OpportunityTitle: CZM Habitat Protection and Restoration Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Competition
CategoryExplanation: The purpose of this notice is to solicit grant proposals from eligible state and territory Coastal Zone Management Programs (CZM Programs) for coastal habitat restoration; coastal habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design; and land conservation projects that support the goals and intent of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58. For the purposes of this funding opportunity, coastal habitat conservation is defined as the acquisition of fee simple interest in real property or conservation easements.    NOAA anticipates that approximately $59.6 million will be competitively awarded to approved state and territory Coastal Management Programs. For habitat restoration engineering, design and planning, it is anticipated that projects will range from approximately $200,000-$500,000. For habitat restoration, it is anticipated that projects will range from approximately $2 million to $6 million. For land conservation, it is anticipated that projects will range from approximately $1 million to $4 million. Applicants may propose projects with a Federal funding request less than or more than these amounts, up to $6 million.    The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) encourages applicants and awardees to support the principles of equity and inclusion when writing their proposals and performing their work. Promoting equity and inclusion through community engagement, co-development, and partnership improves creativity, productivity, and the vitality of the coastal management community that OCM supports.
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Any coastal state or territorial CZM Program that has been approved by NOAA pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S.C. &#167; 1455) is eligible for habitat restoration and conservation funds under this announcement. Each applicant may submit no more than three letters of intent for consideration under this competition.For selected projects, NOAA may make financial assistance awards to the lead CZM Program agency, which will be responsible for ensuring that allocated funds are used for the purposes of and in a manner consistent with this program, including any funds awarded to an eligible sub-applicant. NOAA may, with concurrence of the state&#8217;s CZM Program lead agency, make a grant directly to an identified sub-applicant in order to expedite completion of an approved project. For these projects, the CZM Program lead state agency would submit the Letter of Intent and include a description of which CZM Program partner would be the final grant recipient. If the CZM Program is invited to submit a final application for this proposal, then the CZM Program partner would submit the final application through grants.gov. In such cases, the CZM Program partner (as the grant recipient) will be responsible for ensuring that allocated funds are used for the approved purposes of, and in a manner consistent with, this program. Non-governmental organizations may serve as the lead applicant for habitat restoration projects or for habitat restoration engineering, design and planning projects. As noted in section III C.3. Public Benefit, 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. For these projects, the project application should also include a letter of support from the public entity who holds title or a legal interest on the project site.Non-governmental organizations are not eligible to hold title to lands acquired with these funds and therefore may not serve as the lead applicant for habitat conservation projects and also should not be listed as a subawardee for the land acquisition portion of the project However, non-governmental organizations may participate as partners with eligible entities in the acquisition, restoration and long-term stewardship of lands through this program, such as: identifying target properties; conducting or assisting in acquisition negotiations to secure properties; conducting restoration activities; and providing stewardship and management of properties in perpetuity, including holding a secondary easement or other stewardship agreement for these lands.DOC/NOAA supports cultural and gender diversity and is strongly committed to broadening the participation of 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. While this program limits applicants to state and territorial CZM Programs, DOC/NOAA encourages applicants to include partners and contributors from any of the above groups or institutions.
Description: Coastal areas support communities and are home to natural infrastructure, including forests, wetlands, floodplains, and dunes. These not only support productive fisheries, coastal recreation, and other coast-dependent economic activities, but also protect these coastal communities from storm impacts and other coastal hazards. The National Coastal Zone Management Act established a national system of state and territorial Coastal Zone Management Programs and stated that there is a national interest in the effective management, beneficial use, protection, and development of the coastal zone. The Coastal Zone Management Act notes that coastal habitat is ecologically fragile and consequently extremely vulnerable to degradation or destruction by human alterations. Funding under this opportunity will enable approved coastal programs to protect and restore these ecologically significant habitats within the nation&#8217;s coastal zone, including conserving lands that protect coastal habitat or lands that play a critical role in helping coastal communities build resilience to storms, flooding, inundation, erosion, tsunamis, sea level rise and lake level changes, and other climate-related hazards affecting the U.S. coastlines.This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) supports NOAA&#8217;s efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. A key pillar is resilience to climate change and its impacts, throughout our communities and ecosystems. Specifically, this NOFO seeks projects that enhance coastal resilience. Coastal areas support the nation&#8217;s largest and often fastest-growing population centers as well as key natural assets. Strengthening coastal resilience means preparing and adapting coastal communities to mitigate the impacts of and more quickly recover after extreme events such as hurricanes, coastal storms, flooding, and sea level rise. Habitat restoration and natural and nature-based infrastructure and solutions are critical to doing so by protecting lives and property; sustaining commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing; recovering threatened and endangered species; and maintaining and fostering vibrant coastal economies and lifestyles. This NOFO &#8211; along with the NOFOs for National Coastal Resilience Fund; Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants; Coastal Habitat and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities; and National Estuarine Research Reserve Habitat Protection and Restoration grants&#8211; aims to fund projects that support the overarching goal of enhancing coastal resilience. This NOFO focuses on projects by coastal zone management programs approved by NOAA under the Coastal Zone Management Act. This announcement solicits applications from Federally-approved coastal management programs for projects relating to: 1. coastal habitat restoration; 2. coastal habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design; and 3. coastal land conservation. Projects are expected to be scoped in a manner that would allow them to be completed within three years of the start date of the award, with the potential of up to five years.This competition has a mandatory pre-proposal/letter of intent. Only applicants whose pre-proposals strongly align with program objectives and goals, as determined by NOAA through the review process described in Section V.A, will be invited to submit full applications. Pre-proposals must be submitted by the deadline stated in Section IV.D. For details regarding the suggested content of pre-proposals, please see Section IV.B.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Office for Coastal Management
GrantorContactText: Office for Coastal Management
CloseDateExplanation: Letters of Intent (LOIs) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 14, 2023.Full proposals (by invitation only) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time onJanuary 10, 2024.