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| 66.709 MULTI-MEDIA CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS FOR STATES AND TRIBES |
| FEDERAL AGENCY |
| OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY |
| AUTHORIZATION |
| Clean Water Act, Section 104; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20; Clean Air Act, Section 103; Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001; Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442; Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10; Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, Section 203; National Environmental Policy Act, Section 102(2)(F) (for international awards; Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act. |
| OBJECTIVES |
| The general objectives of this program are to build and improve the capacity of States, multijurisdictional State organizations and federally recognized tribes by providing assistance agreements to foster environmental enforcement and compliance assurance activities and to improve compliance with environmental laws. Such capacity building efforts may include economic, social science, statistical research, development, studies, surveys, demonstrations, investigations, public education, training and fellowships to the extent authorized under the Acts listed above. These funds cannot be used for implementation of compliance monitoring and enforcement programs. Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2008: The Office of Compliance (OC), within EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) will be soliciting proposals and partial grant applications for states and tribes to strengthen their ability to address environmental and public health threats, while furthering the art and science of environmental compliance. For FY 2008, EPA is soliciting pre-proposals for the following focus areas: (1) Permit Compliance System (PCS) Modernization and ICIS-NPDES, (2) Tribal Compliance Assurance Training and Workshops, (3) Air Facility System (AFS), (4) Development of a State-to-State New Source Review and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (NSR/PSD) Mentoring Program and Permit and Enforcement Training Support, (5) State Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Training, and (6) Demonstration of Better Use of Technology in Compliance Monitoring Activities. Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2009: The Office of Compliance (OC), within EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) will be soliciting proposals and partial grant applications for states and tribes to strengthen their ability to address environmental and public health threats, while furthering the art and science of environmental compliance. In previous years, areas of emphasis have been: (1) tribal and state inspection training, (2) program planning and preformance measurement, (3) outcome measurement, (4)public access, (5)data management, and (6)permit compliance system modernization. |
| TYPES OF ASSISTANCE |
| Project Grants (Cooperative Agreements). |
| USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS |
| The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance identifies special focus areas each funding cycle (annually). Work under grants and agreements must address those focus areas. Previous years have included calls for proposals for innovative enforcement and compliance assurance projects including training, performance measurement, data quality, and public access to information. |
| Applicant Eligibility |
| State agencies, U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, federally recognized Indian Tribes and Intertribal Consortia, and multi-jurisdictional State organizations and associations of environmental regulatory professionals, with enforcement and compliance assurance responsibilities or responsibilities that support enforcement and compliance assurance including but not limited to data management or research. In addition, public universities and colleges with expertise in compliance assurance and enforcement issues, including compliance assistance and training to tribal environmental professionals. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this CFDA description, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. |
| Beneficiary Eligibility |
| State agencies, U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, federally recognized tribes, and local governments. |
| Credentials/Documentation |
| None. |
| Preapplication Coordination |
| The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance typically requests proposals and partial grant applications (424 and 424A) from applicants detailing the substantive information asked for in the solicitation. Initial decisions are made based on headquarters and regional review of the proposals. Regarding pre-application/pre-proposal assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this program description, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application/pre-proposal assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts" or see Appendix IV of the Catalog. 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. |
| Application Procedure |
| The standard application forms as furnished by the Federal Agency and required by the OMB Circular No. A-102 must be used for this program. Requests for application forms and completed applications should be submitted to the appropriate EPA Regional Office (See Appendix IV of the Catalog). Applicants may be able to use http://www.grants.gov to electronically apply for certain grant opportunities under this CFDA. |
| Award Procedure |
| Each application shall be subjected to administrative coordination to determine adequacy in relation to grant regulations, and to technical and program evaluation to determine merit and relevancy of the project. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications, proposals, and/or 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. EPA reserves the right to partially fund proposals/applications by funding discrete activities, portions, or phases of proposed projects. If EPA decides to partially fund a proposal/application, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any applicants or affect the basis upon which the proposal/application, or portion thereof, was evaluated and selected for award, and that maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process. |
| Deadlines |
| The solicitation (announcement of availability of funds) provides the complete schedule for application due dates. |
| Range of Approval/Disapproval Time |
| About 90 days from the date of submission of the final proposal. |
| Appeals |
| 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 requested by contacting the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts." Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 40 CFR 30.63 or 40 CFR 31.70, as applicable. |
| Renewals |
| None. |
| Formula and Matching Requirements |
| Not applicable. |
| Length and Time Phasing of Assistance |
| Assistance is normally provided in one lump sum to the applicant for projects spanning 2 to 3 years. There is no restriction on the time permitted to spend the money awarded, although it is recommended that the money be spent within 5 years of receipt. |
| Reports |
| Semi-annual reports must be submitted to the Project Officer for the duration of the project period. Final reports must be submitted upon completion of the project. Final reports must contain interim outcomes and/or final outcomes achieved as a result of the funding. A format for these reports is usually provided in the solicitation. |
| Audits |
| 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. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," non-federal entities that expend $500,000 or more in a year in Federal awards shall have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-federal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in OMB Circular No. A-133. |
| Records |
| Financial records including all documents to support entries on accounting records and to substantiate charges to each cooperative agreement must be kept available to personnel authorized to examine EPA grant accounts. All records must be maintained for 3 years from the date of the submission of the annual financial status report or longer if questions still remain, such as those raised as a result of audit. |
| Account Identification |
| 68-0103-0-1-304. |
| Obligations |
| FY 07 $1,360,900; FY 08 $1,209,000 and FY 09 $1,828,000. The actual obligations towards assistance agreements for a given fiscal year may be higher due to carryover from previous fiscal years. |
| Range and Average of Financial Assistance |
| The range for the smallest and largest awards in the past fiscal year is $45,000 to $250,000. The average amount of financial assistance over the past and current fiscal years is $156,000. |
| PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS |
| The solicitation in fiscal year 2007 resulted in 8 projects being selected for funding from a total of 17 proposals (47%). The FY2008 solicitation is currently open therefore no selections or awards have been made yet. Previous years have included calls for proposals for innovative enforcement and compliance assurance capacity building projects including inspector training, performance measurement, data quality, public access to information, data management, and performance measurement/program planning. The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has posted the previous and current grant project results and outcomes on their OECA website at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/state/grants/stag/index.html. |
| REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE |
| EPA Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to and Local Governments (40 CFR Part 35 Subpart A), October 12,1982. |
| Regional or Local Office |
| See EPA Regional Offices listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog. |
| Headquarters Office |
| Ginger Gotliffe, (202) 564-7072, Fax: (202) 564-0034. The Office of Compliance, Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Bldg., 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20460. E-mail: gotliffe.ginger@epa.gov. |
| Web Site Address |
| http://www.epa.gov/compliance/state/grants/stag/index.html |
| RELATED PROGRAMS |
| None. |
| EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS |
| (1)Feasibility study on migration of state/tribal data from the legacy Permit Compliance System (PCS) system to the new modernized Integrated Compliance Information System-National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, (ICIS-NPDES) (e.g., conversion of General Permit data currently in legacy PCS to correspond with the General Permit data requirements of the modernized system). (2)Improved tribal access to on-site compliance assistance and compliance monitoring services and/or improved tribal capacity for compliance monitoring and enforcement. (3) Establish a training program to support the creation of an inspection force for regulated underground storage tank facilities (UST), and design and implement a continuing education module for UST inspectors. (4)Development of a sector-specific model for outcome-based performance measures. (5) Provide technical assistance, including training, to build capacity to provide compliance assistance to Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) program. Development of MS4 demonstration projects that show how states will build capacity to operate and maintain a high quality MS4 program. |
| CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS |
| The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this CFDA description will be described in the competitive announcement. |
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General Services Administration Office of Chief Acquisition Officer Regulatory and Federal Assistance Division (VIR) |
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