Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) Habitat Protection and Restoration Competition (Select Areas) - FY 2024
| Agency: | U.S. Department of Commerce |
|---|---|
| CFDA: | 11.473 |
| Federal FON: | NOAA-NOS-OCM-2024-27098 |
| Office: | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS) Office for Coastal Management (OCM) |
| Multipart Grant: | No |
| Next Due: | 08/15/2024 (Letter of Intent) |
|---|---|
| Solicitation Date: | 06/17/2024 |
| Match Required: | Recommended |
| Match Type: | Unspecified |
| Actual Funds: | $13,500,000 (Estimated) |
| Award Range: | $4,000,000 (Max) |
Summary:
The purpose of this program is to conduct land acquisition and habitat restoration projects that support the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) mission, strengthen protection of key land and water areas, improve climate resilience, enhance long-term protection of reserve areas for research and education, and support the habitat protection goals and priorities of the National Coastal Zone Management Act. Funding will enable reserves to protect and restore ecologically significant habitats, including conserving lands that play a critical role in helping coastal communities become more resilient to storms, flooding, inundation, erosion, tsunamis, sea level rise and lake level changes, and other natural hazards affecting the U.S. coastlines. The funding agency specifically aims to fund projects that enhance coastal resilience, as well as high-impact projects that can have a transformational effect on an ecosystem or community. The program will support the following project types:
- Habitat restoration: priority in this category will be given to projects that:
- Reflect coastal habitat restoration priority areas identified in state/territories, tribal, or regional plans
- Restore important reserve habitats and connected ecosystem functions/species
- Restore hydrologic connections between habitats that improve ecosystem function
- Enhance or restore important ecosystem services that support coastal communities, vulnerable populations, or cultural resources
- Include a long-term plan for monitoring specific criteria relevant to achieve project objectives
- Provide for engineering and design needs, if not already completed
- Habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design: priority in this category will be given to projects that:
- Reflect coastal habitat restoration priority areas identified in state/territories, tribal, or regional plans
- Support or catalyze subsequent restoring of important habitats and connected ecosystem functions/species
- Support or catalyze subsequent restoring of hydrologic connections between habitats that improve ecosystem function
- Support or catalyze subsequent enhancing or restoring important ecosystem services that support coastal communities, vulnerable populations, or cultural resources
- Land conservation projects: priority in this category will be given to projects that:
- Have significant ecological value
- Have a demonstrated need for protection
- Can be effectively managed and protected
For land conservation projects that meet the standards above, priority will subsequently be given to projects that:
- Are designed to protect properties under an imminent threat of conversion to a use that will degrade or diminish their natural, undeveloped, or recreational state
- Serve to mitigate the adverse impacts caused by coastal population growth in the coastal environment
- Reflect the land conservation priority area(s) that are identified in state or regional conservation plans
All projects should allow passive public access or provide other clear public benefit, to the extent that it is appropriate and consistent with resource protection.
Projects that involve any of the following are encouraged:
- Support for principles of equity and inclusion
- Benefit tribal, Indigenous, and/or underserved communities
- Consider and elevate local or Indigenous knowledge in project design, implementation, and evaluation
Priority will be given to projects that include on-the-ground implementation. The funding agency will also seek to advance the following program priorities:
- Restoration and conservation
- Climate resilience
- Equity and inclusion
Eligibility is limited to applicants located in coastal states and territories.
This program is related to the Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) program, known in eCivis Grants Network as US17405.
Program Office Notes:
The program officer confirmed the letter of intent submission method.
The program officer confirmed the program officer contact information.
Last Updated: June 20, 2024
Eligibility Notes:
Eligible applicants are NERRS lead state agencies or universities designated to receive NERRS operations funding through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the funding agency.
Non-governmental organizations may serve as the lead applicant for habitat restoration or habitat restoration engineering, design, and planning projects.
Eligible applicants must be located in coastal states and territories.
All projects must be located on publicly owned land or land where a public entity holds a lease or easement that provides for adequate public control of the property. Land conservation projects must be located within a reserve's targeted watershed boundary. If it is located outside the targeted watershed boundary, the application must demonstrate that the project will provide measurable benefits to the reserve.
The funding agency, with agreement of the NERRS lead state agency or university, may make an award directly to an eligible applicant partner in order to expedite the completion of an approved project. For these projects, the NERRS lead state agency or university would submit the letter of intent (LOI) and include a description of which partner would be the final award recipient.
Applicants are encouraged to include partners and contributors from minority service institutions, including historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving institutions that work in underserved areas.
Each applicant may submit no more than three LOIs.
Non-governmental organizations may not serve as the lead applicant for land conservation projects.
Eligible Applicants:
Academic InstitutionsConsortia
State Government
Application Notes:
Mandatory LOIs must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on August 15, 2024.
LOIs must be emailed to the address provided in the Contact section. The email subject line must include "FY 2024 NERRS Infrastructure Grant Program Letter of Intent."
The program officer confirmed the LOI submission method.
LOIs must include:
- Cover page (1 page max)
- LOI proposal (5 pages max):
- Statement of purpose
- Brief project description
- Milestones
- Equity and inclusion
- Climate
- Site geography
- Landowner (if applicable)
- Pre-existing uses
- Partnerships
- Project timeline
- Budget summary
- Project readiness
- Maps
All materials should be single-spaced and use a legible 11- or 12-point font with one-inch margins. All pages of the LOI should be submitted as a single .pdf file. File size is limited to 10 MB. Maps will not count against the page limit for the LOI. Applicants submitting multiple LOIs must use a unique project title for each LOI and may send all LOIs in one email or multiple emails.
The following are required in order to submit an application:
- Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
- SAM (System for Award Management) registration
- SPOC (state Single Point of Contact) notification
Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam. Applicants in states participating in the SPOC program must contact the relevant SPOC listed in the SPOC file before applying.
LOIs will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Alignment with conservation and restoration program goals (20 points)
- Reserve, regional, tribal, and community priorities (20 points)
- Climate (10 points)
- Equity and inclusion (10 points)
- Project readiness and technical merit (25 points)
- Project costs (10 points)
- Partnership (5 points)
Applicants submitting successful LOIs will be invited to submit a full proposal, which must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on January 9, 2025.
Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.
| Match Required: | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Match Type: | Unspecified |
| Actual Funds: | $13,500,000 (Estimated) |
| Award Range: | $4,000,000 (Max) |
|---|
Match Notes:
Matching funds are not required for this program; however, applicants are strongly encouraged to combine program funding with formal nonfederal matching contributions or informal leveraged funds from a broad range of sources in the public and private sectors to demonstrate stakeholder support, partnership, and collaboration for the proposed work.
Applicants that include matching funds in their letter of intent (LOI) budget will receive additional points in the evaluation process. Full points will be given to applicants whose combined total meets or exceeds a one-to-one ratio of matching or leveraged funds to program funds.
Funding Notes:
Approximately $13.5 million is anticipated to be available to support grants or cooperative agreements of up to $4 million through this program. Grants or cooperative agreements are expected to fall within the following approximate ranges by project type:
- Habitat restoration engineering, design, and planning: $200,000 to $350,000
- Habitat restoration: $2 million to $4 million
- Land conservation: $500,000 to $1.5 million
The funding agency intends to allocate at least 10 percent of the competition funds toward projects that target engagement and partnership with underserved communities.
Funding will be provided on a reimbursement basis.
Generally, applicants may submit proposals with a project period of 12 to 36 months; however, for habitat restoration projects, applicants may request a project period of up to 48 months to allow for at least one year of post-restoration monitoring. The funding agency may extend an award for a total project period of up to five years if circumstances warrant. The expected start date for projects is August 1, 2025.
Reimbursement for pre-award costs more than 90 days before the award start date require prior approval from the funding agency.
Sustainable aquaculture, forestry, agriculture, and small-scale community recreation facilities, such as playgrounds, sports fields, non-primitive camping areas, or paved bicycle paths, may be allowed on a de minimis scale if they are located away from sensitive ecological features. For the purposes of this program, de minimis scale is considered to be no more than 10 percent of the total acreage of the project.
In "buy and hold" circumstances for direct acquisition, some holding costs may be eligible, subject to a limit of 5 percent of the purchase price of the property.
Land conservation funding may not be used for:
- Long-term operations, maintenance, and management of the land, above those costs for initial land stewardship
- Construction of buildings, boat launching facilities, docks or piers, shoreline armoring, or other facilities
- Research
- Acquisition of lands, or interests in lands, that completely restrict access to specific persons
- Acquisition of lands, or interests in lands, to comply with mandatory or compensatory mitigation for recent, pending, or future habitat losses resulting from the actions of agencies, organizations, companies, or individuals
- Enforcing fish, wildlife, or other regulations, either solely or primarily, except when necessary for the accomplishment of approved project purposes
- Acquisition of land for active recreation, such as sports facilities, water parks, playgrounds, or similar uses, except for at a de minimis scale
- Pre-award costs without prior approval
In general, funds may not be used for:
- Direct proposal preparation costs
- Public access infrastructure projects, such as construction or restoration of boardwalks, boat ramps, bridges, bathrooms, or walkways
- Compliance with mandatory or compensatory mitigation for recent, pending, or future habitat losses resulting from the actions of agencies, organizations, companies, or individuals
- Enforcing fish, wildlife, or other regulations, either solely or primarily, except when necessary for the accomplishment of approved project purposes
- Activities that constitute legally required mitigation for the adverse effects of an activity regulated or otherwise governed by state or federal law
- Activities that constitute mitigation for natural resource damages under federal or state law
- Activities that are required by a separate consent decree, court order, statute, or regulation
Contacts:
Program Staff
ocm.nerrs.infrastructure@noaa.gov
Agency Address
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Office for Coastal Management
2234 South Hobson Ave.
Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Contact Notes:
Questions should be directed to the program staff.
The program officer confirmed the program officer contact information.
Letters of intent (LOIs) must be emailed to the address provided.
The program officer confirmed the LOI submission method.
The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.
File Notes:
The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The SPOC file contains information on the state Single Point of Contact program.
June 20, 2024
The program officer provided additional information regarding program officer contact information and the letter of intent submission method for this program. The Application and Contact sections have been updated accordingly.