U.S. Department of Agriculture NRCS Iowa Partners for Conservation (IPC) 2021 Program Funding Opportunity

SUMMARY INFORMATION

Federal Awarding Agency Name: U.S. Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Notice of Funding Opportunity Title: Iowa Partners for Conservation (IPC) Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Announcement for Program Funding – IOWA

Notice of Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-NRCS-IA-IPC-21-NOFO0001069

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA): This program is listed in the Assistance Listings under the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers 10.902, 10.903, 10.069, 10.912, 10.924, 10.931

Notice of Funding Opportunity Summary

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing the potential availability of funding for agreements for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources, addressing local natural resource issues, encouraging collaboration and developing state-and-community-level conservation leadership. Proposals must be for projects based in Iowa and focus on conservation issues as noted in Section A (2) of this notice. Collaborative projects that provide on-the-ground support for Iowa NRCS Field Offices are highly encouraged. Research proposals will not be accepted, nor considered. NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2021 will be up to $3,000,000.00, however budget constraints may prevent NRCS from funding 2021 proposals. Proposals are requested from City or township governments, county governments, Federally recognized Native American tribal governments, state governments, nonprofits having a 501 (c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education), or institutions of higher education for competitive consideration of awards for projects between 3 and 5 years in duration. Awarded organizations will be required to attend administrative training and may be required to present project updates in the form of a formal presentation to the Iowa NRCS Leadership. Organizations may use this opportunity to request additional funding for existing Iowa IPC agreements.

This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions for projects. Proposals will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this notice. Incomplete and/or noncompliant proposals will be eliminated from competition, and notification of elimination will be sent to the applicant. In addition to the information in this opportunity, more information can be found at the

following website:

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ia/people/partners/request+for+proposals+%

28rfp%29/

For new users of Grants.gov, see Section D.1. for information about steps required before submitting an application via Grants.gov.

Key Dates

Applicants must submit their applications via Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on May 10, 2021. For technical issues with Grants.gov, contact Grants.gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov. Awarding agency staff cannot support applicants regarding Grants.gov accounts. Questions regarding this notice of funding opportunity (NFO) may be submitted until April 09, 2021. Responses to questions posed will be posted on Grants.gov approximately two weeks before the application due date.

The agency anticipates making selections by June 7, 2021 and expects to execute awards by September 15, 2021.

Federal Funding Floor and Ceiling Amounts

The funding floor for this opportunity is $75,000.00, and the funding ceiling is $1,500,000.00. The funding floor means the minimum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded. The ceiling is the maximum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded. These numbers refer to the total agreement amount, not any specific budget period.

Federal Financial Assistance Training

The funding available through this NFO is Federal financial assistance. Grants 101 Training is highly recommended for those seeking knowledge about Federal financial assistance. The training is free and available to the public via https://www.cfo.gov/grants-training/. It consists of five modules covering each of the following topics: 1) laws, regulations, and guidance; 2) financial assistance mechanisms; 3) uniform guidance administrative requirements; 4) cost principles; and 5) risk management and single audit. Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) agencies also apply Federal financial assistance regulations to certain non-assistance awards (e.g., non-assistance cooperative agreements).