What is Grants.gov?
Grants.gov is a clearinghouse for all Federal funding opportunities, which organizations to electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities. Anyone interested in applying for grants from and Federal agency should register as a user of Grants.gov The registration process is fairly simple, only needs to be done once, but will take about three weeks for confirmation.
What
are the Local Action Strategies?
In Oct. 2002, the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force adopted a new initiative
to address six key threats to coral reef in U.S. waters. The
key
threats being address are overfishing, land-based sources of
pollution, recreational overuse/misuse, lack of public awareness,
disease,
and climate change and coral bleaching. This management initiative
included the development of local action strategies (LAS's),
or three
year plans, to address each of the key threats in each Jurisdiction
(Florida, Puerto Rico, USVI, Hawaii, Guam, CNMI, and Am. Samoa.)
The purposes of the plans are to prioritize research and management
activities that are needed by local resource agencies to adequately
address each of these threats. To date each jurisdiction has
drafted or finalized local action strategies for 3-4 of these
key threats.
Any applicant applying for funding under this category must identify
a specific project listed in the LAS that they plan to undertake
and consult with the lead
local agency when developing the proposal. Return
to Funding information.
What is a budget narrative?
All applications must have a detailed budget narrative explaining
and justifying the federal and the non-federal expenditures by
object class. The budget narrative must accurately describe the
budget breakdown of Section B (Budget Category) of the 424A form.
For clarification and simplicity, it is best to discuss each expense
by object class in the order they appear on the SF424A. The applicant
should indicate whether or not the expenditures are federal or
non-federal in nature and include the dollar amounts in the discussion
and how the dollar amounts were derived. A spreadsheet with federal
and matching expenditures can also be included but is not required.
Matching funds for the project must be available and used during
the stated project period and cannot be used to match other awards.
Example
Budget Narrative
What Federal financial
assistance forms are required?
SF-242, SF-424A SF424B, CD-511, CD-512, and if applicable CD346
and/or SF-LLL. All Federal forms can be found on-line at
Grants.gov.
If the forms are submitted through Grants.gov, applicants do not
need to mail in the original signed copies. However, if the applicant
submits their proposal outside of Grants.gov, original signed
Federal forms are required.
How
are projects selected?
Shortly after application deadline all grants are distributed
to a NOAA Fisheries Service team of representatives from the Office
of Habitat Conservation (OHC), the Southeast Fishery Science Center,
the Pacific Islands Fishery Science Center and the Pacific Islands
Regional Office as well as specific coral reef specialists, state
and territorial government representatives, and National Marine
Sanctuary managers and scientists (as appropriate) for technical
review. The proposal is scored based on specific evaluation criteria:
- Importance/relevance and applicability of proposal to the program goals: This includes the documented need for the proposed activities and demonstrated coordination with applicable ongoing management activities;
- Technical and scientific merit of proposed activities;
- Overall qualification of applications including the ability to complete work with the requested funds and in the proposed time frame, and the capacity of applicant to conduct proposed work;
- Project Costs; and
- Outreach and education.
All of the technical reviews are compiled and grouped in rank order by the OHC. A final evaluation and selection is made by the OHC selection committee. This consists of an internal review that includes an analysis of the technical comments provided by the reviewers, evaluation of additional criteria listed in the announcement of availability of funding, geographic criteria, and an assessment of the total available funds. Return to Funding Page
What are matching funds?
Matching funds may consist of a variety of public
and private sources and can include in-kind contributions and
other non-cash support. The General Coral Reef Conservation Grant
Program requires a 1:1 match.
Recipient must keep documentation of any other cash contributions in their records. Matching funds cannot be from Federal sources and may not include contributions for any other federally-assisted funds or cost of associated Federal programs. Tuition costs for students working on project is not an acceptable cash match.
In-kind support includes:
- Volunteer services - must be valued to the type of service, and not the position of the person providing the service;
- Donated Land, facilities or equipment; and
- Loaned equipment - valuation should be based on fair market rental value
What
is the difference between a grant and a cooperative agreement?
All of the successful General Coral Reef Conservation
proposals are awarded as a grants. A grant is is a legal instrument
reflecting a relationship between NOAA and a recipient such that
a) the principle purpose of the relationship is to transfer money
in order to accomplish a public purpose; and b) there is no substantial
involvement between NOAA and the recipient during the performance
of the contemplated activity. All of the Projects to Improve
or Amend Coral Reef Fishery Management Plan
are awarded only to the regional fishery management councils as
cooperative agreements. Like other grants, the principle purpose
of the relationship is to transfer money in order to accomplish
a public purpose of support. However, the main difference is that
substantial involvement , including collaboration, participation
or intervention by NOAA in the management of the project is anticipated
during the performance of the contemplated activity. Return
to Funding Page.
What type of obligations does an
award carry?
The recipient is responsible for managing, monitoring,
and reporting on their ability to meet project or program objectives.
A report of these activities and the appropriate financial reports
are submitted directly to the program officer as a progress or
performance report.
Required semi-annual financial reports include:
- Submitting a financial status report, which provides complete disclosure of grantee expenditures and obligations for each award during a specific period. These forms include the SF-269 (long form) and SF-269A (short form). The short form is recommended for use if no program income has been generated.
- A Federal cash transaction report is used for monitor cash advances drawn by the recipient and to ensure that excess funds are not held on hand. This form is the SF-272. Funding over $5,000.00 held for more than 3 days must be explained under the remark section.
Semi-annual progress reports are due to the program officer no later than 30 days after each six month period starting from the effective date of the award. These interim reports continue consecutively until the grant award expires and should include a summary of all activities accomplished during the state period, for each of the listed objectives, as well as any difficulties that arise and proposed remedies to these problems.
A comprehensive final report that covers all activities conducted during the entire award period is due 90 days after the expiration of the award.
How does a successful grant recipient
get their money?
Award payments will be made through electronic
funds transfers, using the Department of Treasury's, Automated
Standard Application for Payment (ASAP) system, and in accordance
with the requirements of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of
1996. The ASAP payment system allows grant and cooperative agreement
recipients to withdraw funding directly from an established ASAP
account for each award. ASAP is an all-electronic payment and
information system developed jointly by the Financial Management
Service (FMS) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The latter,
in its capacity as Treasury's fiscal agent, operates the system.
ASAP is a system through which grantee organizations receiving
Federal funds can draw from accounts pre-authorized by Federal
Agencies. ASAP is also being used to make timely payments to financial
agents that are performing financial services for FMS and other
Federal Agencies.
How dose ASAP work?
In short, ASAP operates
as follows: Federal Agencies and organizations receiving Federal
funds enroll one time to use ASAP. Federal Agencies establish
and maintain accounts in ASAP to control the flow of funds
to organizations. Federal Agencies enter spending authorizations
into their ASAP accounts in accordance with their program needs
and schedules. Payment Requesters at organizations initiate payment
requests through ASAP to meet cash needs. This is done primarily
through on-line connections that organizations have with ASAP.
In a case where a financial institution is acting as an agent
of the organization, a request for funds can be made via the Federal
Reserve's FEDWIRE system. Approved requests for next day or future
day (up to 32 calendar days from the date of the payment request)
payments are paid via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system,
or by FEDWIRE if same day payment is required. Withdrawn amounts
are deposited directly into the bank account identified by the
recipient during the enrollment process.
The following information is required when making withdraws for awards: (1) ASAP account identification (id) = award number found on the cover sheet of new awards, or mailed to the authorizing official for existing awards; (2) Agency Location Code (ALC) = 13140001; and (3) Region Code = 01. If you are not enrolled as an ASAP Recipient Organization you must complete the enrollment process with your Federal Reserve Bank, Regional Finance Center. Enrollment applications and information can be found at http://www.fms.treas.gov/asap/pr_handbooks.html.
All applications must include:- Cover page including - project title, applicant organization, principle investigator or contact, contact information (phone, fax, and e-mail), program category (General Coral Reef Conservation Program), geographic location, amount of requested funds, start date and end date of project, and a concise paragraph of the project summary;
- Introduction - no more than one page describing the status and the magnitude of issue in the jurisdiction of the proposed project, recent actions to address the issue, and how the project fits into the jurisdiction's plan to conserve coral reef ecosystem;
- Proposed task- a description of work including a clear identification of work to be completed and who will perform the work, how the project coordinates with relevant state, territory, or local government and non-government activities and where applicable NOAA activities, a budget narrative (described above), and a task time table with defined work products;
- Enough information to adequately address the National Environmental Policy Act requirements;
- Information on necessary permits; and
- Letters of reference, support, and CV's as appropriate.
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