Gulf of Mexico Program Office Funding Opportunity, 34606-34615 [E6-9362]
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34606
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 115 / Thursday, June 15, 2006 / Notices
Dated: June 5, 2006.
Brian J. McLean,
Director, Office of Atmospheric Programs.
[FR Doc. E6–9316 Filed 6–14–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–8184–2]
Gulf of Mexico Program Office Funding
Opportunity
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice; announcement of
funding opportunity.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: An estimated amount of
$3,000,000 for ten to fifty cooperative
agreements may be awarded under this
announcement to eligible applicants for
projects that improve the health of the
Gulf of Mexico by addressing improved
water quality and public health, priority
coastal habitat protection/recovery,
more effective coastal environmental
education, improved habitat
identification/characterization data and
decision support systems, and strategic
nutrient reductions. Projects must
involve stakeholders and focus on
support and implementation of the Gulf
of Mexico Alliance Governors’ Action
Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts.
DATES: Deadline for Submissions is 6
p.m., Central Time, July 11, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submissions should be sent
electronically to
GMP.Proposals@epa.gov or through
with the https://www.grants.gov.
Electronic messages must use the
subject line: GMP Proposal Submission.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Esther Coblentz, Gulf of Mexico
Program Office, at (228) 688–1281 or
coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview Information
Federal Agency Name: U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf
of Mexico Program Office.
Funding Opportunity Title: Gulf of
Mexico Alliance Regional Partnership
Projects.
Announcement Type: Initial
Announcement.
Funding Opportunity Number: EPA–
GM–2006–1.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 66.475—
Gulf of Mexico Program https://
www.cfda.gov.
Dates: The deadline for submissions
is July 11, 2006, 6 p.m. CST. Proposals
must be submitted by electronic mail.
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The EPA Gulf of Mexico Program’s
(GMP) mission is to protect, restore, and
enhance the coastal and marine waters
of the Gulf and its natural habitats; to
sustain living resources; to protect
human health and the food supply; and
to ensure the long-term use of the Gulf
shores, beaches, and waters. To carry
out the GMP mission, we must continue
to develop and maintain a partnership
of State and Federal agencies, local
governments, academia, regional
business and industry, agricultural and
environmental organizations, and
individual citizens and communities
that effectively addresses the complex
ecological problems that cross State,
Federal, and international jurisdictions
and boundaries.
Workgroup, with EPA and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) as co-leads,
committed to supporting the Alliance.
The Gulf of Mexico Program is the lead
for EPA.
The Alliance released the Governors’
Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient
Coasts on March 28, 2006. This Action
Plan is intended to be a dynamic
starting point for effective regional
collaboration and addresses specific
issues and projects which will result in
a healthier Gulf of Mexico ecosystem
and economy with a vision toward
healthy and resilient coasts and
communities in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Plan sets out a strategy with
eleven actions addressing specific
projects/activities that will deliver
significant on-the-ground results to
achieve the environmental outcomes of
improved water quality for healthy
beaches and shellfish beds; restored/
protected coastal habitats; increased
awareness/stewardship of the Gulf of
Mexico; improved management of Gulf
habitats; and reduced nutrient inputs to
sustain productive Gulf aquatic
ecosystems. These eleven actions are
listed in this announcement under the
following topic areas: Water Quality,
Wetland and Coastal Restoration,
Environmental Education, Identification
and Characterization of Gulf Habitats,
and Reducing Nutrient Inputs. The Gulf
of Mexico Program is announcing the
availability of funding to address the
activities in the Action Plan. For more
information on the Governors’ Action
Plan go to https://www.dep.state.fl.us/
gulf/plan.htm.
Each of the Actions listed below
includes a description of some of the
expected outputs of projects addressing
that Action and projects/activities for
that Action. Applicant proposals must
address one or more of the Actions
listed under the topics below. Proposals
may address actions under different
topic areas, and more than one action
may be addressed in the same proposal.
Project Summary
Water Quality
EPA is issuing this Request for
Proposals to strengthen and support the
Gulf of Mexico Alliance Regional
Partnership. The President’s U.S. Ocean
Action Plan released in December 2004
highlighted the Gulf of Mexico Alliance,
a partnership formed by the five Gulf
State Governors. The President called
for increased integration of resources,
knowledge and expertise to make the
collaboration of the Gulf Alliance a
success. See https://
www.gulfofmexicoalliance.org. Thirteen
Federal agencies formed a Federal
Action 1 (Harmful Algal Blooms):
Establish a cooperative binational
coastal observing and decision support
system in the Gulf of Mexico for the
advanced detection and forecasting of
red tide (K. brevis) and for notifying
public health managers. Educate the
public to help reduce the human health,
natural resource and economic impacts
of bloom events.
Activities:
• Conduct an investigation of
advanced technologies for rapid field
screening and enhanced real-time
For those applicants who lack the
technical capability to apply either by email to GMP.proposals@epa.gov or
through https://www.grants.gov, please
contact Esther Coblentz at (228–688–
1281) and/or coblentz.esther@epa.gov
for alternative submission methods. All
Proposals must be received by EPA or
through grants.gov by the closing date
and will not be accepted after that date.
For further information, see Section IV.
Funding Opportunity Description: An
estimated amount of up to $3,000,000
for between approximately ten to fifty
cooperative agreements may be awarded
under this announcement to eligible
applicants for projects that improve the
health of the Gulf of Mexico by
addressing improved water quality and
public health, priority coastal habitat
protection/recovery, more effective
coastal environmental education,
improved habitat identification/
characterization data and decision
support systems, and strategic nutrient
reductions. Projects must actively
involve stakeholders and focus on
support and implementation of the Gulf
of Mexico Alliance Governors’ Action
Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Background
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remote sensing, platform sensing, and
autonomous sensing of HABs.
• Conduct a study to evaluate and
compare the multiple methods of HAB
detection technologies under
development for K. brevis against
microscopic identification methods.
• Conduct studies, in collaboration
with state and Federal partners
throughout the region, to assess the
public health, natural resources, and
socioeconomic risks and impacts from
HABs.
• Collaborate with existing Gulf State
and Gulf Alliance programs to develop
a strategic outreach plan to inform and
educate the public about HABs and
management actions taken to protect
public health and to expand educational
and outreach methods used to inform
the public about HABs and their
impacts.
• Serve as Project Manager to
facilitate actions to support the
expansion of Harmful Algal Blooms
Observing System (HABSOS) to
Veracruz, Mexico; to initiate and
coordinate two workshops with local,
state, and Federal expert scientists to
implement a curriculum and training
program for personnel in HAB field
sampling and microscopic identification
methods and to demonstrate toxindetection methods; to provide training
to Mexican personnel in sampling,
identification, and enumeration and
guide and assist Mexican personnel in
establishing a sampling program for
detection of K. brevis and other HAB
species; and to provide status reports
and accomplishments.
• Coordinate with Gulf partners and
GCOOS (Gulf Coast Ocean Observing
System) https://ocean.tamu.edu/GCOOS/
gcoos.htm to support the expansion and
pilot of the Harmful Algal Blooms
Observing System to Veracruz, Mexico,
with the operation of 2 meteorological
stations off the coast of Veracruz,
Mexico, and to integrate and
standardize the efforts with those in SW
Texas and South Florida. (See https://
www.epa.gov/gmpo/habpage.html).
Outputs:
• Improve the current Harmful Algal
Bloom (HAB) forecasting system off the
Southwest Florida coast to better
identify the onset of blooms and better
predict the transport of blooms.
• Develop a satellite detection,
forecasting, and internet-based
notification capability for K. brevis off
the southern coast of Texas.
• Develop a satellite detection and
internet-based notification capability for
K. brevis off the coast of the Mexican
Gulf State of Veracruz.
Outcome:
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• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to improve water quality to
achieve healthy beaches and shellfish
beds.
Action 2 (Bacterial Source Tracking):
Ensure safe bathing beaches by
advancing a practical, field-ready
standardized bacterial source tracking
method(s) to determine coastal waters
with public health impairment and to
identify the priority sources of bacterial
pollution to remediate.
Activities:
• Conduct a ‘‘State of the Gulf’’
workshop on pathogen indicators in
recreational marine waters,
epidemiological correlations, and
bacterial source tracking research, with
an endpoint of selecting the site and
designing the study and the parameters
for evaluation.
• Conduct a comprehensive field
evaluation of current bacterial source
tracking capabilities.
• Conduct a workshop to evaluate the
field evaluation results and select two
methods for use in the pilot studies;
select the pilot study areas.
• Pilot test the two preferred bacterial
source tracking methodologies in five
Gulf estuaries (with varying
environmental conditions). Evaluate
bacterial sources responsible for the
contamination of shellfish growing
waters in each of the five pilots.
• Conduct a final workshop to
evaluate the results of pilot studies and
prepare a final report.
• Train state and local personnel in
specific bacterial source tracking
methods. Assist the states in preparing
and supporting strategies for the
effective implementation of these effects
Gulf-wide.
Outputs:
• Conduct a peer-reviewed field
evaluation of current bacterial source
tracking capabilities in an estuarine
recreational area, and select two
methodologies for intensive field
testing/validation.
• Implement pilot testing of these two
methods in five Gulf of Mexico estuaries
with varying environmental conditions
(preferably one location in each Gulf
state).
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to improve water quality to
achieve healthy beaches and shellfish
beds.
Action 3 (Data Collection): Maximize
the efficiency and utility of water
quality monitoring efforts for local
managers by coordinating and
standardizing state and federal water
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quality data collection activities in the
Gulf region.
Activities:
• Host an annual Gulf of Mexico
Forum for Environmental Monitoring to
promote coordination of water quality
monitoring by state, local, and federal
agencies as proposed by the Governors’
Action Plan.
• Develop accountability tools and
accreditation standards for laboratories
performing analyses included in Gulfwide monitoring databases.
• Facilitate the selection of a pilot
parameter for monitoring coordination
and standardization by state and federal
water quality agencies and GCOOS
(leverage possible linkage to National
Water Quality Monitoring Council
regional pilot activities).
Outputs:
• Implement a regional pilot effort to
coordinate and standardize state and
federal water quality data collection
activities in the Gulf region for one or
more nutrient parameter(s) and/or one
or more pathogens.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to improve water quality to
achieve healthy beaches and shellfish
beds.
Wetland and Coastal and Restoration
Action 1 (Restoration Coordination):
Convene a Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Regional Restoration Coordination
Team, where Gulf States, federal
agencies and other private sector
partners can work together to identify
regional priority sites for conservation
and restoration and more successfully
conserve and restore vital coastal habitat
and wetlands.
Activities:
• Host workshops of the Gulf of
Mexico Alliance Regional Restoration
Coordination Team to determine Gulfwide issues, inventory current
restoration successes, and identify
priority sites for restoration.
• Host a Gulf of Mexico interstate
workshop on the importance of
freshwater inflows to maintaining
estuarine health including wetlands.
• Using the Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Regional Restoration Coordination
Team, propose possible resolutions for
Federal/state environmental compliance
issues that affect habitat restoration and
conservation efforts, such as essential
fish habitat (EFH), Endangered Species
Act requirements, and Clean Water Act
(e.g., Total Maximum Daily Loads).
• Devise a strategy to streamline
certain Federal permitting requirements
for wetland restoration.
• Identify administrative and legal
processes in granting agencies that may
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either facilitate or impede wetland
restoration and conservation project
planning and implementation.
• Further develop public-private
partnerships, such as the Corporate
Wetlands Restoration Partnership, in all
five Gulf States and incentives that
support landowner conservation to
increase funding opportunities for
restoration. Ensure state and local
governments are well-informed about
partnership and incentive programs.
• Develop a Gulf Regional Sediment
Management Master Plan to enable more
effective use of dredged material, such
as sand, to protect and restore important
and vulnerable resources and habitats.
Involve state, local, and Federal
representatives in the planning process.
Outputs:
• Establish a Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Regional Restoration Coordination
Team.
• Through the Restoration
Coordination Team, hold a series of
meetings between Federal agencies and
Gulf States to review existing regulatory,
funding, and policy frameworks, and
identify mechanisms that help facilitate
or impede wetland conservation and
restoration efforts.
• Hold a workshop on importance of
freshwater inflows.
• Expand the Corporate Wetlands
Restoration Partnership
• Develop a Gulf Regional Sediment
Management Master Plan to enable more
effective use of dredged material.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to restore/protect coastal
habitats and increase wetlands.
Action 2 (Increase Scientific
Understanding): Increase the Gulf
States’ scientific understanding of the
implications and risks of localized sea
level rise, storm surge and subsidence
through development of tools that
integrate these processes, such as
integrated models.
Activities:
• Enhance the coast-wide network of
elevation benchmarks, including the
Continuously Operating Reference
System (CORS), to deliver subsidence
rates accurate to 1 millimeter per year.
• Obtain information on projected
relative sea level rise, subsidence, and
storm vulnerability to help prioritize
conservation projects, including
restoration, enhancement, and
acquisition.
• Develop and apply aquatic
ecosystem models to forecast the habitat
structure and succession following
hurricane disturbance and changes in
ecological functions and services that
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impact vital socioeconomic aspects of
coastal systems.
Outputs:
• Develop a prototype decisionsupport tool that allows Gulf resource
managers to integrate storm surge, sea
level rise, and subsidence information
for at least one pilot area on the Gulf
Coast and the use of the tool in
determining water quality impacts.
• Develop a pilot Community
Resiliency Index for Gulf coastal
communities.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to restore/protect coastal
habitats and increase wetlands.
Environmental Education
Action 1 (Awareness and
Stewardship): Build awareness and
stewardship ethics among Gulf citizens
by coordinating education and outreach
activities across the Gulf States to
increase access to materials and
programs that address Gulf of Mexico
Alliance priority issues. Translate,
communicate and disseminate relevant
scientific data and information to the
public, including students, educators,
resource managers, local decisionmakers and the business community.
Activities:
• Serve as a Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Network Coordinator for a term of at
least 3 years, who will serve as staff to
the Network, facilitate Alliance
communications, and coordinate
regional education and outreach
activities.
• Coordinate a planning workshop of
the newly established Network at the
Rookery Bay National Estuarine
Research Reserve (NERR), Naples,
Florida, (https://www.rookerybay.org) to
review priority goals, actions and
funding needs in Gulf coast education
and outreach, and build an effective
communications strategy for the
Alliance. The workshop will culminate
in the formulation of a strategic plan
that will guide the initial activities of
the Network.
Establish a Coastal Ecosystem
Learning Center (CELC) in each of the
five Gulf States and in one Mexican
State that borders the Gulf. https://
www.coastalamerica.gov.
• Develop and host a pilot program to
engage underrepresented and
underserved communities in Gulf
stewardship activities related to the Gulf
of Mexico Alliance strategic priorities.
• Design and host a Web site to
support education and outreach efforts
of the Network, including a electronic
clearinghouse to disseminate effective
Gulf coast related educational
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information and materials via the
Internet.
Outputs:
• Convene a binational Gulf of
Mexico Alliance Environmental
Education and Outreach Network, with
dedicated staff, to (1) coordinate
educational and outreach activities that
address Alliance priority issues, and (2)
establish effective methods to
disseminate materials and programs
throughout Gulf coastal communities.
• Coordinate with the existing Coastal
Ecosystem Learning Center networks as
they are expanded to each of the five
U.S. Gulf States and the Mexican Gulf
State of Veracruz. See https://
www.coastalamerica.gov.
• Develop an environmental
education pilot program targeted
towards under-represented and underserved communities in the Gulf region.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to increase awareness/
stewardship among Gulf residents to
establish the link between the health of
the Gulf and quality of life of residents.
Action 2 (Environmental Awareness):
Promote an environmentally literate
citizenry who understands the relevance
of the Gulf of Mexico watersheds and
coasts to the quality of their everyday
lives and to the economic vitality of the
region and the nation. Increase
environmental stewardship in the
practices and activities of Gulf coast
local governments and businesses.
Activities:
• Design and conduct a strategic
public awareness campaign that will
encourage Gulf stewardship and coastal
hazard identification and prevention.
• Coordinate funding sources to
sustain the public awareness campaign
in the short-term (within 36 months)
and long-term (after 36 months).
Outputs:
• Develop and implement a
comprehensive, 36-month (minimum)
public awareness campaign to promote
stewardship messages associated with
the other four Alliance priority issues
and community hurricane preparedness.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to increase awareness/
stewardship among Gulf residents to
establish the link between the health of
the Gulf and quality of life of residents.
Identification and Characterization of
Gulf Aquatic Habitats
Action 1 (Identify and Assess Gulf
Habitats): Identify and assess the
location, extent, variation and condition
of priority coastal, estuarine, nearshore
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and offshore Gulf habitats and establish
a baseline information and mapping
system. The system will provide
comprehensive access to uniform,
quality-assured coastal habitat
observations in the Gulf region by
developing an Internet-accessible,
geospatial database of local, state, and
Federal data sources.
Activities:
• Coordinate Federal and state
collection of information and complete
an inventory of existing habitat data and
initiate a gap analysis. This inventory
will identify available data and
associated metadata. The inventory will
have both a regional and local scope and
will focus on mapping and restoration
projects. Products will include: (a) User
Needs Assessment; (b) Inventory of Gulf
of Mexico Habitat Data; and (c)
Assessment of Priority Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Data Needs.
• Establish the Federal Data
Management Group (FDMG), a team to
work with state, local, and Federal
entities to identify specific requirements
for a regional data management platform
and portal.
• Establish a standard metadata
format to streamline metadata
development and maintenance at the
state, local, and Federal level.
• Establish a data management
platform and portal that will provide
access and delivery of existing state,
local, and Federal data.
• Provide training on data
management equipment to Gulf state
agencies.
• Provide GIS and metadata training
to state and local resource managers in
the five Gulf States.
Output:
• Produce a prototype Web portal to
provide public access to and delivery of
current and historic state, Federal, and
local Gulf of Mexico habitat data, with
the initial focus on sea grass beds. Users
will be able to search a digital library for
habitat information by keyword or
geographic location, preview geospatial
data, and download selected data
products. The portal will also
demonstrate the feasibility of building a
distributed system that will enable users
to request and retrieve data directly
from the agencies holding the original
data.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to sustain the quality of Gulf
habitats.
Reducing Nutrient Inputs
Action 1 (Nutrient Criteria): Establish
a regional coordination venue to
coordinate knowledge, resources and
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tools for the development of nutrient
criteria in Gulf coastal ecosystems.
Activities:
• Convene the Coordination Team
and a technical conference to synthesize
the state of knowledge regarding
nutrient levels and develop a plan for
regional coordination.
• Use information gained from the
Northern Gulf Estuarine Pilot Project to
identify one or more estuaries to apply
the methods and lessons learned from
the Northern Gulf Estuarine Pilot
Project. Establish and implement a
regional communications plan. At the
direction of the State lead(s), facilitate
the identification of at least three
targeted estuaries (one in each of the
northern Gulf States) for trial
application of the lessons learned
through the course of this study.
• Identify and coordinate federal,
state, and local monitoring efforts and
data management systems to support
development of nutrient criteria.
• Present a comprehensive
assessment of Gulf nutrient monitoring
program needs to the National Water
Quality Design Team.
• Inventory modeling needs to deal
with nutrient issues under permitting,
TMDL development, and nutrient
criteria development.
• Develop a library/database of
marine and estuarine species for site
specific D.O. criteria development.
Output:
• Establish a Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Nutrient Criteria Coordination Team of
state and federal representatives to meet
the needs of the Gulf States through
improved coordination among existing
local, state, regional, and national
nutrient reduction programs.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to reduce nutrients in Gulf
waters to achieve healthy and resilient
coastal ecosystems.
Action 2 (Nutrient Prevention and
Reduction): During recovery and
rebuilding efforts in the Gulf region,
apply innovative practices and
technologies to restore fishing and
recreational uses in key coastal
watersheds impaired by excessive
nutrient inputs.
Activities:
• Identify key coastal watersheds
with significant nutrient impacts,
sensitive waters, and a high likelihood
of successful restoration of fishing and
recreational uses.
• Identify communities conducting
infrastructure rebuilding activities
where nutrient reduction can be
achieved through improved
infrastructure planning and design.
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• Identify and prioritize
implementation and coordination
opportunities for existing Federal, state,
and local programs in key coastal
watersheds and communities
conducting infrastructure rebuilding
activities.
• Provide technical assistance to
interested local governments to improve
infrastructure planning and design.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of
nutrient reduction activities in key
coastal watersheds and rebuilding
communities and develop techniques to
improve effectiveness.
• Map communities served by
advanced wastewater treatment systems
to help develop strategies for
remediation activities.
Output:
• Perform a study on nutrient
prevention and reduction activities in
Gulf communities improving or
rebuilding infrastructure.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to reduce nutrients in Gulf
waters to achieve healthy and resilient
coastal ecosystems.
Action 3 (Hypoxia): Coordinate among
the Gulf States to develop a unified
position shared by all Gulf States to
advocate actions—by all 31 states in the
Mississippi River Watershed—to reduce
Gulf hypoxia.
Activities:
• Assist in the completion of a
comprehensive assessment of the Gulf
Hypoxia Action Plan.
• Provide Gulf States information on
point and non-point source pollution in
the Mississippi River Basin and the
ecological and economic impacts of the
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone on natural
resources such as fish and shellfish.
• Establish effective Mississippi River
Basin-wide agricultural partnerships to
better facilitate strategic voluntary
nutrient reductions.
Output:
• Develop and represent a consistent
five Gulf State position on the need to
reduce Gulf hypoxia, in venues such as
the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient Task Force.
Outcome:
• The environmental outcome to be
accomplished from each of the above
activities is to reduce nutrients in Gulf
waters to achieve healthy and resilient
coastal ecosystems and reduce the size
of the hypoxic zone.
Alignment to EPA’s Strategic Plan
Successful proposals must have clear
and measurable environmental results
directly related to EPA’s Strategic Plan.
Awards resulting from this
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announcement must relate to Goal 4:
Healthy Communities and Ecosystems—
Protect, sustain or restore the health of
people, communities, and ecosystems
using integrated and comprehensive
approaches and partnerships; Objective
4.3: Ecosystems—Protect, sustain, and
restore the health of critical natural
habitats and ecosystems; and
Subobjective 4.3.5: Improve the Health
of the Gulf of Mexico. For more
information on EPA’s Strategic Plan go
to: https://epa.gov/ocfopage/plan/
plan.htm.
Measuring Environmental Results
Pursuant to EPA Order 5700.7,
‘‘Environmental Results under EPA
Assistance Agreements,’’ EPA requires
that all grant recipients adequately
address environmental outputs and
outcomes. Outputs and outcomes differ
both in their nature and in how they are
measured. Applicants must discuss
environmental outputs and outcomes in
their proposed workplan.
1. Outputs: The term ‘‘output’’ means
an environmental activity, effort, and/or
associated work products related to an
environmental goal and objective, that
will be produced or provided over a
period of time or by a specified date.
Outputs may be quantitative or
qualitative but must be measurable
during an assistance agreement funding
period.
Expected outputs from the projects
funded under this announcement are
listed with each of the Actions
identified above.
2. Outcomes: The term ‘‘outcome’’
means the result, effect or consequence
that will occur from carrying out an
environmental program or activity that
is related to an environmental or
programmatic goal or objective.
Outcomes may be environmental,
behavioral, health-related or
programmatic in nature, but must be
quantitative. They may not necessarily
be achievable within an assistance
agreement funding period.
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Statutory Authority
All proposals submitted will be
reviewed for eligibility under section
104(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act.
Assistance Agreements are authorized
under this statutory authority to
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 pollution. The term ‘‘pollution’’
means the man-made or man-induced
alteration of the chemical, physical,
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biological, and radiological integrity of
water.
verification of their nonprofit status
prior to the grant award.
II. Award Information
Threshold Eligibility Criteria
Funding Amounts and Number of
Awards
Applicant proposals must meet all of
the following threshold eligibility
criteria by the time of proposal
submission. Proposals that fail to meet
all of these criteria will not be
considered for funding. Applicants
deemed ineligible for funding
consideration as a result of the
threshold eligibility review will be
notified within 15 calendar days of the
ineligibility determination.
1. Proposed projects must be
consistent with the Clean Water Act
section 104(b)(3) authority. All
proposals submitted will be reviewed
for eligibility under section 104(b)(3) of
the Clean Water Act (CWA). Water
Quality Cooperative Agreements are
authorized under this statutory
authority to 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 pollution. The term
‘‘pollution’’ means the man-made or
man-induced alteration of the chemical,
physical, biological, and radiological
integrity of water. Projects that
implement ‘‘Best Management
Practices’’ or any type of construction
activities must qualify as a
demonstration project under CWA
section 104(b)(3). A demonstration
project must involve new or
experimental technologies, methods, or
approaches, where the results of the
project will be disseminated so that
others can benefit from the knowledge
gained in the demonstration project. A
project that is accomplished through the
performance of routine, traditional, or
established practices, or a project that is
simply intended to carry out a task
rather than transfer information or
advance the state of knowledge is not a
demonstration.
2. Ineligible Activities: Applicants
must adhere closely to the types of
projects authorized for funding under
CWA § 104(b)(3) in developing
proposals. Unauthorized project types
will be disqualified. Types of projects
that are ineligible for funding are
routine construction projects, except to
a limited degree to demonstrate
innovation, prevention, or removal of
pollution; land acquisition; or projects
that are largely general education/
outreach or conferences unless they
meet a clear need to accomplish a
public purpose and are not for the direct
benefit of EPA.
Under this funding opportunity, EPA
expects to award an estimated
$3,000,000 depending on availability of
funds and the evaluation and quality of
proposals. An estimated ten to fifty
projects are expected to be awarded.
EPA reserves the right to make no
awards under this announcement or
make fewer than anticipated. EPA also
reserves the right to offer partial funding
of a proposal by funding discrete
activities, portions, or phases of the
proposed project. If EPA decides to
partially fund the proposed project, it
will do so in a manner that does not
prejudice any applicants or affect the
basis upon which the proposed project,
or portion thereof, was evaluated and
selected, and that maintains the
integrity of the competition and the
selection/evaluation process.
EPA reserves the right to make
additional awards under this
announcement consistent with Agency
policy, if additional funding becomes
available. Any additional selections for
awards will be made no later than 4
months after the original selection
decisions.
The period of performance for awards
under this announcement is from 0.5
years to three years.
Type of Award
Successful applicants will be issued a
cooperative agreement. Cooperative
agreements require substantial EPA
involvement with the recipient in the
form of programmatic oversight and
review and comment on all agreement
activities and products. When a
cooperative agreement is awarded,
EPA’s involvement in carrying out the
work with the applicant will be
described in a selection letter and
identified in the terms and conditions of
the award document. In general,
cooperative agreements awarded will be
one-time awards and recipients should
use the funds within the period of
performance (from 0.5 years to three
years).
III. Eligibility Information
Eligible Applicants
State and local governments,
interstate agencies, tribes, colleges and
universities, individuals, and other
public or nonprofit organizations. EPA
will require nonprofit organizations
selected for funding to provide
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3. Proposals must address one or more
of the Actions identified in Section I or
they will be rejected. Proposals may
address actions under different topic
areas, and more than one action may be
addressed in the same proposal.
4. Proposals must substantially
comply with the proposal submission
instructions and requirements set forth
in Section IV of this announcement or
they will be rejected.
In addition, proposals must be
received by EPA or through
https://www.grants.gov on or before the
solicitation closing date published in
Section IV of this announcement.
Proposals received after the published
closing date will be returned to the
sender without further consideration.
Matching Requirements
There is no matching requirement;
however, the extent of partnerships and
leveraged funding will be considered by
reviewers during the evaluation process.
(See Section V).
Matching funds are considered to be
cooperative agreement funds and may
be used for reasonable and necessary
expenses of carrying out the project
described in the Final Project Workplan.
Any restrictions on the use of grant
funds, including project budget periods,
also apply to the use of matching funds.
All project expenditures, including both
the Federal and nonfederal share, are
subject to Federal regulations governing
the use of Federal funds. Other Federal
money cannot be used as match unless
authorized by the statute governing the
award of the other Federal funds.
Reductions to the amount of the match
after a proposal is selected for funding
may result in loss of funding.
IV. Application and Submission
Information
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A. Content and Format of Project
Proposals
• Follow the proposal format and
instructions provided below.
• Use only Microsoft Word or Adobe
Acrobat for electronic submissions.
• Use only one method to submit
your proposal.
Examples from Previous Years.
When developing project
submissions, you may look at types of
successful projects from previous years,
available at https://www.epa.gov/gmpo.
B. Submission Dates and Times
• Regardless of mode of submission,
proposal packages must be received by
EPA at GMP.proposals@epa.gov or
through https://www.grants.gov by
July 11, 2006, 6 p.m. CST. Proposals
received after this time will be
disqualified.
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• Use an e-mail return receipt for
verification of receipt if you want to
confirm delivery.
C. Proposal Submission Instructions
Applicants are encouraged to apply
electronically via e-mail or online using
the Grants.gov Web site with an
electronic signature—please only use
one method. For those applicants who
lack the technical capability to apply
either by e-mail or through Grants.gov,
please contact Esther Coblentz (228–
688–1281) and/or
coblentz.esther@epa.gov for alternative
submission methods.
1. Instructions for E-Mail Submissions
Proposals must be e-mailed to
GMP.proposals@epa.gov. The title of the
e-mail should read ‘‘GMP Proposal
Submission’’. The proposal should be
one attached file prepared as described
in Section IV.E. Please do not zip the
attached file—it will not be accepted. If
you do not receive an email
confirmation within five business days,
please call Esther Coblentz at 228–688–
1281.
2. Instructions for Submissions Using
Grants.Gov
With Grants.Gov, you will be able to
submit your entire proposal package on
line with no hard copy or computer
disks. Please be sure to view the
additional instructions that are available
for download on Grants.gov for this
announcement and which are included
below. If you have any technical
difficulties while applying
electronically, please refer to https://
www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport or
call the toll free Contact Center at 1–
800–518–4726 or Esther Coblentz at
228–688–1281 or
coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
If you wish to apply electronically via
Grants.gov, the electronic submission of
your proposal package must be made by
an official representative of your
institution who is registered with
Grants.gov and authorized to sign
applications for Federal assistance. For
more information, go to https://
www.grants.gov and click on ‘‘Get
Started,’’ and then click on ‘‘For AORs’’
(Authorized Organization
Representative) on the left side of the
page.
Note that the registration process may
take a week or longer to complete. If
your organization is not currently
registered with Grants.gov, please
encourage your office to designate an
AOR and ask that individual to begin
the registration process as soon as
possible.
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To begin the application process, go
to https://www.Grants.Gov and click on
‘‘Apply for Grants.’’ Following the
online instructions, download PureEdge
Viewer software and enter the Funding
Opportunity Number, EPA–-GM–2006–
1, in the space provided to retrieve the
application package. Then complete and
submit the application package as
indicated. You may also be able to
access the application package by
clicking on the button ‘‘How To Apply’’
at the top right of the synopsis page for
this announcement on https://
www.grants.gov (to find the synopsis
page go to https://www.grants.gov and
click on the ‘‘Find Grant Opportunities’’
button on the top of the page and then
to go EPA opportunities).
Be sure to download and read the
instructions and the application
package at the Grants.Gov Web site.
Proposal Submission Deadline: Your
organization’s AOR must submit your
complete proposal electronically to EPA
through Grants.gov (https://
www.grants.gov) no later than (insert
date).
Proposal Materials.
The following forms and documents
are required to be submitted by
applicants using grants.gov under this
announcement:
I. Standard Form (SF) 424,
Application for Federal Assistance.
Complete the form. There are no
attachments. Please be sure to include
organization fax number and email
address in Block 5 of the Standard Form
SF 424.
Please note that the organizational
Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data
Universal Number System (DUNS)
number must be included on the SF–
424. Organizations may obtain a DUNS
number at no cost by calling the toll-free
DUNS number request line at 1–866–
705–5711.
II. Proposal Workplan.
Prepare as described in Section IV. E.
of this announcement.
The proposal workplan must be
readable in PDF or MS Word for
Windows and consolidated into a single
file.
Submission Instructions
Documents I and II listed under
Proposal Materials above should appear
in the ‘‘Mandatory Documents’’ box on
the Grants.gov Grant Application
Package page. For document I, click on
the appropriate form and then click
‘‘Open Form’’ below the box. The fields
that must be completed will be
highlighted in yellow. Optional fields
and completed fields will be displayed
in white. If you enter an invalid
response or incomplete information in a
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field, you will receive an error message.
When you have finished filling out each
form, click ‘‘Save.’’ When you return to
the electronic Grant Application
Package page, click on the form you just
completed, and then click on the box
that says, ‘‘Move Form to Submission
List.’’ This action will move the
document over to the box that says,
‘‘Mandatory Completed Documents for
Submission.’’
For document II, you will need to
attach electronic files. Prepare your
proposal workplan as described in
Section IV.E. of the announcement and
save the document to your computer as
an MS Word or PDF file. When you are
ready to attach your proposal workplan
to the application package, click on
‘‘Project Narrative Attachment Form,’’
and open the form. Click ‘‘Add
Mandatory Project Narrative File,’’ and
then attach it (previously saved to your
computer) using the browse window
that appears. You may then click ‘‘View
Mandatory Project Narrative File’’ to
view it. Enter a brief descriptive title of
your project in the space beside
‘‘Mandatory Project Narrative File
Filename;’’ the filename should be no
more than 40 characters long. If there
are other attachments that you would
like to submit to accompany your
proposal, you may click ‘‘Add Optional
Project Narrative File’’ and proceed as
before. When you have finished
attaching the necessary documents,
click ‘‘Close Form.’’ When you return to
the ‘‘Grant Application Package’’ page,
select the ‘‘Project Narrative Attachment
Form’’ and click ‘‘Move Form to
Submission List.’’ The form should now
appear in the box that says, ‘‘Mandatory
Completed Documents for Submission.’’
Once you have finished filling out all
of the forms/attachments and they
appear in one of the ‘‘Completed
Documents for Submission’’ boxes, click
the ‘‘Save’’ button that appears at the
top of the Web page. It is suggested that
you save the document a second time,
using a different name, since this will
make it easier to submit an amended
package later if necessary. Please use the
following format when saving your file:
‘‘Applicant Name—FY 06—Assoc Prog
Supp—1st Submission’’ or ‘‘Applicant
Name—FY 06 Assoc Prog Supp—Backup Submission.’’ If it becomes necessary
to submit an amended package at a later
date, then the name of the 2nd
submission should be changed to
‘‘Applicant Name—FY 06 Assoc Prog
Supp—2nd Submission.’’
Once your application package has
been completed and saved, send it to
your AOR for submission to U.S. EPA
through Grants.gov. Please advise your
AOR to close all other software
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programs before attempting to submit
the application package through
Grants.gov.
In the ‘‘Application Filing Name’’
box, your AOR should enter your
organization’s name (abbreviate where
possible), the fiscal year (e.g., FY 06),
and the grant category (e.g., Assoc Prog
Supp). The filing name should not
exceed 40 characters. From the ‘‘Grant
Application Package’’ page, your AOR
may submit the application package by
clicking the ‘‘Submit’’ button that
appears at the top of the page. The AOR
will then be asked to verify the agency
and funding opportunity number for
which the application package is being
submitted. If problems are encountered
during the submission process, the AOR
should reboot his/her computer before
trying to submit the application package
again. [It may be necessary to turn off
the computer (not just restart it) before
attempting to submit the package again.]
If the AOR continues to experience
submission problems, he/she may
contact Grants.gov for assistance by
phone at 1–800–518–4726 or e-mail at
support@grants.gov or contact Esther
Coblentz at (228) 688–1281 and/or email at coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
Application packages submitted thru
grants.gov will be time/date stamped
electronically. If you have not received
a confirmation of receipt from EPA (not
from support@grant.gov) within 30 days
of the application deadline, please send
an e-mail to coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
Failure to do so may result in your
application not being reviewed.
If you have never used Grants.Gov
before, here are some tips. Most
organizations have found Grants.Gov to
be a user friendly system. The most
frequent concern has occurred when an
organization has delayed obtaining the
unique electronic signature to the last
minute.
Register for your electronic signature
early! An electronic signature requires
three levels of authorization before you
can submit on line. You need to decide
who will be the AOR, the caretaker of
the electronic signature for your
organization. At a university the Chief
Grant Official generally signs all of the
electronic grants for the entire
institution. If all goes well, this process
takes about a week, but some
organizations have encountered internal
and external delays; therefore the
registration process can take longer.
Remember, you cannot submit your
application online until your
organization has e-authentication
credentials. Here are the basic steps:
1. Obtain a Certified DUNS Number.
You must first have a certified, unique
Dun and Bradstreet Universal Data
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Numbering System (DUNS) number.
Some organizations may have more than
one DUNS number registered. Only one
can be certified. This can lead to
unanticipated delays.
2. Central Contractor Registry and
Credential Provider Registration. Once
you have your unique, approved DUNS
number, you need to register with the
Central Contractor Registry.
3. Grants.Gov Electronic Signature
Authorization. Once steps A and B are
complete, you will then need to contact
Grants.Gov. The Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR) will
be assigned a password that will enable
him or her to sign the Grants.Gov
applications electronically. The AOR
must be an individual who is able to
make legally binding commitments for
the applicant organization.
Organizations may designate more than
one AOR.
Be sure to download and read the
instructions and the application at the
Grants.Gov Web site.
D. DUNS Number
All applicants applying for funding,
including renewal funding, must have a
Dun and Bradstreet Universal Data
Numbering System (DUNS) number.
Applicants who do not already have a
DUNS number may find instructions for
obtaining one at the following Web site:
https://www.Grants.Gov/GetStarted. A
DUNS number may also be obtained by
calling 1–866–705–5711.
Confidentiality
In accordance with 40 CFR 2.203,
applicants may claim all or a portion of
their application/proposal as
confidential business information. EPA
will evaluate confidentiality claims in
accordance with 40 CFR part 2.
Applicants must clearly mark
applications/proposals or portions of
applications/proposals they claim as
confidential. If no claim of
confidentiality is made, EPA is not
required to make the inquiry to the
applicant otherwise required by 40 CFR
2.204(c)(2) prior to disclosure.
Other Considerations
The funds associated with this
announcement require Executive Order
(E.O.) 12372, Intergovernmental Review
of Federal Programs, review. E.O. 12372
structures the Federal government’s
system of consultation with states and
local governments on its decisions
involving grants, other forms of
financial assistance, and direct
development. Under E.O. 12372, states,
in consultation with their local
governments, design their own review
process and select the Federal financial
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assistance and direct development
activities they wish to review. If
selected for funding, the recipient of the
Federal assistance agreement will be
required to send a copy of their
application and proposal to the
appropriate State Clearinghouse Office
for an intergovernmental review, if
applicable. (See: https://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/
spoc.html).
E. Proposal/Workplan Format
The proposal/workplan should
include the following information:
Applicant Information
Applicant Information: Business
Mailing and Contact information,
including email address. DUNS number
if Applicant Organization has one.
Type of Organization: State or local
government, interstate agency, tribe,
college or university, individual, or
other public or nonprofit organizations.
Project Summary Information
Project Title.
Project Manager: Identify who will
serve as the principal party responsible
for accomplishing the activities.
Topic: Identify the Actions/Activities
described in Section I of the
announcement that the proposed project
will address.
Brief Project Description: Summarize
the project. Do not use acronyms.
Total Project Cost: Specify total
amount requested from EPA, as well as
any resources or funding from any other
sources that are contributing support.
Duration: Specify project period of
performance, from 0.5 years up to 3
years.
Geographic Applicability
Applicable Geographic Location: If
applicable, geographic locations which
would be most impacted by this project,
include the Hydrologic Unit Code
(HUC) for the Project location. HUCs
can be found on EPA’s Surf Your
Watershed Web site at https://
www.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm.
Project Location: As applicable, enter
City, County, and State(s).
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Problem, Work, Results
Problem Statement: Describe the issue
that will be addressed and its relevance
to the Gulf of Mexico, particularly to the
needs and priorities in the Gulf of
Mexico Alliance Governors’ Action Plan
and EPA’s Strategic Plan, Sub-objective
4.3.5 (Improve the Health of the Gulf of
Mexico Ecosystem). Describe how the
project will address one or more of the
activities that are listed under the 11
Actions under the priority topic
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categories: Water Quality, Wetland and
Coastal Restoration, Environmental
Education, Identification and
Characterization of Gulf Habitats, and
Reducing Nutrient Inputs. These
projects/activities will be considered for
funding. Projects must actively involve
stakeholders and focus on long-term
partnership goals, integration of
resources, knowledge and expertise.
Proposed Work: Describe what will be
done and how. Many of the criteria in
Section V should be addressed here.
Environmental Results: Describe
anticipated environmental outputs and
outcomes and their linkages to the
problem statement. (See Outcomes/
Outputs described in Section 1 and
Environmental Results Order 5700.7 at:
https://www.epa.gov/ogd/grants/award/
5700.7.pdf). Specify affected pollutants,
industry sectors, economic impacts,
habitats, and/or species as applicable for
the topic, and proposed progress toward
delisting, toward restoration of
beneficial use impairments, toward
reducing nitrogen loading, etc.
Environmental Results Past
Performance: Submit a list of federally
funded assistance agreements that your
organization performed within the last
three years (no more than 5, and
preferably EPA agreements) and
describe how you documented and/or
reported on whether you were making
progress towards achieving the expected
results (e.g., outputs and outcomes)
under those agreements. If you were not
making progress, please indicate
whether, and how, you documented
why not. In evaluating applicants under
this factor in Section V, EPA will
consider the information provided b y
the applicant and may also consider
other relevant information from other
sources, including information from
EPA files and from current and prior
Federal agency grantors (e.g., to verify
and/or supplement the information
provided by the applicant). If you have
no relevant or available past
performance reporting history, please
indicate this in the proposal, and you
will receive a neutral score for this
factor under Section V.
Programmatic Capability: Submit a
list of federally funded assistance
agreements similar in size, scope and
relevance to the proposed project that
your organization performed within the
last three years (no more than 5, and
preferably EPA agreements) and
describe (i) whether, and how, you were
able to successfully complete and
manage those agreements and (ii) your
history of meeting the reporting
requirements under those agreements
including submitting acceptable final
technical reports. In evaluating
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applicants under these factors in
Section V, EPA will consider the
information provided by the applicant
and may also consider relevant
information from other sources,
including information from EPA files
and from current and prior Federal
agency grantors (e.g., to verify and/or
supplement the information provided
by the applicant). If you do not have any
relevant or available past performance
or reporting information, please indicate
this in the proposal and you will receive
a neutral score for these factors under
Section V.
In addition, provide information on
your organizational experience and plan
for timely and successfully achieving
the objectives of the proposed project,
and your staff expertise/qualifications,
staff knowledge, and resources or the
ability to obtain them, to successfully
achieve the goals of the proposed
project.
Tracking and Measuring
Environmental Results: Describe your
plan for tracking, measuring, and
reporting progress toward achieving the
expected project outputs and outcomes,
including those identified in Section I.
The applicant must describe the ability
to specify and measure the expected
environmental outcomes/outputs and
performance measures to be
accomplished as a result of the project.
See Environmental Results Order 5700.7
at https://www.epa.gov/ogd/grants/
award/5700.7.pdf.
Project Milestones
Milestones: Specify milestones and/or
final products and projected due dates,
including Project Start and End.
Education
Education/Outreach Component:
Identify whether project includes an
education/outreach component. If
applicable, describe the target audience
and how that group would be impacted
by the project.
Collaboration
Collaboration/Partnerships: Describe
plans and status of collaboration and
partnerships amongst the public,
private, and independent sectors.
Project Budget
Budget: Specify how the total of EPA
funds and Applicant funds will be used
for the following: personnel/salaries,
fringe benefits, travel, equipment,
supplies, contract costs, and other costs.
Include narrative descriptions for costs
you identify as ‘‘contract’’ or ‘‘other’’.
You may include a separate line for
indirect costs if your organization has in
place (or will negotiate) an ‘‘indirect
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cost rate.’’ Budget should represent the
project total and the total which would
be requested from EPA for the project’s
duration. Funding is not assured for
subsequent years for any project.
Leveraging Funding
Other Funding: If others are expected
to contribute funds to your Project, list
Name(s) of providers, amount provided,
and commitments made by each.
Describe how the applicant will obtain
the leveraged resources and what role
EPA funding will play in the overall
project.
Other Information
To the extent not otherwise addressed
above, include information addressing
the threshold eligibility criteria in
Section III and ranking criteria in
Section V.
V. Application Review Information
Criteria
Each eligible proposal that meets all
of the threshold eligibility criteria in
Section III will be evaluated according
to the criteria set forth below.
Applicants should directly and
explicitly address these criteria as part
of their proposal submittal. Each
proposal will be rated under a points
system with a total of 100 points
possible.
1. Relevance/Rationale: (15 points)
a. Importance and/or relevance and
applicability of the proposed approach
to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Governors’ Action Plan and the level of
support for long-term goals and
implementation actions. (5 points).
b. Whether there is intrinsic value in
the proposed work and/or relevance to
the Governors’ Action Plan and
activities. (5 points).
c. Likelihood that the approach
proposed will make substantial progress
toward strategies leading to improving
the health of the Gulf of Mexico and
achieving one or more of the
environmental outcomes as identified in
the announcement. (5 points).
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2. Scientific/Professional Merit: (15
points)
Extent to which the proposed
approach is technically sound and/or
innovative; whether the proposed
methods, approaches, and concepts are
appropriate and; whether there are clear
goals and objectives.
3. Programmatic Capability: (15 points)
Under this criterion, applicants will
be evaluated based on their ability to
successfully complete and manage the
proposed project taking into account the
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following factors: (i) Its past
performance in successfully completing
and managing federally funded
assistance agreements similar in size,
scope, and relevance to the proposed
project performed within the last 3
years, (ii) its history of meeting
reporting requirements under federally
funded assistance agreements similar in
size, scope, and relevance to the
proposed project performed within the
last 3 years and submitting acceptable
final technical reports under those
agreements, (iii) its organizational
experience and plan for timely and
successfully achieving the objectives of
the proposed project, and (iv) its staff
expertise/qualifications, staff
knowledge, and resources or the ability
to obtain them, to successfully achieve
the goals of the proposed project.
Note: In evaluating applicants under this
criterion, the Agency will consider the
information provided by the applicant and
may also consider relevant information from
other sources including agency files and
prior/current grantors (e.g., to verify and/or
supplement the information supplied by the
applicant). Applicants with no relevant or
available past performance or reporting
history (items i and ii above), will receive a
neutral score for those elements of this
criterion.
4. Environmental Results Past
Performance: (10 points)
Applicants will be evaluated based on
the extent and quality to which they
adequately documented and/or reported
on their progress towards achieving the
expected results (e.g., outcomes and
outputs) under Federal agency
assistance agreements performed within
the last three years, and if such progress
was not being made whether the
applicant adequately documented and/
or reported why not.
Note: In evaluating applicants under this
factor, EPA will consider the information
provided by the applicant and may also
consider relevant information from other
sources including agency files and prior/
current grantors (e.g., to verify and/or
supplement the information supplied by the
applicant). Applicants with no relevant or
available past performance reporting history
will receive a neutral score for this factor.
5. Environmental Results—Measurable
or Quantifiable Outputs and Outcomes:
(10 points)
Includes the degree to which the
applicant has provided an evaluative
component to the project as requested in
Section I, Measuring Environmental
Results, in addition to how the
applicant’s progress and success in
achieving the project outputs and
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outcomes including those identified in
Section I will be measured and tracked.
6. Budget (10 points)
The reasonableness and
appropriateness of the proposed budget
for the level of work proposed and with
the expected benefits to be achieved.
7. Collaboration/Partnerships: (15
points)
The quality of proposed partnerships,
including the degree of broad
participation within the network of Gulf
of Mexico programs, organizations, State
and Federal agencies and workgroups,
etc., and demonstration of significant
partnering that results in outreach and
education. Applications will also be
evaluated on whether they provide a
partnership with a focused and effective
education and outreach strategy
regarding the long-term commitment to
the proposed objectives of the Action
Plan.
8. Leveraged Resources: (10 points)
Under this criteria, applicants will be
evaluated based on the extent they
demonstrate (i) how they will
coordinate the use of EPA funding with
other Federal and/or non Federal
sources of funds to leverage additional
resources to carry out the proposed
project(s) and/or (ii) that EPA funding
will compliment activities relevant to
the proposed project(s) carried out by
the applicant with other sources of
funds or resources. Applicants may use
their own funds or other resources for
a voluntary match or cost share if the
standards at 40 CFR 30.23 or 40 CFR
31.24, as applicable, are met. Only
eligible and allowable costs may be used
for matches or cost shares. Other
Federal grants may not be used as
matches or cost shares without specific
statutory authority (e.g. HUD’s
Community Development Block Grants).
Review and Selection Process
The evaluation and selection process
will include the following steps:
Steps
1. Screening for threshold eligibility
by the Gulf of Mexico Program Office.
2. Review and score eligible proposals
against the Section V criteria
(Reviewers/Panel)
3. Panel to rank all eligible proposals
according to total score.
4. Panel identifies proposals for
funding consideration based on the
review.
5. The Approval Official makes the
final funding recommendations based
on the review panel rankings and may
also consider project diversity and
E:\FR\FM\15JNN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 115 / Thursday, June 15, 2006 / Notices
programmatic balance/priorities in
making the recommendations.
6. Announce selections.
7. Contact selected applicants and
request a completed grant application
and final workplan.
8. Final Applications/Workplans
reviewed and submitted for Funding
Award.
EPA employees as well as GMP
reviewers and/or panel members who
intend to serve as reviewers and score
project proposals will be required to
sign a Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Form and will not be able to serve as a
reviewer if they have a personal,
familial, or financial or any other type
of conflict of interest with any applicant
that cannot be mitigated. If an
individual has a conflict of interest with
respect to a proposal, then they cannot
review any proposals under this
competition.
The Director of the Gulf of Mexico
Program is the Approval Official who
will make the final selection
recommendations.
Anticipated Announcement Date
GMPO will post a list of all proposals
selected for funding on or about August
31, 2006. The list will be posted at the
following site: https://www.epa.gov/
gmpo. All applicants, including those
who are not selected for funding will be
notified within 15 days by e-mail and
postal mail.
VI. Award Administration Information
Award Notices
EPA has 60 days to issue an award
following receipt of the complete,
fundable Application Package. Final
funding decisions are based upon the
Application Packages.
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Pre-award Review for Administrative
Capability
Non-profit applicants that are
recommended for funding will be
subject to pre-award administrative
capability reviews consistent with
paragraphs 8.b, 8.c, and 9.d of EPA
Order 5700.8 https://www.epa.gov/ogd/
grants/award/5700_8.pdf and may be
required to fill out an ‘‘Administrative
Capability’’ form.
In accordance with Executive Order
12579, organizations that have been
debarred or suspended from a program
by any federal agency will not be
eligible to receive an award or subaward
through this solicitation.
Administrative and Reporting
Requirements
The successful applicant will be
required to adhere to the Federal grants
requirements, particularly those found
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:47 Jun 14, 2006
Jkt 208001
in applicable OMB circulars on Cost
Principles (A–21, A–87, or A–122),
Administrative Requirements (A–102 or
110), and Audit Requirements (A–133)
available from https://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/. This
includes government-wide requirements
pertaining to accounting standards,
lobbying, minority or woman business
enterprise, publication, meetings,
construction, and disposition of
property. EPA regulations governing
assistance programs and recipients are
codified in Title 40 of the Code of
Federal Regulations. Those
requirements, GMPO-specific
requirements currently in effect, and the
application materials that will be
needed by applicants ultimately
selected in this process can be found at
https://www.epa.gov/gmpo. The
successful Federal applicant will be
required to comply with the OMB
Circular and appropriate sections of
Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations determined applicable by
GMPO. This determination will be
embodied in the terms and conditions of
an interagency agreement.
Dispute Resolution Process
Assistance agreement competitionrelated disputes involving any
applicant, including Federal applicants,
will be resolved in accordance with the
dispute resolution procedures published
in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630
(January 26, 2005) which can be found
at https://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/
2422/01jan20051800/
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/051371.htm. Copies of these procedures
may also be requested by contacting
coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
Other Requirements
Please note that this is not a complete
list of all regulations and policies that
govern these funds. Our Grants
Management Office Web site at https://
www.epa.gov/region4/grants/
regulations.html identifies other grant
regulations that apply.
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Esther Coblentz,
Coblentz.esther@epa.gov, Phone: 228–
688–1281.
In accordance with EPA’s Assistance
Agreement Competition Policy (EPA
Order 5700.5A1), EPA staff will not
meet with individual applicants to
discuss draft proposals, provide
informal comments on draft proposals,
or provide advice to applicants on how
to respond to ranking criteria.
Applicants are responsible for the
contents of their applications/proposals.
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34615
However, EPA will respond to questions
in writing from individual applicants
regarding threshold eligibility criteria,
administrative issues related to the
submission of the proposal, and
requests for clarification about the
announcement.
VIII. Other information
Funding amounts are estimates of the
maximum amount expected to be
available for FY 2006–2007, based on
our best available information. These
amounts are subject to change without
further notification, based on the
amount of federal funds actually
appropriated and allocated for these
programs.
Although an Application for Federal
Assistance (Standard Form 424 and
attachments) is not required when the
proposal is submitted, we encourage
you to review our grant application
package at https://www.epa.gov/gmpo to
become familiar with the information
and certifications that will be required
if your proposal is selected for funding.
Dated: June 8, 2006.
Gloria D. Car,
Deputy Director, Gulf of Mexico Program
Office.
[FR Doc. E6–9362 Filed 6–14–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2006–0344; FRL–8060–1]
Pollution Prevention Information
Network Grants; Request for
Applications
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Under the authority of the
Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, EPA
anticipates that approximately $700,000
will be available to support grants to
States in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 for
programs to promote the use of
successful pollution prevention
techniques by businesses and technical
assistance providers. This grant program
seeks to increase access to pollution
prevention information and ensure this
information is available to all facilities,
businesses, or technical assistance
providers. Federal funds must be
matched dollar for dollar in this grant
program. The maximum cost of an
application is $240,000 with $120,000
from Federal funding.
DATES: Applications must be received
on or before July 31, 2006.
E:\FR\FM\15JNN1.SGM
15JNN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 115 (Thursday, June 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34606-34615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9362]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8184-2]
Gulf of Mexico Program Office Funding Opportunity
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice; announcement of funding opportunity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: An estimated amount of $3,000,000 for ten to fifty cooperative
agreements may be awarded under this announcement to eligible
applicants for projects that improve the health of the Gulf of Mexico
by addressing improved water quality and public health, priority
coastal habitat protection/recovery, more effective coastal
environmental education, improved habitat identification/
characterization data and decision support systems, and strategic
nutrient reductions. Projects must involve stakeholders and focus on
support and implementation of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Governors'
Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts.
DATES: Deadline for Submissions is 6 p.m., Central Time, July 11, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submissions should be sent electronically to
GMP.Proposals@epa.gov or through with the https://www.grants.gov.
Electronic messages must use the subject line: GMP Proposal Submission.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Esther Coblentz, Gulf of Mexico
Program Office, at (228) 688-1281 or coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview Information
Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf of
Mexico Program Office.
Funding Opportunity Title: Gulf of Mexico Alliance Regional
Partnership Projects.
Announcement Type: Initial Announcement.
Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-GM-2006-1.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 66.475--Gulf
of Mexico Program https://www.cfda.gov.
Dates: The deadline for submissions is July 11, 2006, 6 p.m. CST.
Proposals must be submitted by electronic mail. For those applicants
who lack the technical capability to apply either by e-mail to
GMP.proposals@epa.gov or through https://www.grants.gov, please contact
Esther Coblentz at (228-688-1281) and/or coblentz.esther@epa.gov for
alternative submission methods. All Proposals must be received by EPA
or through grants.gov by the closing date and will not be accepted
after that date. For further information, see Section IV.
Funding Opportunity Description: An estimated amount of up to
$3,000,000 for between approximately ten to fifty cooperative
agreements may be awarded under this announcement to eligible
applicants for projects that improve the health of the Gulf of Mexico
by addressing improved water quality and public health, priority
coastal habitat protection/recovery, more effective coastal
environmental education, improved habitat identification/
characterization data and decision support systems, and strategic
nutrient reductions. Projects must actively involve stakeholders and
focus on support and implementation of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Governors' Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Background
The EPA Gulf of Mexico Program's (GMP) mission is to protect,
restore, and enhance the coastal and marine waters of the Gulf and its
natural habitats; to sustain living resources; to protect human health
and the food supply; and to ensure the long-term use of the Gulf
shores, beaches, and waters. To carry out the GMP mission, we must
continue to develop and maintain a partnership of State and Federal
agencies, local governments, academia, regional business and industry,
agricultural and environmental organizations, and individual citizens
and communities that effectively addresses the complex ecological
problems that cross State, Federal, and international jurisdictions and
boundaries.
Project Summary
EPA is issuing this Request for Proposals to strengthen and support
the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Regional Partnership. The President's U.S.
Ocean Action Plan released in December 2004 highlighted the Gulf of
Mexico Alliance, a partnership formed by the five Gulf State Governors.
The President called for increased integration of resources, knowledge
and expertise to make the collaboration of the Gulf Alliance a success.
See https://www.gulfofmexicoalliance.org. Thirteen Federal agencies
formed a Federal Workgroup, with EPA and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as co-leads, committed to supporting
the Alliance. The Gulf of Mexico Program is the lead for EPA.
The Alliance released the Governors' Action Plan for Healthy and
Resilient Coasts on March 28, 2006. This Action Plan is intended to be
a dynamic starting point for effective regional collaboration and
addresses specific issues and projects which will result in a healthier
Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and economy with a vision toward healthy and
resilient coasts and communities in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Plan sets out a strategy with eleven actions addressing
specific projects/activities that will deliver significant on-the-
ground results to achieve the environmental outcomes of improved water
quality for healthy beaches and shellfish beds; restored/protected
coastal habitats; increased awareness/stewardship of the Gulf of
Mexico; improved management of Gulf habitats; and reduced nutrient
inputs to sustain productive Gulf aquatic ecosystems. These eleven
actions are listed in this announcement under the following topic
areas: Water Quality, Wetland and Coastal Restoration, Environmental
Education, Identification and Characterization of Gulf Habitats, and
Reducing Nutrient Inputs. The Gulf of Mexico Program is announcing the
availability of funding to address the activities in the Action Plan.
For more information on the Governors' Action Plan go to https://
www.dep.state.fl.us/gulf/plan.htm.
Each of the Actions listed below includes a description of some of
the expected outputs of projects addressing that Action and projects/
activities for that Action. Applicant proposals must address one or
more of the Actions listed under the topics below. Proposals may
address actions under different topic areas, and more than one action
may be addressed in the same proposal.
Water Quality
Action 1 (Harmful Algal Blooms): Establish a cooperative binational
coastal observing and decision support system in the Gulf of Mexico for
the advanced detection and forecasting of red tide (K. brevis) and for
notifying public health managers. Educate the public to help reduce the
human health, natural resource and economic impacts of bloom events.
Activities:
Conduct an investigation of advanced technologies for
rapid field screening and enhanced real-time
[[Page 34607]]
remote sensing, platform sensing, and autonomous sensing of HABs.
Conduct a study to evaluate and compare the multiple
methods of HAB detection technologies under development for K. brevis
against microscopic identification methods.
Conduct studies, in collaboration with state and Federal
partners throughout the region, to assess the public health, natural
resources, and socioeconomic risks and impacts from HABs.
Collaborate with existing Gulf State and Gulf Alliance
programs to develop a strategic outreach plan to inform and educate the
public about HABs and management actions taken to protect public health
and to expand educational and outreach methods used to inform the
public about HABs and their impacts.
Serve as Project Manager to facilitate actions to support
the expansion of Harmful Algal Blooms Observing System (HABSOS) to
Veracruz, Mexico; to initiate and coordinate two workshops with local,
state, and Federal expert scientists to implement a curriculum and
training program for personnel in HAB field sampling and microscopic
identification methods and to demonstrate toxin-detection methods; to
provide training to Mexican personnel in sampling, identification, and
enumeration and guide and assist Mexican personnel in establishing a
sampling program for detection of K. brevis and other HAB species; and
to provide status reports and accomplishments.
Coordinate with Gulf partners and GCOOS (Gulf Coast Ocean
Observing System) https://ocean.tamu.edu/GCOOS/gcoos.htm to support the
expansion and pilot of the Harmful Algal Blooms Observing System to
Veracruz, Mexico, with the operation of 2 meteorological stations off
the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, and to integrate and standardize the
efforts with those in SW Texas and South Florida. (See https://
www.epa.gov/gmpo/habpage.html).
Outputs:
Improve the current Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) forecasting
system off the Southwest Florida coast to better identify the onset of
blooms and better predict the transport of blooms.
Develop a satellite detection, forecasting, and internet-
based notification capability for K. brevis off the southern coast of
Texas.
Develop a satellite detection and internet-based
notification capability for K. brevis off the coast of the Mexican Gulf
State of Veracruz.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to improve water quality to achieve healthy
beaches and shellfish beds.
Action 2 (Bacterial Source Tracking): Ensure safe bathing beaches
by advancing a practical, field-ready standardized bacterial source
tracking method(s) to determine coastal waters with public health
impairment and to identify the priority sources of bacterial pollution
to remediate.
Activities:
Conduct a ``State of the Gulf'' workshop on pathogen
indicators in recreational marine waters, epidemiological correlations,
and bacterial source tracking research, with an endpoint of selecting
the site and designing the study and the parameters for evaluation.
Conduct a comprehensive field evaluation of current
bacterial source tracking capabilities.
Conduct a workshop to evaluate the field evaluation
results and select two methods for use in the pilot studies; select the
pilot study areas.
Pilot test the two preferred bacterial source tracking
methodologies in five Gulf estuaries (with varying environmental
conditions). Evaluate bacterial sources responsible for the
contamination of shellfish growing waters in each of the five pilots.
Conduct a final workshop to evaluate the results of pilot
studies and prepare a final report.
Train state and local personnel in specific bacterial
source tracking methods. Assist the states in preparing and supporting
strategies for the effective implementation of these effects Gulf-wide.
Outputs:
Conduct a peer-reviewed field evaluation of current
bacterial source tracking capabilities in an estuarine recreational
area, and select two methodologies for intensive field testing/
validation.
Implement pilot testing of these two methods in five Gulf
of Mexico estuaries with varying environmental conditions (preferably
one location in each Gulf state).
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to improve water quality to achieve healthy
beaches and shellfish beds.
Action 3 (Data Collection): Maximize the efficiency and utility of
water quality monitoring efforts for local managers by coordinating and
standardizing state and federal water quality data collection
activities in the Gulf region.
Activities:
Host an annual Gulf of Mexico Forum for Environmental
Monitoring to promote coordination of water quality monitoring by
state, local, and federal agencies as proposed by the Governors' Action
Plan.
Develop accountability tools and accreditation standards
for laboratories performing analyses included in Gulf-wide monitoring
databases.
Facilitate the selection of a pilot parameter for
monitoring coordination and standardization by state and federal water
quality agencies and GCOOS (leverage possible linkage to National Water
Quality Monitoring Council regional pilot activities).
Outputs:
Implement a regional pilot effort to coordinate and
standardize state and federal water quality data collection activities
in the Gulf region for one or more nutrient parameter(s) and/or one or
more pathogens.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to improve water quality to achieve healthy
beaches and shellfish beds.
Wetland and Coastal and Restoration
Action 1 (Restoration Coordination): Convene a Gulf of Mexico
Alliance Regional Restoration Coordination Team, where Gulf States,
federal agencies and other private sector partners can work together to
identify regional priority sites for conservation and restoration and
more successfully conserve and restore vital coastal habitat and
wetlands.
Activities:
Host workshops of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Regional
Restoration Coordination Team to determine Gulf-wide issues, inventory
current restoration successes, and identify priority sites for
restoration.
Host a Gulf of Mexico interstate workshop on the
importance of freshwater inflows to maintaining estuarine health
including wetlands.
Using the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Regional Restoration
Coordination Team, propose possible resolutions for Federal/state
environmental compliance issues that affect habitat restoration and
conservation efforts, such as essential fish habitat (EFH), Endangered
Species Act requirements, and Clean Water Act (e.g., Total Maximum
Daily Loads).
Devise a strategy to streamline certain Federal permitting
requirements for wetland restoration.
Identify administrative and legal processes in granting
agencies that may
[[Page 34608]]
either facilitate or impede wetland restoration and conservation
project planning and implementation.
Further develop public-private partnerships, such as the
Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, in all five Gulf States and
incentives that support landowner conservation to increase funding
opportunities for restoration. Ensure state and local governments are
well-informed about partnership and incentive programs.
Develop a Gulf Regional Sediment Management Master Plan to
enable more effective use of dredged material, such as sand, to protect
and restore important and vulnerable resources and habitats. Involve
state, local, and Federal representatives in the planning process.
Outputs:
Establish a Gulf of Mexico Alliance Regional Restoration
Coordination Team.
Through the Restoration Coordination Team, hold a series
of meetings between Federal agencies and Gulf States to review existing
regulatory, funding, and policy frameworks, and identify mechanisms
that help facilitate or impede wetland conservation and restoration
efforts.
Hold a workshop on importance of freshwater inflows.
Expand the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership
Develop a Gulf Regional Sediment Management Master Plan to
enable more effective use of dredged material.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to restore/protect coastal habitats and
increase wetlands.
Action 2 (Increase Scientific Understanding): Increase the Gulf
States' scientific understanding of the implications and risks of
localized sea level rise, storm surge and subsidence through
development of tools that integrate these processes, such as integrated
models.
Activities:
Enhance the coast-wide network of elevation benchmarks,
including the Continuously Operating Reference System (CORS), to
deliver subsidence rates accurate to 1 millimeter per year.
Obtain information on projected relative sea level rise,
subsidence, and storm vulnerability to help prioritize conservation
projects, including restoration, enhancement, and acquisition.
Develop and apply aquatic ecosystem models to forecast the
habitat structure and succession following hurricane disturbance and
changes in ecological functions and services that impact vital
socioeconomic aspects of coastal systems.
Outputs:
Develop a prototype decision-support tool that allows Gulf
resource managers to integrate storm surge, sea level rise, and
subsidence information for at least one pilot area on the Gulf Coast
and the use of the tool in determining water quality impacts.
Develop a pilot Community Resiliency Index for Gulf
coastal communities.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to restore/protect coastal habitats and
increase wetlands.
Environmental Education
Action 1 (Awareness and Stewardship): Build awareness and
stewardship ethics among Gulf citizens by coordinating education and
outreach activities across the Gulf States to increase access to
materials and programs that address Gulf of Mexico Alliance priority
issues. Translate, communicate and disseminate relevant scientific data
and information to the public, including students, educators, resource
managers, local decision-makers and the business community.
Activities:
Serve as a Gulf of Mexico Alliance Network Coordinator for
a term of at least 3 years, who will serve as staff to the Network,
facilitate Alliance communications, and coordinate regional education
and outreach activities.
Coordinate a planning workshop of the newly established
Network at the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR),
Naples, Florida, (https://www.rookerybay.org) to review priority goals,
actions and funding needs in Gulf coast education and outreach, and
build an effective communications strategy for the Alliance. The
workshop will culminate in the formulation of a strategic plan that
will guide the initial activities of the Network.
Establish a Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center (CELC) in each of the
five Gulf States and in one Mexican State that borders the Gulf. http:/
/www.coastalamerica.gov.
Develop and host a pilot program to engage
underrepresented and underserved communities in Gulf stewardship
activities related to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance strategic priorities.
Design and host a Web site to support education and
outreach efforts of the Network, including a electronic clearinghouse
to disseminate effective Gulf coast related educational information and
materials via the Internet.
Outputs:
Convene a binational Gulf of Mexico Alliance Environmental
Education and Outreach Network, with dedicated staff, to (1) coordinate
educational and outreach activities that address Alliance priority
issues, and (2) establish effective methods to disseminate materials
and programs throughout Gulf coastal communities.
Coordinate with the existing Coastal Ecosystem Learning
Center networks as they are expanded to each of the five U.S. Gulf
States and the Mexican Gulf State of Veracruz. See https://
www.coastalamerica.gov.
Develop an environmental education pilot program targeted
towards under-represented and under-served communities in the Gulf
region.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to increase awareness/stewardship among Gulf
residents to establish the link between the health of the Gulf and
quality of life of residents.
Action 2 (Environmental Awareness): Promote an environmentally
literate citizenry who understands the relevance of the Gulf of Mexico
watersheds and coasts to the quality of their everyday lives and to the
economic vitality of the region and the nation. Increase environmental
stewardship in the practices and activities of Gulf coast local
governments and businesses.
Activities:
Design and conduct a strategic public awareness campaign
that will encourage Gulf stewardship and coastal hazard identification
and prevention.
Coordinate funding sources to sustain the public awareness
campaign in the short-term (within 36 months) and long-term (after 36
months).
Outputs:
Develop and implement a comprehensive, 36-month (minimum)
public awareness campaign to promote stewardship messages associated
with the other four Alliance priority issues and community hurricane
preparedness.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to increase awareness/stewardship among Gulf
residents to establish the link between the health of the Gulf and
quality of life of residents.
Identification and Characterization of Gulf Aquatic Habitats
Action 1 (Identify and Assess Gulf Habitats): Identify and assess
the location, extent, variation and condition of priority coastal,
estuarine, nearshore
[[Page 34609]]
and offshore Gulf habitats and establish a baseline information and
mapping system. The system will provide comprehensive access to
uniform, quality-assured coastal habitat observations in the Gulf
region by developing an Internet-accessible, geospatial database of
local, state, and Federal data sources.
Activities:
Coordinate Federal and state collection of information and
complete an inventory of existing habitat data and initiate a gap
analysis. This inventory will identify available data and associated
metadata. The inventory will have both a regional and local scope and
will focus on mapping and restoration projects. Products will include:
(a) User Needs Assessment; (b) Inventory of Gulf of Mexico Habitat
Data; and (c) Assessment of Priority Gulf of Mexico Habitat Data Needs.
Establish the Federal Data Management Group (FDMG), a team
to work with state, local, and Federal entities to identify specific
requirements for a regional data management platform and portal.
Establish a standard metadata format to streamline
metadata development and maintenance at the state, local, and Federal
level.
Establish a data management platform and portal that will
provide access and delivery of existing state, local, and Federal data.
Provide training on data management equipment to Gulf
state agencies.
Provide GIS and metadata training to state and local
resource managers in the five Gulf States.
Output:
Produce a prototype Web portal to provide public access to
and delivery of current and historic state, Federal, and local Gulf of
Mexico habitat data, with the initial focus on sea grass beds. Users
will be able to search a digital library for habitat information by
keyword or geographic location, preview geospatial data, and download
selected data products. The portal will also demonstrate the
feasibility of building a distributed system that will enable users to
request and retrieve data directly from the agencies holding the
original data.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to sustain the quality of Gulf habitats.
Reducing Nutrient Inputs
Action 1 (Nutrient Criteria): Establish a regional coordination
venue to coordinate knowledge, resources and tools for the development
of nutrient criteria in Gulf coastal ecosystems.
Activities:
Convene the Coordination Team and a technical conference
to synthesize the state of knowledge regarding nutrient levels and
develop a plan for regional coordination.
Use information gained from the Northern Gulf Estuarine
Pilot Project to identify one or more estuaries to apply the methods
and lessons learned from the Northern Gulf Estuarine Pilot Project.
Establish and implement a regional communications plan. At the
direction of the State lead(s), facilitate the identification of at
least three targeted estuaries (one in each of the northern Gulf
States) for trial application of the lessons learned through the course
of this study.
Identify and coordinate federal, state, and local
monitoring efforts and data management systems to support development
of nutrient criteria.
Present a comprehensive assessment of Gulf nutrient
monitoring program needs to the National Water Quality Design Team.
Inventory modeling needs to deal with nutrient issues
under permitting, TMDL development, and nutrient criteria development.
Develop a library/database of marine and estuarine species
for site specific D.O. criteria development.
Output:
Establish a Gulf of Mexico Alliance Nutrient Criteria
Coordination Team of state and federal representatives to meet the
needs of the Gulf States through improved coordination among existing
local, state, regional, and national nutrient reduction programs.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to reduce nutrients in Gulf waters to achieve
healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems.
Action 2 (Nutrient Prevention and Reduction): During recovery and
rebuilding efforts in the Gulf region, apply innovative practices and
technologies to restore fishing and recreational uses in key coastal
watersheds impaired by excessive nutrient inputs.
Activities:
Identify key coastal watersheds with significant nutrient
impacts, sensitive waters, and a high likelihood of successful
restoration of fishing and recreational uses.
Identify communities conducting infrastructure rebuilding
activities where nutrient reduction can be achieved through improved
infrastructure planning and design.
Identify and prioritize implementation and coordination
opportunities for existing Federal, state, and local programs in key
coastal watersheds and communities conducting infrastructure rebuilding
activities.
Provide technical assistance to interested local
governments to improve infrastructure planning and design.
Evaluate the effectiveness of nutrient reduction
activities in key coastal watersheds and rebuilding communities and
develop techniques to improve effectiveness.
Map communities served by advanced wastewater treatment
systems to help develop strategies for remediation activities.
Output:
Perform a study on nutrient prevention and reduction
activities in Gulf communities improving or rebuilding infrastructure.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to reduce nutrients in Gulf waters to achieve
healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems.
Action 3 (Hypoxia): Coordinate among the Gulf States to develop a
unified position shared by all Gulf States to advocate actions--by all
31 states in the Mississippi River Watershed--to reduce Gulf hypoxia.
Activities:
Assist in the completion of a comprehensive assessment of
the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan.
Provide Gulf States information on point and non-point
source pollution in the Mississippi River Basin and the ecological and
economic impacts of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone on natural
resources such as fish and shellfish.
Establish effective Mississippi River Basin-wide
agricultural partnerships to better facilitate strategic voluntary
nutrient reductions.
Output:
Develop and represent a consistent five Gulf State
position on the need to reduce Gulf hypoxia, in venues such as the
Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force.
Outcome:
The environmental outcome to be accomplished from each of
the above activities is to reduce nutrients in Gulf waters to achieve
healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems and reduce the size of the
hypoxic zone.
Alignment to EPA's Strategic Plan
Successful proposals must have clear and measurable environmental
results directly related to EPA's Strategic Plan. Awards resulting from
this
[[Page 34610]]
announcement must relate to Goal 4: Healthy Communities and
Ecosystems--Protect, sustain or restore the health of people,
communities, and ecosystems using integrated and comprehensive
approaches and partnerships; Objective 4.3: Ecosystems--Protect,
sustain, and restore the health of critical natural habitats and
ecosystems; and Subobjective 4.3.5: Improve the Health of the Gulf of
Mexico. For more information on EPA's Strategic Plan go to: https://
epa.gov/ocfopage/plan/plan.htm.
Measuring Environmental Results
Pursuant to EPA Order 5700.7, ``Environmental Results under EPA
Assistance Agreements,'' EPA requires that all grant recipients
adequately address environmental outputs and outcomes. Outputs and
outcomes differ both in their nature and in how they are measured.
Applicants must discuss environmental outputs and outcomes in their
proposed workplan.
1. Outputs: The term ``output'' means an environmental activity,
effort, and/or associated work products related to an environmental
goal and objective, that will be produced or provided over a period of
time or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative
but must be measurable during an assistance agreement funding period.
Expected outputs from the projects funded under this announcement
are listed with each of the Actions identified above.
2. Outcomes: The term ``outcome'' means the result, effect or
consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program
or activity that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or
objective. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related or
programmatic in nature, but must be quantitative. They may not
necessarily be achievable within an assistance agreement funding
period.
Statutory Authority
All proposals submitted will be reviewed for eligibility under
section 104(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act. Assistance Agreements are
authorized under this statutory authority to 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 pollution.
The term ``pollution'' means the man-made or man-induced alteration of
the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of
water.
II. Award Information
Funding Amounts and Number of Awards
Under this funding opportunity, EPA expects to award an estimated
$3,000,000 depending on availability of funds and the evaluation and
quality of proposals. An estimated ten to fifty projects are expected
to be awarded.
EPA reserves the right to make no awards under this announcement or
make fewer than anticipated. EPA also reserves the right to offer
partial funding of a proposal by funding discrete activities, portions,
or phases of the proposed project. If EPA decides to partially fund the
proposed project, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any
applicants or affect the basis upon which the proposed project, or
portion thereof, was evaluated and selected, and that maintains the
integrity of the competition and the selection/evaluation process.
EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this
announcement consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding
becomes available. Any additional selections for awards will be made no
later than 4 months after the original selection decisions.
The period of performance for awards under this announcement is
from 0.5 years to three years.
Type of Award
Successful applicants will be issued a cooperative agreement.
Cooperative agreements require substantial EPA involvement with the
recipient in the form of programmatic oversight and review and comment
on all agreement activities and products. When a cooperative agreement
is awarded, EPA's involvement in carrying out the work with the
applicant will be described in a selection letter and identified in the
terms and conditions of the award document. In general, cooperative
agreements awarded will be one-time awards and recipients should use
the funds within the period of performance (from 0.5 years to three
years).
III. Eligibility Information
Eligible Applicants
State and local governments, interstate agencies, tribes, colleges
and universities, individuals, and other public or nonprofit
organizations. EPA will require nonprofit organizations selected for
funding to provide verification of their nonprofit status prior to the
grant award.
Threshold Eligibility Criteria
Applicant proposals must meet all of the following threshold
eligibility criteria by the time of proposal submission. Proposals that
fail to meet all of these criteria will not be considered for funding.
Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of
the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 15 calendar
days of the ineligibility determination.
1. Proposed projects must be consistent with the Clean Water Act
section 104(b)(3) authority. All proposals submitted will be reviewed
for eligibility under section 104(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Water Quality Cooperative Agreements are authorized under this
statutory authority to 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 pollution. The term
``pollution'' means the man-made or man-induced alteration of the
chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water.
Projects that implement ``Best Management Practices'' or any type of
construction activities must qualify as a demonstration project under
CWA section 104(b)(3). A demonstration project must involve new or
experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of
the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the
knowledge gained in the demonstration project. A project that is
accomplished through the performance of routine, traditional, or
established practices, or a project that is simply intended to carry
out a task rather than transfer information or advance the state of
knowledge is not a demonstration.
2. Ineligible Activities: Applicants must adhere closely to the
types of projects authorized for funding under CWA Sec. 104(b)(3) in
developing proposals. Unauthorized project types will be disqualified.
Types of projects that are ineligible for funding are routine
construction projects, except to a limited degree to demonstrate
innovation, prevention, or removal of pollution; land acquisition; or
projects that are largely general education/outreach or conferences
unless they meet a clear need to accomplish a public purpose and are
not for the direct benefit of EPA.
[[Page 34611]]
3. Proposals must address one or more of the Actions identified in
Section I or they will be rejected. Proposals may address actions under
different topic areas, and more than one action may be addressed in the
same proposal.
4. Proposals must substantially comply with the proposal submission
instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this
announcement or they will be rejected.
In addition, proposals must be received by EPA or through https://
www.grants.gov on or before the solicitation closing date published in
Section IV of this announcement. Proposals received after the published
closing date will be returned to the sender without further
consideration.
Matching Requirements
There is no matching requirement; however, the extent of
partnerships and leveraged funding will be considered by reviewers
during the evaluation process. (See Section V).
Matching funds are considered to be cooperative agreement funds and
may be used for reasonable and necessary expenses of carrying out the
project described in the Final Project Workplan. Any restrictions on
the use of grant funds, including project budget periods, also apply to
the use of matching funds. All project expenditures, including both the
Federal and nonfederal share, are subject to Federal regulations
governing the use of Federal funds. Other Federal money cannot be used
as match unless authorized by the statute governing the award of the
other Federal funds. Reductions to the amount of the match after a
proposal is selected for funding may result in loss of funding.
IV. Application and Submission Information
A. Content and Format of Project Proposals
Follow the proposal format and instructions provided
below.
Use only Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat for electronic
submissions.
Use only one method to submit your proposal.
Examples from Previous Years.
When developing project submissions, you may look at types of
successful projects from previous years, available at https://
www.epa.gov/gmpo.
B. Submission Dates and Times
Regardless of mode of submission, proposal packages must
be received by EPA at GMP.proposals@epa.gov or through https://
www.grants.gov by July 11, 2006, 6 p.m. CST. Proposals received after
this time will be disqualified.
Use an e-mail return receipt for verification of receipt
if you want to confirm delivery.
C. Proposal Submission Instructions
Applicants are encouraged to apply electronically via e-mail or
online using the Grants.gov Web site with an electronic signature--
please only use one method. For those applicants who lack the technical
capability to apply either by e-mail or through Grants.gov, please
contact Esther Coblentz (228-688-1281) and/or coblentz.esther@epa.gov
for alternative submission methods.
1. Instructions for E-Mail Submissions
Proposals must be e-mailed to GMP.proposals@epa.gov. The title of
the e-mail should read ``GMP Proposal Submission''. The proposal should
be one attached file prepared as described in Section IV.E. Please do
not zip the attached file--it will not be accepted. If you do not
receive an email confirmation within five business days, please call
Esther Coblentz at 228-688-1281.
2. Instructions for Submissions Using Grants.Gov
With Grants.Gov, you will be able to submit your entire proposal
package on line with no hard copy or computer disks. Please be sure to
view the additional instructions that are available for download on
Grants.gov for this announcement and which are included below. If you
have any technical difficulties while applying electronically, please
refer to https://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport or call the toll free
Contact Center at 1-800-518-4726 or Esther Coblentz at 228-688-1281 or
coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
If you wish to apply electronically via Grants.gov, the electronic
submission of your proposal package must be made by an official
representative of your institution who is registered with Grants.gov
and authorized to sign applications for Federal assistance. For more
information, go to https://www.grants.gov and click on ``Get Started,''
and then click on ``For AORs'' (Authorized Organization Representative)
on the left side of the page.
Note that the registration process may take a week or longer to
complete. If your organization is not currently registered with
Grants.gov, please encourage your office to designate an AOR and ask
that individual to begin the registration process as soon as possible.
To begin the application process, go to https://www.Grants.Gov and
click on ``Apply for Grants.'' Following the online instructions,
download PureEdge Viewer software and enter the Funding Opportunity
Number, EPA--GM-2006-1, in the space provided to retrieve the
application package. Then complete and submit the application package
as indicated. You may also be able to access the application package by
clicking on the button ``How To Apply'' at the top right of the
synopsis page for this announcement on https://www.grants.gov (to find
the synopsis page go to https://www.grants.gov and click on the ``Find
Grant Opportunities'' button on the top of the page and then to go EPA
opportunities).
Be sure to download and read the instructions and the application
package at the Grants.Gov Web site.
Proposal Submission Deadline: Your organization's AOR must submit
your complete proposal electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (http:/
/www.grants.gov) no later than (insert date).
Proposal Materials.
The following forms and documents are required to be submitted by
applicants using grants.gov under this announcement:
I. Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance.
Complete the form. There are no attachments. Please be sure to include
organization fax number and email address in Block 5 of the Standard
Form SF 424.
Please note that the organizational Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data
Universal Number System (DUNS) number must be included on the SF-424.
Organizations may obtain a DUNS number at no cost by calling the toll-
free DUNS number request line at 1-866-705-5711.
II. Proposal Workplan.
Prepare as described in Section IV. E. of this announcement.
The proposal workplan must be readable in PDF or MS Word for
Windows and consolidated into a single file.
Submission Instructions
Documents I and II listed under Proposal Materials above should
appear in the ``Mandatory Documents'' box on the Grants.gov Grant
Application Package page. For document I, click on the appropriate form
and then click ``Open Form'' below the box. The fields that must be
completed will be highlighted in yellow. Optional fields and completed
fields will be displayed in white. If you enter an invalid response or
incomplete information in a
[[Page 34612]]
field, you will receive an error message. When you have finished
filling out each form, click ``Save.'' When you return to the
electronic Grant Application Package page, click on the form you just
completed, and then click on the box that says, ``Move Form to
Submission List.'' This action will move the document over to the box
that says, ``Mandatory Completed Documents for Submission.''
For document II, you will need to attach electronic files. Prepare
your proposal workplan as described in Section IV.E. of the
announcement and save the document to your computer as an MS Word or
PDF file. When you are ready to attach your proposal workplan to the
application package, click on ``Project Narrative Attachment Form,''
and open the form. Click ``Add Mandatory Project Narrative File,'' and
then attach it (previously saved to your computer) using the browse
window that appears. You may then click ``View Mandatory Project
Narrative File'' to view it. Enter a brief descriptive title of your
project in the space beside ``Mandatory Project Narrative File
Filename;'' the filename should be no more than 40 characters long. If
there are other attachments that you would like to submit to accompany
your proposal, you may click ``Add Optional Project Narrative File''
and proceed as before. When you have finished attaching the necessary
documents, click ``Close Form.'' When you return to the ``Grant
Application Package'' page, select the ``Project Narrative Attachment
Form'' and click ``Move Form to Submission List.'' The form should now
appear in the box that says, ``Mandatory Completed Documents for
Submission.''
Once you have finished filling out all of the forms/attachments and
they appear in one of the ``Completed Documents for Submission'' boxes,
click the ``Save'' button that appears at the top of the Web page. It
is suggested that you save the document a second time, using a
different name, since this will make it easier to submit an amended
package later if necessary. Please use the following format when saving
your file: ``Applicant Name--FY 06--Assoc Prog Supp--1st Submission''
or ``Applicant Name--FY 06 Assoc Prog Supp--Back-up Submission.'' If it
becomes necessary to submit an amended package at a later date, then
the name of the 2nd submission should be changed to ``Applicant Name--
FY 06 Assoc Prog Supp--2nd Submission.''
Once your application package has been completed and saved, send it
to your AOR for submission to U.S. EPA through Grants.gov. Please
advise your AOR to close all other software programs before attempting
to submit the application package through Grants.gov.
In the ``Application Filing Name'' box, your AOR should enter your
organization's name (abbreviate where possible), the fiscal year (e.g.,
FY 06), and the grant category (e.g., Assoc Prog Supp). The filing name
should not exceed 40 characters. From the ``Grant Application Package''
page, your AOR may submit the application package by clicking the
``Submit'' button that appears at the top of the page. The AOR will
then be asked to verify the agency and funding opportunity number for
which the application package is being submitted. If problems are
encountered during the submission process, the AOR should reboot his/
her computer before trying to submit the application package again. [It
may be necessary to turn off the computer (not just restart it) before
attempting to submit the package again.] If the AOR continues to
experience submission problems, he/she may contact Grants.gov for
assistance by phone at 1-800-518-4726 or e-mail at support@grants.gov
or contact Esther Coblentz at (228) 688-1281 and/or e-mail at
coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
Application packages submitted thru grants.gov will be time/date
stamped electronically. If you have not received a confirmation of
receipt from EPA (not from support@grant.gov) within 30 days of the
application deadline, please send an e-mail to coblentz.esther@epa.gov.
Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed.
If you have never used Grants.Gov before, here are some tips. Most
organizations have found Grants.Gov to be a user friendly system. The
most frequent concern has occurred when an organization has delayed
obtaining the unique electronic signature to the last minute.
Register for your electronic signature early! An electronic
signature requires three levels of authorization before you can submit
on line. You need to decide who will be the AOR, the caretaker of the
electronic signature for your organization. At a university the Chief
Grant Official generally signs all of the electronic grants for the
entire institution. If all goes well, this process takes about a week,
but some organizations have encountered internal and external delays;
therefore the registration process can take longer.
Remember, you cannot submit your application online until your
organization has e-authentication credentials. Here are the basic
steps:
1. Obtain a Certified DUNS Number. You must first have a certified,
unique Dun and Bradstreet Universal Data Numbering System (DUNS)
number. Some organizations may have more than one DUNS number
registered. Only one can be certified. This can lead to unanticipated
delays.
2. Central Contractor Registry and Credential Provider
Registration. Once you have your unique, approved DUNS number, you need
to register with the Central Contractor Registry.
3. Grants.Gov Electronic Signature Authorization. Once steps A and
B are complete, you will then need to contact Grants.Gov. The
Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) will be assigned a
password that will enable him or her to sign the Grants.Gov
applications electronically. The AOR must be an individual who is able
to make legally binding commitments for the applicant organization.
Organizations may designate more than one AOR.
Be sure to download and read the instructions and the application
at the Grants.Gov Web site.
D. DUNS Number
All applicants applying for funding, including renewal funding,
must have a Dun and Bradstreet Universal Data Numbering System (DUNS)
number. Applicants who do not already have a DUNS number may find
instructions for obtaining one at the following Web site: https://
www.Grants.Gov/GetStarted. A DUNS number may also be obtained by
calling 1-866-705-5711.
Confidentiality
In accordance with 40 CFR 2.203, applicants may claim all or a
portion of their application/proposal as confidential business
information. EPA will evaluate confidentiality claims in accordance
with 40 CFR part 2. Applicants must clearly mark applications/proposals
or portions of applications/proposals they claim as confidential. If no
claim of confidentiality is made, EPA is not required to make the
inquiry to the applicant otherwise required by 40 CFR 2.204(c)(2) prior
to disclosure.
Other Considerations
The funds associated with this announcement require Executive Order
(E.O.) 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs, review.
E.O. 12372 structures the Federal government's system of consultation
with states and local governments on its decisions involving grants,
other forms of financial assistance, and direct development. Under E.O.
12372, states, in consultation with their local governments, design
their own review process and select the Federal financial
[[Page 34613]]
assistance and direct development activities they wish to review. If
selected for funding, the recipient of the Federal assistance agreement
will be required to send a copy of their application and proposal to
the appropriate State Clearinghouse Office for an intergovernmental
review, if applicable. (See: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/
spoc.html).
E. Proposal/Workplan Format
The proposal/workplan should include the following information:
Applicant Information
Applicant Information: Business Mailing and Contact information,
including email address. DUNS number if Applicant Organization has one.
Type of Organization: State or local government, interstate agency,
tribe, college or university, individual, or other public or nonprofit
organizations.
Project Summary Information
Project Title.
Project Manager: Identify who will serve as the principal party
responsible for accomplishing the activities.
Topic: Identify the Actions/Activities described in Section I of
the announcement that the proposed project will address.
Brief Project Description: Summarize the project. Do not use
acronyms.
Total Project Cost: Specify total amount requested from EPA, as
well as any resources or funding from any other sources that are
contributing support.
Duration: Specify project period of performance, from 0.5 years up
to 3 years.
Geographic Applicability
Applicable Geographic Location: If applicable, geographic locations
which would be most impacted by this project, include the Hydrologic
Unit Code (HUC) for the Project location. HUCs can be found on EPA's
Surf Your Watershed Web site at https://www.epa.gov/surf/locate/
index.cfm.
Project Location: As applicable, enter City, County, and State(s).
Problem, Work, Results
Problem Statement: Describe the issue that will be addressed and
its relevance to the Gulf of Mexico, particularly to the needs and
priorities in the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Governors' Action Plan and
EPA's Strategic Plan, Sub-objective 4.3.5 (Improve the Health of the
Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem). Describe how the project will address one or
more of the activities that are listed under the 11 Actions under the
priority topic categories: Water Quality, Wetland and Coastal
Restoration, Environmental Education, Identification and
Characterization of Gulf Habitats, and Reducing Nutrient Inputs. These
projects/activities will be considered for funding. Projects must
actively involve stakeholders and focus on long-term partnership goals,
integration of resources, knowledge and expertise.
Proposed Work: Describe what will be done and how. Many of the
criteria in Section V should be addressed here.
Environmental Results: Describe anticipated environmental outputs
and outcomes and their linkages to the problem statement. (See
Outcomes/Outputs described in Section 1 and Environmental Results Order
5700.7 at: https://www.epa.gov/ogd/grants/award/5700.7.pdf). Specify
affected pollutants, industry sectors, economic impacts, habitats, and/
or species as applicable for the topic, and proposed progress toward
delisting, toward restoration of beneficial use impairments, toward
reducing nitrogen loading, etc.
Environmental Results Past Performance: Submit a list of federally
funded assistance agreements that your organization performed within
the last three years (no more than 5, and preferably EPA agreements)
and describe how you documented and/or reported on whether you were
making progress towards achieving the expected results (e.g., outputs
and outcomes) under those agreements. If you were not making progress,
please indicate whether, and how, you documented why not. In evaluating
applicants under this factor in Section V, EPA will consider the
information provided b y the applicant and may also consider other
relevant information from other sources, including information from EPA
files and from current and prior Federal agency grantors (e.g., to
verify and/or supplement the information provided by the applicant). If
you have no relevant or available past performance reporting history,
please indicate this in the proposal, and you will receive a neutral
score for this factor under Section V.
Programmatic Capability: Submit a list of federally funded
assistance agreements similar in size, scope and relevance to the
proposed project that your organization performed within the last three
years (no more than 5, and preferably EPA agreements) and describe (i)
whether, and how, you were able to successfully complete and manage
those agreements and (ii) your history of meeting the reporting
requirements under those agreements including submitting acceptable
final technical reports. In evaluating applicants under these factors
in Section V, EPA will consider the information provided by the
applicant and may also consider relevant information from other
sources, including information from EPA files and from current and
prior Federal agency grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement the
information provided by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant
or available past performance or reporting information, please indicate
this in the proposal and you will receive a neutral score for these
factors under Section V.
In addition, provide information on your organizational experience
and plan for timely and successfully achieving the objectives of the
proposed project, and your staff expertise/qualifications, staff
knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully
achieve the goals of the proposed project.
Tracking and Measuring Environmental Results: Describe your plan
for tracking, measuring, and reporting progress toward achieving the
expected project outputs and outcomes, including those identified in
Section I. The applicant must describe the ability to specify and
measure the expected environmental outcomes/outputs and performance
measures to be accomplished as a result of the project. See
Environmental Results Order 5700.7 at https://www.epa.gov/ogd/grants/
award/5700.7.pdf.
Project Milestones
Milestones: Specify milestones and/or final products and projected
due dates, including Project Start and End.
Education
Education/Outreach Component: Identify whether project includes an
education/outreach component. If applicable, describe the target
audience and how that group would be impacted by the project.
Collaboration
Collaboration/Partnerships: Describe plans and status of
collaboration and partnerships amongst the public, private, and
independent sectors.
Project Budget
Budget: Specify how the total of EPA funds and Applicant funds will
be used for the following: personnel/salaries, fringe benefits, travel,
equipment, supplies, contract costs, and other costs. Include narrative
descriptions for costs you identify as ``contract'' or ``other''. You
may include a separate line for indirect costs if your organization has
in place (or will negotiate) an ``indirect
[[Page 34614]]
cost rate.'' Budget should represent the project total and the total
which would be requested from EPA for the project's duration. Funding
is not assured for subsequent years for any project.
Leveraging Funding
Other Funding: If others are expected to contribute funds to your
Project, list Name(s) of providers, amount provided, and commitments
made by each. Describe how the applicant will obtain the leveraged
resources and what role EPA funding will play in the overall project.
Other Information
To the extent not otherwise addressed above, include information
addressing the threshold eligibility criteria in Section III and
ranking criteria in Section V.
V. Application Review Information
Criteria
Each eligible proposal that meets all of the threshold eligibility
criteria in Section III will be evaluated according to the criteria set
forth below. Applicants should directly and explicitly address these
criteria as part of their proposal submittal. Each proposal will be
rated under a points system with a total of 100 points possible.
1. Relevance/Rationale: (15 points)
a. Importance and/or relevance and applicability of the proposed
approach to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Governors' Action Plan and the
level of support for long-term goals and implementation actions. (5
points).
b. Whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or
relevance to the Governors' Action Plan and activities. (5 points).
c. Likelihood that the approach proposed will make substantial
progress toward strategies leading to improving the health of the Gulf
of Mexico and achieving one or more of the environmental outcomes as
identified in the announcement. (5 points).
2. Scientific/Professional Merit: (15 points)
Extent to which the proposed approach is technically sound and/or
innovative; whether the proposed methods, approaches, and concepts are
appropriate and; whether there are clear goals and objectives.
3. Programmatic Capability: (15 points)
Under this criterion, applicants will be evaluated based on their
ability to successfully complete and manage the proposed project taking
into account the following factors: (i) Its past performance in
successfully completing and managing federally funded assistance
agreements similar in size, scope, and relevance to the proposed
project performed within the last 3 years, (ii) its history of meeting
reporting requirements under federally funded assistance agreements
similar in size, scope, and relevance to the proposed project performed
within the last 3 years and submitting acceptable final technical
reports under those agreements, (iii) its organizational experience and
plan for timely and successfully achieving the objectives of the
proposed project, and (iv) its staff expertise/qualifications, staff
knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to successfully
achieve the goals of the proposed project.
Note: In evaluating applicants under this criterion, the Agency
will consider the information provided by the applicant and may also
consider relevant information from other sources including agency
files and prior/current grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement
the information supplied by the applicant). Applicants with no
relevant or available past performance or reporting history (items i
and ii above), will receive a neutral score for those elements of
this criterion.
4. Environmental Results Past Performance: (10 points)
Applicants will be evaluated based on the extent and quality to
which they adequately documented and/or reported on their progress
towards achieving the expected results (e.g., outcomes and outputs)
under Federal agency assistance agreements performed within the last
three years, and if such progress was not being made whether the
applicant adequately documented and/or reported why not.
Note: In evaluating applicants under this factor, EPA will
consider the information provided by the applicant and may also
consider relevant information from other sources including agency
files and prior/current grantors (e.g., to verify and/or supplement
the information supplied by the applicant). Applicants with no
relevant or available past performance reporting history will
receive a neutral score for this factor.
5. Environmental Results--Measurable or Quantifiable Outputs and
Outcomes: (10 points)
Includes the degree to which the applicant has provided an
evaluative component to the project as requested in Section I,
Measuring Environmental Results, in addition to how the applicant's
progress and success in achieving the project outputs and outcomes
including those identified in Section I will be measured and tracked.
6. Budget (10 points)
The reasonableness and appropriateness of the proposed budget for
the level of work proposed and with the expected benefits to be
achieved.
7. Collaboration/Partnerships: (15 points)
The quality of proposed partnerships, including the degree of broad
participation within the network of Gulf of Mexico programs,
organizations, State and Federal agencies and workgroups, etc., and
demonstration of significant partnering that results in outreach and
education. Applications will also be evaluated on whether they provide
a partnership with a focused and effective education and outreach
strategy regarding the long-term commitment to the proposed objectives
of the Action Plan.
8. Leveraged Resources: (10 points)
Under this criteria, applicants will be evaluated based on the
extent they demonstrate (i) how they will coordinate the use of EPA
funding with other Federal and/or non Federal sources of funds to
leverage additional resources to carry out the proposed project(s) and/
or (ii) that EPA funding will compliment activities relevant to the
proposed project(s) carried out by the applicant with other sources of
funds or resources. Applicants may use their own funds or other
resources for a voluntary match or cost share if the standards at 40
CFR 30.23 or 40 CFR 31.24, as applicable, are met. Only eligible and
allowable costs may be used for matches or cost shares. Other Federal
grants may not be used as matches or cost shares without specific
statutory authority (e.g. HUD's Community Development Block Grants).
Review and Selection Process
The evaluation and selection process will include the following
steps:
Steps
1. Screening for threshold eligibility by the Gulf of Mexico
Program Office.
2. Review and score eligible proposals against the Section V
criteria (Reviewe