NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant to Advance Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Reduction

The purpose of CIG is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies, while leveraging the Federal investment in environmental
enhancement and protection in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG projects are
expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and
innovative approaches (such as market-based systems) into NRCS policy, technical manuals,
guides, and references or to the private sector. CIG does not fund research projects. Projects
intended to formulate hypothesis do not qualify. CIG is to apply proven technology which has
been shown to work previously. It is a vehicle to stimulate the development and adoption of
conservation approaches or technologies that have been studied sufficiently to indicate a
likelihood of success, and to be candidates for eventual technology transfer or institutionalization. CIG promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities
among communities, governments, and other institutions to ensure that scientific and
technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users. CIG funds projects
targeting innovative on-the-ground conservation, including pilot projects and field
demonstrations.

For the purpose of this CIG funding, NRCS seeks to stimulate the application of greenhouse gas
benefitting practices on agricultural land. The grantee would secure the participation of
agricultural producers, determine baseline values of greenhouse gas emissions and/or carbon
sequestration, verify the implementation and maintenance of GHG benefitting practices, and
determine GHG benefits (additionality) so that these benefits can be successfully registered in a
commonly recognized carbon registry. Beyond this, successful applicants will develop linkages
between these registered carbon credits with existing or newly emerging market structures.
NRCS intends to make funding available through its regular EQIP program to contract directly
with participating producers to incentivize the application of GHG benefitting practices. Such
funds may be directed to successful applicant project areas. Therefore, agricultural producers
implementing GHG practices in this CIG project must be eligible to receive payment directly
from the EQIP and all practices used must be approved practices in the NRCS Field Office
Technical Guide (FOTG). A successful grantee would use innovative approaches within the
funding they bring to this project to enhance the cost sharing of EQIP to stimulate the application
of GHG benefitting practices and identify new practices that NRCS can include in the FOTG as
interim practices for use within the regular EQIP component of an awarded project.

NRCS will accept applications for single or multi-year projects, not to exceed 3 years, submitted
to NRCS from eligible entities including federally recognized Indian tribes, State and local units of government, and non-governmental organizations and individuals. Applications are accepted from all 50 States, the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), and the Pacific Islands Area (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands).

Applications will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this
notice. Incomplete applications will be eliminated from competition, and notification of
elimination will be mailed to the applicant. Complete applications received by applicable
deadlines will be evaluated by a technical peer review panel based on the Criteria for Application
Evaluation identified in the application instructions in section VI.B.

Applications with technically-based recommendations from the peer review groups will be forwarded to the Grants Review Board. The Grants Review Board will make recommendations
for project approval to the NRCS Chief who will make the final selections.