The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is offering the Conservation Agreements grant for Tennessee to address local natural resource issues and promote conservation leadership.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture, is announcing potential funding availability for cooperative, grant and contribution agreements with the intent of leveraging NRCS resources, addressing local natural resource issues/concerns, encouraging collaborative efforts and developing state and local level conservation leadership. Proposals will be accepted for projects located in the state of Tennessee. NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2020 will be:

STATE     Tennessee

POTENTIAL TOTAL AVAILABLE     $500,000.00

MINIMUM     $10,000.00

MAXIMUM     $100,000.00

ANTICIPATED # of AGREEMENTS     10

Proposals are requested from eligible entities for competitive consideration of agreement awards for projects between one (1) to five (5) years in duration. Eligible entities include the following:

• City or township governments
• County governments
• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Independent school districts
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
• Private institutions of higher education
• Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education
• Small businesses
• Special district governments
• State governments

 This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions for projects. Proposals will be screened for completeness and compliance under the provisions of this notice. Incomplete and/or noncompliant proposals will be eliminated from competition, and a notification of elimination will be sent to the applicant.

Key Dates

 Proposals must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday, July 3, 2020. Proposals received after 11:59 pm on July 3, 2020 will not be considered and immediately eliminated from competition. Funding decisions will be made by the NRCS State Conservationist, informed by the ranking list and the availability of funding in the program whose CFDA number is listed above. Applicants must submit their applications via Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time. For technical issues with Grants.gov, please contact Grants.gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov. Awarding agency staff cannot support applicants regarding Grants.gov accounts.