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Questions and Answers for EPA-OW-OWM-08-01
Questions and Answers for EPA-OW-OWM-08-01
Market-Based Approaches for Increasing Water Efficiency in the
Residential, Commercial, and Institutional Sectors
(Questions must be received by January 10, 2008)
Market-Based Approaches for Increasing Water Efficiency in the
Residential, Commercial, and Institutional Sectors
(Questions must be received by January 10, 2008)
1. Are public or private colleges and universities eligible to apply for this funding opportunity?
Yes, public and private institutions of higher education are eligible applicants. Clarification: Educational institutions that are for-profit/proprietary organizations are not eligible.
2. Will only one cooperative agreement be awarded under this solicitation?
As indicated in Section II.A of the solicitation, EPA anticipates that only one cooperative agreement will be awarded. If additional funding becomes available after the original selection is made, EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy and guidance. Selections for any additional awards would be made no later than six months after the original selection decision.
3. Are individuals eligible to apply for the cooperative agreement?
Yes, an individual is eligible to apply on his or her own behalf, and not on behalf of a company, institution, state, local or tribal government, or other type of organization. Eligibility Information is described in Section III of the RFA. Interested applicants are encouraged to read the RFA carefully to determine their competitiveness, especially the Funding Opportunity Description in Section I and Selection Criteria in Section V.A of the RFA. All eligible applicants will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria and weights described in this section. An individual who receives a grant is personally responsible for the grant project.
4. Are C corporations eligible to apply for the cooperative agreement?
No, as stated in Section III of the RFA, only public or private, non-profit, non-governmental institutions are eligible. For profit companies are not eligible to apply.
5. Because only one grant will be awarded, how many applications do you expect and how competitive will our project be?
As explained in Section VII of the RFA, EPA's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy (EPA Order 5700.5A1) stipulates that EPA staff will not discuss or comment on draft applications or provide advice to applicants on how to respond to ranking criteria.
6. Is this RFA for an amendment to an existing agreement and, if so, who is the incumbent?
This is a funding opportunity for a new cooperative agreement.
7. I understand matching funds are not required for this program; however, if offered, will they be considered in the review process?
There are no cost-sharing or matching requirements in the RFA and they are not included in the evaluation criteria.
8. Please confirm that applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on January 25, 2008?
Applications submitted electronically through Grants.gov are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on January 25, 2008. Hard copy applications, however, must be received by 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 25, 2008.
9. What type of applicants is usually funded through this program?
This is a one-time Request for Applications for a single project. It is not part of a grant program.
10. How many applications do you anticipate receiving for this opportunity?
Because it is a first-time request in this subject area, we have little basis on which to predict the number of applications.
11. May we submit letters from supporters that we have collaborated with or are restricted to partners for this project?
Section IV.C.2 states that only letters of support from potential partner entities are not included in the page limit. All other letters of recommendation or other support would count toward the page limit.
12. Is this grant available for the design of a more efficient wastewater treatment plant?
The statutory authority for this grant does not include the design or construction of wastewater treatment facilities.
13. Regarding project priority area example (a) "sharing information about water-efficient products and services via a clearinghouse or stakeholder network," who would have responsibility for this clearinghouse or network on an on-going basis? How would it be funded, e.g., as part of the project funding award; separate EPA funding, etc.? Who would be the intended stakeholders for such a clearinghouse?
The applicant would be responsible for the operation of that portion of the clearinghouse or network devoted to sharing the relevant information within the period of performance of the grant. The expansion of an existing clearinghouse or network or the creation of a new one would be eligible for funding under this RFA. No additional EPA funding for such an activity is contemplated. The applicant would need to determine which stakeholders should be reached in order to best enhance the market for water-efficient products.
14. Regarding project priority area example (e) guaranteeing large quantity purchases of water-efficient products or services," what is meant by guaranteeing?
In this sense, guaranteeing means working with large volume purchasers of water-using products to persuade them to purchase water-efficient products.
15. Project priority area examples (g), (h), and (i) involve consumer education and outreach programs. Does funding eligibility extend to the conduct of the actual education and outreach programs or is it only for the development of the programs (in which case the education and outreach programs would be given by others)?
Both the development and conduct of the education and outreach programs are eligible.
16. Under Part II (A) Available Funding, it states that "the cooperative agreement is anticipated to be funded initially at approximately $300,000, with a total maximum award of $600,000 over a three-year project period." It is unclear whether the scope of the submission is to address the project priority areas at $300,000 or at $600,000.
EPA anticipates that it will award one cooperative agreement for a total of approximately $600,000. Because of the uncertainty of Agency appropriations and other considerations, EPA cannot guarantee funding amounts. Applicants should submit an application for a project based on the anticipated total funding of $600,000.
17. How often has this grant been/will be offered?
This is a one-time grant opportunity. It is not expected to be offered again.
18. Will the grant pay to patent devices and will the grant recipient have sole patent rights to the devices?
Section I.C.1 of the RFA describes the Project Priority Area that applicants must address in order to meet the threshold eligibility criteria (Section III.C). The Project Priority Area is intended to apply to existing products and not to research, development, or commercialization of new devices.
19. Can contractual employees be considered staff for purposes of the application. We are a small staff operation and conduct most of our business through consulting "employees" who are not full time members of the staff, but who also work elsewhere. However, these team members are consistently identified both inside and outside the organization as representatives of the organization and they formally represent the organization in a number of ways. Can these team members be considered "staff" for the purposes of the application?
If these individuals do not meet the IRS definition of employees then they cannot be considered as such in the application. As stated in Section IV.E.2 of the RFA, EPA's review panel will consider, as appropriate and relevant, the qualifications, expertise, and experience of only those proposed contractors and consultants that the application demonstrates were selected in compliance with the Competitive Procurement Standards in 40 CFR Part 30 or 40 CFR 31.36.
20. If our application is selected, can these contractors work on the project or must they submit to a formal competitive solicitation? If the application is chosen based on their individual expertise, how can the work then be done by someone else?
Section IV.E.1 of the RFA stipulates that all "applicants must compete contracts for services and products, including consultant contracts, and conduct cost and price analyses, to the extent required by the procurement regulations at 40 CFR Parts 30 or 31, as appropriate." As explained in the answer to Question 19, the contractor's individual expertise would only be considered if the application demonstrated that they were competitively procured.
21. Do the RFA and bidding requirements for subcontractors on this project pertain to project partners? If local pilot projects are suggested as part of the application, and if those local entities are formal parts of the application, are they eligible for grant compensation if not chosen through a competitive process?
All contractor and consultant services must be competed. Section IV.E.1 of the RFA explains that other eligible applicants can participate in the project as subawardees/subgrantees. Applicants are not required to identify subawardees or subgrantees. Local entities and others who are eligible can receive financial assistance under a subaward or subgrant from the grant recipient provided that the recipient complies with the applicable requirements, including those in 40 CFR Parts 30 and 31. For example, applicants must not use subawards/subgrants to obtain commercial services or products from for-profit firms or individual consultants.
22. The solicitation, in Section I.C.1 requires the applicant to address the Project Priority Area. Listed under subpart h) is the following item: "h) developing and demonstrating educational and marketing programs targeted to utility managers, purchasing agents, and service industries to influence management decisions, including leak detection and control." By "leak detection and control," do you mean residential, commercial, and institutional leaks in plumbing, or do you mean water utility distribution system leakage management?
Leak detection and control includes building plumbing leaks or water utility system leaks.
23. Since the application deadline has been extended, do the application forms that have been prepared on Grants.gov, but not submitted, need to be completely redone?
The only changes to the RFA were the application deadline and the question deadline (Section VII); no changes were made to the forms or other information requests. You may use the information you've already prepared to complete your submittal.
24. Why was the application deadline extended? Was there concern about any part of the RFA or the number of applicants? Is there a question about sufficient funding?
The application deadline was extended for programmatic reasons. There is no concern about the RFA; nothing else in the RFA has been changed. There was no concern about the number of applicants. We still anticipate funding the cooperative agreement initially at approximately $300,000, with a total, maximum award of $600,000 over three years.
25. Is this program primarily focused on market research for water-efficient products in existence or is there room for development of water-saving products that would have major, long-term effects on water usage in industry?
Section I.C.1 of the RFA states that the project priority area is limited to activities that affect residential, commercial, or institutional market sectors.
26. Are institutions or organizations in foreign countries eligible to apply for a grant under this solicitation?
This solicitation is limited to U.S. applicants.