Geographic Programs – Lake Champlain Basin Program

 

The goal of this program is to implement the Lake Champlain Basin Management Plan, Opportunities for Action: An Evolving Plan for the Future of the Lake Champlain Basin 2022 (Opportunities for Action), and to assist the states of New York and Vermont in protecting, restoring and preserving the water quality and ecological health of the Lake Champlain ecosystem. Funding Priorities - Fiscal Year 2023: Efforts in Lake Champlain will continue to support the successful interstate, interagency, and international partnership undertaking the implementation of Opportunities for Action, a plan designed to protect and where necessary restore the lake's water quality, sustain healthy ecosystems in the basin, support thriving communities and inform and involve the public in lake issues and activities. Financial awards under this program are made to the States of Vermont and New York, and to the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) to implement Opportunities for Action. Congress directed EPA to allocate $25,000,000 for the Lake Champlain program via the Appropriations Act of 2023. These funds shall be allocated through the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), other than $8,000,000, which shall be directed to support significant, impactful projects identified in the 52 state implementation plan that will make measurable progress towards meeting the phosphorus reduction targets of the EPA's 2016 Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load Plan for Lake Champlain. Funding priorities include phosphorus reduction, cyanobacteria control, water quality monitoring to track progress and alerts to the public if unsafe conditions exist, implementation of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Invasive Species Program as authorized by the Vessel Incident Discharge Act (Public Law 115282), aquatic invasive species prevention and control, habitat protection and restoration, and environmental education and outreach. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the LCBP received $8 million for FY23 through CWA Section 120. These allocations are expected to continue for five years through FY26. The Lake Champlain priorities for funding include increased technical assistance, capacity, and implementation funding to support aquatic organism passage, floodplain restoration and flood mitigation, use of natural infrastructure, and habitat restoration and conservation programs that have the potential to support traditionally underserved communities and/or will mitigate the impacts of climate change. IIJA funding will also be prioritized to support significant, impactful projects identified in the state implementation plan that will make measurable progress towards meeting the phosphorus reduction targets of the EPAs 2016 Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load Plan for Lake Champlain, and to implement the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Invasive Species Program as authorized by the Vessel Incident Discharge Act (Public Law 115282) to address invasive species in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.

Active 66.481 Environmental Protection Agency B - Project Grants Not applicable. Clean Water Act, Section 120
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Public Law 117-58 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. In accordance with Section 120 of the Clean Water Act, EPA may provide non-competitive funding to the states of Vermont and New York and to NEIWPCC for the implementation of the LCBP. In addition, EPA may choose to solicit applications from other state, interstate, and regional water pollution control agencies, and public or nonprofit agencies, institutions, and organizations that are eligible to receive competitive grants from EPA through this program. Assistance under this program generally benefits State environmental, health, and agriculture agencies; interstate water pollution control agencies; public nonprofit institutions and organizations; sponsored organizations; Federal agencies; local agencies; intrastate agencies; public and private nonprofit institutions and organizations; private organizations; small businesses; and quasi-public nonprofit institutions. Nonprofit private agencies, institutions, and organizations may be required to provide documentation of their organizational status upon application. Preapplication coordination is required. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs," applies to this assistance listing when proposed Federal financial assistance involves land use planning or implementation of restoration, remediation, or other projects requiring construction. EPA financial assistance programs and activities subject to intergovernmental review that are subject to review under State single point of contact procedures are identified at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-financial-assistance-programs-subject-executive-order-12372-and-section-204. Applicants for programs or activities subject to Intergovernmental Review that are not subject to State single point of contact review must provide directly affected State, areawide, regional, and local entities at least 60 days to review their application following notification by EPA that the application has been selected for funding as provided by 40 CFR 29.8(a) and (c). 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. Informal pre-application discussions or conferences with the Lake Champlain Basin Program Steering Committee, and EPA Regions 1 and 2 are required. For additional information, please contact the individual listed as the Agency Contact. The Lake Champlain Basin Program Steering Committee, in conjunction with EPA Regions 1 and 2, develops the annual budget and task list. This budget and task list is then divided between the States of Vermont and New York and NEIWPCC. From this information, these three organizations then prepare grant applications and workplans for submittal to EPA Region 2 (NYSDEC) and/or Region 1 (NEIWPCC and VT DEC). Applicants, except in limited circumstances approved by the Agency, must submit all initial applications for funding through Grants.gov. Each federal assistance application and final work plan will be evaluated by EPA Region 1 or Region 2 to determine the adequacy of the application under the established EPA grants program requirements and guidelines, including, but not limited to, the requirements set forth in 2 CFR 200 and 1500. Technical merit and the relevance of the project to the priorities and objectives established in Opportunities for Action will also be considered. Each application will also be subject to an administrative review by the EPA Region 1 or 2 grants management office as appropriate to determine whether all administrative requirements have been met. The workplan is submitted to the EPA Region 1 and 2 Regional Administrators for approval prior to the award of any assistance agreement. Once a Regional Office approves the annual workplan, funds are awarded by the EPA Region 1 or 2 Regional Administrator or his/her delegatee as appropriate. Grantees will receive an award package from the appropriate EPA Regional grants management office that must be accepted and signed by an authorized official of the recipient organization and returned to the grants management office within 30 days. Awards may be made on an advance or reimbursement basis. Awards that are not signed and returned by the deadline may be subject to cancellation. For any competitive awards under this assistance listing, 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. For noncompetitive awards to Vermont, New York and NEIWPCC, contact the regional contacts listed below for application deadlines. Notification of action on applications varies depending on the timing of funds release to the EPA Regional Offices from Headquarters. Interval from submission to notification may vary from two months to eight months. 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). Copies of these procedures may also be found at: https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-competition-dispute-resolution-procedures. Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E, as applicable. No-cost extensions and amendments may be available subject to the approval of EPA. Approval of subsequent funding is dependent on satisfactory project progress, continued relevance of the project to EPA's priorities, availability of funds, and the Agency policy on the competitive grant process. The Steering Committee recommends projects to EPA for funding as outlined in Section 120 of the Clean Water Act to its non-competitive recipients, the states of New York and Vermont, and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, based on the technical merit of the proposal and its relevance to Opportunities for Action. EPA approves applications after Steering Committee recommendation based on the technical merit of the application and its relevance to Opportunities for Action. Should a competitive announcement be made by EPA, the evaluation and selection criteria for any competitive awards under this assistance listing will be described in the competitive announcement. As described in Section 120 of the CWA, funds may be used to implement elements of Opportunities for Action, implementation of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Invasive Species Program as authorized by the Vessel Incident Discharge Act, and for the 2016 Total Maximum Daily Load for Phosphorus in Lake Champlain. Projects outside of the Lake Champlain Basin are not eligible for funding under this program. Grant awards must be made in consultation with the Lake Champlain Basin Steering Committee and support activities consistent with the goals of Opportunities for Action. 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: Reporting requirements shall be determined at the time of grant award. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, 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 is mandatory. For all assistance (grants and cooperative agreements) agreements made under this program, federal costs shall not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the agreement. Federal costs may increase up to 100 percent of the total cost of the agreement if it is funded through the IIJA and the matching requirements are waived by the Administrator.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Assistance agreements are generally made for a multi-year period at the discretion of EPA. Start dates for assistance agreements are variable and are established at the discretion of EPA. Generally however, it is intended that start dates closely follow award dates of the assistance agreement. Awards are fully funded, recipients draw down funding as cost are incurred, typically monthly. The method of fund disbursement will be determined at the time of award. See Headquarters Office information. Bryan Dore
US EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Mail Code OEP 6-1
Boston, MA 021093912 US
dore.bryan@epa.gov
Phone: 617-918-1211
Fax: 617-918-0211

Michele Fafette
US EPA Region 2, 290 Broadway, 24th Floor
New York, NY 100071866 USA
fafette.michele@epa.gov
Phone: 212-637-3267
Fax: 212-637-3889 https://www.lcbp.org/about-us/grants-rfps/ 68-0108-0-1-304 (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 22$20,000,000.00; FY 23 est $25,000,000.00; FY 24 est $25,000,000.00; FY 21$15,000,000.00; FY 20$13,390,000.00; FY 19$11,000,000.00; FY 18$8,400,000.00; FY 17$4,395,000.00; FY 16$4,395,000.00; - (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 22$8,000,000.00; FY 23 est $8,000,000.00; FY 24 est $8,000,000.00; FY 21$0.00; - (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)) Range: $550,000 to $12,652,346 in FY23; Average award: $8,226,500. Lake Champlain program grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the general grant regulations at 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). Additional information about this grant program is also available at: https://www.lcbp.org/category/recent-publications/. Not applicable.