Region 2 Conservation Challenge Grant Program

Table of Contents

I. Funding opportunity description
II. Award information
III. Eligibility information
IV. Initial proposal submission information
V. Initial proposal review information
VI. Award Administration
VII. Agency Contacts
VIII. Other information

Overview Information

Federal Agency Name: Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2

Funding Opportunity Title: Conservation Challenge Grant Program

Announcement Type: Initial Announcement

Funding Opportunity Number: R2DEPP-FO-05-04

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number:

Dates:

Proposal Due Date:	March 31, 2005 5:00 PM EST
Request for full applications:	May 2, 2005
Full applications due:	June 1, 2005
Final project selections:	September 30, 2005
Expected grant award notification:	September 30, 2005

Executive Summary

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 is soliciting proposals for grants or cooperative agreements that encourage the development of sustainable programs addressing one or more of the following Region 2 priorities:

source reduction and pollution prevention;
product stewardship;
design for the environment and green manufacturing (includes recycled content);
recycling, reuse and reduction of solid waste (includes market development);
environmentally preferable purchasing (includes post-consumer content);
green building research and development (includes reuse of construction and demolition materials);
energy conservation and innovation;
tribal solid waste management planning;
environmental assistance activities;
community revitalization; and
the minimization of Priority Chemicals (e.g. lead & lead compounds, naphthalene, Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PAHs), cadmium, and brominated flame retardants).

These grants or cooperative agreements will be awarded under one or more of the following statutes:

Clean Water Act, Section 104(b) (3),
Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442(c)(3)(A),
Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a),
Clean Air Act, Section 103(b) (3),
Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10(a) as amended by Public Law 106-74, and
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20(a) as amended by Public Law 106-74.

This solicitation describes the program goals and gives general information on the application and selection process, proposal format, and evaluation criteria.

Funding Availability: Approximately $240,000 total program funding is available for FY 2005. The Region expects to award seven to12 grants or cooperative agreements to eligible applicants.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers:

Eligibility: States, federally recognized tribal governments, territories, universities, local governments, and not-for-profit organizations (including hospitals, laboratories, and individuals).

Key dates:

Proposals due on March 31, 2005
EPA notifies finalists to prepare full applications by May 2, 2005
Full Applications due on June 1, 2005
Final project selections by September 30, 2005
Expected grant award notification by September 30, 2005
Note: Funding of proposals is contingent upon agreement between EPA and your organization on a final work plan and budget. Note that if your proposal is selected to submit a full application, that does not constitute nor guarantee an award. EPA reserves the right to reject all proposals or applications and make no awards, or make fewer awards than anticipated under this solicitation.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding opportunity description
II. Award information
III. Eligibility information
IV. Initial proposal submission information
V. Initial proposal review information
VI. Award Administration
VII. Agency Contacts
VIII. Other information

I. Funding Opportunity Description

EPA Region 2 under the Conservation Challenge Grant program is providing new funding for projects that are unique, innovative and fit under one or more of the following goals:

Provide education and outreach, technical assistance or spur innovative approaches to promote source reduction, pollution prevention, green product design and manufacturing, product stewardship, green building research and development, energy conservation or recovery, reuse, recycling, composting, buying recycled products, reduction of priority chemicals (e.g., lead & lead compounds, naphthalene, Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants), community revitalization or waste minimization.
Stimulate market development for materials that are difficult to recycle/reuse such as construction and demolition debris, electronics, green waste/organic materials, tires, etc.
Incorporate EPA initiatives and priorities (e.g., Resource Conservation Challenge, community-based environmental protection, environmental justice, hospitals for a healthy environment, extended producer responsibility, sustainability, protecting children's health, design for the environment, retail initiative and homeland security) into projects.
Integrate source reduction, pollution prevention, and waste reduction concepts in state, regional and tribal environmental programs.

II. Award Information

EPA intends to make approximately $240,000 in grants and cooperative agreements available this year for the Region 2 Conservation Challenge Grant program. EPA will not fund proposals to:

purchase capital equipment (e.g, trucks, tractors, recycling bins, front-loaders); or
fund construction or construction planning.

EPA will fund proposals to:

support personnel for proposal objectives,
conduct outreach, education or technical training, or
produce public documents, tools, or resource materials.

Non-Federal Match

Matching funds are not required under this solicitation. All matching funds or other contributions provided by the grantee are subject to audits and all federal regulations. (See Section III B for additional information regarding cost sharing or matching).

III Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Not-for-profit organizations must be a certified 501(c)(3) organization (based on the Federal Tax Code Section 501)to be eligible (note: nonprofit organizations that engage in lobbying activities as defined in the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply)
State governments, possessions of the U.S., and federally-recognized tribal governments
Local governments, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school district governments
State controlled and private institutions of higher education, hospitals, laboratories, and individuals.

B. Cost Sharing/Matching
There are no match or cost-sharing requirements. However, both the degree to which the project budget effectively uses EPA funds and leverages matching funds will be considered as evaluation criteria. Matching funds can include cash or in-kind contributions (including labor) provided by your organization and/or other entities. Other Federal money cannot be used as the match or cost share unless authorized by the statute governing the award of the other Federal funds. Any dollars counted towards a formal match must be for costs that U.S. EPA can fund. Allowable costs for nonprofit organizations are defined in OMB circular A-122; allowable costs for public entities are defined in OMB circular A-87. If an applicant identifies matching funds from sources other than itself, they should indicate if such funds are committed at the time of application, or when they will be available.

C. Other Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible, applicants and proposed projects will need to meet all of the following threshold criteria. Threshold criteria will be applied on a pass/fail basis. Failure to meet any of them will render an application ineligible; ineligible applications will not be reviewed. Please note there are no limitations on the number of applications that an applicant may submit.

Threshold Criterion 1: Allowable Activities
The project must consist of activities authorized under one or more of the following EPA grant authorities:

Clean Water Act, Section 104(b) (3),
Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442(c)(3)(A),
Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a),
Clean Air Act, Section 103(b) (3),
Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10(a) as amended by Public Law 106-74, and
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20(a) as amended by Public Law 106-74.

Most of the above statutes authorize grants for research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys and studies. The project activities must advance the state of knowledge or transfer information. Grant proposals should emphasize a "learning" concept, as opposed to "fixing" an environmental problem via a well-established method. The term "demonstrations" can encompass the first instance of the pollution control or prevention technique, or an innovative application of a previously used method. The term "research" may include the application of established practices when they contribute to learning about an environmental concept or problem. See Section IV B below for additional information regarding eligible activities under each of these statutes.

Threshold Criterion 2: Environmental Focus
The project's general focus must be one that is specified in the statutes listed above under Threshold Criterion 1. For most statutes the project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of air, water, or solid/hazardous waste pollution. In the case of grants under the Toxic Substances Control Act or the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the project must "(carry) out the purposes of the Act." The overarching focus must be on the statutory purpose of the applicable grant authorities, which in most cases is "to prevent or control pollution." In light of this, proposals relating to topics that are sometimes included within the term "environment" such as recreation, conservation, restoration, or habitat protection must describe the relationship of these topics to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.

Threshold Criterion 3: Serve a Public Purpose
Proposals must clearly demonstrate how the proposed activities will be of primary benefit to the applicant organization and the public at large. Proposals must clearly demonstrate how the proposed activities directly support the applicant organization's overall mission and long-term goals.

Threshold Criterion 4: Applicant Eligibility
Assistance under this program is available to States, U.S. territories, federally recognized tribal governments, public and private universities and colleges, hospitals, laboratories, other public or private nonprofit institutions and individuals as described in Section 501(c)(3).

Threshold Criterion 5: Complete Proposals That Are Submitted on Time
Complete proposals are due on March 31, 2005. Proposal submissions must strictly adhere to this deadline.

Threshold Criterion 6: Geographic Location of Proposed Project Work
Proposed work must take place in and address environmental issues (see list in the Executive Summary) impacting one or more of the Region 2 States or Territories. Region 2 States and Territories include New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Proposed projects that do not take place within New York, New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and/or the Territory of the Virgin Islands are not eligible.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. To Request Application Package, contact any of the following:

Tristan Gillespie at (212) 637-3753 or gillespie.tristan@epa.gov
Lorraine Graves at (212) 637-4099 or graves.lorraine@epa.gov
Rabi Kieber at (212) 637-4448 or kieber.rabi@epa.gov

B. Content and Form of Proposal Submission
If your project meets all eligibility criteria, you may submit a 4 page "proposal" and cover sheet. The cover sheet does not count toward the page limit (4 pages plus cover page). The proposal should provide EPA with a profile of the applicant in enough detail for the EPA reviewers to ascertain your organization's programmatic capabilities for successfully completing the proposed work, the purpose of your project, a brief explanation of how you plan to accomplish your project, and an estimate of the time and money needed to complete your project (see format below). Information you consider confidential must be clearly marked. EPA will make final confidentiality decisions in accordance with agency regulations. During the review of the proposals, EPA may request clarification of submitted information. Proposals that are inconsistent with program goals or that contain ineligible costs and activities will be screened out of the review process. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation should not be referred for funding elsewhere.

Cover Page Format:

Title and number of this Funding Opportunity announcement (See Overview information)
Your Organization's name
Name of contact person for the project
E-mail address for that contact
Phone number for that contact
Title/ Name of project proposal
One paragraph description (no more than 100 words) of your project work plan
Amount of funding being requested
Your Cover page must also indicate which of the following Statutory Authority(ies) apply to your project (authorized activities are summarized for each statute).
- Clean Water Act, Section 104(b) (3): 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.
- Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442(c)(3)(A): develop, expand, or carry out a program (that may combine training, education, and employment) for training persons for occupations relating to the public health aspects of providing safe drinking water.
- Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a): conduct and promote the coordination of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, public education programs, and studies relating to solid waste (e.g., health and welfare effects of exposure to materials present in solid waste and methods to eliminate such effects).
- Clean Air Act, Section 103(b) (3): conduct research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects (including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, and control of air pollution.
- Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10(a) as amended by Public Law 106-74: conduct research, development, monitoring, public education, training, demonstrations, and studies on toxic substances.
- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20(a) as amended by Public Law 106-74: conduct research, development, monitoring, public education, training, demonstrations, and studies on pesticides.
Proposal Format -- 4 page limit (one page is the front and back of one sheet of paper)

.Background information about lead organization, and other participants/partners. This should include any relevant experiences of the principal staff for the project or any sub-grantee or contractor for the project.
Summary of the project and how the project fits one or more of the goals of the program outlined in the Executive Summary and one or more of the program categories outlined in Section I.
Project goals and objectives:

What will the project achieve?
What will be the impact of the project on the environment and community?
Who will benefit from the project?

Project Measurability:
- How do you plan to determine the project's effectiveness?
- How will project results be measured?
- How will the projects impact on the environment be measured?
Project time line (provide an overall schedule, lasting no more than 24 months).
Estimated project budget (show estimates for personnel, fringe, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, construction, other and indirect). See EPA Grant-Writing Tutorial for assistance in developing your budget. Proposed costs must be necessary, reasonable, allocable and allowable in accordance with the applicable EPA grant regulations and Office of Management (OMB) cost principles (see paragraph E below). Proposed budgets must provide sufficient detail for EPA reviewers to make these determinations.
We encourage you to submit your proposal electronically, however, there is no penalty for submitting proposals by mail or through hand delivery/courier. Proposals submitted by facsimile (fax) will not be accepted.
1. Electronically. By e-mail to: gillespie.tristan@epa.gov
  If you submit an electronic proposal, include your name, mailing address, an e-mail address and phone number. Also include this contact information on the outside of any disk or CD ROM you submit, and in any cover letter accompanying the disk or CD ROM. This ensures that you can be identified as the submitter of the proposal and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA cannot read your proposal due to technical difficulties or needs further information.
2. By mail. Send your proposal to:
  Tristan Gillespie, Pollution Prevention Coordinator, Pollution Prevention Team,
  EPA Region 2,
  290 Broadway, New York, NY, 10007-1866.
Covers, binders, or folders should not be used. Proposals should be submitted on 8 ½" by 11" recycled paper with one-inch margins all around. The font should be no smaller than 10-point type. If you are asked to submit a full application, you will be given additional instructions on how to prepare your submittal.

C. Submission Dates and Times:

Proposal Due Date:	March 31, 2005 5:00 PM EST
Request for full applications:	May 2, 2005
Full applications due:	June 1, 2005
Final project selections:	September 30, 2005
Expected grant award notification:	September 30, 2005

By mail: proposals must be post-marked by 5:00 pm EST on March 31, 2005 (No fax submissions):

Tristan Gillespie,
US. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2,
290 Broadway, 25th Floor,
New York, New York 10007

Electronically: proposals must be emailed by 5:00 pm EST on March 31, 2005 to: gillespie.tristan@epa.gov. We will accept materials in the following formats: Microsoft Word, CorelWordPerfect, or Adobe Acrobat (PDF).
EPA Notifies Finalists: After the proposals are ranked by EPA, we will notify finalists by May 2, 2005 to prepare a full application. At this time, EPA will provide finalists with a format and required forms for the full application.. This will include a work plan of less than 5 pages, budget, and letters of commitment from project partners, if applicable.
Full Application: Finalists must submit a full application that conforms with the instructions provided by EPA no later than June 1, 2005.
Final selections: EPA will review the full applications and make final selections by Fall 2005. Applicants chosen for funding will be asked to negotiate a final work plan with EPA and to complete a federal application for assistance. Please note that if your proposal is selected that does not constitute an award.

D. Intergovernmental Review
Applications may be subject to Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs".

E. Funding Restrictions
Funding is only available for the activities authorized under one or more of the U.S. EPA grant authorities cited. in Section III under Threshold Criterion 1. Funding will not be permitted for construction activities, lobbying, entertainment expenses or other unallowable costs under the OMB circulars. Preaward costs and equipment costs are allowable only with written EPA approval. Allowable costs for nonprofit organizations are defined in OMB circular A-122; allowable costs for public entities are defined in OMB circular A-87. Any contracts for services or products funded with EPA financial assistance must be awarded under the competitive procurement provisions of 40 CFR Part 30 or 40 CFR Part 31, as applicable. Subawards/subgrants must be consistent with the definitions of the terms in 40 CFR 30.5 and 40 CFR 31.37, Subgrants as applicable.

F. Other Submission Requirements
Awards involving the collection of environmental data will be subject to the requirements of a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) and will require coordination with the EPA Region 2 offices. QAPP's can follow, as per the applicant's choice, either EPA Region 2 guidance or Headquarters guidance, EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans EPA QA/R-5 [PDF 36 KB, 13 pp]. Please request a copy of the Region 2 Quality Assurance Project Plan guidance from Tristan Gillespie (see above for contact information).

V. Proposal Review Information

A. Criteria
Proposals meeting the threshold criteria articulated in Section III will be evaluated and ranked against the following criteria:

Project Description (10 points)
- Does the proposal present a clear description of the priority environmental problem(s) or issue(s) which the project will address and how the project will address the problems(s) or issue(s)?
- Are the goals and tasks clear and concise?
- Are the tasks, budget, time line etc. realistic?
- Does the applicant appear qualified to successfully accomplish the proposed project?
- Does the project leverage other public or private resources, including in-kind contributions?
Project Objective/Goals (15 points)
- How well does the proposal meet one or more of the objectives listed under the Program Categories as defined in Section I?
- Does the proposal specify realistic goals and objectives that deal with the environmental problems or issues identified?
Project Benefits (25 points)
- Does the project include a well-conceived strategy to achieve goals and objectives?
- Does the project make effective and judicious use of the requested federal grant funds? Does the project take a creative, innovative approach and/or implement successful models from other areas?
- Will the project deliverables be transferable or useful to others?
- Scale up of past successful projects, consistent with state/tribal and regional priorities, is strongly encouraged for grant applications in FY '05
Measurability of Project Results (25 points)[PDF 8.6 KB, 2 pages]

Will the project lead to measurable environmental improvements, e.g., amount of pollution prevented, waste reduced, reused, recycled or resources conserved. (See attached guidance "Demonstrating Measurable Results ")

Likelihood of success (10 points)
- Will the project become self sustaining beyond EPA funding?
- Will community and stakeholder support continue once the project has concluded (particularly substantive involvement of individuals or organizations best able to affect change, address community needs)?
- Does the project have a realistic and achievable time line for project implementation?.
Budget (10 points)
- Does the budget use funds efficiently?
- Is it appropriate to complete the tasks proposed?
- Does the budget support the expected outcomes and outputs of the project?
- Although matching funds are not required, can the project leverage other sources of funds ( if matching funds are to be considered, they and their sources must be identified in the core proposal and documented in a letter from the contributing organization). Resources can also be leveraged by using volunteer personnel and services provided by another entity.
Programmatic capability (10 points)
- To demonstrate administrative and management capabilities of your organization:
  - What are the qualifications of key personnel?
  - What is the proposed competitive processes for selection of contractors and subgrantees, if applicable?
  - What is the applicant's past performance (dating back 5 years) administering projects funded by EPA/ other federal agencies, state grants, or foundations?
Other Considerations
In addition to the above criteria, the following consideration will be factored into the selection process:
Geographic diversity: All projects must take place in either New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Where a disproportionately low number of project proposals take place in any one of these four areas, the Region will consider this in making selection decisions.

B. Review and Selection Process
EPA will conduct the evaluation of initial proposals and make a selection based upon the rankings of the review panel and the other factors discussed in this announcement. The highest-ranking proposals will be invited to submit a complete application for consideration in the second phase of the competition.

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. 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.

Upon receipt of a complete application, work plan, and budget, the approval official will forward their recommendations for funding to the award official. When all funding decisions are complete, a grant award notification will be issued to recipients. Non-award notification will be issued to all participants that did not receive an award in this year's competition within 30 days of award decision.

VI: Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices
Successful applicants will receive an official notice of award from EPA's grants management office. U.S. EPA anticipates that awards will be announced by September 30, 2005. Successful applicants will be notified via mail or e-mail by this date. Applicants who do not meet any one of the threshold criteria, i.e. the threshold screen, will be notified by this same date as well.

Applicants should be aware that they are not authorized to begin performance on a project until they have received their official award document from the EPA's grant office. No preaward costs may be incurred without EPA approval; preaward costs are undertaken at the recipient's risk.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
Applicants must comply with the standard requirements, terms and conditions of EPA assistance agreements. Funded activities must be allowable under EPA statutory authority (see Section 3). All recipients must have a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number on their formal SF424 applications. A DUNS number can be obtained by calling 1-866-705-5711. A DUNS number is not required until full application is submitted..

C. Reporting
Recipients will be required to submit semi-annual progress reports and will have to participate in annual reviews of their projects with their U.S. EPA project officer. A project officer will be designated at the time of the award of the grant/cooperative agreement; the designated project officer will work in partnership with the recipient.

VII. Agency Contacts

If you have questions about this solicitation, please contact:
Key Contacts:

EPA Pollution Prevention Contact: Tristan Gillespe(gillespie.tristan@epa.gov), (212) 637-3753 phone, (212) 637-3771 fax
Solid Waste/Tribal Contact: Lorraine Graves (graves.lorraine@epa.gov), (212) 637-4099 phone; (212) 637-4437 fax
Sustainability/Green Building Contact: Rabi Kieber (kieber.rabi@epa.gov), (212) 637-4448 phone, (212) 637-5045 fax
Tristan Gillespe
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2
290 Broadway, 25th floor
New York, New York 10007
Phone: (212) 637-3753, Fax: (212) 637-3771
Email: gillespie.tristan@epa.gov

VIII. Other Information

Proposals and Applications are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. This means that anyone can request, and receive, copies of them. Applicants should clearly mark information they consider confidential. U.S. EPA will make final confidentiality decisions in accordance with agency regulations (40CFR part 2, subpart B).

Award disputes are generally resolved in accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR part 30 or 31, depending on the applicant. However, any disputes and disagreements pertaining to competition-related decisions and actions will be resolved in accordance with EPA's Dispute Resolution Procedures.

EPA reserves the right to reject all proposals or applications and make no awards, or make fewer awards than anticipated for this competition. Information about the EPA's policy on competition in assistance agreements is available online.

Please note that no awards will be granted for the purchase of capital equipment (trucks, tractors, front-loaders, etc.) Your organization may submit more than one proposal. Please submit one copy of each proposal.