Tips for Submitting Brownfields Grant Applications Through www.grants.gov

General Tips

Register NOW! There is a 5-step registration process outlined below. The process to register in www.sam.gov and/or obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) can take a month or more. Further details and assistance can be found at www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration.

1. Register with SAM (the System for Award Management) at www.sam.gov, make sure your account is active.
2. Obtain a UEI, a 12-digit alphanumeric ID, assigned in www.grants.gov using the correct UEI.
3. Become an authorized AOR by requesting approval from your organization’s E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC).
4. Track the AOR status by logging into www.sam.gov and obtaining a UEI are both free of charge. Please be advised, some companies may offer to register your organization for a fee. If you choose to use one of these companies, any fee you incur is not reimbursable with Brownfield Grant funds.
5. Use the same, 12-digit UEI in www.grants.gov. (The AOR is the person within the applicant’s organization who will submit the grant application through www.grants.gov:
   1. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)
   2. Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424 A)
   3. EPA Key Contacts (Form 5700-54)
   4. Preaward Compliance Review Report (EPA Form 4700-4)
6. The following forms and documents are optional under this announcement:​
   1. ​​​​​​Grants.gov Lobbying Form – To be submitted by applicants requesting more than $100,000 of EPA grant funding.
   2. Negotiated/Proposed Indirect Cost Rate Agreement – To be submitted using the Project Narrative Attachment Form by applicants proposing to charge indirect costs to the EPA grant. Please note that applicants may budget for indirect costs pending approval of their Indirect Cost Rate Agreement by the cognizant Federal agency or an exception granted by EPA under section 6.3 or 6.4 of www.grants.gov does NOT automatically mean www.grants.gov system before the deadline.
   3. After signing and successfully submitting the application package, within 24 to 48 hours the AOR should receive a series of notification emails from www.grants.gov (not EPA) received the application package and assigned a tracking number.

GRANT###### Grants.gov Submission Validation Receipt for Application

• Indicates www.grants.gov did not accept the application package due to errors which need be resolved. Your application package has not been accepted until you receive an email stating that it has been successfully validated.

GRANT##### Grants.gov Grantor Agency Retrieval Receipt for Application

• Indicates EPA retrieved the application package from www.grants.gov Support Center at 1-800-518-4726.
• You can check the status of your application package any time after submission by using the tracking link provided in the Submission Receipt email, or by logging into www.grants.gov. Additional information can be found at www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-faqs.
• If you experience transmission difficulties, please refer to Section IV.B. and Appendix 1 in the NOFO for more information and contact the www.grants.gov because of limited or no Internet access, please see Section IV.B. of the NOFO.

Common Issues to Avoid When Trying to Submit the Application Package through www.grants.gov

• Ensure the file name(s) does not exceed 50 characters.
• Incorrect version of Adobe Reader – www.grants.gov/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html.
• Review other common error messages at www.grants.gov/applicants/encountering-error-messages.html.

Common Reasons for www.sam.gov account is inactive

You must log into your account at least once per year for your account to remain active. It’s easy to check your account status by going to www.grants.gov and on the application forms.

• The submitter is not the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR): Individuals submitting application packages on behalf of their organization must be the AOR or use the AOR’s username and password. The organization’s E-Biz POC must authorize the individual as the AOR.
• The application was submitted with another organization’s account information: The applicant did not have an active www.grants.gov Support Center for FREE assistance at 1-800-518-4726.