[Federal Register: February 13, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 30)]
[Notices]
[Page 6737-6739]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13fe02-111]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
North American Wetlands Conservation Council; Standard Grant
Application Instructions
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice includes instructions for applying for standard
grants (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION) under the U.S. North American
Wetlands Conservation Act.
DATES: Proposals may be submitted at any time. To ensure adequate
review time prior to upcoming North American Wetlands Conservation
Council (Council) meetings, the Council Coordinator must receive
proposals by March 1, 2002 and July 26, 2002.
ADDRESSES: For detailed application instructions, sample proposal
information, frequently asked questions, and summaries of recently
approved proposals, visit the North American Wetlands Conservation Act
(NAWCA) web site at http://birdhabitat.fws.gov. If you cannot access
the web site, contact the Council Coordinator at U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Division of Bird Habitat Conservation, 4401 North Fairfax
Drive, Room 110, Arlington, VA 22203 or by phone at 703-358-1784 or by
fax at 703-358-2282 or by e-mail at dbhc@fws.gov. Send proposals to the
Council Coordinator at the above address by mail (faxed proposals are
not accepted). Mail one original, three copies, and a computer disk
version of the proposal to the Council Coordinator. Send a copy of the
proposal to your U.S. North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP)
Coordinator (see next section) and all partners in the proposal.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: North American Wetlands Conservation
Council Coordinator at (703) 358-1784 or dbhc@fws.gov, Bettina Sparrowe
at (703) 358-1784 or bettina__sparrowe@fws.gov or a NAWMP Joint Venture
Coordinator (Coordinator) at the numbers given below. Coordinators can
give you advice about developing a proposal and about proposal ranking
and can provide compliance requirements for the National Environmental
Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act,
and contaminant surveys. Even though all areas of all States are not in
a Joint Venture, each Coordinator is available to provide information
to NAWCA applicants. To determine which Coordinator to call, consult
the following Joint Venture list (note that only the States in Joint
Ventures are listed below) or consult the NAWMP Joint Venture map at
http://birdhabitat.fws.gov/NAWCA/images/namap.gif.
Atlantic Coast (CT, DE, FL, GA, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, Puerto
Rico, RI, SC, VA, VT, WV) 413-253-8269
Central Valley (Central Valley of CA) 916-414-6459
Gulf Coast (AL, LA, MS, TX) 505-248-6876
Intermountain West (AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY) 801-
975-3330 x 129
Lower Mississippi Valley (AR, KY, LA, MS, OK, TN, TX) 601-629-6600
Pacific Coast (CA,OR, WA) 360-696-7630
Playa Lakes (CO, KS, NM, OK, TX) 303-659-8750
Prairie Pothole (IA, MN, MT, ND, SD) 303-236-8155 x 252
Rainwater Basin (NE) 308-382-8112
San Francisco Bay (San Francisco Bay in CA) 916-414-6459
Upper Mississippi River-Great Lakes (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE,
OH, WI) 612-713-5433
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council has two U.S. conservation grants
programs for acquisition, restoration, and enhancement of wetlands in
the U.S. Any individual or organization who has a long-term, partner-
based project with matching funds can apply. The focus of this notice
is standard grant proposals for requests from $51,000 to $1,000,000 per
proposal. A separate notice will be issued later this year for small
grant proposals for requests up to $50,000 per proposal.
This notice provides general instructions to develop and submit a
NAWCA standard grant proposal. In order to complete a proposal
correctly, consult the web site at http://birdhabitat.fws.gov for
detailed instructions. If you cannot access the web site or want a
printed version of the instructions or a personal computer disk that
contains proposal forms, contact the Council Coordinator.
We prepare the instructions to assist partners in developing
proposals that comply with NAWCA. The NAWCA established the Council, a
Federal-State-private body that recommends projects to the Migratory
Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC) for final approval and requires
that proposals contain a minimum 1:1 ratio of non-Federal matching
funds to grant funds. ``Match'' (as referred to throughout this
document) can be cash, in-kind services, or land acquired/title donated
for wetlands conservation purposes.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501),
the Office of Management and Budget has assigned clearance number 1018-
0100 to this information collection authorized by the North American
Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989, as amended (16 U.S.C. 4401 et seq.).
The information collection solicited is necessary to gain a benefit in
the form of a grant, as determined by the Council and MBCC, is
necessary to determine the eligibility and relative value of wetland
projects, results in an approximate paperwork burden of 400 hours per
application, and does not carry a premise of confidentiality. Your
response is voluntary. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The public is
invited to submit comments on the accuracy of the estimated average
burden hours for application preparation and to suggest ways in which
the burden may be reduced. Comments may be submitted to: Information
Collection Clearance Officer, Mail Stop 224 ARLSQ, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Washington, DC 20240 and/or Desk Officer for Interior
Department (1018-0100), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building,
Washington, DC 20503.
[[Page 6738]]
Standard Grant Instructions
This Federal Register notice contains basic information about NAWCA
standard grant proposals. Detailed instructions are available at the
NAWCA web site at http://birdhabitat.fws.gov. A standard grant proposal
is a 4-year plan of action supported by a NAWCA grant and partner funds
to conserve wetlands and wetlands-associated fish and wildlife through
acquisition (including easements and land title donations),
restoration, and/or enhancement (including creation). Match must be
non-Federal and at least equal the grant request (referred to as a 1:1
match). Match is eligible up to two years prior to the year the
proposal is submitted, and grant and match funds are eligible during
the two-year future Grant Agreement period.
Proposal Format. The Summary has a specific format. With the
exception of the one-page Cover Page, Matching Contributions Plan,
Standard Form 424, and two-page Summary, there are no page number
limitations. The ultimate size of the proposal will depend on its
complexity, but we request that you attempt to minimize the size of the
proposal. Each page should be no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches. Neither
the original proposal, nor required copies, should be permanently
bound. A proposal contains the following sections: Project Officer's
Page; Summary; Purpose and Scope; Budget and Matching Contributions
Plan; Technical Assessment Questions; Funding Commitment Letters; Tract
and Location Information; Standard Form 424 and Attachments; and
Required Attachments.
Proposal Project Officer's Page and Checklist. This part contains
the following sections: Proposal Title, State(s), Latitude/Longitude;
Date Submitted; Previous and Future Proposals; Project Officer
Information; Project Officer's Statements; and Comments on the NAWCA
Program. Correspondence is sent only to the Project Officer. Each
proposal can have only one Project Officer, who must belong to the
grant recipient's organization. The Project Officer states that
partners have reviewed the Grant Agreement, so the Grant Agreement is
available via the NAWCA web site at http://birdhabitat.fws.gov/NAWCA/
grant.pdf.
Proposal Summary. The Summary is the only narrative material
provided to the Council and MBCC, so it must be descriptive and
succinct. This part contains the following sections: Proposal Title,
Congressional Districts, States; and Narrative.
Proposal Purpose and Scope. Use this part to describe how all the
pieces of the proposal fit together to form a solid wetlands and
migratory bird conservation proposal that should be funded under NAWCA.
This part contains the following sections: Context of the NAWCA
Proposal; Threat and Special Circumstances; Public and Private Use and
Support; and Work Plan.
Proposal Budget and Matching Contributions Plan. This part contains
the following sections: Compliance Statement; Subrecipients; Budget
Justification; Justification for Grant Request that Exceeds $1,000,000;
and Matching Contributions Plan. The Budget Justification displays
activities and costs broken out by grant funding and partner funding
according to cost categories (Non-contract Personnel and Travel, Fee
Title Acquisitions and Donations, Easement and Lease Acquisitions and
Donations, Materials and Equipment, Contracts, and Indirect and Other
Costs) and contains eligibility information about partner matching
funds/work and cost details.
If you have matching funds in addition to those used in the
proposal and you need to maintain the eligibility of those funds beyond
two years for future proposals, you may request approval to use the
match in the future by submitting a one-page Matching Contributions
Plan (Match Plan) with the proposal. A Match Plan is optional, but, if
submitted, must include the following information: Match Plan Amount
and Purpose; Match Intent; Match Need; and a chart.
Technical Assessment Questions. The Council uses seven Technical
Assessment Questions, site visits, available funding, and other
information to select proposals. See the table at the end of this
notice that shows the Technical Assessment Questions and point values.
Questions 1 and 2 include priority lists of species, so you need to
refer to the web site or the Council Coordinator's office to complete a
proposal. Answer the questions for the completed proposal and all
tracts in the proposal (grant and match).
Funding Commitment Letters. To document match, send signed
commitment letters from all matching and non-matching partners,
including the grant recipient and private landowners (if providing
funds or land as match), with the proposal. The proposal will be
returned if the 1:1 match is not documented by partner letters. Letters
must document the exact contribution level identified in the proposal
and whether the contribution is in cash, goods, services, or land; the
partner's responsibility in the proposal's implementation, including
land donations; how the partner was involved in proposal planning; and
that the partner is fully aware of how the contribution will be spent.
Letters have 3 sections: Contributions Statements; Compliance
Statements; and Partnership Statements.
Tract and Location Information. Give the following information for
each tract in the proposal: (1) Acreage; (2) Activity, method, and
schedule for work on the tract; (3) Funding source; (4) Township,
range, section, county, and state; (5) Title holder at completion of
proposal; and (6) Whether tract is affected by a Matching Contributions
Plan.
Provide one to two 8.5 by 11-inch color (preferred) maps with the
following information: (1) Location of tracts within State(s) and
counties where grant and match funds have or will be spent; (2)
Identification of fee-title, easement, and lease tracts or acquisition
priority areas if specific tracts cannot be given; (3) Location of
major water control structures and other restoration/enhancement
features; (4) Location of natural features, such as rivers or lakes, to
show how the proposal fits into the natural landscape; and (5) If
applicable, location of previous and future NAWCA grant proposal sites;
and (6) If applicable, where the proposal is in relation to a larger
wetlands conservation project. The proposal title should be on each
map. One to two aerial photographs may also be submitted.
Required Attachments. If applicable, attach 8.5 by 11-inch copies
of the following: (1) Easements and leases in place when the proposal
was submitted; (2) Model easements and leases; (3) Your negotiated
indirect cost rate agreement; and (4) Sample/model landowner
agreements.
Standard Form 424 ``Application for Federal Assistance'' and
Assurances Forms B ``Non-construction'' and D ``Construction.'' All
applicants, except the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, must send an SF
424 and the B, D, or both Assurances forms with the proposal. All
applicants must comply with the laws listed on the Assurances forms.
The forms are available via the Internet at http://www.gsa.gov/forms/,
at http://www.nctc.fws.gov/fedaid/toolkit/toolkit.pdf or from the
Council Coordinator.
Exhibits and Examples. Examples of various sections of a proposal,
lists of eligible and ineligible activities and costs, general process
information about the NAWCA program, and people and organizations who
may be contacted for
[[Page 6739]]
assistance are available via the web site or from the Council
Coordinator and should be consulted at some time in the proposal
development process.
Blank Proposal Forms. The following forms are available from the
web site for you to download and use to develop a proposal: (1) A blank
proposal form developed using Microsoft Word; (2) A blank proposal form
using Word Perfect; and (3) A blank optional budget table using
Microsoft Excel (very useful for planning and may be submitted with the
proposal).
Dated: January 15, 2002.
Steve Funderburk,
Acting Deputy Assistant Director, Migratory Birds and, State Programs,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Technical assessment questions Points = 100
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#1. How does the proposal Maximum = 15
contribute to the conservation of
waterfowl habitat?
A. High priority species...... 0-7
B. Other priority species..... 0-5
C. Other waterfowl............ 0-3
#2. How does the proposal Maximum = 15
contribute to the conservation of
other wetland-dependent or
wetland-associated migratory
birds?
A. Bird Conservation Regions
and high priority birds.
B. Other wetland-associated
birds.
#3. How does the proposal benefit Maximum = 15
the North American Waterfowl
Management Plan and contribute to
sites that have been recognized
for wetland values?
A. Joint Ventures and Areas of 0-10, 0-8, 0-4, 0-?
Concern: Prairie Pothole Joint
Venture, Other Joint Ventures,
Areas of Concern, combination.
B. Specially recognized sites. 0-5
#4. How does the proposal relate Maximum = 10
to the National status and trends
of wetlands types?
A. Decreasing wetlands types.. 0-10
B. Stable wetlands types...... 0-4
C. Increasing wetlands types.. 0-1
D. No trend data types........ 0-?
E. Uplands.................... 0-8
#5. How does the proposal Maximum = 15
contribute to long-term
conservation of wetlands and
associated habitats?
A. Benefits in perpetuity..... 0-12
B. Benefits for 26-99 years... 0-8
C. Benefits for 10-25 years... 0-6
D. Benefits for 10 years...... 0-4
E. Significance to long-term 0-3
conservation.
#6. How does the proposal Maximum = 10
contribute to the conservation of
habitat for Federally listed,
proposed, and candidate
endangered species, State-listed
species, and other wetland-
dependent fish and wildlife?
A. Federal endangered, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5
threatened, proposed or
candidate species (1, 2, >2).
B. State-listed species (1).
C. Other wetland-dependent 0-2
fish and wildlife (1).
#7. How does the proposal satisfy Maximum = 20
the partnership purpose of the
North American Wetlands
Conservation Act?
A. Ratio of non-Federal match 0, 1, 3, 6
to grant ( 1:1,
1.01-1.49:1, 1.5-1.99:1, 2:1).
B. Matching partners 0, 1, 2, 3
contributing 10% of the grant
request (0-, 1, 2, 3, >3).
C. Partner categories (1, 2, 0, 2, 3, 4
3, >3).
D. Important partnership 0-7
aspects.
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[FR Doc. 02-3459 Filed 2-12-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P