Tribal and Insular Area Grants: Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA)
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2022 Tribal and Insular Area Request for Applications CLOSED
EPA anticipates awarding approximately $8 million in DERA funding under this announcement. A total of $7 million will be made available to tribal governments (or intertribal consortia) and Alaska Native Villages, and $1 million will be made available to insular area governments. EPA anticipates awarding ten to fifteen cooperative agreements to tribal governments (or intertribal consortia) and Alaska Native Villages and two to four cooperative agreements to insular area governments.
This Request for Applications (RFA) has no mandatory cost share requirement. The amount of federal funding requested per application by the tribal governments (or intertribal consortia) or Alaska Native Villages must not exceed $800,000, and the amount requested per application by the insular area government entities must not exceed $300,000. Applications requesting in excess of these amounts will be rejected. Each applicant may submit up to two applications.
Although funding for both tribes and insular areas is planned under this single RFA, the applications will be competed separately. Tribal applications will be reviewed, ranked and selected by one review panel, and insular area applications will be reviewed, ranked and selected by a separate review panel. EPA’s ten regional offices will manage awards. The number and size of cooperative agreements made under this announcement are subject to the availability of funds, the quality of applications received, and other considerations.
2022 DERA Tribal and Insular Area RFA Informational Flyer (pdf)
Please download this flyer to share with potential applicants.
Important Dates
| Activity | Date |
|---|---|
| 2022 Request for Applications (RFA) CLOSED | Wednesday, October 26, 2022 11:59 P.M. ET |
| Information Session Webinars |
Webinar 1 held on Tuesday, August 16th, 2022 1:00 P.M. ET Webinar 2 held on Thursday, August 25th, 2022 3:00 P.M. ET Webinar 3 held on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 7:00 P.M. ET |
| Deadline for Submission of Questions |
Friday, October 14, 2022 |
| Deadline for Applications | Wednesday, October 26, 2022 11:59 P.M. ET |
| Anticipated Notification of Selected Applicants | January 2023 |
| Anticipated Funding of Awards | February 2023 |
Supporting Information for RFA
See the documents below for supporting information for the 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Grants RFA. Information for past funding opportunities can be found on the Past Program Documents page.
- 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Grants Program Webinar (pdf)
- 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Sample Project Narrative (docx)
- 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Sample Applicant Fleet Description (xlsx)
- 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Sample Eligibility Statement (docx)
- 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Sample Scrappage Statement (WORD) (docx)
- 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Priority County/Area List (PDF) (pdf)
- Best Practice Guide for Procuring Services, Supplies, and Equipment Under EPA Assistance Agreements (PDF)
- DERA Transport Refrigeration Unit (TRU) Factsheet (PDF)
- How to Identify Low NOx Certified Engines Factsheet (PDF)
- VW Settlement - DERA option
Questions and Answers
The deadline for submitting questions regarding the 2022 Tribal and Insular Area Request for Applications (RFA) was Friday, October 14, 2022 at 11:59 PM (ET). All questions and answers, including those from all webinar information sessions were added to the 2022 Tribal & Insular Area Grants Questions & Answers-October 20th, 2022 (pdf) document. The final posting of the questions and answers document was Thursday, October 20, 2022 by 4:00 PM (ET). All applicants are encouraged to review this document for further clarification of the RFA. For further questions regarding DERA, please email dera@epa.gov.
Eligible Applicants
Under this solicitation, only tribal governments (or intertribal consortiums), Alaska Native Villages, or insular area government agencies which have jurisdiction over transportation or air quality, are eligible to apply for assistance, in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 16131 and Assistance Listing 66.039.
Tribal governments are defined as Federally recognized Indian tribal governments, which are any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community (including Alaska Native Villages) certified by the Secretary of the Interior as eligible for the special programs and services provided through the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as any organization or intertribal consortium that represents Federally recognized tribes.
Intertribal consortium is defined as a partnership between two or more eligible tribal
governments as defined above, that is authorized by the governing bodies of those tribes to apply for and receive assistance under this program. Intertribal consortia are eligible to receive assistance under this program only if the consortium demonstrates that all members of the consortium meet the eligibility requirements for the program and authorize the consortium to apply for and receive assistance by submitting to EPA documentation of (1) the existence of the partnership between Indian tribal governments, and (2) authorization of the consortium by all its members to apply for and receive the assistance.
Insular areas include the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as defined in 48 U.S.C. §1469a.
Please refer to the full RFA for specific information about this competition.
Eligible Uses of Funding
Eligible diesel emissions reduction solutions include verified retrofit technologies, verified idle reduction technologies, verified aerodynamic technologies, verified low rolling resistance tires, certified engine replacements and conversions, and certified vehicle or equipment replacement.
Eligible diesel vehicles, engines and equipment may include:
- Marine engines on fishing and other vessels
- Nonroad engines, equipment, or vehicles used in construction, handling of cargo (including at ports or airports), agriculture, mining, or energy production (including stationary generators and pumps)
- School buses
- Electrified parking spaces
- Heavy duty highway vehicles, such as dump trucks, water trucks, fire trucks
- Locomotive Engines
For more examples of previously funded projects, see Awarded Grants. For specific information about eligible uses of funding for this competition, refer to the full RFA.
Application Process
Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (www.grants.gov) by the deadline to be considered for funding.
The Grants.gov registration process also requires that your organization have a Unique Entity Identifier (previously known as the DUNS number) and a current registration with the System for Award Management (www.SAM.gov) and the process of obtaining both could take a month or more. Please note that SAM.gov registrations do expire, and inactive accounts must re-register to be able to submit an application.
For more information on the registration requirements that must be completed in order to submit an application through Grants.gov, go to www.grants.gov and click on “Applicants” on the top of the page, and then click the “Get Registered” link on the page. All applications must now be submitted through www.grants.gov using the “Workspace” feature. Information on the Workspace feature can be found at the Grants.gov Workspace Overview Page.
Tools and Resources for Applicants
- Tips for a Successful Diesel Retrofit Project (PDF) (7 pp, 500 K, April 2013, EPA-420-B-13-025) provides tips to help you get started and avoid common mistakes.
- Technology Tips: Diesel Emissions Reduction Program (DERA): Technologies, Fleets and Projects Information (PDF) (36 pp, 1.3MB, October 2011, EPA-420-P-11-001) provides information about retrofit technologies and what to look for.