[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 94 (Friday, May 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27898-27901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11769]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XD895
FY 15 Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of funding availability.
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SUMMARY: The principal objective of the National Marine Fisheries
Service's (NMFS) Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program is to
implement projects that use a proactive approach to improve or restore
coastal habitat to: (1) Strengthen the resilience of our marine or
coastal ecosystems to decrease the vulnerability of communities to
extreme weather; and (2) support sustainable fisheries and contribute
to the recovery of protected resources. See the full Coastal Ecosystem
Resiliency Grants Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO), located on
Grants.gov as described in the ADDRESSES section, for a complete
description of program goals and how applications will be evaluated.
Note that this funding opportunity is one of two competitions being
administered by NOAA to build coastal resilience. The companion
competition, the Regional
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Coastal Resilience Grants Program, is being administered by NOAA's
National Ocean Service to support implementation of actions that
directly build resilience of U.S. coastal communities using regional
approaches. The Regional Coastal Resilience Grants FFO is expected to
be posted in May 2015, and may be found on www.Grants.gov.
DATES: Applications must be postmarked, provided to a delivery service,
or received by www.Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on July 2,
2015. Use of a delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No
facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted. In
addition, applicants are advised that they must provide approval from
the State Governor as evidenced by a letter or other form of documented
correspondence for the proposed project by July 31, 2015. Before awards
are made, NOAA will verify that correspondence from the State Governor
has been received. See also Section III.C of the Coastal Ecosystem
Resiliency Grants FFO.
ADDRESSES: Complete application packages, including required Federal
forms and instructions, can be found on www.Grants.gov by searching for
Funding Opportunity Number NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2015-2004410. If a
prospective applicant is having difficulty downloading the application
forms from www.Grants.gov, contact www.Grants.gov Customer Support at
1-800-518-4726 or Grants.gov">support@Grants.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact
Melanie Gange at (301) 427-8664, or by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Statutory Authority: Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 16 U.S.C.
661, as amended by the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970; Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of
2006, 16 U.S.C. 1891a; and Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1535.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA): 11.463.
Program Description
As noted above, the principal objective of the Coastal Ecosystem
Resiliency Grants Program is to implement projects that use a proactive
approach to improve or restore coastal habitat to: (1) Strengthen the
resilience of our marine and coastal ecosystems to decrease the
vulnerability of communities to extreme weather; and (2) support
sustainable fisheries and contribute to the recovery of protected
resources. Applications should demonstrate how the proposed project
will enhance the resiliency of marine and coastal ecosystems to the
impacts of extreme weather and changing environmental conditions
thereby increasing community resilience and providing habitat to
threatened and endangered species listed under the Endangered Species
Act (hereafter, Listed Species), fish stocks managed under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (hereafter,
Managed Species), or other marine and coastal species with a nexus to
NMFS management (such as through the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries
Cooperative Management Act, Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act,
Marine Mammal Protection Act, Coral Reef Conservation Act, or NMFS
Species of Concern). Successful applications will (1) identify an issue
limiting the resiliency of marine or coastal ecosystems to extreme
weather events or changing environmental conditions at the proposed
project site; (2) identify the proposed project's outcome goal(s) and
describe in detail the actions and on-the-ground restoration to be
undertaken to enhance resiliency and reduce risk and; (3) describe the
measurable impact on the ecosystem, target species, and surrounding
coastal communities to benefit from the proposed habitat restoration
project. Applications selected for funding through this solicitation
will primarily be funded through cooperative agreements.
Section IV.B. of the FFO describes the suggested information to
include in the application narrative. Supplemental Guidance regarding
application writing, a checklist to submit a complete application, and
FAQs about this solicitation and the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants
Program being administered by NOAA's National Ocean Service can be
found at www.restoration.noaa.gov/partnerresources and
www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/coastalresiliency.html, respectively.
Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NOAA
Restoration Center staff before submitting an application to discuss
their NOAA Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency project ideas with respect to
technical merit and NOAA's objectives. NOAA will make every effort to
respond to prospective applicants on a first come, first served basis.
These discussions will not include review of draft proposals or site
visits during the application period.
This funding opportunity is one of two FFOs being administered by
NOAA to build coastal resilience. The companion competition, Regional
Coastal Resilience Grants Program, is being administered by NOAA's
National Ocean Service to undertake activities that build resilience of
coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors to the negative
impacts from extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing
ocean conditions. The Regional Coastal Resilience Grants FFO is
expected to be posted in May of 2015 and may be found on
www.grants.gov.
Funding Availability
Total anticipated funding for all awards is up to $4 million,
subject to the availability of appropriations. NOAA anticipates typical
awards will range from $500,000 to $1 million. NOAA will not accept
applications requesting less than $200,000 or more than $2 million in
Federal funds from NOAA under this solicitation and the exact amount of
funds that may be awarded will be determined in pre-award negotiations
between the applicant and NOAA. Any funds provided to successful
applicants will be at the discretion of the NOAA Office of Habitat
Conservation and the NOAA Grants Management Division (GMD). In no event
will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for application
preparation costs if programs fail to receive funding or are cancelled
because of other agency priorities. Publication of this notice does not
oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available
funds and there is no guarantee that sufficient funds will be available
to make awards for all top-ranked applications. The number of awards to
be made as a result of this solicitation will depend on the number of
eligible applications received, the amount of funds requested for
coastal ecosystem resiliency projects, and the merit and ranking of the
applications.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, non-
profits, commercial (for profit) organizations, U.S. territories, and
state, local and Native American tribal governments. Applications from
individuals, Federal agencies, or employees of federal agencies will
not be considered. Individuals and Federal agencies are strongly
encouraged to work with states, non-governmental organizations,
municipal and county governments, and others that are eligible to
apply. In addition, NOAA will only award funds to projects that receive
and demonstrate approval of the State's Governor to implement the
proposed project as evidenced by a letter or other form of
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documented correspondence by July 31, 2015. Funds awarded under this
program must be matched with non-federal funds (cash or in-kind
services) at a 2:1 ratio of Federal-to-non-federal contributions.
Applications selected for funding will be bound by the percentage of
cost sharing reflected in the award document signed by the NOAA Grants
Officer.
Evaluation and Selection Procedures
The general evaluation criteria and selection factors that apply to
full applications to this funding opportunity are summarized below.
Further information about the evaluation criteria and selection factors
can be found in the full FFO announcement in www.Grants.gov (Funding
Opportunity Number NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2015-2004410).
Evaluation Criteria
Reviewers will assign scores to applications ranging from 0 to 100
points based on the following five standard NOAA evaluation criteria
and respective weights specified below. Applications that best address
these criteria will be most competitive.
1. Importance and Applicability (35 points): This criterion
ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or
relevance to NOAA, federal, regional, state or local activities.
2. Technical/Scientific Merit (25 points): This criterion assesses
whether the project activity or approach is technically sound, if the
methods are appropriate, and whether there are clear goals and
objectives.
3. Overall Qualifications of Applicant (10 points): This criterion
ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary education,
experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to
support the proposed award.
4. Project Costs (20 points): This criterion evaluates the budget
to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project's
needs and time-frame.
5. Outreach and Education (10 points): NOAA assesses whether the
award can deliver a focused and effective education and outreach
strategy regarding NOAA's mission to protect the Nation's natural
resources.
Review and Selection Process
Applications will undergo an initial administrative review to
determine if they are eligible and complete, per Section III of the
full FFO posted at www.Grants.gov. Eligible applications will undergo a
technical review, ranking, and selection process by three or more merit
reviewers to determine how well they meet the program priorities and
evaluation criteria of this solicitation and the mission and goals of
NOAA. After the technical review, a panel may meet to make final
recommendations to the Selecting Official (SO) regarding which
applications best meet the program objectives and priorities (see
Sections I.A. and I.B. of the full FFO). The SO anticipates
recommending applications for funding in rank order unless an
application is justified to be selected out of rank order based upon
one or more of the following selection factors: (1) Availability of
funding; (2) Balance/distribution of funds: (a) By geographic area, (b)
by type of institutions, (c) by type of partners, (d) by research
areas; or (e) by project types; (3) Whether the project duplicates
other projects funded or considered for funding by NOAA or other
federal agencies; (4) Program priorities and policy factors set out in
section I.A. and I.B. of the FFO; (5) An applicant's prior award
performance; (6) Partnerships and/or participation of targeted groups;
and (7) Adequacy of information necessary for NOAA staff to make a NEPA
determination and draft necessary documentation before recommendations
for funding are made to the NOAA GMD. Hence, awards may not necessarily
be made to the highest-scored applications. In addition, as noted
above, applicants must provide NOAA with documentation of approval from
the State Governor for the proposed project by July 31, 2015 in order
to receive an award. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified that
their application was not among those recommended for funding.
Unsuccessful applications submitted in hard copy will be kept on file
in accordance with NOAA records requirements and then destroyed.
Intergovernmental Review
Applications submitted under the FFO are subject to the provisions
of Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Programs.'' Any
applicant submitting an application for funding is required to complete
item 16 on Form SF-424 regarding clearance by the State Single Point of
Contact (SPOC). To find out about and comply with a State's process
under Executive Order 12372, the names, addresses and phone numbers of
participating SPOC's are listed on the Office of Management and
Budget's home page at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_spoc.
Limitation of Liability
In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible
for proposal preparation costs if these programs fail to receive
funding or are cancelled because of other agency priorities.
Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any
specific project or to obligate any available funds.
National Environmental Policy Act
NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required
by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects
or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities.
Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under their
description of their program activities, applicants are required to
provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted,
locations, sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible
construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist.
Applicants may also be requested to assist NOAA in drafting of an
environmental assessment, or in identifying and implementing feasible
measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental
impacts of their proposal. The failure to do so shall be grounds for
not selecting an application. Further details regarding NOAA's
compliance with NEPA can be found in the full Federal Funding
Opportunity.
The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for
Grants and Cooperative Agreements
The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for
Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register
notice of December 30, 2014 (79 FR 78390) are applicable to this
solicitation.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This document contains collection-of-information requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The use of Standard Forms
424, 424A, 424B, and SF-LLL and CD-346 has been approved by the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) under the respective control numbers
0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-0001.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to,
nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with,
a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA
unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
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Executive Order 12866
This notice has been determined to be not significant for purposes
of Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)
It has been determined that this notice does not contain policies
with implications as that term is defined in Executive Order 13132.
Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act
Prior notices and an opportunity for public comment are not
required by the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for rules
concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, and contracts (5
U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). Because notice and opportunity for comment are not
required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the analytical
requirements for the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)
are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not
been prepared.
Frederick C. Sutter,
Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-11769 Filed 5-14-15; 8:45 am]
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