Environmental Finance Center Grants (66.203)

Program

66.203 Environmental Finance Center Grants

Federal Agency

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Office: Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Authorization

Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001(a); Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3); Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442(b)(3)&1420; Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, Section 203; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20; Clean Air Act, Section 103(b)(3); Toxics Substances Control Act, Section 10.

Program Number

66.203

Last Known Status

Active

Objectives

The Environmental Finance Center Grant Program provides funding to support Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs) that provide multi-media environmental finance expertise and outreach to the regulated communities. The EFCs work with States, local governments and the private sector to address the growing costs of environmental protection. The EFCs provide finance-related training, education, and analytical studies to help these regulated parties develop solutions to the difficult "how-to-pay" issues associated with meeting environmental standards.

The EFCs educate state and local governments and businesses on lowering environmental costs, increasing environmental investments, improving financial capacity, encouraging full cost pricing, and identifying and evaluating environmental financing options. A central goal of the EFCs is to create sustainable systems. Sustainable systems have the financial, technical, and institutional resources and capabilities to operate in compliance with environmental requirements and in conformance with accepted environmental practices over the long term. EFCs focus on helping these smaller parties find ways to obtain financing for their environmental protection responsibilities.

Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2009: Providing education, technical assistance, and analytic support to state, tribal, and local officials and businesses on: (1) environmentally sustainable growth management and land use planning; (2) financing wetlands programs and protection; (3) water and wastewater utility sustainability, energy efficiency and capital planning; (4) financing source reduction, pollution prevention and energy conservation, and encouraging green business products and services; and (5) promoting innovative air pollution reduction financing efforts.

Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2010: Providing education, training, technical assistance, and analytic support to state, tribal, and local officials and businesses on: (1) building the capacity of the regulated communities to develop and support sustainable water systems; (2) providing computer-based financial outreach tools to communities (particularly small ones) to help them more effectively manage watersheds and water systems; (3) supporting cleaner/greener business through source reduction, pollution prevention, energy conservation, resource recovery, reuse, and recycling; (4) promoting environmentally sustainable redevelopment, smart growth, and green building efforts by state and local governments; (5) supporting environmentally sustainable infrastructure, growth management and land use planning; (6) financing wetlands programs and protection; (7) improving water and wastewater utility energy efficiency, management and capital planning; (8) encouraging green jobs and green business products and services; (9) promoting innovative ways to finance interstate, state, regional, and local air pollution reduction efforts; (10) addressing climate change through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and (11) developing decision tools and financial strategies for climate change adaptation.

Types of Assistance

Cooperative Agreements

Uses and Use Restrictions

Grants and cooperative agreements are available to recipients to support their allowable direct costs incident to approved environmental financial technical assistance and outreach work plus allowable indirect costs, in accordance with established EPA policies and regulations. EPA provides incremental funding for these grants or cooperative agreements on an annual basis. As part of EPA's substantial involvement, the appropriate EPA regional and/or headquarters office reviews and approves each annual project phase consistent with the scope of work for the grant or cooperative agreement.

As provided in 2 CFR Part 220, recipients of grants or cooperative agreements under this program may not charge fundraising costs to their grants or cooperative agreements. Funding for research under this program does not include research within the purview of EPA's Office or Research and Development. Under this program, EPA does not fund research, training, and technical assistance to facilitate the inventory of brownfields sites, site assessments, remediation of brownfields sites, community involvement, and site preparation. These activities are covered by the EPA grant program established at CFDA 66.814.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant Eligibility

Assistance under this program is available to public and private non-profit universities and colleges and to nonprofit organizations. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this CFDA description, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy.

Beneficiary Eligibility

States, tribes, local governments, businesses and community organizations and the general public are the beneficiaries of this program.

Credentials/Documentation

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet eligibility requirements. In addition, EPA may request applicants to demonstrate that they have the appropriate background, academic training, experience in the field, and necessary staff and equipment to carry out the project work. The Agency may also ask principal analysts named in applicants' proposals to provide curriculum vitae and other documentation of relevant experience. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87.

Application and Award Process

Preapplication Coordination

Regarding pre-application/pre-proposal assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this program description, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application/pre-proposal assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts" or see Appendix IV of the Catalog. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. If the applicant does not know who their Single Point of Contact is, the applicant may call the appropriate EPA regional contact listed in the Information Contacts section, or call the EPA Headquarters Grant Policy Information and Training Branch at (202) 564-5325. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review.

Application Procedure

This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. EPA requires final applications to be made on Standard Form 424. Requests for application kits must be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Grants and Interagency Agreements Management Division, 3903R, Washington, DC 20460 or to the appropriate EPA Regional Office listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog. Additional information on the EPA grant package can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/ogd/grants/how_to_apply.htm.

For competitive awards, announcements for competitive funding opportunities will specify application procedures. Applicants may be able to use http://www.grants.gov to electronically apply for certain grant opportunities under this CFDA.

Award Procedure

For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications, proposals, and/or submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

Approximately 45 to 60 days.

Appeals

Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be requested by contacting the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts." Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 40 CFR 30.63 or 40 CFR 31.70, as applicable.

Renewals

Annually subject to the budget and project periods specified in the awards.

Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements

This program has no statutory formula.

Matching Requirements: This program does not have a statutory or regulatory formula or matching requirement. The Agency may, as a matter of policy, require cost sharing when such a requirement is specified in the announcement of the competitive funding opportunity.

This program does not have MOE requirements.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

EPA normally funds grants and cooperative agreements on a 12-month basis. However, EPA can negotiate the project period with each applicant based on project requirements. The project period for the grants or cooperative agreements may range up to seven years. EPA will provide incremental funding for the cooperative agreements each fiscal year (on a 12-month basis) over the duration of the grants or cooperative agreements. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: lump sum.

Post Assistance Requirements

Reports

A final program or technical report shall be completed within 90 calendar days of the completion of the period of performance for each award. No cash reports are required. Quarterly or semiannual progress reports may be required as determined by EPA after the award. Quarterly or semiannual expenditure reports may be required as determined by EPA after the award. Quarterly or semiannual performance monitoring may be required as determined by EPA after the award.

Audits

In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, other EPA staff, or any authorized representative of the Federal government. Reviews by the EPA Project Officer and the Grants Specialist may occur each year. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," non-federal entities that expend $500,000 or more in a year in Federal awards shall have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-federal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in OMB Circular No. A-133.

Records

The record retention requirements of 40 CFR Part 30 (nonprofits and universities) apply. Financial records, including all documents to support entries on accounting records and to substantiate changes to each grant must be kept available to personnel authorized to examine EPA grant accounts. All records must be maintained for three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report. If questions still remain, such as those brought up in an audit, related records must be retained until the matter is completely resolved.

Program Accomplishments

Fiscal Year 2008: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2009: EPA will make nine non-competitive awards to the existing Environmental Finance Centers in FY 2009.

Environmental Finance Centers are innovative, neutral and multi-disciplinary technical assistance and outreach agents with proven track records of working at the local, state, regional and national levels. They have specialized expertise in finance, information technology transfer, and all environmental media. They have numerous successful partnerships and connections with regulated parties, regulators, other technical assistance providers, and non-profit organizations throughout the U.S. The EFCs have developed many innovative financing/outreach tools and training courses, and have implemented successful projects in states in all ten EPA regions.

The EFCs have recently undertaken a number of innovative activities to lower costs and increase private sector investment/involvement in environmental systems, including: (1) completed the launch of new initiatives to help local communities mitigate and adapt to global climate change; (2) developed community handbooks on financing green building projects; (3) started a successful and growing Web site, Foodtrader.org, to connect local farmers with local buyers; (4) created best practice guides for communities covering sustainable development, smart growth, and energy efficiency; (5) provided technical assistance on environmental and economic development finance to numerous communities; (6) improved compliance and increased the protection of public health in tribal drinking water systems; (7) worked with a tribal solid waste collective to eliminate green waste dumping; (8) helped several counties develop green business programs; and (9) developed several new financial tools for local government environmental utility managers, including a Web-based Plan2Fund Objective Prioritization Tool (decision-making model) and a breakthrough financial management and analysis tool -- the Financial Dashboard for Sustainable Infrastructure. Fiscal Year 2010: In FY 2010, EPA plans to open the program up to competition and may make up to ten awards.

Financial Information

Account Identification

68-0108-0-1-304.

Obligations

(Cooperative Agreements) FY 08 $2,000,000; FY 09 est $2,000,000; FY 10 est $2,000,000

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

Approximately $222,000 per award per fiscal year.

Regulations, Guidelines and Literature

These grants and cooperative agreements are subject to EPA's General Grant regulations (40 CFR Part 30, "Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education"). Costs for educational institutions will be determined in accordance with 2 CFR Part 220 (OMB Circular No. A-21). Information pertinent to the EFC program can be found at www.epa.gov/efinpage/efcn.htm. Written materials on the program can be obtained by calling the EFC National Coordinator at (202) 564-5001.

Related Programs

66.611 Environmental Policy and Innovation Grants; 66.814 Brownfields Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grants and Cooperative Agreements

Information Contacts

Regional or Local Office

See Regional Agency Offices. EPA encourages potential applicants to communicate with the appropriate EPA Regional Office listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog and the Headquarters program contacts listed below.

Headquarters Office

Timothy McProuty Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Center for Environmental Finance, 2731R
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20460 Email: mcprouty.timothy@epa.gov Phone: (202) 564-4996

Web Site Address

http://www.epa.gov/efinpage

Examples of Funded Projects

Fiscal Year 2008: In FY 2008 and FY 2009, EPA funded nine university-based Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs) located across the nation in eight EPA Regions. Each participating university operated an EFC that provided technical assistance and outreach services to the regulated communities (States, tribal, local governments and businesses). Fiscal Year 2009: In FY 2008 and FY 2009, EPA funded nine university-based Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs) located across the nation in eight EPA Regions. Each participating university operated an EFC that provided technical assistance and outreach services to the regulated communities (States, tribal, local governments and businesses). Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available

Criteria for Selecting Proposals

The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this CFDA description will be described in the announcement of the competitive funding opportunity.