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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Removal Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) (Limited Eligibility) - FY 2025

Agency: U.S. Department of Commerce
CFDA: 11.999
Federal FON: NOAA-NOS-ORR-2025-25974
Office: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS) Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program (MDP)
Multipart Grant: No
Next Due: 09/27/2024 (Letter of Intent)
Solicitation Date: 07/24/2024
   
Match Required: No
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Range: $47,000,000 (Max)
Award Range: $1,000,000 (Min) / $10,000,000 (Max)
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to support the development and implementation of marine debris assessment, removal, and prevention projects that benefit coastal habitat, waterways, and marine and Great Lake resources. The overall objective of the program is to support impactful, large marine debris removal projects that will improve the resilience of the coastal and marine environment. This program considers impactful projects to be those that will have long-lasting, transformational benefits to marine and coastal Trust resources, coastal communities, and/or local economies. Projects will remove debris and prevent reaccumulation of debris in the environment. The program is primarily aimed at supporting new or impactful removal efforts, or projects that require funding to scale up or expand their existing removal efforts to achieve broader and more impactful outcomes.

Marine debris is defined as any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes. Large debris is defined as abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs), derelict fishing gear (DFG), and other debris that is unable to be easily collected by hand.

The highest priority for this program is to support impactful, large marine debris removal projects. Applicants may conduct removal activities on their own, collaborate with other organizations, pass through funding via subawards, or administer a nationally or regionally focused competitive funding opportunity to allow for funding of smaller projects. The funding agency will also prioritize projects that demonstrate clear removal and disposal outcomes. Removals should be conducted with a focus on alternative disposal methods, when possible, which means applicants should use disposal methods that are the most environmentally friendly given the location, availability, and resources of the specific removal effort. 

Removal projects that include strategies to prevent the reaccumulation of marine debris in the future may be prioritized. Removal projects that include monitoring activities to demonstrate long-term outcomes are also encouraged.

All applicants should demonstrate how their work will advance the principles of diversity, equity, justice, inclusion, and accessibility. Prevention and removal activities should prioritize collaboration with diverse entities and groups.

Refer to pages 3-4 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding the program's priorities. Refer to the BudgetGuidance file for detailed information on allowable costs. 

An optional webinar is scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for details.

Eligibility is limited to projects that take place throughout the coastal United States, Great Lakes, territories, and freely associated states.

Last Updated: August 15, 2024

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are:

  • State, local, tribal, and territory governments whose activities affect research or regulation of marine debris
  • Federally and nonfederally recognized tribes and Native or Indigenous organizations
  • Institutes of higher education
  • Nonprofit organizations
  • Commercial, for-profit organizations with expertise in marine debris removals

Projects must take place throughout the coastal United States, Great Lakes, territories, and freely associated states. 

The funding agency is strongly committed to broadening the participation of veterans, minority-serving institutions, tribes, and entities that work in communities facing environmental/climate and socio-economic burdens. All applicants should demonstrate how their work will advance the principles of diversity, equity, justice, inclusion, and accessibility. Prevention and removal activities should prioritize collaboration with diverse entities and groups.

Renewal or supplementation applications will be accepted. However, such applications will not receive preferential treatment.

The program will not support removal efforts in non-coastal or inland areas outside the Great Lakes Watershed.

Federal agencies are not eligible to apply; however, federal entities may collaborate with eligible applicants.

Eligible Applicants:
Local Government
Academic Institutions
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
Private Sector
State Government
Tribal Organizations/Institutions
Application Notes:

Mandatory letters of intent (LOIs) must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on September 27, 2024.

LOIs must be emailed to the appropriate address provided in the Contact section, with the subject line "FY25 Marine Debris Removal Letter of Intent (LOI)." Hard-copy LOIs will not be accepted.

LOIs must include:

  • Applicant organization information
  • Project title
  • Principal investigators' contact information
  • Project location
  • Project description
  • Anticipated start date
  • Funding
  • Outcomes and metrics
  • Diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility description

LOIs may not exceed three standard-sized, single-spaced pages with one-inch margins, formatted using an 11- or 12-point font. A fourth page may be submitted showing only project site maps and photographs of the area or the targeted debris.

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.

Applicants must also register with eRA Commons at www.ecivis.com/eracommons.

An optional webinar for this program is scheduled as follows:

August 7, 2024
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
Registration: register.gotowebinar.com

A recording of the webinar can be found online at marinedebris.noaa.gov.

LOIs will be evaluated using the following criteria:

  • Benefits and outcomes (30 percent)
  • Technical merit (20 percent)
  • Qualifications of applicants (10 percent)
  • Prevention activities (20 percent)
  • Diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility (20 percent)

Refer to pages 21-22 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding the LOI evaluation criteria.

Applicants that submit successful LOIs will be invited to submit full proposals, which must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on January 31, 2025.

Refer to the NOFA and Overview files for additional application information.

Match Required: No
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Range: $47,000,000 (Max)
Award Range: $1,000,000 (Min) / $10,000,000 (Max)
Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this program; however, applicants have the opportunity to provide cost sharing, leveraged funds, and in-kind support. For funded proposals that include nonfederal matching contributions, the proposed matching contributions will be legally binding.

Applicants may propose to use indirect costs as matching contributions.

Funding Notes:

Up to an estimated $47 million is expected to be available to support cooperative agreements ranging from $1 million to $10 million through this program. Typical awards are expected to range from $2 million to $6 million. Proposals requesting more than $6 million are expected to include subaward competitions for other organizations to identify and apply for funding for localized removal activities. Proposals requesting more than $6 million and involving only debris removal by award recipients must provide detailed justification.

Award notifications are expected to be issued by June 1, 2025.

Project periods will span from two to four years, with the earliest anticipated start date being October 1, 2025.

Pre-award costs will only be allowed with prior written approval, as detailed on page 20 of the NOFA file.

Funds may not be used for:

  • Projects proposing removals in international waters, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
  • Projects addressing microplastics or microfibers
  • Research and development projects
  • Development of new marine debris databases
  • Activities that are eligible for removal and reimbursement under a federal disaster declaration
  • General programmatic activities unrelated to the proposed outcomes of the project
  • General office supplies that are not directly required for project activities
  • Entertainment costs, generally
Contacts:

Amanda Dwyer
(240) 533-0402
amanda.dwyer@noaa.gov

Program Staff
grants.marinedebris@noaa.gov

Agency Address
U.S. Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 5128
Washington, D.C. 20230

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to the program contacts provided.

Letters of intent (LOIs) must be emailed to grants.marinedebris@noaa.gov.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
NOFA File: US18370_NOFA_FY2025.pdf (179.2 Kb)
Guide File: US18370_Guide_FY2025.pdf (126.2 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US18370_Overview_FY2025.pdf (162.4 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US18370_BudgetGuidance_FY2025.pdf (209.3 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US18370_WebinarPresentation_FY2025.pdf (2.7 Mb)
Other Pre-Award File: US18370_Q&A_FY2025.pdf (108.9 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SPOC (195.6 Kb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Guide file contains detailed letter of intent submission instructions. The Overview file contains general program information, including information regarding the pre-application webinar scheduled for this program.. The BudgetGuidance file contains detailed information regarding allowable and unallowable costs. The WebinarPresentation file contains the slides from the pre-application webinar held for this program. The Q&A file contains a list of questions and answers regarding this program. The SPOC file contains information on the state Single Point of Contact program. Additional program resources can be found online at marinedebris.noaa.gov.

August 16, 2024
A recording of the webinar for this program has been released, and a link to the presentation is available in the Application section. The slides from the webinar have also been released and attached as the WebinarPresentation file. Additionally, a list of questions and answers regarding this program has been released and attached as the Q&A file.

Grant Keywords
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Removal Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, DOC, NOAA, NOS, Office of Response and Restoration, MDP, BIL, Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, coastal US, coastal United States, coast, Great Lakes, territory, territories, Indian Country, tribe, tribal, tribal land, tribal territory, conservation, conserve, ecological, ecology, ecosystem, environment, environmental, environmentalism, green, habitat, natural resource, nature, outdoor, preservation, preserve, protect, protection, restoration, restore, stewardship, beach, coastal, coastline, riparian, riparian buffer, shore, shoreline, water, watershed, wetland, waterbody, waterbodies, mariculture, marine, ocean, chemical, contaminant, contaminate, contaminated, pollute, polluted, pollution, toxic, cleanup, debris, decontamination, derelict vessel removal, waterway, water quality, wildlife, marine debris, large marine debris, marine debris removal, large marine debris removal, water resource, water pollution, water cleanup, coastal habitat, marine resource, derelict vessels, ADV, derelict fishing gear, DFG, debris accumulation, debris reaccumulation, coastal resilience, coastal environment, EJ, environmental justice, environmental equity, equity, community need, underprivileged, underrepresented, underserved, environmental resource, NOAA Trust, NOAA Trust resource debris removal, abandoned boat, abandoned fishing gear, PL 117-58, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Grant Categories
Environment/Natural Resources
Human Services
Water Supply/Quality