Landscape Characterization and Monitoring in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed – US

Deadline: 19-Jul-2024

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking insightful, expert, and cost-effective applications from eligible applicants to provide the CBP’s (Chesapeake Bay Program) non-federal partners with updated land use/land cover data, enhanced river corridor data, and landscape metrics and communication products associated with these data to facilitate their application to CBP’s outcomes and the CBP’s Phase 7 suite of modeling tools.

The Chesapeake Bay is North America’s largest and most biologically diverse estuary. A resource of extraordinary productivity, it is worthy of the highest levels of protection and restoration. Authorized by Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 117, 33 USC Section 1267, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is a unique regional, state, federal, and local partnership that has been directing and conducting the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay.

While the CBP partnership is comprised of federal and non-federal organizations, any activities funded under this NOFO are not intended to and will not directly benefit the federal partners. The recipient of the cooperative agreement awarded under this NOFO may work directly with federal agencies, but the nature of that work will result only in direct, significant benefits to the non-federal agencies, partners, and general public. Any indirect and incidental benefits to EPA are not the purpose of the NOFO. The non-federal partners of the CBP will provide programmatic direction to the successful applicant through the LUWG and WQGIT.

Types of Activities

• EPA seeks to support one recipient for four Activities to:
  • Activity 1: High-Resolution Land Cover Characterization and Monitoring
    • This activity involves the development of a high spatial-resolution (<= 1m2) land cover dataset for the Chesapeake Bay region (i.e., 206 counties intersecting and adjacent to the watershed) for the years 2025/26 and land cover change from 2021/22 to 2025/26 that is consistent with existing land cover change data produced for the years 2013/14 to 2017/18, and 2017/18 to 2021/22. Differences in image registration, sun angle, and phenology should be considered when estimating change. The best available existing imagery should be leveraged to the extent practicable including NAIP imagery, LiDAR imagery and derivatives (e.g., Digital Surface Models, Digital Elevation Models), and digital ortho-imagery.
  • Activity 2: Hyper-Temporal Spectral Indices
    • This activity is focused on developing a spatially- and temporally-referenced database of hyper-temporal spectral indices derived from Landsat and Sentinel 1 & 2 imagery, and imagery from NASA’s upcoming Side-Aperture Radar mission (NISAR) imagery (when available) for the years 1985–2028 representing vegetation condition and surface moisture/water estimates at 30-meter and 10-meter resolution and produced at monthly, bimonthly, seasonal, and annual intervals. The hyper-temporal spectral indices should include, but not be limited to, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Moisture Index, Tasseled Cap Wetness, and Radar backscatter. Deliverables include opensource algorithms that can be applied to the database to detect and filter noise both across space and through time and for characterizing spatial and temporal patterns, trends, and change in spectral indices.
  • Activity 3: High-Resolution Land Use Characterization, Monitoring, and BMP verification 
    • This activity involves the collection and curation of ancillary spatial data (e.g., tax parcels, road and utility centerlines, quarries, solar, harvesting) and the use of these data, in combination with land cover and spectral indices, to map the CBP’s 62 land use/land cover classes at high-resolution (<= 1m2) for the years 2025/26 with retrospective updates to the 2021/22, 2017/18, and 2013/14 LULC datasets to ensure temporal and categorical consistency. Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning methods should be evaluated and applied to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the LULC data including the mapping of new and emergent land uses to meet the needs of the CBP Partners.
  • Activity 4: Stream Corridor Characterization
    • This activity increases the utility of hyper-resolution (1:2000 scale) hydrography data developed for the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership by assigning the stream features with attributes on streamflow permanence/periodicity, channel dimensions, culverts, and floodplain/valley characteristics. Streamflow permanence attributes include classifying streams as to their seasonal probability of flow, which can be used to designate them as ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial and to help determine which features should be buffered with trees.

Funding Information

• The total estimated federal funding under this solicitation is approximately $6,500,000 for one cooperative agreement. Funding will be awarded incrementally in the amount of $1,300,000 per year for five years depending on funding availability, satisfactory performance, Agency priorities, and other applicable considerations. No commitment of funding can be made beyond the first year. The expected start date for the award resulting from this NOFO is October 1, 2024.
  • Activity 1: High-Resolution Land Cover Characterization and Monitoring
    • Estimated Funding: $2,500,000 ($500,000 per year for 5 years)
  • Activity 2: Hyper-Temporal Spectral Indices
    • Estimated Funding: $500,000 ($100,000 per year for 5 years)
  • Activity 3: High-Resolution Land Use Characterization, Monitoring, and BMP verification 
    • Estimated Funding: $2,500,000 ($500,000 per year for 5 years)
  • Activity 4: Stream Corridor Characterization
    • Estimated Funding: $1,000,000 ($200,000 per year for 5 years)

Outcomes

• Outcomes may include but are not limited to the following:
  • Reduced nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment delivered to tidal Bay waters sufficient enough to respond to 2035 and future climate change to achieve Bay water quality standards.
  • Increased ability by the CBP partnership to make collaborative decisions needed to implement the requirements to meet 20 of 31 outcomes of the 2014 Chesapeake BayWatershed Agreement, particularly those related to stormwater runoff, urban tree canopy, riparian forest buffers, non-point source pollution, and toxics.
  • Increased knowledge and strategies to improve local economies and human health and meet environmental goals through a restored Chesapeake Bay despite future challenges of climate.

Eligibility Criteria

• Consistent with Assistance Listing 66.466 and CWA Section 117(d), competition under this solicitation is available for technical and general assistance grants to nonprofit organizations, State, tribal (federallyrecognized) and local governments, colleges, universities, and interstate agencies. For-profit organizations are not eligible to submit applications in response to this NOFO.
• Consistent with the definition of Nonprofit organization at 2 CFR 200.1, the term nonprofit organization means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization that is operated mainly for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purpose in the public interest and is not organized primarily for profit; and uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operation of the organization. The term includes tax-exempt nonprofit neighborhood and labor organizations. Note that 2 CFR 200.1 specifically excludes Institutions of Higher Education from the definition of non-profit organization because they are separately defined in the regulation. While not considered to be a nonprofit organization(s) as defined by 2 CFR 200.1, public or nonprofit Institutions of Higher Education are, nevertheless, eligible to submit applications under this NOFO. Hospitals operated by state, tribal, or local governments or that meet the definition of nonprofit at 2 CFR 200.1 are also eligible to apply as nonprofits or as instrumentalities of the unit of government depending on the applicable law. For-profit colleges, universities, trade schools, and hospitals are ineligible.
• Nonprofit organizations that are not exempt from taxation under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code must submit other forms of documentation of nonprofit status such as certificates of incorporation as nonprofit under state or tribal law. Nonprofit organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible for EPA funding as provided in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, 2 U.S.C. 1611.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.