, 2005
|
| Expected grant award notification |
January 28, 2005
|
Funding Restrictions
Grants are available to support recipients' allowable direct and indirect
costs incident to approved scopes of work in accordance with established
EPA policies and regulations, i.e., EPA's General Grant Regulations (40
CFR Part 30 and 40
CFR Part 31). Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB
Circular No. A-87 (State/local governments, Indian Tribes); OMB
Circular No. A-21 (educational institutions) and OMB
Circular No. A-122 (nonprofit institutions).
V. Application Review Information
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals meeting the threshold criteria discussed in Section III above
will be evaluated against the criteria below. Priority in the selection
process will be given to those proposals addressing the Funding Priorities
identified in Section I above (noted in Criteria 1 in the table below).
States, Territories, Indian Tribes, and State-chartered universities have the opportunity to apply for EPA Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDG). Therefore, preference in the award of Wetland Protection Project grants will be shown to eligible entities other than States, Territories, Indian Tribes, and State-chartered universities.
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Criteria
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Components Considered
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| 1) Adherence to 2004 Funding Priorities
Priority in the selection process will be given to projects that address the funding priorities |
Watershed-based Wetland Restoration and Management Focus: research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies pertaining to wetland restoration projects within local or regional stream or watershed management programs. Assessing/Monitoring Wetland Health and Condition Wetland Resource Awareness |
| 2) Clarity of Work Plan
Clearly written and detailed proposals No page limit |
Work plans should include:
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| 3) Potential Environmental Results
Likelihood of positive environmental results in |
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| 4) Transferability of Results and/or Methods |
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| 5) Involvement/Commitment of the Applicant
Significant financial and personnel contribution and involvement of partners |
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| 6) Consistency with EPA Goals |
Government Performance Results Act and EPA Strategic Plan Goals which are:
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| 7) Success of Previous Projects | Does not add value in the rating process for prior wetland
grant recipients to give an automatic advantage over new applicants.
In cases of inadequate and inappropriate prior grant performance,
the criteria can lower an applicant's ranking; it allows consideration
of poor past performance in the evaluation of current grant proposals. |
A review panel of three to five EPA personnel will evaluate proposals. Criteria are of equal weight. A rating of 1 through 8 will be assigned to criteria 1 through 6. A sum of ratings will be tallied, with the highest attainable score being 48. Proposals will be ranked by the summed ratings - the highest sum of ratings will rank highest. The last criterion is considered only amongst prior grant recipients. This criterion does not add extra points in the rating process for prior EPA grant recipients to give an automatic advantage over new applicants. The criterion does, in cases of inadequate and inappropriate prior grant performance, lower an applicant's ranking; it allows consideration of poor past performance in the evaluation of current grant applications.
Review and Selection Process
Those proposals receiving a high rank in the evaluation criteria will
be requested to submit a complete application. Application information
appears in Section IV above. As noted earlier, the number
of applications requested and the number of applications recommended for
award will depend upon the quality of the proposals received and the relative
amount of funding requests in the context of fiscal year 2004 Region 2
monies. EPA reserves the right to reject all proposals or applications
and make no awards
VI. Award Administration Information
Notices
After receipt of a complete application, work plan, and budget, the Wetlands
Protection Program and the Grants Office will perform a review of the
entire package. Based on this review, recommendation for funding the awards
will be forwarded to the Assistant Regional Administrator for Policy and
Management for decision. When all funding decisions are complete, a grant
award notification, signed by the Assistant Regional Administrator for
Policy and Management, will be mailed to recipients. An award document
constitutes an offer to the recipient organization and sets forth the
terms and conditions of the assistance agreement. Recipients will be required
to sign the award document in triplicate and return these to:
Mr. Roch Baamonde,
Chief, Grants and Contracts Administration Branch,
EPA Region 2,
290 Broadway,
New York, NY 10007-1866.
As the assistance agreement is a legal document, an authorized representative
of the organization must indicate acceptance with his or her signature.
Non-award notification will be mailed or e-mailed to all participants
that did not receive an award this fiscal year. For award appeals see
40
CFR Part 30.63 and Part
31, Subpart F.
Administrative Requirements
Awards are subject to EPA's General Grant Regulations found in the Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Title 40 Part 30 - Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and
Cooperative Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals,
and Other Non-Profit Organizations and CFR
Title 40 Part 31 - Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and
Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments
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Reporting
- Progress Reports: Reports describing the project activities conducted, results achieved, and the identification of projected activities will be required on a quarterly basis.
- Final Report: A final report at the completion of the project, with inclusion of copies of all developed materials and products.
- Financial Status Reports (FSR): FSR's are required annually. A final
FSR is required at the completion of the project.
VII. Agency Contact
Kathleen Drake
(212) 637-3817
Drake.Kathleen@epa.gov
Wetlands Protection Section
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
New York, NY 10007-1866
