UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Recovery Act - BLM Utah Statewide Watershed Restoration ProjectAuthority Watershed Restoration and Enhancement Agreements aka Wyden Amendment, 16 USC 1011 , PL 104-208, Section 124, as amended by P.L. 105-277, Section 136, as amended by PL 108-7, Section 135. Section 1011. Watershed restoration and enhancement agreements.
Recovery Act - BLM-UT-RFA-10-1794
CFDA No. 15.231
CFDA Title: Fish, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Resource Management
ISSUE DATE: December 1, 2009
CLOSING DATE & TIMEDecember 15, 2009, @ 11:59 mst
Contact Information:
Maria Gochis Grants Management Officer (GMO)
Phone: (801) 539-4178
Email:
SECTION I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Project Background Information: For the last 5 years, the Watershed Restoration Initiative in Utah has been an outstanding example of cooperative partnerships in accomplishing broad scale restoration activities necessary to meet long-term objectives to manage and restore public land health. The current process will focus on the “Partnership” approach to cooperative, large-scale actions across large tracts of land regardless of land ownership. Working under the leadership and guidance of the Utah Partners for Conservation and Development (UtahPCD), composed of 14 State and Federal Agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, the process has gathered support of the Utah State Legislature, the Utah Governor, over 50 sportsmen’s groups, conservation organizations, private landowners, recreationists, energy companies, local governments, and non-profit organizations.
The State of Utah, Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) has been the strength of the partnership and for no assessment to BLM for support funding, has centralized all project contributed funds, administered construction contracts, coordinated project work and combined BLM federal monies with State and Private contributions, that has allowed every BLM dollar to go towards on-the-ground projects without sur-charges or hidden costs.
Through this partnership, UDWR has provided contracts and jobs to a number of private companies and individuals helping to stimulate the local economy rather than making more big government. The partnership has resulted in a “Growing” of BLM funds through matching contributions, which has over the last 5 years, resulted in an average match of BLM funds at a ratio of 3 to 1. (For every 1 dollar of BLM funds, the BLM has realized $4 worth of projects).
The State of Utah (UDWR), making the best decisions about the application of project dollars, oversees, in conjunction with the BLM, five regional teams that operate through consensus to address watershed restoration needs within their geographic areas around the State. Development, coordination and implementation of projects are promoted through the regional teams to focus efforts at the local scale. That statewide coordination and support allows pooling of resources, expertise, equipment, funding and procurement to allow economical, as well as local / widespread support for prioritizing and accomplishing watershed restoration projects.
To date, BLM, Utah has annually contributed approximately $1 million of renewable resource program dollars to the effort over the last 5 years. There has also been precedent setting support and funding from the Utah State Legislature with an ongoing appropriation of $2.5 million annually. The Utah Department of Natural Resources has also pledged a commitment to match BLM funds up to $2 million annually. In addition, conservation organization contributions exceed $1 million annually. In addition, sportsmen’s organizations result in hundreds of hours of volunteer labor and cash donations. To divert BLM funding from the partnership process that has served us and the public so well, would be conter-productive to our Goals.
B. Project Objective: The objective of the Utah Watershed Restoration program is to have a cost effective, local-level program with a variety of State, Federal and NGO Partners to implement restoration projects across broad landscapes to: Maximize biological diversity through time, maintain and improve water quality and quantity, and maintain or improve vegetative cover, vigor, and composition to sustain the consumptive and non-consumptive demands as well as soil stability.
The maintenance and improvement of public lands renewable resources will provide improved and consistent recreational and consumptive benefits to the public land users through addressing long-neglected habitat improvements so our country may once again thrive economically as well as biologically.
Improved vegetation cover, vigor and composition will provide a diversity of wildlife species for viewing, hunting and contributing to the natural biological diversity. Water quantity and quality will ensure water for agricultural uses, recreation and consumption. Soil stability will reduce the amount and sources of erosion that contribute to the deterioration of water quality and improve the availability of stabile soils for agricultural, recreational and domestic uses.
The process will create new jobs and employment opportunities for the citizens of America and local contractors, without growing the size of government. This is essential to help promote economic stability and individual spending power. As such, the result will be the improved quality of life for US Citizens.
C. Statement of Joint Objectives/Project Management Plan:
1. Implementation of watershed restoration projects to accomplish the Project Objectives will be attained through a coordinated process with the recipient that will follow a defined process of coordination, planning, project proposal development, project prioritization, project implementation, project completion evaluations and follow-up project monitoring .The possibility for re-treatment of projects may be required based upon the success of the first treatments to accomplish the stated objectives.
To accomplish these actions the Management Plan will entail:
· Quarterly meetings between the recipient, the BLM and all other invited members of the Utah Partners for Conservation and Development (UtahPCD) at all 5 of the Utah Division of Wildlife Regional Offices in Utah (Working Groups).
· The meetings will be held to identify the high priority areas in Utah (focus areas) for treatment of vegetation (vegetation manipulation) to meet project objectives, areas of vegetation in the focus areas where vegetation treatment is needed, the treatment methods to employ such as, but not limited to, brush hog, Dixie harrow, prescribed fire, chemical application and hand thinning.
· Projects will be designed in cooperation with the partners and the recipient and prioritized statewide for implementation depending upon the availability of funding and contributed resources.
· Implementation of the projects will occur statewide depending on the priorities established by the five regional Working Groups. The recipient will fund, oversee and administer the implementation of the project work.
· The BLM will serve to conduct project compliance in the field to ensure the project accomplishes the stated objectives. BLM will have Project Inspector’s work directly with the recipient to relay our intent.
· The project will be final when BLM and the Utah PCD partners and the recipient agree on the results of the achieved vegetation manipulation and the results of the seedings to grow new vegetation.
· The recipient and the BLM will conduct monitoring to see if our long-term objectives are being accomplished on projects. If necessary, the projects may need to be retreated to obtain better results.
· All evaluations of project objectives, accomplishments and any follow-up treatments will be agreed upon by all partners involved before the project is considered completed.
· The recipient will maintain a statewide database to track and monitor all accomplishments and expenditures, and provide information to the BLM and the Utah PCD partners.
2. Joint responsibilities would be to ensure the list of priority projects are completed on time and within scheduled budget, following completion of the scheduled projects, it is the joint responsibility of both entities to develop another list of projects through the five Regional Team process, to line out projects for the upcoming years.
3. The BLM will have substantial involvement during the performance of this agreement. Project proposal, design, and ranking/prioritization are conducted by five Regional Action Teams prior to posting habitat restoration projects on the schedule for completion by the recipient. Each team has BLM representation. Once projects have been selected and approved, the recipient provides public notification that the projects are open for bid and award. The BLM will be involved with the recipient on the selection of contractors. The recipient is responsible for issuing and managing performance contracts. Once the project is awarded, BLM will have a project inspector (PI), assigned to the project to ensure the intent, conditions and stipulations of the project are conducted as planned. The PI works directly with the recipient to evaluate progress, recommend changes and approve completion. The recipient and the BLM jointly monitor the progress and the costs of the project work. The BLM has the responsibility to intervene in the project to interrupt and /or modify the project to meet BLM objectives. Once completed, the project will be documented through a joint coordinated effort that involves the recipient and the BLM. Results of the project, methods employed, timing, seed mixtures, and seedling response are shared and distributed through the BLM network as well as the recipient’s. Long term monitoring is the primary responsibility of BLM personnel. Public outreach is the joint responsibility of the BLM and the recipient.
D. Period of Project: 1 year project
SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION
A. Expected Number of Awards and length of Award(s): 1 award
B. Estimated Total Program Funding: $2,000,000
C. Award Ceiling: $2,000,000
D. Assistance Instrument: Cooperative Agreement
*NOTE: The funding made available through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is one-time funding only.
SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION
A. Eligible Applicants: Unrestricted
B. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program has no matching requirements; however, applicants offering matching funds either for the project’s internal expenses or for funding the program are more likely to be funded. If cost sharing is from a third party, include a copy of the letter committing funds or interest in the project if possible.
SECTION IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
A. Address to Request Application Package: This announcement contains all information and electronic addresses necessary to submit an application through Grants.gov.
B. Content and Form of Application: The application package shall consist of all the required Standard Forms shown below, Attachment A, Certification For Federal Assistance, AND a project narrative and budget narrative that must include the following information:
1. Required Standard Forms:
SF Forms to Submit / SF Form InformationApplication / Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance
Budget Information / Form SF-424A, Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs
or SF-424C – Construction Programs
Assurances / Form SF-424B, Assurances - Non-Construction Programs
or SF-424D– Construction Programs
2. Detailed Narrative Proposal
1. Indirect Charges. Most States, Universities and larger nonprofit organizations have a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement with the Federal Government. This agreement provides the rates approved for use on cooperative agreements, grants, contracts and other agreements with the Federal Government. A copy of a current rate agreement must be submitted with proposed projects. Smaller organizations may not have an agreement with the Federal Government. In these cases, the indirect costs requests must be accompanied by a determination from an independent auditing firm. This determination will include the indirect cost rate, the calculations of the indirect cost rate including the base and indirect costs pools and the associated dollar figures for both. Proposals that fail to document their indirect costs will be disallowed.
2. Proposal Submission Format (Attachment B) can be used as an example in submitting a proposal. The proposal technical text must be no longer than 10 pages, no smaller than font size 11, and have 1-inch margins. The 10-page limit includes all text, figures, references, and vitae. (The Budget, Attachment C, is not included in the 10-page limit.) The text should include the following:
a. Introduction, Purpose, Objectives, and Relevance – (a) Describe why the project is needed by the applicant; (b) Describe the applicant’s objectives; (c) Describe how the applicant’s objectives support their mission and how this project will provide a public benefit; (d) Describe how this project will preserve and create jobs to promote economic recovery, provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health, and will invest in transportation, environmental protections and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.
b. Technical Approach - Describe how the applicant proposes to conduct and achieve the project in accordance with the Statement of Joint Objectives in Section I.D. The project design must contain enough detail to show the development of the project and the relationship between the partners, tasks, milestones, and objectives. The work plan must be clear, suitable, and feasible with respect to the following; (a) Describe the techniques, procedures, and methodologies to be used; (b) Describe data collection, analysis, and means of relationship interpretation; (c) Describe expected results or outcomes; and (d) Describe the procedures for evaluating project efficacy, including fixed performance indices with probabilities for obtaining them. Explain how the applicant will meet the completion schedule identified in Section I.D.
c. Qualifications, Experience, and Past Performance - Describe who will carry out the project activities. List all project personnel, including consultants. Describe their responsibilities and the amount of time each will dedicate to the project. Briefly describe how their experience and qualifications are appropriate to successfully achieve the stated objectives.
3 Budget (Attachment C). Include a description of the cost share (cash vs. in kind). The budget should contain the following:
a. Salaries and Wages. Include all employees and their titles working on the project.
b. Fringe Benefits. Proposed rates/amounts. If rates are audit approved, include a copy of the audit agreement and/or the name of the audit agency. If more than one rate is used, list each rate and the wage or salary base.
c. Consultant/Contracting Fees. Include payments for professional and technical consultants and contractors participating in the project.
d. Travel and Per Diem. For each trip, indicate the number of persons traveling, the total days they will be in travel status, and the total subsistence and transportation costs for that trip. Per diem rates shall not exceed maximum Federal rates. To view current Federal per diem rates, visit http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentId=17943&contentType=GSA_BASIC and follow the links to per diem information.