Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities

 

The Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities aim to achieve the following outcomes through a variety of pilot projects: Increased markets (supply and demand) for climate-smart commodities; Increased adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry (CSAF) practices and systems that reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and/or increase carbon sequestration from the agricultural sector; Demonstration of scalable and low-cost measurement/quantification, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) systems; Increased innovation and consistency in measuring/quantifying farm-level greenhouse gas benefits; Testing and evaluation of efficient traceability through supply chains from production of commodity to delivery to the consumer; Improved understanding and communication of economic and adaptation benefits, as well as ancillary environmental benefits; Equitable administration that includes small and underserved producers as well as early adopters (i.e., producers who have already used some climate-smart approaches); Understanding of marketability advantages for a variety of farm types; Empowerment of farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to drive Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry markets and practice adoption; and Development of additional public-private partnerships to foster and develop Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry markets.

Active 10.937 Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture B - Project Grants Not applicable. 15 U.S.C. 714 et seq
15 US Code 714 et seq The authority for this funding opportunity is the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714 et seq). This funding opportunity leverages the authorities under Section 5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act at 15 U.S.C. 714c with particular emphasis on the following subsection: “(e) increase the domestic consumption of agricultural commodities (other than tobacco) by expanding or aiding in the expansion of domestic markets or by developing or aiding in the development of new and additional markets, marketing facilities, and uses for such commodities.” Funding also follows 2 CFR Part 200. Eligibility is further restricted to domestic applicants. Applicants and applications must meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline to be considered for award. Eligible applicant type is consistent with the statutory authority for this funding opportunity. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program (2 CFR 200.206(d)). The primary applicant must demonstrate an existing relationship with and/or prior experience working with producers or landowners. Additionally, at minimum one project partner must have existing experience working with underserved producers or landowners. This information will be used when evaluating the application in the equity criteria. Individuals, including individual agricultural producers, farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, may also be eligible as subrecipients but may not be the primary applicant/recipient. Recipients may only enroll agricultural producers and land owners who are compliant with highly erodible land (HEL) and wetland conservation (WC) requirements as described under 7 CFR part 12. Awards made pursuant to the relevant NOFO are not subject to any payment limitations. However, any agricultural producers or land owners receiving a payment through participation in a project awarded under a relevant NOFO must meet the eligibility requirements of 7 CFR Part 12 and 7 CFR Part 1400 and have control of the land involved for the term of the proposed award period. Not applicable. Partnering entities must prove their eligibility by providing documents indicating their legal status and agree to provide such information to NRCS as the agency deems necessary or desirable to assist in its determination of eligibility for program benefits and for other program implementation purposes Preapplication coordination is required. Projects performed pursuant to this opportunity may be subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was signed by USDA NRCS on August 26, 2022 for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. A copy of the Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities is available at www.usda.gov/climate-smart-commodities. The overall impacts of the funding opportunity were considered in the Programmatic EA. For any project that involves on-the-ground activities undertaken by partners and agricultural producers following the issuance of the award, but prior to any ground disturbing activities related to the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities project, the awardee may be required to work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to complete an Environmental Evaluation (EE) related to each individual producer’s activities under the project. Based on the outcome of the EE, the project may proceed as planned, proceed under an alternative designed to avoid, minimize, or mitigate potential adverse impacts, or awardees may be required to prepare or pay for preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS), should the EE find that an EA or EIS is required. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for this listing will be posted on Grants.gov (opens in new window) (opens in new window). The NOFO includes a detailed description of all application requirements. Each applicant is required to: (i) Be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. Merit/technical reviews will be conducted by a technical review board nominated by the approving official. Risk reviews will be conducted by the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center, Grants and Agreements Division (GAD). The approving official will make the final award decisions. A multi-phase approval process may be utilized if determined necessary by the approving official. After the agency reviews applications and makes award selections, GAD will prepare award packages, including a Notice of Grant or Agreement Award (ADS-093). The agency may provide notice that an application has been selected before it actually makes the Federal award. As such, the selection notification is not an authorization to begin performance. Any pre-award costs incurred by the awardee will not be reimbursed. The Notice of Grant and Agreement Award (ADS-093) signed by the authorized agency official is the only authorizing document. Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for this listing will be posted on Grants.gov. The NOFO contains all pertinent deadlines. More than 180 days. Not applicable. Applications for renewal or supplementation of existing projects are not eligible to compete with applications for new Federal awards under this listing. USDA may consider renewal or supplementation of awards issued under this listing. No-cost extensions of time may be appropriate and approved on a case-by-case basis. Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for this listing will be posted on Grants.gov. The NOFO includes a detailed description of application selection criteria. Agriculture/Forestry/Fish and Game, Environment (water, air, solid waste, pesticides, radiation), Natural Resources (mineral, water, wildlife, land), Science and Technology Financial assistance may be used for activities that support implementation of climate-smart production practices, activities, and systems on working lands; measurement, quantification and monitoring of the carbon and greenhouse gas benefits associated with those practices; and market development and promotion of the resulting climate-smart commodities. Technical assistance, except for Highly Erodible Land (HEL) and Wetland Conservation (WC) determinations, is not provided and will need to be provided by the recipient. Performance Reports: Refer to “Progress Reports.” In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503 Not applicable. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is voluntary_rating. There is not a specific match requirement. However, applications will be evaluated, in part, on the relative contribution of non-Federal resources to the project. Cost sharing may be achieved with contributions of cash, services, materials, equipment, or third-party in-kind contributions. USDA values the importance of partners contributing to projects; the magnitude and quality of matching funds will be a part of the evaluation criteria. However, this will be considered through the lens of equity so that the ability to secure a non-Federal match is not a barrier to participation. Refer to the relevant NOFO for information about any required submittals related to match or cost-share requirements and a description of how a voluntary match will be evaluated. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Projects may be between 1 and 5 years in duration, with up to two years of no- cost extensions considered on a case-by-case basis. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Recipients of assistance must complete and transmit to the agency Standard Form (SF) 270, Request for Advance or Reimbursement in accordance with agreement General Terms and Conditions to initiate agreement payments. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Lump. None/Not specified. Katina Hanson
805 Pennsylvania Ave
Kansas City, MO 64105 USA
Climate-smart-commodities@usda.gov
Phone: 000-000-0000 https://www.usda.gov/climate-solutions/climate-smart-commodities 12-1000-0-1-302 (Project Grants) FY 22$0.00; FY 23 est $3,357,500,000.00; FY 24 est $0.00; FY 21 - The Federal funding agency expects to award a total of approximately $3 billion in Fiscal Year (FY)23. Not applicable. Fiscal Year 2023 A variety of projects expanding market for climate-smart commodities including row crops, specialty crops, livestock and forestry across all 50 states, territories and tribal land, and supporting farmers, ranchers and forest land owners with implementation & monitoring of climate-smart practices.