Wetland Program Development Grants:
2015—16 Request for Proposals

Related Information

Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9
Funding Opportunity Name: FY15 Region 9 Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDG)
Announcement Type: Request for Proposals (RFP)
Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-REG9-WPDG-15—16
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 66.461

Dates

Hard copy proposals must be received by the Agency Contact (see Section IV, PROPOSAL AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION, of this RFP) by May 15, 2015 at 5:00 P.M. PDT. Proposals submitted electronically through Grants.gov must be received by May 15, 2015 at 8:59 P.M. PDT (equivalent to 11:59 P.M. EDT). Late proposals will not be considered for funding. Questions about this RFP must be submitted in writing via e-mail and must be received by the Agency Contact identified in Section VII, AGENCY CONTACTS, before May 11, 2015. Written responses to frequently asked or general questions will be posted on EPA’s Program Development Grants Frequently Asked Questions page.

A full final application package is not required at this time. Following the EPA's evaluation of proposals, all applicants will be notified regarding their status. Final application(s) will be requested from the eligible applicants whose proposal(s) have been preliminarily recommended for award. The applicants will be provided with instructions and a due date for submittal of the final application packages.

Note to Applicants: If you name subawardees/subgrantees and/or contractor(s) in your proposal to assist you with the proposed project, pay careful attention to the information in the CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS provisions found at EPA Solicitation Clauses page.

Summary

Notice of Request for Proposals for Projects to be Funded from the Wetland Program Development Grants - Regional Allocation
(CFDA 66.461 - Wetland Program Development Grants)

Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDGs) provide eligible applicants an opportunity 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 water pollution. WPDGs assist state, tribal, local government (S/T/LG) agencies and interstate/intertribal entities in building state/tribal/local programs which protect, manage, and restore wetlands. The primary focus of these grants is to build state and tribal wetland programs. A secondary focus is to build local (e.g. county or municipal) programs. All proposals submitted under this RFP must be for projects that build or refine state/tribal/local government wetland programs. Implementation of wetland protection programs is not an eligible project under this announcement. An implementation project is one 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. All monitoring and mapping projects should transfer information or advance the state of knowledge and therefore are eligible under this grant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting proposals from eligible applicants to build or refine state/tribal/local government wetland programs as described in Section I, FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION, of this announcement. States, tribes, local government agencies, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia are eligible to apply under this announcement, as further described herein. Universities that are agencies of a state government are eligible, but must include documentation demonstrating that they are chartered as part of a state government in the proposal submission. Non-profit organizations are not eligible to compete under this RFP.

Under this announcement, as more fully explained in Section I, there will be two separate applicant tracks for eligible applicants. Eligible states and tribes can submit proposals under either Track One or Track Two, while eligible local governments, interstate agencies, intertribal consortia, and eligible universities that are agencies of a state government can only submit proposals under Track Two. Applicants under each track will only compete for awards against other applicants in their track. See Section V for further information.

Applicants may submit more than one proposal under this RFP under the applicable tracks. Each proposal must be separately submitted. In addition, state and tribal applicants may submit proposals under each track but each proposal must be submitted under either Track One or Track Two. State and tribal applicants cannot submit one proposal covering both tracks.

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This document describes the grant selection and award process for eligible applicants interested in applying for WPDGs under this announcement. A list of previously funded proposals is posted at the EPA’s Wetland Grants Database for reference. Basic information on previously awarded grants, organized by general topic areas, has also been posted at Wetland Program Development Grant Summaries (PDF) (226 pp, 1.5M).

The total amount of federal funding available under this announcement is approximately $3,151,700 ($1,575,850 expected from FY15 and $1,575,850 expected from FY16 depending on Agency funding levels, which may vary from year to year, and other applicable considerations. The EPA anticipates awarding approximately $1,891,020 in federal funds under Track One and approximately $1,260,680 in federal funds under Track Two under this announcement. Approximately 5-14 awards will be made under each track. It is anticipated that between 10 and 25 total awards will be made under this announcement. Awards will likely range from $50,000 to $500,000 in federal funds.

The EPA reserves the right to increase or decrease (including to zero) the total number of awards and dollar amounts for each Track, or change the ratio of Track One to Track Two assistance agreements it awards. Such change may be necessary as a response to the quality of proposals received by the EPA, the amount of funds awarded to the selected applicants, or budget availability.

All applicants must describe in their proposal how they will contribute the required minimum cost share/matching funds (see Section III.C for information on the minimum non-federal 25 percent cost share/match requirement).

Important Dates:

5/15/2015

Proposals must be received electronically through Grants.gov by 8:59 P.M. PDT (equivalent to 11:59 P.M. EDT).

6/22/2015

The EPA tentatively selects proposals for awards. Successful applicants will be requested to submit full grant applications and workplans for selected projects to be funded.

9/30/2015

The EPA awards grants to recipients.

The dates above (other than the May 15 proposal submission date) are anticipated dates and may be subject to change. See Section IV for further information on submission methods and dates.

Key Contacts

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 Contact
Leana Rosetti (rosetti.leana@epa.gov)
US EPA, Region 9 (WTR-8)
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 972-3070

Contents of Full Text Announcement

Funding Opportunity Description
Award Information
Eligibility Information
Proposal and Submission Information
Proposal Review Information
Award Administration Information
Agency Contacts
Other Information

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View the full text Announcement (PDF) (37 pp, 366K)

Wetland Program Development Grants: 2015—16 Request for Proposals