Geographic Programs - South Florida Geographic Initiatives Program

 

The EPA South Florida Program provides competitive grants to address the immediate and emerging ecological pressures and threats to south Florida waters including fresh waters, estuaries, bays, and coral reef, central to South Floridas economic and ecological wellbeing. Aquatic ecosystems play a vital role supporting healthy and resilient estuaries, coastal, inland, and near-shore infrastructure by providing food, habitat, nutrient removal, water filtration, storm attenuation, carbon storage, shoreline stabilization, and other financial and tangible benefits. This assistance listing is for the South Florida Program region that includes the 16-county area covered by South Florida Water Management District as well as the Florida Keys, Florida Reef Tract, Caloosahatchee Estuary, Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie Estuary, Florida Bay, and Biscayne Bay. The South Florida Program competitive grant program is supported by the 2023 Congressional explanation statement which provides the following: The agreements provide $8,000,000 for the South Florida program. Within the funds provided, the Committees recommend at least $2,000,000 to monitor coral health in South Florida; $1,150,000 to enhance water quality and seagrass monitoring in Caloosahatchee Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, especially with respect to assessing the impact to Lake Okeechobee discharges and harmful algal blooms; $1,150,000 to enhance water quality and seagrass monitoring in Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay, especially with respect to assessing the impact of Everglades Restoration projects and harmful algal blooms; and $1,000,000 for the expansion of water quality and ecosystem health monitoring and prediction network which will use vetted, modern procedures for long-term monitoring of Florida waters, including Molecular, Algal, Ocean Floor, and Seagrasses. Implementation of IIJA funding opportunities prioritizes funding for communities which are underserved and overburdened. These communities tend to be disproportionally at risk from climate change impacts, water quality issues, and lack educational opportunities. The EPA recognizes the disproportionate impact of pollution and climate stress on communities with environmental justice concerns. The agency will prioritize partners protecting and restoring water quality using new or innovative approaches, methods, or technologies with green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and resilient infrastructure less vulnerable to flooding and the effects of the changing climate in low-income and underserved communities.

Active 66.484 Environmental Protection Agency B - Project Grants Not applicable. Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3)
EPA Annual Appropriations Act States, local governments, territories, Indian Tribes, and possessions of the U.S. (including the District of Columbia); public and private universities and colleges; hospitals; laboratories; public or private nonprofit institutions; and intertribal consortia. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. Not applicable. Not applicable. Preapplication coordination is required. Regarding pre-application assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed in the competitive announcement. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. For competitive awards, NOFOs will specify application procedures. Applicants, except in limited circumstances approved by the Agency, must submit all initial applications for funding through Grants.gov. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the competitive announcement. From 90 to 120 days. Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Not applicable. The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this assistance listing will be described in the competitive announcement. Grants and cooperative agreements are available to support recipients' allowable direct costs incident to approved cooperative agreements plus allowable indirect costs, in accordance with established EPA policies and regulations. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA (https://www.epa.gov/geospatial). Performance Reports: Recipients will be required to submit a draft and final report that summarizes the objectives, methods, approach, results, and significance of each project or study. The final report will be due within 90 days of the project period end date. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, and other EPA staff, or any authorized representative of the Federal government. Reviews by the EPA Project Officer and the Grants Specialist may occur each year. Recipients must keep financial records, including all documents supporting entries on accounting records and to substantiate changes in grants available to personnel authorized to examine EPA recipients grants and cooperative agreements records. Recipients must maintain all records until 3 years from the date of submission of final expenditure reports as required by 2 CFR 200.334. If questions, such as those raised because of audits remain following the 3-year period, recipients must retain records until the matter is completely resolved. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. EPA normally funds grants and cooperative agreements on a 12-month basis. However, EPA can negotiate the project period with each applicant based on project requirements. Proposed project/budget periods can range from one to three years. Lump sum. Competitive funding annually. Regional or Local Locations: Jennifer Shadle US EPA Region 4, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, S.W. WD/GINPSB/WGAS Atlanta, GA 30303 Shadle.jennifer@epa.gov 404-562-9436 Steven Blackburn US EPA Region 4, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, S.W. WD/OPB/OEMS Atlanta, GA 30303 Blackburn.steven@epa.gov 404-562-9387 Jennifer Shadle
USEPA Region 4, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., WD/GINPSB/WGAS
Atlanta, GA 30303 USA
Shadle.Jennifer@epa.gov
Phone: 404-562-9436

Steven Blackburn
USEPA Region 4, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., WD/OPB/OEMS
Atlanta, GA 30303 USA
Blackburn.Steven@epa.gov
Phone: 404-562-9387 https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-epa-region-4-southeast#r4-public-notices 68-0108-0-1-000 (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 22$4,000,000.00; FY 23 est $8,000,000.00; FY 24 est $8,000,000.00; FY 21$4,000,000.00; FY 20$0.00; FY 19$0.00; - for South Florida Base and IIJA/BIL funding Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)/Competitive funding announcement expected to be issued in 2023 to include base South Florida annual appropriated funds and IIJA funding. The total estimated funding under the competitive announcement is $8,000,000 to approximately fifteen applicants with funding ranging from a minimum of $250,000 to a maximum of $650,000 per application. 2 CFR 200 and 1500 (EPA Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards); 40 CFR Part 33 (Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in United States Environmental Protection Agency Programs). Fiscal Year 2023 This assistance listing supports the Special Studies/Research component for the South Florida Program. Special Studies are projects that provide information specific to management questions and concerns, inform policy, and provide understanding of the south Florida aquatic ecosystems. These items address monitoring, research, or innovative restoration efforts for key aquatic species (e.g. coral, seagrass, sponges, mangroves); research, investigation, and demonstration projects to mitigate harmful algal blooms; residential canal pollution reduction demonstration projects; stormwater pollution reduction demonstration projects; water quality and benthic habitat monitoring; research, investigation and management activities to reduce contaminants of emerging concern such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, or microplastics; identifying and understanding cause-effect relationships of pollutants in the environment; addressing specific management questions and concerns to sensitive ecosystems; applying innovative approaches, methods, or techniques for preventing, treating, and handling pollution from entering waterbodies; and investigating localized water quality impacts from potential pollution sources.