[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]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P