Cleared Climate Ready Workforce Competition IRA NOFO.docx

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

2023 Inflation Reduction Act

Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal

States, Tribes, and Territories

Competition

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 5

A. Overview and Program Information 5

B. Program Priorities 16

C. Program Authority 19

II. Award Information 19

A. Funding Availability 19

B. Project/Award Period 19

C. Type of Funding Instrument 20

III. Eligibility Information 20

A. Eligible Applicants 20

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 23

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 24

IV. Application and Submission Information 24

A. Address to Request Application Package 24

B. Content and Form of the Application 24

C. Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 35

D. Submission Dates and Times 35

E. Intergovernmental Review 35

F. Funding Restrictions 35

G. Other Submission Requirements 36

V. Application Review Information 36

A. Evaluation Criteria 36

B. Review and Selection Process 41

C. Selection Factors 41

D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 42

VI. Award Administration Information 42

A. Award Notices 42

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 42

C. Reporting 45

VII. Agency Contacts 47

VIII. Other Information 47

IX. Instructions for Application Submission via Grants.gov 51

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department

of Commerce (DOC)

Funding Opportunity Title: 2023 Inflation Reduction Act Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal States,

Tribes, and Territories Competition

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-2007783

Federal Assistance Listings Number: 11.417, Sea Grant Support

Dates:

● Letters of Intent are due at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 30, 2023.

● The deadline for application submission is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on February 13, 2023.

● Letters of Intent or applications received after the above deadlines will not be reviewed

or considered.

Funding Opportunity Description:

A climate ready nation requires a climate ready workforce. NOAA will assist communities in coastal

and Great Lakes states and territories so they may form partnerships that train workers and place

them into jobs that enhance climate resilience. This competition is designed to meet the emerging

and existing skills needs of employers while helping workers enter good jobs, so that together they

may enhance climate resilience. NOAA envisions making between 10-20 awards under this

competition, at amounts ranging from $500,000 to $10 million each. NOAA is issuing this Notice of

Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for qualified organizations to form and support partnerships that will

work collaboratively to support regional economies and their associated workforces by developing

training programs that build in-demand skills, offering wraparound services that allow workers to

successfully enroll in and complete training, and helping workers enter or advance into good jobs that

enhance climate resilience. Wraparound services allow people to overcome barriers to participate in

the program, especially individuals in underserved groups. Examples of wraparound services include

transportation, childcare, elder care, and housing services. NOAA heavily prioritizes efforts to reach

individuals from historically underserved communities (see Executive Order (EO) 13985; see

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-adva

ncing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/), ,

and to benefit disadvantaged communities (see Executive Order 14008; see

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tac

kling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/ and defined in M-23-09,

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/M-23-09_Signed_CEQ_CPO.pdf). T

Moreover, Executive Order 14096 recognizes that the Federal Government must continue to remove

barriers to the meaningful involvement of the public in such decision-making, particularly those

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barriers that affect members of communities with environmental justice concerns (see

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/04/21/executive-order-on-revi

talizing-our-nations-commitment-to-environmental-justice-for-all/). Ultimately, the purpose of this

NOFO is to ensure workers in coastal states and territories are trained for and hired into quality

private- and public-sector jobs in the U.S. economy that are needed to increase resilience to

climate-related hazards

(https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/NOAA_FY2226_Strategic_Plan.pdf).

This document sets out requirements for submitting to NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-2007783.

I. Funding Opportunity Description

Through this Inflation Reduction Act Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal States, Tribes, and

Territories Competition (hereafter referred to as “Climate Ready Workforce Competition''), NOAA

will advance the Federal Ocean Climate Action Plan (see

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Ocean-Climate-Action-Plan_Final.pdf),

make equity central to our work, and support economic growth–all toward the agency’s mission of

science, service, and stewardship. Specifically, funded efforts will prepare and place workers in

good jobs that enhance climate resilience and will advance environmental justice.

For purposes of this opportunity, a coastal state follows the definition in 16 U.S.C. § 1453(4), and

includes Great Lakes states and US territories; the District of Columbia is also eligible under this

opportunity.

NOAA may make changes or additions or cancel this NOFO at any time. All changes will be

communicated via Grants.gov.

A. Overview and Program Information

New federal, state, private sector, and philanthropic investments across the United States are

advancing historic efforts to confront climate change, make the nation more resilient to

growing threats to health and well-being, and drive much-needed economic investments into

historically underserved communities (see

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Inflation-Reduction-Act-Guidebo

ok.pdf). The influx of resources has created demand for jobs whose skills require specialized

training. This competition is designed to meet the emerging and existing skills needs of

employers focused on climate resilience, while helping workers enter good jobs that enhance

climate resilience. NOAA expects the results from this opportunity to directly support the

actions from the U.S. Ocean Climate Action Plan (OCAP,

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Ocean-Climate-Action-Plan_Final

.pdf), including, but not limited to:

● Promote coastal community resilience strategies that are adaptive, equitable, and based

on best practices.

● Support transformational resilience investments in coastal habitat restoration,

conservation and in coastal community resilience.

● Advance evaluation and adoption of nature-based solutions, such as living shorelines, to

build resilience against climate-driven coastal hazards.

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● Reduce climate threats and improve the resiliency of climate-vulnerable protected

species, including marine mammals.

The Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal States, Tribes, and Territories Competition will

advance the President’s Justice40 Initiative established by EO 14008, which set a goal that 40

percent of the overall benefits from certain federal investments in climate, clean energy, and

other investment areas flow to disadvantaged communities. The Climate Ready Workforce

Competition is aligned with and advances the goals of the Justice40 Initiative, including to

improve the quality of life, environment, and health of communities. Applicants should use

the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, created by the White House Council on

Environmental Quality, to identify geographically located disadvantaged communities or

“Justice40 communities” that will benefit from this program

(https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/;

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/M-23-09_Signed_CEQ_CPO.pdf).

For the purposes of this NOFO, “good jobs that enhance climate resilience” meet two sets of

criteria. The first set of criteria is defined by the Departments of Labor and Commerce Good

Jobs Principles, whereby “Good Jobs” address benefits; diversity, equity, inclusion, and

accessibility; empowerment and representation; job security and conditions; and pay, among

other factors. Additional details on the dimensions of job quality are available at

https://www.dol.gov/general/good-jobs/principles#:~:text=Organizational%20Culture%3A%20

All%20workers%20belong,fair%2C%20transparent%2C%20and%20equitable

The second set of criteria addresses the phrase “enhance climate resilience.” Within this

NOFO, worker roles that perform one or more of the following climate-informed skills shall

qualify as “enhancing climate resilience”:

1. Apply equity-centered climate resilience principles such as the following:

a. Articulate historical precedents leading to differential exposure of people to

climate-related hazards.

b. Include diverse voices in delivering climate resilience priorities.

c. Establish community consent and support for climate resilience priorities, including

how to identify impacts of greatest concern before, during, and/or after a

climate-related event.

2. Reduce exposure, vulnerability, and risk to climate-related impacts, including but not limited

to:

a. Apply best available science and knowledge, such as projections of climate risk.

b. Evaluate potential climate-related impacts so that the return on investment of one

project may be evaluated relative to that of another.

c. Measure initial conditions, as well as improvements to climate resilience.

d. Evaluate and measure actions to enhance climate resilience, taking into consideration

multiple value systems to ensure long-term sustainability. Measures may include, but

are not limited to, monetary value, community values, continuity of operations, supply

chain reliability, business functions, and ecosystem services.

e. Develop funding and finance plans for resilience projects that include all phases of

implementation and project sustainability.

3. Design, build, operate, maintain, and/or improve the infrastructure and systems (including

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nature-based systems) needed to reduce climate-related vulnerability and/or risk to people,

assets, services, resources, ecosystems, or other attributes valued by individuals, businesses,

communities, and/or governments.

4. Other relevant skills.

a. The applicant must demonstrate that “other relevant skills” are necessary to complete

climate resilience work that may be missing in the applicant’s workforce.

b. Such skills may be defined by climate-resilience plans, employers, and resilience

experts.

Skills that solely lead to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., “mitigate climate

change”) as their primary focus (for example, building renewable energy infrastructure) are

not included under “good jobs that enhance climate resilience,” for the purpose of this

funding opportunity. However, where greenhouse gas reductions are co-benefits of resilience

efforts, such projects are welcome.

In this NOFO, applicants can use funds to develop or fill “good jobs that enhance climate

resilience” in a variety of ways. A project may address one or more skills, across one or more

roles, and at a variety of geographic scales. Below are several descriptive scenarios describing

how climate-informed skills might be incorporated into new or enhanced worker roles through

this opportunity. Even if not explicitly described in these examples, all skills from the list above

may be cited as relevant within a given proposal.

Scenario 1 - one skill, one role: An investment-oriented professional organization, in

collaboration with major lending institutions, establishes a partnership to train 70

employees (who were slated to be laid off due to technological redundancies) and

obtains commitments to hire them to a new chosen career path as Climate Equity

Officers within multiple regional offices after they learn how to establish baselines and

assess risks that climate variability and change pose to capital investments and

customers’ collateral.

Scenario 2 - one skill, multiple roles: Recognizing that some groups face a greater risk of

heat-related illness than others (e.g., as a result of age or poor health) or lack resources that

enable them to adapt or recover, a major municipal health-care provider partners with

community groups to create 125 entry to mid-level positions for heat-health outreach

specialists/assistants, nurses, and home health coordinators. Newly hired professionals will

talk with patients, visit homes, help residents identify current and future heat-health risks,

and connect those residents with community resources to mitigate them.

Scenario 3 - multiple skills, one role: A region’s coastal resilience plan requires crews that can

address coastal erosion using nature-based solutions. One thousand workers are retrained in

multiple cohorts for entry-level work on coastal landscapes, with specific training on erosion

prevention, uses of native plants, and wetland restoration.

Scenario 4 - multiple skills, one role: A new partnership has identified a new local

government worker role, Climate Resilience Officer, is needed in urban communities in a

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multi-state region to work with disadvantaged community leadership to incorporate local

knowledge of recurrent flooding and elevated flood risks; armed with that knowledge, they

will secure funds to protect at-risk populations and improve stormwater management

systems, transportation networks, and other critical infrastructure. They propose to recruit

and train four cohorts of 20 people each, for a total of 80 new hires.

Scenario 5 - multiple skills, one role: A coalition of community-based organizations in

historically underserved communities come together to recruit and train 65 grant managers

who have the skills to solicit, write and manage grants to improve climate resilience in those

communities.

Scenario 6 - multiple skills, multiple roles: The state’s Climate Action Council brings

municipal, county and state agencies together to identify a diverse set of needed skills, for

which 30 new transportation analysts and 40 new water resource planners will be trained and

hired to implement community climate resilience plans.

Scenario 7 - multiple skills, multiple roles: A coastal city has received a large climate

resilience federal grant to implement the next stage of their climate resilience master plan.

Through the plan, they have identified essential worker roles that need to be recruited to

build a comprehensive flood defense infrastructure project, which includes appropriate use of

nature-based solutions, that will protect the city’s waterfront from strengthening coastal

storms for decades into the future. To complete the project and ensure its upkeep over time,

the city needs to hire 45 resilience landscape technicians and 30 environmental inspectors to

bury floodwalls, design landscapes that create a line of elevated ridges, and conduct ongoing

modifications and maintenance.

Successful applicants can receive funding for two types of activities:

● Program design for partnerships to identify the skills needed by industry and workers;

develop the skills training curriculum and materials in collaboration with NOAA (see

Program Priorities in Section I.B.); and secure technical expertise needed to train

workers with the skills needed by employers, including providing professional

development and capacity-building to trainers.

● Program implementation to deliver workforce training and wraparound services

(e.g., childcare, transportation) that place workers into good jobs that enhance

climate resilience through one or more sector partnerships.

All funded projects will be employer-led, in line with the Department of Commerce’s workforce

principles (https://www.commerce.gov/issues/workforce-development), and will support

Americans in securing and retaining good jobs that enhance climate resilience in coastal states,

tribes, and territories. A competitive application will seek to place at least 50 workers into jobs but

could be as high as 1,000 or more workers, through the duration of their project.

1. Definitions and Essential Concepts

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For the purposes of this NOFO, several terms have specific definitions, as outlined below.

A partnership (see Figure 1) consists of employers and strategic partners who join together to train

and place workers into good jobs that enhance climate resilience. The lead entity of a partnership is

referred to in this NOFO as a “Backbone Organization.” The Backbone Organization serves as an

intermediary across all the partners and must be an eligible applicant (Section III.A.). Strategic

partners can include government, educational institutions (including community and technical

colleges), training organizations, economic development organizations, workforce development

organizations, unions, labor management partnerships, industry associations, employer-serving

organizations, and/or community-based organizations. Partnerships are encouraged to collaborate

with NOAA-affiliated entities, which include NOAA programs, offices, and labs, as well as

NOAA-funded programs (see Section III.A.3. for details).

Figure 1. The figure illustrates how employers work with strategic partners to train and hire workers

in a partnership.

Resilience is the capacity to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from a disruption. Climate

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

resilience, more specifically, refers to building resilience to climate-related impacts and requires

that the frequency and severity of climate-related impacts be factored into planning, infrastructure,

services, and other relevant operations. More information on climate resilience is available at

https://toolkit.climate.gov/steps-to-resilience/steps-resilience-overview. Enhancing climate

resilience can include retrofitting or building new infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and “soft”

measures such as administrative changes, preparedness, and programs that enhance people’s

adaptability to climate-related impacts. Climate resilience is strengthened by reducing the potential

for future injury, enhancing “up-time” for employers and/or supply chains, and strengthening

capacity to troubleshoot and address vulnerabilities. Application submissions must explicitly

demonstrate how the partnership will place people in good jobs that enhance climate resilience.

Additional information about enhancing resilience is available at

https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/practitioners-guidance-implementing-steps-resilience.

2. Components of a Climate Ready Workforce

The goal of this opportunity is to (a) connect the in-demand and emerging climate resilience skills

needs of employers with qualified workers and (b) help workers find and keep good jobs and

advance along their chosen career path, while working to enhance resilience to climate-related

impacts.

Applicants to this opportunity should be Backbone Organizations who will lead partnerships.

Successful applicants will serve as intermediaries who play a convening and coordination role

among project participants. Successful applicants will ensure programs are successfully

implemented, meet employer needs, are leading to long-term positive outcomes for workers and

their communities, and meet agreed-upon milestones. Successful applicants will include proactive

employer engagement and mobilization linked to explicit commitments to hire (see Employer

Commitments and Leadership in Section I.A.2.e).

Successful applicants to this NOFO will receive funding for program design for partnerships and/or

program implementation (see Program Priorities in Section I.B. for more detail). NOAA anticipates

making an overarching award to each successful Backbone Organization. NOAA will further approve

the release of award funds over the period of performance based on successful completion of

specific applicant-proposed benchmarks that will be clearly identified in the award as the

organization moves through its objectives as articulated in its application. The Backbone

Organization may make subawards as necessary and as approved by the grant program manager.

Applicants should submit one application for program design and/or program implementation, as

necessary.

Partnerships funded under this NOFO should connect employers in an industry or sector with

regionally relevant groups, including State, Tribal, and local governmental entities, indigenous-led

organizations, economic development organizations, workforce development boards, Career

OneStops (https://www.careeronestop.org/), employer-facing organizations and employer

associations, education and training providers, community-based organizations (CBOs), faith-based

organizations, worker-serving organizations (WSOs), labor unions, professional associations, and/or

other relevant groups with roles or responsibilities in advancing resilience to climate-related

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impacts. Those employers, industries, and sectors are listed below under Eligibility Information

(Section III).

NOAA encourages applicants to recruit workers with barriers to the labor market, including historically

underserved and under-resourced communities and individuals (as defined by Exec Order No. 13985;

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advanc

ing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/) and

including, but not limited to, communities of color, women, people with disabilities, and others facing

employment barriers; disconnected youth, such as individuals in their late teens to mid-twenties with

limited education, experiencing social exclusion, with lack of work experience, and/or with few

opportunities to develop mentors and valuable work connections; individuals in recovery, where

“recovery” is defined as the process of improved physical, psychological, and social wellbeing and

health following cessation or reductions in substance use; individuals with past criminal records

including justice-impacted and reentry participants; those participating in the public benefits

programs; and veterans and military spouses.

While not all applications will cover each criterion equally, applicants will likely address each of the

following to successfully compete under this program:

● include all necessary partners before workforce solutions are designed;

● cut across traditional economic development, workforce, education, and social

services system silos;

● target in-demand climate resilience skills and service delivery within relevant economic

sectors;

● create opportunities for workers with barriers to employment;

● lead to good jobs that enhance climate resilience; and

● consider the economic realities of a region, industry, and sector in assessing

workforce demand and training needs.

Prospective applicants should note that Section III sets out eligibility criteria for applications, and

only applications meeting the eligibility criteria will be considered. NOAA will evaluate and select

applications according to the evaluation criteria set forth in Section V. Applicants who are unsure

whether their proposed project is eligible under this NOFO should contact NOAA at the email

address listed in Section VII.

a. Regional, Industry, and Occupation Focus

The size and scope of a given partnership can vary significantly based on the needs of the

employers and workers in a region and the focus of the partnership itself.

Successful applicants will train workers for and place workers into good jobs that enhance

climate resilience, as defined above (Section I.A.). Among other things, these jobs can help

execute the climate resilience projects funded through other Federal grants; support industries

in operating in new ways given the impacts of climate change; and help address the impacts of

climate change.

b. Benchmark Approach to Funding

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The size of award available under this NOFO will depend on the proposed geographic,

industry/sector, and occupation coverage of a given partnership. Applicants should justify their

budget requests by referencing those factors. Each applicant shall be a Backbone Organization and

an Eligible Applicant (see Section III.A) with convening power in the region and the capacity to

coordinate all relevant groups necessary for the partnership.

NOAA may require applicants to demonstrate they have met certain, pre-determined benchmarks

before accessing the full amount of their award.

The following hypothetical example is designed to help explain how NOAA anticipates awarding funds

and implementing benchmarks:

A Backbone Organization submits an application on behalf of a partnership to design and

then execute a training program, including funds for trainers, leased facilities, equipment

purchase, childcare, transportation, and coaching services.

NOAA may approve an award to the Backbone Organization. Before the Backbone

Organization can access program implementation funds, it must demonstrate it already has

sufficient program design standards in place to move to program implementation.

c. Examples Highlighting Distinct Approaches to this NOFO

Each region, employer, or sector of the U.S. and its territories has distinct climate resilience needs.

One region may need to build and design a new climate resilience partnership. Another region may

already have elements of an effective partnership in place but seek funding to combine those

components in a unique way. A third region may have a partnership that functions well and is ready

to move forward with implementation projects, expand the partnership to other regions, or support

other industries and occupations or skills needs within an industry.

For example, a community college may develop a partnership by matching employers (each of which

has job openings that require similar skill sets), a local training provider, a labor management

partnership, and a group of community colleges in the region (see, for example,

https://theseedcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/COWSSEED_ResiliencyReport_1014_web.pdf).

Their partnership prepares workers to meet employers’ climate resilience needs.

A partnership may include one or more community-based organizations that provide wraparound

services to support workers during training and apprenticeships (see, for example,

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Advancing-Equitable-Workforce-Devel

o pment-for-Infrastructure-Jobs_110122.pdf). Employers express interest in recruiting individuals

who enroll in the training program; those employers commit to hiring and retaining workers who

successfully complete the program.

A union might work with an employer or group of employers to create or scale a registered

apprenticeship or an employer-led partnership that provides a work-and-learn model where workers

can continue to work as they develop new skills. Training should teach foundational principles as well

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as applied knowledge, should be applicable to more than one employer as much as practicable, and

should help workers advance along a career path.

d. Training Models

There are several different skills training models that have proved to be effective if the fundamental

characteristics we have described in previous sections are in place. In all effective models, an essential

component is upfront employer engagement and mobilization, as well as employer commitments to

hire workers (see Employer Commitments and Leadership in Section I.A.2.e).

Models may differ in the type of worker skills training they provide and will differ based on the

sectors or occupations to which each training is aligned. Applicants are encouraged to refer to the

NOAA guidebook, Implementing the Steps to Resilience

(https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/46456), as they explore which employers may

require workers to advance climate resilience. Training programs may include Certification or

Credentialing, as well as Work and Learn programs.

Certification and Credentialing necessitates a worker to obtain an industry-recognized certification

and/or license recognized by appropriate levels of government and/or private sector entities. Work

and Learn might involve skills training, Registered Apprenticeships, or hybrid models. Skills Training

programs provide workers with foundational and relevant climate resilience knowledge and skills

needed for in-demand, good jobs. Trained workers advance along career pathways that enhance

resilience to climate-related impacts. Registered Apprenticeship Models

(https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/11/30/2022-26108/prevailing-wage-and-appre

nticeship-initial-guidance-under-section-45b6bii-and-other-substantially) combine paid, on-the-job

training (under the direction of a mentor) with classroom instruction and result in an

industry-recognized credential (e.g., for climate resilience proficiency) within a worker role. As an

example of a hybrid model: a worker is conditionally hired for a specific training period and earns

wages, while receiving on-the-job training in foundational skills and applied concepts. After

successful completion of the training period, the worker is officially hired as a full-time employee.

Programs may provide unemployed or underemployed workers or incumbent workers with

opportunities for increased wages through targeted upskilling. Programs should include appropriate

wraparound services.

Successful applicants will work in consultation with NOAA program managers to incorporate

climate resilience concepts into interventions honed to a given sector or industry. NOAA

program managers will work with project teams to promote successful applicants’ work

through NOAA and NOAA-funded programs and offices. Where possible, NOAA will provide

technical assistance to successful applicants (see Section II.C.), to ensure that their training

programs leverage the best available science, data, and practices in enhancing climate

resilience, including utilizing NOAA’s Digital Coast (https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/) and

the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (https://toolkit.noaa.gov).

e. Employer Commitments and Leadership

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Successful applications will require strong leadership from employers.

NOAA is seeking applications that have firm employer commitments to hire. The employer

commitment may come in different formats. Some examples include:

● Work-and-Learn, including Registered Apprenticeships and other earn and learn

models (see Training Models in Section 1.A.2.d.);

● Conditional Hire, whereby an employer hires workers on the condition of successful

completion of a training program and the successful demonstration of skill

acquisition;

● Post-Training Hire, whereby employers commit to hiring a specific number of

workers who successfully complete a training program.

Employers should be active in the partnership, steering its agenda toward what is needed in the

marketplace. While partnerships contain a broad-based team of partners and are a “team effort”

made up of educational institutions, professional organizations, workforce development consortia,

and economic development leaders who collaborate to support the partnership, the partnership

should focus on responding to industry and sectoral needs for bolstering resilience to

climate-related impacts. Employers should define the priorities and be integrally involved in crafting

the solutions (as opposed to providing input only). Employers define their skills needs and the

priorities for addressing them. Therefore, if climate resilience priorities necessitate industry-specific

techniques, the development, teaching, and evaluation of those industry-specific methods are

considered within scope of what this competition may fund. Employers and the other partners

should all commit appropriate resources to identify and solve any problems identified by the

collaborators.

B. Program Priorities

In forming a partnership that supports training for and placement into jobs to enhance climate

resilience, all projects considered for funding under this NOFO must address the program priorities

set out below in bulleted text.

● Be consistent with NOAA’s strategic focus to enhance climate resilience, make equity central

to our work, and support economic growth and the agency’s mission of science, service, and

stewardship

(see https://www.noaa.gov/organization/budget-finance-performance/value-to-

society/noaa-fy22-26-strategic-plan

● Support one or more of the following actions from the Ocean Climate Action Plan

○ Promote coastal community resilience strategies that are adaptive, equitable, and

based on best practices.

○ Support transformational resilience investments in coastal habitat restoration,

conservation and in coastal community resilience.

○ Advance evaluation and adoption of nature-based solutions, such as living

shorelines, to build resilience against climate-driven coastal hazards.

○ Reduce climate threats and improve the resiliency of climate-vulnerable protected

species, including marine mammals.

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● Recruit workers (e.g., 50-1000+ over time) into “good jobs that enhance climate resilience,”

and train them for using one or more of the five climate-informed skills (see I.A.).

● Place workers in good jobs within coastal states, tribal nations, and territories or the

District of Columbia, with a focus on training workers from the community where the jobs

are located (per section VIII.H).

● Support work in communities with climate justice vulnerabilities and in disadvantaged

communities as identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST;

https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov ).

● Identify and include relevant climate experts as strategic partners on the project team to

inform project definition and skill development.

● Utilize NOAA’s and/or its partners’ scientific data, data access tools, data visualizations,

expertise, and/or other physical and intellectual assets to:

○ Document known climate stressors to justify why the identified jobs meet the

definition of "good jobs that enhance climate resilience;"

○ Inform training designed to advance skills for workforce recruits

For the purpose of this competition, NOAA-funded tools or assets may be used to meet

the requirement for using NOAA resources. Additionally, non-NOAA climate resources

may be used to supplement NOAA ones. A list of relevant resources can be found in the

U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

(https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/resources-climate-ready-workforce).

● Include appropriate wrap-around services (e.g., childcare, transportation) to support

training participants in completing the training.

● Work collaboratively to grow regional workforces and their associated economies by (a)

co-developing new or (b) enhancing existing training programs that meet the existing

and emerging skills needs of employers.

● Build enduring capacity for a workforce that can enhance climate resilience.

● Carry out one or both of the following activities:

○ Program design for partnerships to identify the skills needed by industry and

workers, develop the skills training curriculum and materials in collaboration with

employers and NOAA (see Section I.A.2.d.), and secure technical expertise needed

to train workers with the skills needed by employers, including providing

professional development and capacity-building to trainers and educators; and

○ Program implementation to deliver workforce training and wraparound services

that place workers into good jobs that enhance climate resilience through new or

expanded partnerships.

● Produce tangible metrics, e.g., employer commitments to hire, job placements, advancing

workers along chosen career paths, and wage gain Metrics also should be proposed to track

progress toward climate resilience, as well as economic, and equity goals.

NOAA strongly encourages partnerships to recruit those with barriers to the labor market, for

example persons with disabilities; disconnected youth; individuals in recovery; individuals with past

criminal records including justice-impacted and reentry participants; serving trainees participating in

public benefits programs; and veterans and military spouses. NOAA also encourages partnerships with

Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, other Minority-Serving

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Institutions, community colleges, or technical colleges.

In order to facilitate the use of NOAA’s assets, partnerships are strongly encouraged to collaborate

with relevant NOAA and NOAA-funded offices, programs, labs, and/or NOAA employees and

affiliates within proposed partnerships.

The following activities, outputs, and outcomes would be responsive to this program. This list is not

exhaustive, and projects are not limited to these specific categories of activity:

• Establishing, strengthening, or expanding partnerships to provide workers with good jobs

that enhance climate resilience and employers with those skilled workers.

• Funding and staffing for the Backbone Organization to carry out functions outlined in

Section III.A.1.

• Working with employers and other relevant groups to identify in-demand occupations

and skills and securing employer commitments to hire workers who successfully

complete skills training, including earning relevant industry-recognized credentials.

• Making potential training participants aware of available program resources, such as

in-demand climate-resilient occupations, training programs that are aligned to those

occupations, and wraparound services that can help workers access jobs and job training

resources.

• Developing processes to translate employers’ needs for worker skills into training models,

including working with NOAA to ensure that training utilizes the best available data and

science and climate resilience principles.

• Developing and executing outreach and recruitment plans to secure workers, particularly from

underserved populations, to participate in the skills training program to enhance diversity,

equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility in the targeted industry. These plans should be

developed in partnership with relevant organizations that focus on target populations,

including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, other

Minority-Serving Institutions, community colleges, or technical colleges.

• Addressing NOAA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility principles (see Eligible

Applicants in Section III.A) in additional ways.

• Developing systems and processes to measure and track outcomes and metrics of skills

training programs.

• Delivering quality skills training that places workers into good jobs that enhance climate

resilience.

• Delivering technical assistance for employers on skills-based hiring practices to reduce bias,

improve return on investment, and promote people-centered practices.

• Working with employers to adopt a strategy that builds a workforce that can enhance climate

resilience.

• Securing and offering wraparound services for workers to participate in skills training

programs (e.g., transportation, childcare, career coaching/navigation services).

• Leveraging federal and non-federal funds to expand reach.

C. Program Authority

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Statutory authority for this program is provided under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

(Pub.L. 117–169).

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, NOAA expects to award approximately $50 million for the Climate

Ready Workforce Competition.

If an applicant is awarded funding, NOAA is under no obligation to provide any future funding in

connection with that award or to make any future award(s). Amendments or renewals of an award to

increase funding or to extend the period of performance are at the sole discretion of NOAA.

Publication of this announcement does not obligate NOAA to award any specific grant or cooperative

agreement or to obligate all or any part of available funds. The granting of any award is subject to

the availability of funds at the time of award. NOAA will not be held responsible for application

preparation costs.

NOAA anticipates making approximately 10-20 awards under this NOFO and scaling awards

as appropriate to the proposed geographic, industry/sector, and worker role coverage of a

given regional system.

Depending on demand under this NOFO, NOAA may exercise its discretion to adjust the total amount

available under this NOFO.

B. Project/Award Period

Under the Climate Ready Workforce Competition, the project period of performance depends on the

nature of the project for which the grant or cooperative agreement is awarded. Due to the need for

recipients to meet identified benchmarks to proceed through project phases, NOAA expects projects

to range in duration from 24 months to 48 months.

NOAA will work closely with award recipients to accommodate their projected timelines within

reason and allowances of regulations and grant policies, though NOAA will prioritize programs that

move expeditiously and are able to place workers into good jobs within 12-24 months of the award.

NOAA expects that all projects will proceed efficiently and expeditiously, and NOAA encourages

applicants to clearly document the timeline to start and complete the proposed project scope of

work.

Awards are expected to be announced in June 2024. The anticipated start date for these awards is

no earlier than August 1, 2024. Projects should be completed no later than July 31, 2028.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement to an eligible applicant. A cooperative

agreement is used when substantial involvement of the federal government during performance

of the proposed work is anticipated. NOAA's “substantial involvement” (to be included in the

terms and conditions of the award) will generally be collaboration between the NOAA Program

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Team and the recipient to develop the project’s scope of work and to codesign approaches that

help participants:

● Understand the impacts of current and projected climate conditions on worker roles and

apply that understanding to improve job efficacy.

● Understand the causes and effects of global climate change on a region, especially as they

pertain to the differentiated worker roles within a proposed partnership.

● Understand the actions people can take to build resilience to potential climate-related

impacts relevant to a job or region, including reduction of carbon pollution.

● Address exposure, vulnerability, risk, and opportunities in alignment with the Steps to

Resilience (https://toolkit.climate.gov/steps-to-resilience/steps-resilience-overview; also

see the Practitioner’s Guide https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/46456) and

additional climate resilience resources from NOAA and its funded partners.

● Attain other knowledge, skills, and abilities appropriate to the job, sector, and region that

enhance resilience to climate-related impacts.

Other possible examples of NOAA's “substantial involvement” may include but are not limited to:

(i) authority to halt immediately an activity if detailed performance specifications are not met; (ii)

stipulation that the recipient must meet or adhere to specific procedural requirements before

subsequent stages of a project may continue; and (iii) operational involvement and monitoring

during the project to ensure compliance with statutory requirements. Award funds will only be

available to a recipient after the recipient has successfully completed specific applicant-proposed

benchmarks identified in the award (see Section I.A.2.b).

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

1. Applicant Type

Eligible applicants for the Climate Ready Workforce Competition must be located in coastal states or

territories as defined by 16 U.S.C. § 1453(4) or in the District of Columbia. They are:

○ State governments;

○ Tribal governments - the recognized governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band,

nation, pueblo, village, community, component band, or component reservation, individually

identified (including parenthetically) in the list published most recently as of 2022 pursuant to

section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131);

○ Territorial governments;

○ Local governments;

○ Institutions of higher education (as defined in subsection (a) of section 101 of the

Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))), including Historically Black Colleges

and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, other Minority-Serving Institutions,

community colleges, and technical colleges;

○ Non-profit organizations or associations.

2. Applicant Role

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Applicants will have all or most of the following characteristics:

● Convening power in the region, which is the ability to catalyze collective action by relevant

actors to address regional climate challenges. Exercising convening power is not an end-goal but

rather a means to foster collective action to achieve desirable development outcomes.

● Committed support of the executive leadership from the region and buy-in from appropriate

relevant groups (e.g., a governor, mayor or chief executive of a jurisdiction, chief executives of

major employers, heads of labor unions, presidents of two- and four-year institutions of higher

education).

● Strong fundraising or budget-management capabilities or connection to a system with strong

fundraising capabilities.

● Relationships and credibility with key players in the workforce ecosystem, including

employers, governmental entities, state or local workforce development boards, educational

institutions, labor organizations, and worker-serving organizations.

● A proven track record of coordinating across sectors and partners and of driving relevant groups

to successful action.

● Dedicated full-time employee(s) focused on addressing regional workforce issues to support

regional economic development.

● Ability to translate various sectors’ objectives and key concerns to other sectors.

● Strong outreach and engagement capabilities.

Applicants do not need to have a background in climate resilience but are expected to engage with

employers that have good jobs that enhance climate resilience, as well as with strategic partners who

can work with the applicant and employers to ensure the training provides the skills needed for those

jobs. The workers trained under this NOFO must fill jobs located in a coastal state, Tribal nation, or

territory, with a focus on workers from the community where the jobs are located (per section VIII.H).

3. Partner Roles

Applications must include project teams that consist of committed partners. Partners are

essential within the Climate Ready Workforce Competition. Partners may include government

entities, educational institutions (including community and technical colleges), training

organizations, economic development organizations, workforce development organizations,

unions, labor management partnerships, industry associations, employer-serving

organizations, conservation corps, not-for-profits, philanthropic organizations, and/or

community-based organizations. All partners do not need to be located in coastal states, Tribal

nations, or territories (though, as stated elsewhere, applicants and resulting jobs must be).

We encourage applicants to partner and work directly with climate service practitioners, who

themselves: have a range of experiences (Figure 2); are trained to evaluate climate risk and develop

strategies responsive to that risk; and can help identify employers who need skilled workers related

to climate resilience. Many workers in good jobs that enhance climate resilience will not be climate

service practitioners, but often worker roles focused on climate resilience will benefit from

expanded competency in working with climate service practitioners. Partnerships should clearly

delineate the skills needed within a given region or sector to enhance climate resilience, in turn

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supporting worker roles that function in collaboration with climate service practitioners, whose roles

and functions are described below.

Figure 2. Climate service practitioners bring multiple skills to bear on serving communities, regions,

industries, and sectors.

A climate service practitioner has or is able to leverage the following skills, getting assistance as

necessary and incorporating relevant climate information into the needs of a specific community,

region, business, or sector:

● Read, understand, and interpret climate science literature.

● Work with a planning team and facilitate a process using principles of equity and inclusion.

● Use spatial data and information.

● Work with communities to understand concerns and determine requirements that

define vulnerability, risk, and potential impacts from climate-related impacts.

● Access and understand relevant solutions to problems, working with subject matter

experts in many domains.

● Develop equitable, finance-ready resilience plans by focusing on the data, methods, tools,

and governance structures that can be replicated, compared, and improved quickly.

● Using appropriate partnerships, tools, and resources suited to your work program,

incorporate an understanding of exposure, vulnerability, and risk to climate-related

impacts while designing and implementing potential actions to enhance climate resilience.

See the Steps to Resilience framework for context and details.

(https://toolkit.climate.gov/steps-to-resilience/steps-resilience-overview).

We encourage applicants to collaborate with, as strategic partner(s), NOAA-affiliated entities, which

include NOAA offices, labs, cooperative institutes, personnel, and programs that implement NOAA

climate resilience priorities

(https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/resources-climate-ready-workforce). NOAA Federal agencies

and their personnel are not permitted to receive federal funding under this competition; however,

federal experts and other employees can serve as uncompensated strategic partners or co-Leads on

applications. Federal labs and offices can also make available specialized expertise, facilities, or

equipment to applicants, but cannot be compensated under this competition for their use.

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If the project location includes areas that are served by NOAA’s Sea Grant College programs,

National Estuarine Research Reserves, the National Coastal Zone Management Program, and/or

NOAA’s Climate Adaptation Partnerships (CAP, formerly known as Regional Integrated Sciences and

Assessments, or RISA), applicants are encouraged to consider involving representatives from these

programs as project advisors or strategic partners. Applicants can locate their local/regional NOAA

resilience expertise, as well as other non-NOAA experts at

https://toolkit.climate.gov/help/partners.

Applicants or partners could be existing AmeriCorps or Corps Network members or other

organizations that offer paid training, career skills development, and/or job pathways into climate

resilience careers. We encourage projects that can also implement elements of the proposed Civilian

Climate Corps Initiative (Exec Order No. 14008, see

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-ta

ckling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/).

4. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility

NOAA is committed to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have

been historically marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented and adversely affected by

persistent poverty and inequality

. NOAA champions diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and

accessibility (DEIJA) by recruiting, retaining, and preparing a diverse workforce, and proactively

engaging and serving the diverse populations of coastal states and territories. NOAA encourages

applicants of all ages, races, ethnicities, national origins, gender identities, sexual orientations,

disabilities, cultures, religions, citizenship types, marital statuses, education levels, job classifications,

veteran status types, income, and socioeconomic status to apply for this opportunity.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

There are no cost sharing or matching requirements for this competition. However, cost sharing,

leveraged funds, and in-kind support will make projects more competitive. Applicants are encouraged

to combine this NOAA federal funding with formal matching contributions or informal leverage from a

broad range of sources in the public and private sectors. Informal leveraging includes resources that

are not committed as part of the formal cooperative agreement, but which are brought to bear on the

project in other ways, for example employer commitments, staff time or volunteer hours. Community,

government, academic, non-government, and industry participation/involvement in projects is

encouraged through cost sharing, leveraged funds, and/or in-kind support.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

None.

IV. Application and Submission Information

All submissions under this NOFO are subject to the below review process.

An applicant must submit both a letter of intent and a complete application, as detailed in Section

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IV.B. of this NOFO, to be considered for funding. NOAA may seek additional information or

documentation from the applicant to clarify information presented in the application. NOAA also

may, in its sole discretion, continue review of any application with minor defects or errors, while

the applicant supplies the missing information. Please see Section V of this NOFO for more

information on NOAA's review and selection process.

Applicants are encouraged to consult with NOAA using the contact information in Section VII to

discuss whether their project is in alignment with NOAA's Program Priorities as well as NOAA's

eligibility requirements, property standards, and other requirements outlined in this NOFO. This

consultation is limited to clarification of technical matters involving the proposed project, project

alignment with NOAA's mission and NOAA's Program Priorities, and all other relevant and publicly

available information relating to general technical matters.

A. Address to Request Application Package

Application packages are available online and can be downloaded from www.grants.gov under

opportunity NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-2007783. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the

internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions.

B. Content and Form of the Application

This section provides an overview of the required proposal elements (and where to locate them).

Applications must adhere to the provisions under "Required Elements" below. Failure to adhere

to these provisions may result in a delay in award processing or rejection of the application,

based on the extent of the noncompliance.

The applicant must redact all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the application materials

prior to final submission to Grants.gov. PII that must be redacted from the application includes,

but is not limited to, social security number, date of birth, student identification number (from

transcripts) or other information which if lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization,

could result in harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to an individual.

Required Elements:

1. Letter of Intent Requirements

Applicants will be asked to submit a letter of intent (LOI) before a full proposal is

submitted. Applicants that do not submit a LOI will not be eligible to submit a full

proposal. Full proposals should not deviate greatly from the LOI. However, LOIs are

not wholly binding, and the applicant may alter details of their project before

submitting the full proposal as their plan evolves. LOIs are meant to provide NOAA

with metrics on the scope and size of the application pool to assist with reviewer

recruitment and review event planning.

The letter of intent should be no longer than 3 pages and must include:

a. Working project title

b. Lead Applicant Name(s)

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c. Lead Applicant Position(s) and Affiliation(s)

d. Lead Applicant Contact Information

e. Climate Service Practitioner Name(s)

f. Climate Service Practitioner Position(s) and Affiliation(s)

g. Climate Service Practitioner Contact Information

h. Number of phases to be completed within the scope of the project

i. The approximate funding to be requested

j. Brief discussion of the partnership, its approach, and its impact.

i. Identify the region/community in which the work will take place to the

county-equivalent level by Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS)

code

. Applicants should use the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

to identify geographically located disadvantaged communities that will

benefit from this program (https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/;

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/M-23-09_Signed

_CEQ_CPO.pdf).

ii. Identify the sectors that will be supported through this project and

how they connect to climate resilience

iii. Address how the proposal will transform workforce capacity.

k. Table of potential partners

The confirmed submission of an LOI is all that is required to submit a full proposal.

While applicants should not expect feedback on their LOI, NOAA program staff may

provide it, subject to their capacity at time of submission.

2. Full Proposal Requirements (please also see VIII. Other Information for

additional post-application required elements for submission):

a. Project Narrative

A Project Narrative of no more than 15 total pages. Material beyond the 15th page

will not be read or considered. Application materials must be in a format and font

sufficient to be easily read by NOAA staff and reviewers; if they are not readable,

they will be rejected. Applicants should provide a clear and concise narrative that

includes a compelling justification for the project, including a clearly defined regional

workforce need or gap related to climate resilience, how the proposed project will

uniquely meet that need, and the expected outcome(s) that will result from the

proposed projects. Lengthy applications will not receive greater consideration.

The Project Narrative must include the following documents in the following format:

i. Section 1: Project Description and Overview

● Section 1a: Provide an executive summary that includes a project

title, identifies the partnership, and provides a summary of no more

than 250 words.

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● Section 1b: Identify and describe the Backbone Organization for the

partnership (see Section III.A.1. for more details on the

characteristics of a Backbone Organization).

● Section 1c: Identify what skills will be the focus of the training

program and how those roles advance climate resilience.

● Section 1d: Identify which organizations or individuals will

provide relevant climate resilience expertise to be incorporated

into the program.

ii. Section 2: Partnership Structure and Commitments

● Section 2a: Employer Leadership and Commitments

○ Sector partnership success will be measured by how

many good jobs training participants obtain with

employer partners and their wages and wage growth.

Any workforce project funded will clearly devise a

method for ensuring employment for its participants.

○ Describe employer leadership and commitments already

in place or that are anticipated to enhance climate

resilience. If applicable, describe how the Backbone

Organization will identify additional employers to

participate in the partnership’s work. Applicants applying

for Program Design and/or Program Implementation

funds should append documentation of the employer

commitments to their applications (which will not count

against the page limit).

○ Please explain how employers were or will be involved in

the creation of the training programs and how they will

participate in the implementation, evaluation, and

ongoing refinement and improvement of them. Please

also explain how employers were or will be active in the

creation of recruitment requirements and the strategy for

recruitment and/or the selection of training participants.

Please also explain how entities that provide worker

perspectives (e.g., labor unions, community

organizations) will be involved in these activities.

Applicants should include a summary table with data

from the employer(s) that show the number of

committed job placements.

● Section 2b: Strategic Partnerships: Describe all relevant groups for the

system and/or partnership, including specific details on the roles and

responsibilities of each participant. Provide a summary table for

letters of support from core partners.

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iii. Section 3: Regional Description

a. Section 3a: Provide a description of the project’s location and

region, including its primary service area to the county-equivalent

level by Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code, and the

key industry or industries. Also include the most relevant and

significant climate resilience skill needs in the target industries in

the region. Additionally, include target participants served.

b. Section 3b: Address how the proposed development or

strengthening of the partnership or system will be consistent with

the region’s or regions’ economic development goals and climate

resilience goals.

iv. Section 4: Impacts of the partnership

● Section 4a: Specify which one or more of the following

components the project proposes:

○ Program Design to strengthen or expand an existing

sector partnership(s) and/or create new sector

partnership(s); or

○ Program Implementation to implement a sector

partnership(s).

○ Describe partnership and how the proposed project will

address local employers’ workforce needs and advance

climate resilience.

○ The applicant also should identify the factors that

contribute to the region’s workforce training strengths

and challenges (e.g., workforce resources, existing and

emerging industries, other regional assets).

● Section 4b: Explain how the proposed project would meet NOAA's

Promoting Economic Development, and Centering Equity strategic

goals in support of the agency’s mission of science, service, and

stewardship priorities. You also may explain in this space how the

proposed project will meet any of NOAA's other Program Priorities.

● Section 4c: Describe the number and type of jobs expected to be

available to workers who successfully complete the training, as well

as the projected wages, wage growth, benefits, and/or union

membership of those jobs. Discuss how you will leverage available

resources to support partnership implementation. Include data that

validate estimates provided or, if data are not yet available, describe

how you will collect data to validate estimates provided.

● Section 4d: Explain why the proposed partnership is achievable. Do

you have examples of where this or similar solutions have been

implemented before? If the partnership is completely new, what

research and groundwork have you done that leads you to believe

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your outcomes are achievable?

● Section 4e: Describe the target demographics of participants and

specific interested groups that will be impacted by the solution

and explain the rationale for how participants are targeted.

Provide an estimate of how many people, organizations,

employers, and/or communities will be impacted by the project

either directly or indirectly.

v. Section 5: Funding Request and Program Design and Implementation

● Section 5a: Provide an estimated funding request for the proposed

partnership(s) or system. As noted above in section I.A.2.a, NOAA

plans to award funds under this NOFO in proportion to the proposed

geographic, industry, and worker role coverage of a given regional

system. While there are no maximums for any particular phase or

combination of phases that can be requested, the following

estimates can help guide your funding request. NOAA estimates:

○ Approximately $250,000-$2 million may be required for Program

Design to design an employer-driven skills training program and

make the capacity building investments necessary to enable its

implementation, including securing the needed capital (e.g.,

equipment, leased space) per region, industry, and worker role.

○ Approximately between $250,000 and $8 million may be

required for Program Implementation to implement an

employer-driven skills training program per region, industry, and

worker role. Proposals may be developed to serve multiple

regions, industries, and worker roles.

■ Equipment costs, expenses related to securing adequate

space

■ (e.g., rent, leases), and other non-construction capital

expenses are allowable expenses under this program,

provided they are sufficiently well-justified.

Building-based construction projects (i.e., any activity

that disturbs the ground or modifies a structure) are not

eligible under this NOFO. Additionally, the use of project

funds to make financial equity or hybrid investments in

businesses is not an allowable cost; neither NOAA funds

nor matching/cost-shares may be used for such

purposes.

■ Applicants should include costs in their proposal to cover

expenses to track and measure key metrics of their

program. Expenses may include staff resources and

systems. Metrics that will need to be tracked and

reported shall include the following: number of workers

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participating in program broken down by key

demographics, number of workers who complete the

program broken down by key demographics, number of

workers placed into jobs broken down by key

demographics, average wages of job placements, average

wage growth of job placements, retention of workers

placed, amount spent on wraparound services, and total

average cost spent per worker.

● Section 5b. Describe anticipated program design and program

implementation projects. Anticipated Program Design and program

implementation projects should connect to the funding request

under Section 5a. Depending on the needs of the region and the

current status of existing workforce training efforts, these projects

might include:

○ The development of outreach and recruitment plans for

employers.

○ The development of outreach and recruitment plans for

workers, including plans to reach diverse and underserved

communities.

○ The development of training models and curricula.

○ Purchase of necessary equipment to support and expand

existing workforce training projects.

○ Timeline for design and training

■ For successful applicants, NOAA expects training

will begin within 12 months of the project start

date.

● Section 5c. Identify any anticipated barriers to worker participation

and how you plan to mitigate the impact of those barriers. Describe

any wraparound services that will be provided to workers to ensure

they are able to participate in employer-driven skills training

programs and how you will ensure the program is sustainable,

including any support provided to workers after completion of the

training (e.g., job placement support, subsequent professional

development).

vi. Section 6: Sharing results and knowledge sharing

● Clearly describe what products will result from the project. This

may include curricula, media, methods.

● Provide a clear plan for how results of this work will be

transferable and shareable.

○ At a minimum, NOAA expects that results will contribute to

the NOAA Climate Resilience Toolkit through submission to

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NOAA’s Digital Coast (https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/)

● Additionally, recipients will be expected to share approaches,

results, and challenges at an annual recipient conference to be

convened by NOAA.

b. Professional Qualifications (does not count against page limit)

i. Include resumes for key personnel. Resumes should be no more than

two pages each.

ii. Provide a summary of current or pending support to the applicant team.

c. Required supporting documents (does not count against page limit)

i. Letters of support from core partners

ii. Documentation of the employer commitments

d. Non-profit certifications (does not count against page limit)

If the Backbone Organization is a non-profit organization that is not an institution of

higher education:

i. A copy of the organization’s articles of incorporation,

ii. A copy of the organization’s bylaws, and

iii. A current certificate of good standing.

e. Optional Supporting Documentation (does not count against page limit)

As noted above, NOAA recognizes that regions have different needs with respect

to multi-sector regional workforce recruitment systems (i.e., one region may need

to design and organize a system from the ground up, while another region may

have an existing system). Therefore, applicants may (but are not required to)

submit supporting documentation to appropriately supplement the Project

Narrative. Such supporting documentation will not count against the Project

Narrative page limit, but applicants should clearly label supporting documentation

and make clear to NOAA which section of the Project Narrative any supporting

documentation is designed to supplement. For instance, an applicant may (but is

not required to) submit:

i. A memorandum of understanding or agreement (MOU or MOA) between

the relevant groups to supplement Section 2 of the Project Narrative.

ii. A documented process to gather skills needs from employers and

translate these needs into effective training models and a demonstrated

ability to implement these skills training programs (e.g., past experience,

sample training curriculum) to support Section 4 of the Project Narrative.

iii. Existing workforce training curricula to support Section 4 of the

Project Narrative.

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These examples are illustrative only; applicants may (but are not required to) submit

other appropriate supporting documents as well.

f. Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire (OMB Control No.

0648-0538; does not count against page limit)

This announcement is not seeking proposals that will have an environmental impact.

Therefore, an Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire is not required as

part of the proposal.

g. Data Management Plan

This announcement is not seeking proposals that generate environmental data.

Therefore, a Data Management Plan is not required as part of the proposal.

h. Budget Narrative

The budget narrative must include the following budget documents (Sea Grant 90-4

forms and budget justification) in the following order and format. Sea Grant 90-4

forms and budget justifications must be included for each individual project within an

application. Additional budget narrative guidance can be found at:

https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/gmd_budget_narrative_guidan

ce_-_05- 24-2017_final.pdf

i. Sea Grant 90-4 Form (OMB Control No. 0648-0362)

Sea Grant 90-4 forms are required to provide budget breakdowns and budget

justifications by year and object class for the proposal. A completed Sea Grant 90-4

form should be completed for each project year, as well as a total budget for the

entire project duration (i.e., Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, and Years 1-4). The Sea

Grant 90-4 form can be downloaded at:

https://seagrant.noaa.gov/insideseagrant/Implementation

ii. Budget Justification

For each year of the project (or each individual project within an application), a

budget justification is required. Each budget justification should explain the

budget items in sufficient detail to enable review of the appropriateness of the

funding requested. Each budget justification should be attached as a PDF to each

Sea Grant 90-4 form, as appropriate.

iii. Copy of Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

If indirect costs are included in the project budget, the applicant must include

documentation to support the indirect cost rate it is using (unless claiming the 10

percent de minimis indirect cost rate, discussed below). For most applicants, this will

entail the submission of a copy of its current, approved negotiated indirect cost rate

agreement (NICRA).

If the applicant does not have a current or pending NICRA, it may propose indirect

costs in its budget; however, the applicant must prepare and submit an allocation

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

plan and rate proposal for approval within 90 days from the award start date (unless

claiming the 10 percent de minimis indirect cost rate, discussed below). See 2 C.F.R.

part 200 Apps. III, IV, V, VI, VII for guidance. The allocation plan and the rate proposal

must be submitted to NOAA's Office of Regional Affairs (or applicable cognizant

Federal agency). If the applicant chooses to pursue this option, it should include a

statement in its Budget Narrative that it does not have a current or pending NICRA

and will submit an allocation plan and rate proposal to NOAA or the applicant’s

cognizant Federal agency for approval.

In accordance with 2 CFR § 200.414(f), an applicant that does not have a current

negotiated (including provisional) rate, may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10

percent of modified total direct costs (unless the applicant is a state or local unit of

government that receives less than $35 million in direct federal funding per year,

discussed below). No documentation is required to justify the 10 percent de minimis

indirect cost rate; however, an applicant electing to charge a de minimis rate of 10

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

percent must include a statement in its Budget Narrative that it does not have a

current negotiated (including provisional) rate and is electing to charge the de minimis

rate.

Note that if the applicant is a State or local unit of government that receives less than

$35,000,000 in direct Federal funding per year it may submit any of the following:

■ A Certificate of Indirect Costs from the Department of the Interior

(DOI) or Economic Development Administration (EDA);

■ Acknowledgment received from NOAA and Certificate of Indirect

Costs in the form prescribed at 2 C.F.R. pt. 200, app. VII;

■ Cost Allocation Plan approved by a Federal agency (note that cost

allocation plans or indirect cost rates approved by state agencies are

not acceptable); or

■ NICRA.

i. Overall Application

In addition to the forms required above, standard Federal Forms and Assurances are required

for the overall application and can be found with the application package on Grants.gov or

on the Sea Grant website. These include:

i. SF-424 Form (Grants.gov, OMB Control No. 4040-0004)

This form, titled “Application for Federal Assistance,” must identify the entire funding

period as well as the federal funding amount being requested by the applicant and the

non-federal matching fund amount. The form must be completed with the

institution’s accurate UEI and Point of Contact, and signed by the institution’s

authorized representative or designee.

ii. SF-424A Form (Grants.gov, OMB Control No. 4040-0006)

This form, titled “Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs,” must describe

the entire funding period (broken out by year if multi-year) in federal and non-federal

dollars, for the entire application. Fill out Section B of this SF-424A form to show the

overall budget breakdown by object class by year with separate columns for each year

of federal funding as well as each year of non-federal funding. If there is insufficient

space, an additional SF-424A form, Extra Section B should be used (see below). This

form should be used to only document federal funding and concomitant official cost

share. Do not use it for other forms of leveraged funds or in-kind support.

iii. Additional SF-424A Form, Extra Section B

(https://seagrant.noaa.gov/insideseagrant/Implementation, OMB

Control No. 4060-0006)

The SF-424A form described above only includes space to report the applicant’s yearly

federal and non-federal dollars over two years. If the application includes more than

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

two years of federal and non-federal dollars, please complete the additional SF-424A,

Extra Section B to report the yearly non-federal matching fund budget of the grant.

This form should be used to only document federal funding and concomitant official

cost share. Do not use it for other forms of leveraged funds or in-kind support. This

form is an outlier and will be added to the “Budget Narrative Attachment” section on

Grants.gov, as described in Section IV. C. 2.

iv. SF-424B Assurances (Grants.gov, OMB Control No. 4040-0007)

The form, titled “Assurances – Non-Construction Programs,” must be completed and

signed by the institution's authorized representative or designee.

v. CD-511 (Grants.gov, US Department of Commerce)

The form, titled “Certification Regarding Lobbying,” must be completed and signed by

the institution’s authorized representative or designee. In some instances, the SF-LLL

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form may also be required. See the instructions on

the CD-511 for further information.

vi. SF-LLL (optional; Grants.gov, OMB Control No. 0348-0046)

The form, titled “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,” must be completed and signed by

the institution’s authorized representative or designee, if appropriate, such as if the

applicant has retained a registered lobbyist in conjunction with the proposed project.

C. Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

If this is your organization’s first time applying for Federal Financial Assistance, this critical

element can take a month or more (see section IX.A.) and is outside of NOAA’s purview. Begin

the SAM application process as soon as you think you might want to apply. If you have not

applied recently, check on whether your SAM account is still active.

Each applicant (unless the applicant is an individual or Federal awarding agency that is excepted

from those requirements under 2 CFR 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the

Federal awarding agency under 2 CFR 25.110(d)) is required to:

1. Be registered in SAM before submitting its application;

2. Provide a valid unique entity identifier (UEI) in its application; and

3. Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times

during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by

a Federal awarding agency.

NOAA may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all

applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully

complied with the requirements by the time NOAA is ready to make a Federal award, NOAA

may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that

determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

A. Submission Dates and Times

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Letters of Intent must be received via email by the Competition Manager ([email protected]) by

11:59 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, November 30, 2023.

Applications must be submitted to Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, February 13,

2024.

B.Intergovernmental Review

Applications under the National Sea Grant College Program are not subject to Executive

Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs."

C.Funding Restrictions

NOAA may allow up to 90-days pre-award spending. Applicants that need such reimbursement

should work closely with NOAA to determine if their pre-award costs may be considered for

reimbursement. For pre-award costs to be eligible for reimbursement, the applicant must

competitively procure services pursuant to the Federal government’s procurement procedures. All

pre-award costs are incurred at an applicant’s own risk and will be considered for reimbursement,

in NOAA's sole discretion, only if an applicant receives an award and such costs are approved by

NOAA in writing. Under no circumstances will NOAA be held responsible for application preparation

expenditures, which are distinguished from pre-award project costs.

D. Other Submission Requirements

Proposals must be submitted through Grants.gov. If an eligible applicant does not have

access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for

submission instructions.

After NOAA reviews an application, NOAA may contact the applicant to request any

necessary additional documentation to clarify or substantiate submitted application

materials, depending on the type of project proposed. Examples of additional

documentation may include, but are not limited to, title verification, documentation of the

value of in-kind contributions, evidence that all funding is available and committed to the

project, or documentation required for environmental or legal compliance. This additional

documentation will be required to ensure the proposed project complies with all applicable

rules and regulations prior to NOAA's issuance of an award. NOAA will provide applicants a

reasonable amount of time to provide any additional documentation. Failure to provide

complete and accurate supporting documentation in a timely manner when requested by

NOAA may result in the denial of an application.

NOAA may, in its discretion, make changes or additions to this NOFO. All changes will be

communicated on Grants.gov.

V. Application Review Information

Throughout the review and selection process, NOAA reserves the right to seek clarification in writing

from applicants whose applications are being reviewed. NOAA may additionally ask applicants to

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

clarify application materials, objectives, and work plans, or modify budgets or other specifics

necessary to comply with Federal requirements. NOAA will screen submitted materials to verify that

all required forms are complete, and all required documentation is included. Applications that do not

contain all elements listed in Section IV.B. will not be reviewed.

A. Evaluation Criteria

All complete applications will be reviewed against the evaluation criteria below. Each criterion is

worth 0-5 or 0-10 points. The applicant will be evaluated on plans for or the demonstration of:

a. Overall Alignment with Priorities (5 points) - The project’s alignment with NOAA's

Program Priorities.

○ Be consistent with NOAA’s strategic focus to build climate resilient

communities make equity central to our work, and accelerate economic

growth in support of the agency’s mission of science, service, and

stewardship.

(https://www.noaa.gov/organization/budget-finance-performance/value-to

- society/noaa-fy22-26-strategic-plan

)

○ Projects must support placement or promotion into good jobs that

enhance climate resilience.

○ Work collaboratively to grow regional workforces and their associated

economies by (a) co-developing new or (b) enhancing existing training

programs that meet the existing and emerging skills needs of

employers.

b. Identification of Regional and Sectoral Needs (5 points) – The application will be

reviewed from a worker skills training perspective and based on how the project

will address these needs, including:

○ Assessment of the region's economic state (e.g., level of distress,

unemployment) and employer hiring needs (e.g., in-demand

industries, vacancies, and worker roles);

○ Identification and justification of climate-resilience skills needed based

on relevant current and projected climate impacts on economic,

employer, and worker needs for the project;

○ Identification of specific, existing, or employer-projected needs by

employers who are engaged in the sector partnership(s) or regional

workforce recruitment system;

○ Proposed plan for how the project will address these needs by

providing good jobs that enhance climate resilience.

c. Proposed Approach (10 points)

○ Partnership development, including the process to gather skills needs from

employers and translate these needs into effective training models and a

demonstrated ability to implement these climate resilience and related skills

training programs.

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

○ Training model and development specific to industries/sectors and worker

roles related to climate resilience. If the proposal is for program design or

program implementation, this evaluation will include the strength of the

sector partnership or system.

○ Skill-based hiring training for employers in the partnership/system.

○ How the applicant proposes to leverage other funds and/or in-kind support.

○ Worker and employer outreach and recruitment.

○ Wraparound services to support worker participation in the skills

training program.

○ Measurement and tracking of outcomes and metrics.

○ The likelihood that plans and forecasted workers served and job placements

that enhance climate resilience will be completed in the grant period within

budget.

d. Project costs (5 points)

○ The budget is necessary and sufficient to carry out the project

○ The costs per worker placed are reasonable and reflective of the time and

expertise required to train them

○ Costs for wraparound services are clear and reasonable

e. Climate Resilience Workforce Skills (10 points) – How well the proposed climate

resilience skills determined by the applicant in their partnerships, will support

climate resilience.

f. Backbone Organization’s Capacity (10 points) – The applicant’s ability to:

○ Convene relevant groups: must submit commitment letters from relevant

employers and strategic partners in the project and articulate what role

they will fill, including executive sponsorship.

○ Incorporate climate resilience information: must demonstrate the ability to

use the best-available climate science and resilience principles in the context

of the proposed project, all in alignment with the Steps to Resilience

(https://toolkit.climate.gov/#steps).

○ Establish a track record of success: provide documented evidence

(including data describing outcomes) of coordinating across

sectors/partners and driving them to action.

○ Show capacity to leverage other funds or in-kind support: outline plan

to leverage and administer other funds or in-kind support for the

proposed project.

○ Demonstrate past fundraising experience.

○ Reach underserved and under-resourced communities: outline plan to

reach a diverse set of underserved and under-resourced workers, as well as

past outreach, recruiting, and service experience.

○ Provide adequate staff support: describe staffing plan and include

biographies for essential team members and their associated roles for

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

the proposed project.

g. Employer Partnerships (10 points) – Employer partnerships secured or plans to secure

employer partnerships that address climate resilience concerns in a region, sector, or

community and lead to good job placements that enhance climate resilience in those

identified priority areas. Provide details on

○ The type of training program they are building,

○ What employers will be committing to the partnership/system (e.g.,

skills needs data, job placement commitments)

○ What benefits they will receive from the partnership/system (e.g.,

skills-based hiring training, access to qualified workers, portable

industry-recognized credentials, earn and learn training).

h. Employer Commitments (10 points) - The number and quality of employer

commitments in the context of the stage of development of the partnership.

○ Quality of commitment letters from employers (e.g. specificity, scope,

certainty)

○ Likelihood of actual hires resulting from the commitment

○ Plans to secure additional employer commitments, if appropriate

i. Job Placements Expected (10 points) – Expected number of workers served, job

placements or promotions during grant period (based on partnerships with

community-based organizations, worker-serving organizations, and employers).

○ Projected number of individuals recruited for the training program(s) with

target demographic breakdown.

○ Projected number of good job placements or promotions and how many

are committed by employers.

○ Time from award to initial job placements.

○ Details about the jobs that employers are committing to hire or promote

workers (e.g., key responsibilities, wages, benefits, union membership).

○ Projected training cost per worker (inclusive of provision of wraparound

services).

○ Evidence of durability of job placements or promotions.

j. Strategic Partnerships (10 points) - The development and strength of other

partnerships essential for the project to succeed. Examples include:

○ NOAA partnerships, including NOAA-funded organizations. Where possible,

NOAA intends to augment NOAA’s Digital Coast

(https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/) with training that can be replicated

and shared with other sectors and regions. In addition, NOAA will seek to

expand the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (https://toolkit.noaa.gov) so that

others may learn from and apply lessons learned from successful projects.

○ Non-NOAA government partners

○ Institutions of higher education, especially including Historically

Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities,

other Minority-Serving Institutions, or community colleges.

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

○ Other groups, as appropriate, such as AmeriCorps or the Corps Network

k. Co-Investment and Sustainability (10 points)

○ Availability and commitment of funds such as:

• State and local government

• Philanthropy

• Industry

• Other sources of investments to support the ongoing sustainability

of the partnership/system after the lifecycle of the grant

○ The amount of local leverage that will augment the federal award

○ The project’s alignment with and integration into other public or private

investments currently ongoing or planned for the community and

region.

○ Sustainability also includes the applicant’s plan for providing ongoing

support for participants after completion of the training (e.g., job placement

support, subsequent professional development).

○ Size of credibly projected income gains for workers and number of new

good jobs or promotions.

○ Commitment by community-based organization to sustain the work of the

partnership.

l. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (10 points) – The strength of the

application’s plan for ensuring that the project’s benefits are shared among affected

communities, employers, and workers.

○ This includes the extent to which the application demonstrates the ability

to serve trainees that benefit from federal and state programs like SNAP,

TANF, and WIC.

○ NOAA heavily weights efforts to meaningfully engage the affected public, as

evidenced by broad public engagement. Such engagement may include but is

not limited to historically underserved populations and areas, such as:

• Communities of color, including: Black, Latino, Indigenous and/or

Native American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and other

person of color

• Women

• Disconnected youth

• Members of religious minorities

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons

• Veterans

• Military spouses

• Persons with disabilities

• Persons in recovery

• Persons with past criminal records including justice-impacted

and reentry participants

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

• Persons who live in rural areas

• Persons adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality

B. Review and Selection Process

Once a full proposal application has been received by NOAA, an initial administrative review is

conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application.

Applications that are missing required elements listed in Section IV. B. above, or applications coming

from ineligible applicants may be rejected without further review.

All complete applications will be reviewed by at least three individuals and scored against the

Evaluation Review criteria above. NOAA anticipates funding approximately 10 to 20 awards to the

highest scoring projects after application of selection factors described in Section V.C below.

The proposals, supplemented with information from the Abbreviated Environmental Compliance

Questionnaire, will also be reviewed by the program manager to assess the environmental

compliance of the proposed actions.

The NOAA staff may contact the applicants to discuss questions about the merit or administrative

correctness of the application, and may delay approval of the application, or impose conditions on

the award preventing funding or execution of certain activities, until all questions are satisfactorily

answered.

C. Selection Factors

The Selecting Official shall recommend awarding in the rank order unless the proposal is justified

to be selected out of rank order based on one or more of the following factors:

● Availability of funding.

● Balance/distribution of funds:

○ geographically

○ by type of institution

○ by type of partners and/or sectors

○ by project types

○

Whether the project will advance the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of these

investments flow to Justice40 communities, as identified by the CEJST

(https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/;

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/M-23-09_Signed_CEQ_CP

O.pdf ).

● Duplication of other projects funded or considered for funding by NOAA/Federal agencies.

● Program priorities and policy factors.

● Applicant’s prior award performance.

● Partnerships with and/or participation of targeted groups.

● Timeline for placing workers in good jobs.

Consequently, awards may not necessarily be made to the highest-scored applications. Applicants

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

may be asked to answer questions, and/or modify objectives, work plans, and/or budgets (including

overall funding level) to address the issues raised by the reviewers, the competition manager, the

Selecting Official, or the Grants Officer before an award is made. Subsequent administrative

processing will be in accordance with current NOAA grants procedures.

D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

Subject to the availability of funds, awards are expected to be announced in June 2024 and start

no earlier than August 1, 2024.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

Successful applicants will receive notification when the application has been recommended for

funding to the NOAA Grants Management Division. This notification is not an authorization to begin

performance of the project. Official notification of funding, signed by the NOAA grants officer, is the

authorizing document that allows the project to begin. Notification will be issued to the authorizing

official and the lead of the project electronically. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified that their

proposal was not selected. Anonymous copies of reviews and summaries of review panel

deliberations, if any, will be available to all applicants by request, regardless of whether they were

selected to be funded.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

(1) 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 and may be accessed online at

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-12-30/pdf/2014-30297.pdf.

(2) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements - Through 2

C.F.R. § 1327.101, the Department of Commerce adopted Uniform Administrative Requirements,

Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, which apply to

awards in this program. Refer to http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4.

(3) Department of Commerce Terms and Conditions - Successful applicants who accept a

NOAA award under this solicitation will be bound by Department of Commerce Financial

Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions. This document will be provided in the award

package in NOAA’s granting system and is also available at

http://www.ago.noaa.gov/grants/external_links.html , as well as

https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/DOC%20Standard%20Terms%20and%20

C onditions%20-%2012%20November%202020%20PDF_0.pdf

(4) Limitation of Liability - Funding for programs listed in this notice is contingent upon the

availability of appropriations. Applicants are hereby given notice that funds may not have been

appropriated yet for the programs listed in this notice. In no event will NOAA or the

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Department of Commerce be responsible for proposal preparation costs. Publication of this

announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available

funds.

(5) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - 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. Detailed information on NOAA

compliance with NEPA can be found at the following NOAA NEPA website:

http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA,

http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216_6.pdf, and the White House Council on Environmental

Quality implementation regulations,

http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/NEPA-40CFR1500_1508.pdf. 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 (e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, introduction of non-indigenous

species, impacts to endangered and threatened species, aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral

reef systems). In addition to providing specific information that will serve as the basis for any

required impact analyses, applicants may also be requested to assist NOAA in drafting an

environmental assessment, if NOAA determines an assessment is required. Applicants will also be

required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified

adverse environmental impacts of their proposal. Failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting

an application. In some cases if additional information is required after an application is selected,

funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer under a special award condition requiring the recipient

to submit additional environmental compliance information sufficient to enable NOAA to make an

assessment on any impacts that a project may have on the environment.

(6) Review of Risk - After applications are proposed for funding by the selecting official, the Grants

Office will perform administrative reviews, including an assessment of risk posed by the applicant

under 2 C.F.R. 200.206. These may include assessments of the financial stability of an applicant

and the quality of the applicant’s management systems, history of performance, and the

applicant’s ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other requirements imposed

on non-Federal entities. Special conditions that address any risks determined to exist may be

applied. Applicants may submit comments to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity

Information System (FAPIIS) about any information included in the system about their

organization for consideration by the awarding agency.

(7) Data Sharing Plan - 1. Environmental data and information collected or created under

NOAA grants or cooperative agreements must be made discoverable by and accessible to the

general public, in a timely fashion (typically within two years), free of charge or at no more than

the cost of reproduction, unless an exemption is granted by the NOAA program. Data should be

available in at least one machine-readable format, preferably a widely-used or open-standard

format, and should also be accompanied by machine- readable documentation (metadata),

preferably based on widely used or international standards. 2. Proposals submitted in response to

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

this Announcement must include a data management plan of up to two pages describing how

these requirements will be satisfied. The data management plan should be aligned with the data

management guidance provided by NOAA in the announcement. The contents of the data

management plan (or absence thereof), and past performance regarding such plans, will be

considered as part of proposal review. A typical plan should include descriptions of the types of

environmental data and information expected to be created during the course of the project; the

tentative date by which data will be shared; the standards to be used for data/metadata format

and content; methods for providing data access; approximate total volume of data to be collected;

and prior experience in making such data accessible. The costs of data preparation, accessibility, or

archiving may be included in the proposal budget unless otherwise stated in the guidance.

Accepted submission of data to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

is one way to satisfy data sharing requirements; however, NCEI is not obligated to accept all

submissions and may charge a fee, particularly for large or unusual datasets. 3. NOAA may, at its

own discretion, make publicly visible the data management plan from funded proposals, or use

information from the data management plan to produce a formal metadata record and include

that metadata in a catalog to indicate the pending availability of new data. 4. Proposal submitters

are hereby advised that the final pre-publication manuscripts of scholarly articles produced

entirely or primarily with NOAA funding will be required to be submitted to NOAA Institutional

Repository after acceptance, and no later than upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made

publicly available by NOAA one year after publication by the journal.

(8) Indirect Cost Rate - If an applicant does not have a current indirect cost rate with a federal

agency they may choose to negotiate a rate with the Department of Commerce or use the de

minimis indirect cost rate of 10% of Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) (as allowable under 2

C.F.R. §200.414). The negotiation and approval of a rate is subject to the procedures required by

NOAA and the Department of Commerce Standard Terms and Conditions. Do not include

participant support costs when determining the indirect cost base. Additionally, applicants should

be aware that most indirect cost rate agreements require that participant support costs be

excluded from the MTDC base when calculating indirect costs. Applicants should reference their

official agreements.

The NOAA contact for indirect or facilities and administrative costs is: Lamar Revis, Grants Officer,

NOAA Grants Management Division, 1325 East West Highway, 9th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910,

or lamar[email protected].

(9) Minority Serving Institutions - The Department of Commerce National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (DOC NOAA) is strongly committed to increasing the

participation of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), i.e., Historically Black Colleges and

Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, Alaskan Native and

Native Hawaiian institutions, and institutions that work in underserved communities.

(10) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - In the event that an application contains information

or data that you do not want disclosed prior to award for purposes other than the evaluation of

the Application, mark each page containing such information or data with the words "Privileged,

Confidential, Commercial, or Financial Information - Limited Use" at the top of the page to assist

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

NOAA in making disclosure determinations. DOC regulations implementing the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C 552, are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4, which sets forth rules for DOC to

make requested materials, information, and records publicly available under FOIA. The contents of

funded applications may be subject to requests for release under the FOIA. Based on the

information provided by the applicant, the confidentiality of the content of funded applications

will be maintained to the maximum extent permitted by law.

(11) NOAA Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Policy - If

NOAA-operated, leased, or owned facilities are involved in any awards funded under

this announcement, such awards are subject to the NOAA Sexual Assault and Sexual

Harassment Prevention and Response Policy Applicable to Financial Assistance Awards

Involving NOAA-Operated Facilities (May 2018) found at:

https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/document/2020/Mar/1330-52.222-70

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20Sexual%20Assault%20and%20Sexual%20Harassment%20Prevention%20and%20Resp

onse%20Po

licy%20%28except%20for%20services%20for%20the%20use%20of%20a%20vessel%29%

20%281%2 9.pdf.

C. Reporting

1. Financial, Performance, and Impact Reports

All recipients are required to submit financial, progress, and impact reports in

accordance with the terms and conditions of the grant award, generally no less than

semi-annually. All project progress and financial reports must be submitted to the

applicable NOAA program officer in an electronic format to be determined at the

time of award.

2. Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 includes a

requirement for awardees of applicable Federal grants to report information about

first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards

issued in FY 2011 or later. All awardees of applicable grants and cooperative

agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System

(FSRS) available at www.FSRS.gov on all subawards over $30,000. Please see the

OMB guidance published at 2 C.F.R. part 170.

3. Government Performance and Results Act

a. Internal NOAA Evaluation: As a condition of the grant award, NOAA will require

additional data on activities, outputs, and actual impact of the funded

investment, in part to fulfill the requirements of the Government Performance

and Results Act (GPRA). NOAA anticipates that recipients will be expected to

track their engagement activities within the scope of work, with project

beneficiaries, and other project relevant groups. NOAA further anticipates

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

recipients will be expected to collect data, using surveys of beneficiaries or

clients if necessary, on the outputs and outcomes of their activities, such as

the number of new employer partnerships formed, or the number of workers

placed.

b. Third Party Evaluation: As a condition of a grant award, grantees are required

to participate in a NOAA-funded third-party evaluation, if undertaken by

NOAA. The evaluation may include an implementation assessment across

grantees, an impact and/or outcome analysis of all or selected

sites/components within or across grantees, and/or a benefit/cost analysis or

assessment of return on investment. Conducting an impact analysis could

involve random assignment (which involves random assignment of eligible

participants into a treatment group that would receive/have received

program services or into control group(s) that would not/has not received

program services or program services). NOAA may require applicants to

collect data elements to aid the evaluation. As a part of the evaluation, as a

condition of award, grantees must agree to:

ii.

make records available to an evaluation contractor or contractors

on participants, employers, and funding;

provide access to program operating personnel, participants, and

operational and financial records, and any other relevant documents

to calculate program costs and benefits; and

iii. in the case of an impact analysis, facilitate the assignment of

participants to program services, including the possible increased

recruitment of potential participants; and

iv. follow evaluation procedures as specified by the

evaluation contractor(s) under the direction of NOAA.

VII. Agency Contacts

The National Sea Grant Office mailing address is:

NOAA Sea Grant

1315 East-West

Highway Silver Spring,

MD 20910

[email protected]

NOAA's website at www.noaa.gov provides additional information on NOAA and its programs.

VIII. Other Information

A. Applicant Webinar

Potential applicants are encouraged to check Sea Grant's national website at

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

https://seagrant.noaa.gov/Funding for information about a webinar and other resources

related to this announcement.

B. Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance

All public-facing products produced with funding from the award(s)/project(s) must

ensure compliance with Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

C. Right to Use Information

The grant application and final report of all funded grants are public documents, except for

privileged information or material that is personal, proprietary or otherwise exempt from

disclosure under law. Appropriate labeling in the application will aid identification of what

may be specifically exempt. The applicant acknowledges and understands that information

and data contained in applications for financial assistance, as well as information and data

contained in financial, performance and other reports submitted by applicants, may be used

by the Department of Commerce in conducting reviews and evaluations of its financial

assistance programs. For this purpose, applicant information and data may be accessed,

reviewed and evaluated by Department of Commerce employees, other federal employees,

and also by federal agents and contractors, and/or by non-federal personnel, all of whom

enter into appropriate conflict of interest and confidentiality agreements covering the use of

such information. As may be provided in the terms and conditions of a specific financial

assistance award, applicants are expected to support program reviews and evaluations by

submitting required financial and performance information and data in an accurate and

timely manner, and by cooperating with the Department of Commerce and external

program evaluators. In accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.303(e), applicants are reminded that

they must take reasonable measures to safeguard protected personally identifiable

information and other confidential or sensitive personal or business information created or

obtained in connection with a Department of Commerce financial assistance award.

D. Freedom of Information Act Disclosure

In addition, Department of Commerce regulations implementing the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552, are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4. These regulations

set forth rules for the department regarding making requested materials, information, and

records publicly available under the FOIA. Applications submitted in response to this

Notice of Funding Opportunity may be subject to requests for release under the Act. In the

event that an application contains information or data that the applicant deems to be

confidential commercial information that should be exempt from disclosure under FOIA,

that information should be identified, bracketed, and marked as Privileged, Confidential,

Commercial or Financial Information. In accordance with 15 CFR § 4.9, the Department of

Commerce will protect from disclosure confidential business information contained in

financial assistance applications and other documentation provided by applicants to the

extent permitted by law.

E. Non-Guarantee of Funding

There is no guarantee that funds will be available to make awards for this federal funding

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

opportunity or that any proposal will be selected for funding. If an applicant incurs any

costs prior to receiving an award agreement signed by an authorized NOAA official, they do

so at their own risk of these costs not being included in a subsequent award. NOAA or the

Department of Commerce are not responsible for any direct costs of proposal preparation.

Recipients and subrecipients are subject to all federal laws and agency policies, regulations,

and procedures applicable to federal financial assistance awards.

F. Past Performance and Non-Compliance with Award Provisions

Unsatisfactory performance under prior Federal awards may result in an application not

being considered for funding. Failure to comply with any or all the provisions of an award

may have a negative impact on future funding by NOAA (or any of its operating units) and

may be considered grounds for any or all the following actions:

a. Establishing an account receivable;

b. Withholding payments to the recipient under any NOAA award(s);

c. Changing the method of payment from advance to reimbursement only;

d. Imposing other specific award conditions;

e. Suspending any active NOAA award(s); and

f. Terminating any active NOAA award(s).

G. Certifications Required by Annual Appropriations Acts for Corporations and for

Awards over $5 Million

a. As discussed in section IV.C, all applicants are required to be registered in

SAM before applying under this NOFO. SAM requires registering entities to

certify compliance with all limitations imposed by annual appropriation acts.

For corporations, this certification includes that the corporation:

i. Was not convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within

the preceding 24 months, unless a Federal agency has considered

suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination

that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the

Government; and/or

ii. Does not have any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for

which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or

have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an

agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability,

unless a Federal agency has considered suspension or debarment of the

corporation and made a determination that this further action is not

necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

b. For financial assistance awards in excess of $5 million, this certification includes

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

that the entity:

i. To the best of its knowledge and belief, has filed all Federal tax returns

required during the three years preceding the certification;

ii. Has not been convicted of a criminal offense under the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986; and/or

iii. Has not been notified, more than 90 days prior to certification, of any

unpaid Federal tax assessment for which the liability remains unsatisfied,

unless the assessment is the subject of an installment agreement or offer

in compromise that has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service

and is not in default, or the assessment is the subject of a non-frivolous

administrative or judicial proceeding.

H. Non-Relocation Specific Award Condition

For the purposes of this NOFO, if an application is selected for award, the recipient will be

required to adhere to a specific award condition relating to the following non-relocation

policy as follows:

a. In signing this award of financial assistance, Recipient(s) attests that NOAA funding

is not intended by the Recipient to assist its efforts to induce the relocation of

existing jobs within the U.S. that are located outside of its jurisdiction to within its

jurisdiction in competition with other U.S. jurisdictions for those same jobs. If

NOAA determines that its assistance was used for those purposes, NOAA retains

the right to pursue appropriate enforcement action in accord with the Standard

Terms and Conditions of the Award, including suspension of disbursements and

termination of the award for convenience or material noncompliance, which may

include the establishment of a debt requiring the Recipient to reimburse NOAA.

b. For purposes of ensuring that NOAA assistance will not be used to merely transfer

jobs from one location in the United States to another, each applicant must inform

NOAA of all employers that constitute primary beneficiaries of the project assisted

by NOAA. NOAA will consider an employer to be a “primary beneficiary” if the

employer is specifically named in the application as benefitting from the project,

and the applicant estimates that the employer will create or promote 50 or more

permanent jobs as a result of the investment assistance (if the jobs in question

were originally located in a smaller community, NOAA may extend this policy to the

relocation of 25 or more jobs).

I. Audit Requirements

Single or program-specific audits shall be performed in accordance with the requirements

contained in the Uniform Guidance (see 2 C.F.R. part 200, Subpart F, “Audit Requirements”).

The Uniform Guidance requires any non-Federal entity (i.e., non-profit organizations,

including non-profit institutions of higher education and hospitals, States, local

governments, and Indian Tribes) that expends Federal awards of $750,000 or more in the

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

recipient’s fiscal year to conduct a single or program-specific audit in accordance with the

requirements set out in the Uniform Guidance.

J. Non-Discrimination and Equal Access by Those with Past Criminal Histories

Consistent with certifications made during the SAM registration process, grant recipients

must administer skills training programs funded under this NOFO in compliance with

Federal statutes related to non-discrimination. Further, recipients must not discriminate

against participants in skills training programs funded under this NOFO with past criminal

records including justice-impacted and reentry participants.

K. Demographics Information:

NOAA will not provide collected demographics information of applicants to reviewers for any

purpose, including evaluation, and will not consider demographics information during

selection.

i. Please provide the following anonymous information for all named

collaborators on your proposal. (2022, OMB approved for PRA under DOC

generic clearance information collections, 0690-0030 and 0690-0035) You

may use this optional form for collecting the information.

ii. Do you or your organization identify with any of the following groups that the

federal government, in Executive Order 13985, has identified as

underserved? Check all that apply.

A. Black

B. Latino

C. Indigenous and/or Native American

D. Asian American

E. Pacific Islander

F. Other person of color

G. Members of religious minorities

H. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons

I. Persons with disabilities

J. Persons who live in rural areas

K. Persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or

inequality

L. No, I do not identify with any of these groups

IX. Instructions for Application Submission via Grants.gov

The most up-to-date instructions for application submission via Grants.gov can be found

at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html. To begin,

complete, and submit your application:

● Navigate to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html;

● Click “Search for Opportunity Package”;

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

● In the “Funding Opportunity Number” field, enter “NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-2007783”;

● Click “Search”;

● Click “Apply”;

● Enter your email address (if you would like to receive updates from Grants.gov regarding

this grant opportunity) or check the box that indicates you do not wish to provide it,

then click “Submit”;

● Choose to apply using Workspace by clicking “Login to Apply Now” or choose to

download the legacy application package by clicking “Download Package”; and

● Follow the instructions provided on the Grants.gov website and on each webpage

to complete and submit your application.

A. Register Early and Submit Early.

In order to submit an application through http://www.grants.gov/ (Grants.gov), an applicant must

five business days or as long as four weeks if all steps are not completed correctly. Information

about the Grants.gov registration process for organizations can be found at

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html.

Please note that organizations already registered with Grants.gov do not need to re-register;

however, all registered organizations must keep their System for Award Management (SAM),

which includes the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database, registration up-to-date

through sam.gov or their applications will not be accepted by Grants.gov.

1. Pre-Submission Registration

Before submitting a Full Application under this NOFO, each applicant must both register with

Grants.gov and register its Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) with Grants.gov.

Applicants should note that this process can be lengthy, requires interaction with multiple

organizations not affiliated with NOAA, and requires confirmation at each step.

● Create a Grants.gov Username and Password

○ Same Day

● Obtain an EIN

○ 10 Business Days

● Authorize the AOR

○ Same Day (depending on your organization's EBiz POC)

● Register with SAM and obtain or verify your organization’s Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

○ 7-10 Business Days

○ https://www.sam.gov/

● Track AOR Status

○ Same Day

Applicants may have already completed one or more of the steps set forth above (e.g., applicants may

have already registered with Grants.gov, in which case they do not need to re-register). However, note

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

that applicants that have not completed any of the above steps may require 23 or more business days

to complete the required steps serially. Grants.gov is a centrally-managed Federal grants portal, and

changes or updates to the process outlined above may occur after the publication of this NOFO.

Prospective applicants should visit

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html to ensure that they

follow the most up-to-date instructions.

B. AOR Requirement

Applicants must register as organizations, not as individuals. As part of the registration process,

you will register at least one Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) for your

organization. AORs registered at Grants.gov are the only officials with the authority to submit

applications at Grants.gov so please ensure that your organization’s application is submitted by

an AOR. If the application is submitted by anyone other than your organization’s AOR, it will

be rejected by the Grants.gov system and cannot be considered by NOAA. Note that a given

organization may designate multiple individuals as AORs for Grants.gov purposes.

C. Field Limitations and Special Characters

Please be advised that Grants.gov provides the following notice with respect to form

field limitations and special characters:

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/submitting-utf 8-special-characters.html.

D. Verify That Your Submission Was Successful

Applicants should save and print written proof of an electronic submission made at Grants.gov.

Applicants can expect to receive multiple emails regarding the status of their submission. Since

email communication can be unreliable, applicants must proactively check on the status of their

application if they do not receive email notifications within a day of submission.

An applicant should expect to receive two initial emails from Grants.gov: the first will confirm

receipt of the application, and the second will indicate that the application has either been

successfully validated by the system before transmission to NOAA or has been rejected due to

errors. It can take up to two business days after Grants.gov receives an application for applicants

to receive email notification of an error. Applicants will receive a third email once NOAA has

retrieved their applications.

NOAA requests that applicants refrain from submitting multiple copies of the same

application package.

Applicants should save and print both the confirmation screen provided on the Grants.gov

website after the applicant has submitted an application, and the confirmation email sent by

Grants.gov when the application has been successfully received and validated in the system. If an

applicant receives an email from Grants.gov indicating that the application was received and

subsequently validated, but does not receive an email from Grants.gov indicating that NOAA has

retrieved the application package within 72 hours of that email, the applicant may contact NOAA

NOTICE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

using the contact information in Section VII to inquire if NOAA is in receipt of the applicant’s

submission.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to verify that its submission was timely received and validated

successfully at Grants.gov. To see the date and time your application was received, navigate to

https://www.grants.gov and click on the “Track My Application” link under the “Applicants” tab.

For a successful submission, the application must be received and validated by Grants.gov and

an agency tracking number assigned. If your application has a status of “Received” it is awaiting

validation by Grants.gov. Once validation is complete, the status will change to “Validated” or

“Rejected with Errors.” If the status is “Rejected with Errors,” your application has not been

received successfully. For more detailed information on why an application may be rejected,

please see “Encountering Error Messages” at

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/encountering-error-messages.html and

“Frequently Asked Questions by Applicants” at

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-faqs.html.

E. Grants.gov System Issues

If you experience a Grants.gov system issue (i.e., a technical problem or glitch with the Grants.gov

website) that you believe threatens your ability to complete a submission in a timely manner,

please (i) print any error message received; (ii) call the Grants.gov Contact Center at (800)

518-4726 for assistance; and (iii) contact NOAA using the contact information in section VII of this

NOFO. Ensure that you obtain a case number regarding your communications with Grants.gov.

Please note that problems with an applicant’s computer system or equipment are not considered

system issues. Similarly, an applicant’s failure to, e.g., (i) complete the required registration, (ii)

ensure that a registered AOR submits the application, or (iii) notice receipt of an email message

from Grants.gov are not considered system issues. A Grants.gov systems issue is an issue

occurring in connection with the operations of Grants.gov itself, such as the temporary loss of

service by Grants.gov due to unexpected volume of traffic or failure of information technology

systems, both of which are highly unlikely. In the event of a confirmed systems issue, NOAA

reserves the right to accept an application in an alternate format.

Applicants should access the following link for assistance in navigating Grants.gov and for a list of

useful resources: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html. If you do not find an answer

to your question under the “Applicant FAQs,” applicants may try contacting Grants.gov by email at

support@grants.gov or telephone at 1-800-518-4726. The Grants.gov Contact Center is open 24

hours a day, seven days a week, except on Federal holidays.