Natural Resources Conservation Service Massachusetts Grant for Conservation Project Management

Notice of Funding Opportunity Summary

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing potential availability of cooperative agreements for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources to assist our agency with conducting and implementing important NRCS Farm Bill Program contract management on multiple private landowner properties throughout Massachusetts. NRCS recognizes the importance of utilizing partners to help facilitate project management for NRCS customers throughout Massachusetts. The agreement holder could be asked to assist with customer technical assistance, conservation planning, certification packets for completed conservation practices, and writing Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (CNMPs). The agreement holder will also be responsible for providing training to NRCS staff and affiliates to demonstrate the ability to have direct conversations with agricultural producers, investigate and navigate conservation opportunities, demonstrate project management and implementation skills, as well as customer outreach.

NRCS-Massachusetts is making a funding opportunity available for applicants to submit proposals with an award ceiling of $400,000 and a minimum project award of $200,000. NRCS will be awarding a cooperative agreement for up to a five-year period. If, in coordination with NRCS, additional resources are needed at a rate that exceeds this schedule, NRCS may add funds to this agreement to support continued partnership over the performance period.

The primary goal is to expand conservation technical assistance to NRCS customers throughout Massachusetts. The project list ranges in size from less than 1-acre farms to several hundred-acre farms. Applicants will identify the average number of conservation application site visits with written conservation plans, existing contract conservation technical assistance site visits, and CNMPs that they could complete in any year with a minimum of fifteen application based and 15 contract based site visits per year being acceptable for this agreement (5 of those including CNMP development). NRCS will work with the selected applicant to make the choice of priority conservation site visits each year of the agreement based on interest and need. Applicants will be required to hold 1-2 conservation focused trainings per year for NRCS staff and partners to expand their technical knowledge. Applicants should provide a list of training ideas to NRCS for the length of the agreement. Applicants will be awarded based on the specified scoring criteria in Section E of this announcement. Eligible applicants are identified in Section C of this announcement. Applicants should be familiar with all applicable state, federal, local laws, policies, and regulations that apply to conservation improvements in the locales of Massachusetts.

For new users of Grants.gov, see Section D. of the full Notice of Funding Opportunity 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 June 29, 2024. 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.

For inquiries specific to the content of the NFO requirements, contact the federal awarding agency contact (section G of this NFO). Please limit questions to those regarding specific information contained in this NFO (such as dates, page numbers, clarification of discrepancies, etc.). Questions related to eligibility, or the merits of a specific proposal will not be addressed.

The agency anticipates making selections by June 30, 2024, and expects to execute awards by August 15, 2024. These dates are estimates and are subject to change.

Notice of Funding Opportunity Summary

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing potential availability of cooperative agreements for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources to assist our agency with conducting and implementing important NRCS Farm Bill Program contract management on multiple private landowner properties throughout Massachusetts. NRCS recognizes the importance of utilizing partners to help facilitate project management for NRCS customers throughout Massachusetts. The agreement holder could be asked to assist with customer technical assistance, conservation planning, certification packets for completed conservation practices, and writing Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (CNMPs). The agreement holder will also be responsible for providing training to NRCS staff and affiliates to demonstrate the ability to have direct conversations with agricultural producers, investigate and navigate conservation opportunities, demonstrate project management and implementation skills, as well as customer outreach.

NRCS-Massachusetts is making a funding opportunity available for applicants to submit proposals with an award ceiling of $400,000 and a minimum project award of $200,000. NRCS will be awarding a cooperative agreement for up to a five-year period. If, in coordination with NRCS, additional resources are needed at a rate that exceeds this schedule, NRCS may add funds to this agreement to support continued partnership over the performance period.

The primary goal is to expand conservation technical assistance to NRCS customers throughout Massachusetts. The project list ranges in size from less than 1-acre farms to several hundred-acre farms. Applicants will identify the average number of conservation application site visits with written conservation plans, existing contract conservation technical assistance site visits, and CNMPs that they could complete in any year with a minimum of fifteen application based and 15 contract based site visits per year being acceptable for this agreement (5 of those including CNMP development). NRCS will work with the selected applicant to make the choice of priority conservation site visits each year of the agreement based on interest and need. Applicants will be required to hold 1-2 conservation focused trainings per year for NRCS staff and partners to expand their technical knowledge. Applicants should provide a list of training ideas to NRCS for the length of the agreement. Applicants will be awarded based on the specified scoring criteria in Section E of this announcement. Eligible applicants are identified in Section C of this announcement. Applicants should be familiar with all applicable state, federal, local laws, policies, and regulations that apply to conservation improvements in the locales of Massachusetts.

For new users of Grants.gov, see Section D. of the full Notice of Funding Opportunity 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 June 29, 2024. 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.

For inquiries specific to the content of the NFO requirements, contact the federal awarding agency contact (section G of this NFO). Please limit questions to those regarding specific information contained in this NFO (such as dates, page numbers, clarification of discrepancies, etc.). Questions related to eligibility, or the merits of a specific proposal will not be addressed.

The agency anticipates making selections by June 30, 2024, and expects to execute awards by August 15, 2024. These dates are estimates and are subject to change.

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