The NOAA Hawaii B-WET Program is offering this grant to advance environmental education and foster community stewardship for healthy Hawaiian Island ecosystems.

DOC/NOAA supports cultural and gender diversity, and is strongly committed to broadening the participation of organizations that promote inclusion, such as tribal colleges, minority serving institutions, universities, and groups that work in historically underserved communities. The term underserved communities refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life. Underserved communities are defined in Executive Order 13985: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government.

Federal agencies and employees are not allowed to receive funds under this announcement, but may serve as collaborative project partners and may contribute services in-kind; these ‘in-kind services’ cannot be considered as part of an applicant’s match on shared costs. If an applicant proposes a federal agency as a collaborator, applicants should provide detail on the expected level of federal engagement in the application. Examples might include, but are not limited to partnership services; serving in a review capacity; or participating in priority task teams, working groups, or leadership teams. NOAA employees are not permitted to assist in the preparation of applications.

To be eligible to apply or receive an award, applicant organizations must complete and maintain three registrations; SAM.gov (https://sam.gov/content/home), Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov/), and eRA Commons (https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/register-your-organization-era-commons). For each, the complete registration process can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants must begin this activity as soon as possible and well before the proposal due date. For more information on how to meet these registration and application submission requirements without errors, we advise all to carefully review relevant Applicant and Grantee Training modules: https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training.

The NOAA Hawaii Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is an environmental education program that meets NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship. The Hawaii B-WET program supports a vision of a future where societies and ecosystems are healthy and resilient in the face of sudden or prolonged change. The purpose for this funding opportunity is to support our communities by developing well-informed members of society, who are involved in decision-making that positively impacts our coastal, marine, and watershed ecosystems in the Hawaiian Islands. This is a competitive opportunity for grants to assist in the development of new programs, encourage innovative partnerships among environmental education programs, and support geographically targeted programs to advance environmental education efforts that complement national and state school requirements. The Hawaii B-WET program plays a foundational role as an environmental education program that promotes locally relevant, experiential learning in the K-12 environment on Priority Content Areas such as Science with an emphasis on climate and Indigenous Knowledge (IK). Funded projects provide Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) for students and professional development for teachers that support regional education and environmental priorities. More information about the B-WET program is online at https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/bwet.

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain three registrations to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. These registrations include SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. The complete registration process for all three systems can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants should begin this activity as soon as possible. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions.

Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicant organizations must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov, if needed (refer to Section IV. Applications and Submission Information, Section C). Organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.