EPA Request for Proposals: Implementing Watershed-based Plans and On-the-ground Projects in United States

Deadline: 25 January 2017

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a Request for Proposals from Indian Tribes and Intertribal Consortia to develop and/or implement watershed-based plans and on-the-ground projects that will result in significant steps towards solving Nonpoint Source (NPS) impairments on a watershed-wide basis.

The primary goal of a NPS management program is to control NPS pollution through implementation of management measures and practices.

EPA believes that the watershed approach provides the best means for preventing and resolving NPS problems and threats. Approaching NPS problems at the watershed scale is needed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the causes and sources of pollution and to identify critical areas (i.e., those that generate the most pollution) in which to give priority for on-the-ground projects.

Funding Information

The total amount of federal funding expected to be available under this announcement is approximately $2.5 million, depending on Agency funding levels, the number of tribes requesting section 319 base funding for FY 2017, and other applicable considerations.
This funding equates to approximately 25 competitively funded grants.
In FY 2016, EPA awarded approximately $2.7 million to 29 tribes for specific watershed projects through a competitive process.
Eligible tribes and intertribal consortia may submit a proposal for up to a maximum of $100,000 of federal section 319 funding (plus the additional required match of the total project cost).

Expected Outcomes

An increased number of NPS-impaired water bodies that have been partially or fully restored to meet water quality standards or other water quality-based goals established by the tribes;
An increased number of water bodies that have been protected from NPS pollution;
Increased abundance and diversity of fish or macro invertebrate species;
Increased NPS knowledge of community members; and
Increased knowledge of trained staff in the 319 program.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a section 319 grant under this RFP, a tribe or intertribal consortium must:
- be federally recognized;
- have an EPA-approved NPS assessment report in accordance with CWA section 319(a);
- have an EPA-approved NPS management program in accordance with CWA section 319(b);
- have “treatment-in-a-manner-similar-to-a -state” (TAS) status in accordance with CWA section 518(e).
To be eligible for CWA section 319 grants under this RFP, tribes or intertribal consortium must have met these eligibility requirements as of October 14, 2016.
The intertribal consortium is eligible only if the consortium demonstrates that all of its members have met the eligibility requirements listed above for the section 319 program by October 14, 2016, and member tribes authorize the consortium to apply for and receive assistance in accordance with 40 CFR 35.504 at the time of proposal submission.
Some tribes have formed intertribal consortia to promote cooperative work. An intertribal consortium is a partnership between two or more tribes that is authorized by the governing bodies of those tribes to apply for and receive assistance under this program.
Individual tribes who are part of an intertribal consortium that submits a proposal for a section 319 competitive grant may not also submit an individual section 319 competitive proposal.
In such cases the individual proposal will be considered ineligible.