Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief (15.514)

Program

15.514 Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief

Federal Agency

Agency: Department of the Interior
Office: Bureau of Reclamation

Authorization

Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991, Title II, Public Law 102-250, 43 U.S.C. Section 2201-2214, as amended; Hawaii Water Resources Act of 2000, Title II, Public Law 106-566.; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5.

Program Number

15.514

Last Known Status

Active

Objectives

To provide financial and planning assistance that would minimize and mitigate losses and damages resulting from drought conditions.

For Recovery Act funded projects and in addition to the program objectives stated above, Section 3 of the Act states the following objectives: (1) To preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery; (2) To assist those most impacted by the recession; (3) To provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health; (4) To invest in transportation, environmental protection and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits; and (5) To stabilize State and local government budgets, in order to minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and counterproductive state and local tax increases.

Types of Assistance

ADVISORY SERVICES AND COUNSELING; PROJECT GRANTS; PROVISION OF SPECIALIZED SERVICES

Uses and Use Restrictions

In consultation with other appropriate Federal and State officials, Indian tribes, public, private, and local entities, Reclamation may prepare, or participate in the preparation of, plans for the prevention or mitigation of drought impacts. Financial assistance for the development of drought contingency plans may be provided in the form of cooperative agreements to States, Indian tribes, public, private, and local entities located within the 17 Reclamation States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming) and Hawaii. Pursuant to Public Law 93-638, an Indian tribe is entitled to contract for any activities that Reclamation would otherwise conduct pursuant to Section 201 or 202 of Title II of the Act on the tribe's behalf which would benefit the tribe exclusively. Reclamation may provide technical assistance for drought contingency planning in any of the 50 U.S. States and territories and to local and tribal government entities.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant Eligibility

State and local entities and Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments within the following 17 Western U.S. States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington; and Hawaii. Technical assistance can also be requested for all 50 U.S. States and the following U.S. Territories: Puerto Rico, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Island, and upon termination of the Trusteeship, the Republic of Palau, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Beneficiary Eligibility

General public; Federal, State and local governments; and Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments within the 50 U.S. States and Territories.

Credentials/Documentation

No Credentials or documentation are required. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87.

Application and Award Process

Preapplication Coordination

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. An environmental impact statement is required for this program. An environmental impact assessment is 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

OMB Circular No. A-102 applies to this program. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-110. Eligible entities may request assistance from their local Reclamation Office. Requests will be forwarded to the Regional Drought Coordinator to ensure they meet the scope and intent of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act. Funding opportunity announcements for this program, along with registration procedures, application packages and instructions, SF-424 forms and any other forms to be used to submit application information, points of contact, and procedures for submitting applications will be available on www.grants.gov.

Award Procedure

Applications will be received by the Bureau of Reclamation and forwarded to the respective Regional Offices, where they are prioritized, merited and consolidated. Regional Directors will then forward their prioritized lists of funding requests to the Bureau of Reclamation Drought Coordinator who will make the final recommendations regarding which applications will receive awards. If a request is not approved, the Bureau of Reclamation Drought Coordinator will prepare a response letter to notify the applicant that their project was not selected for an award. If a request is approved, a letter of approval will be prepared by the Reclamation Drought Coordinator that includes a delegation of authority to the appropriate Regional Director and includes funding information. This letter will be forwarded to the appropriate Regional/Area Office responsible for implementing the approved actions. The respective Regional/Area Office will develop their agreements and Public Law 93-638 contracts/agreements in compliance with applicable regulations.

Deadlines

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

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

Varies depending on the type and complexity of the project. Further information will be available for each specific project at the time the funding opportunity announcement is posted on www.grants.gov and may be obtained by contacting the Reclamation personnel listed as the point of contact in the funding announcement.

Appeals

Bureau of Reclamation will provide information on why requests were not approved.

Renewals

Not Applicable.

Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements

Statutory formulas are not applicable to this program.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this program.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this program.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

Assistance may be approved at any time of the year and agreements are generally awarded for a six month period, unless an extension is granted by the Commissioner (or the Regional Office granted authority to implement the approved assistance). See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Information not available.

Post Assistance Requirements

Reports

Unless otherwise stated in the agreement document, recipients shall submit the following reports on a quarterly basis program performance reports. Annually, recipients shall submit an annual program performance report. Upon completion of the agreement, recipients shall submit a final program performance report, and other specific reports that may be applicable to the agreement such as property inventories, and patent and invention disclosures. For Recovery Act projects, quarterly recipient reporting is required in www.FederalReporting.gov. Cash reports are not applicable. Progress reports are not applicable. Unless otherwise stated in the agreement document, recipients shall submit the following reports on a quarterly basis the Federal Financial Report SF 425. Upon completion of the agreement, recipients shall submit a final SF 425. Performance monitoring is not applicable.

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.

Records

State, local and Indian Tribal governments shall maintain project records in accordance with 43 CFR 12.82. All other recipients shall maintain project records in accordance with 43 CFR 12.953.

Program Accomplishments

Fiscal Year 2008: Projects have been awarded for drought contingency plans across the 17 Western States. Fiscal Year 2009: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available

Financial Information

Account Identification

14-0681-0-1-301 - Recovery Act; 14-0680-0-1-301.

Obligations

(Cooperative Agreements) FY 08 $664,000; FY 09 est $1,000,000; FY 10 est $1,000,000. (Cooperative Agreements) FY 08 $0; FY 09 est $0; FY 10 est $10,000,000

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

Range is $10,000 to $1,000,000; Average $4,221,333.

Regulations, Guidelines and Literature

43 CFR 12, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html#page1/; OMB Circulars, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/grants_circulars.html/ Documents may also be obtained by contacting the Bureau of Reclamation Office listed below.

Related Programs

Not Applicable.

Information Contacts

Regional or Local Office

See Regional Agency Offices. Great Plains Region: Rick DeVore, Regional Drought Coordinator, GP-4500, P.O. Box 36900, Billings, MT 59107-6900, Telephone: (406) 247-7757, Fax: (406) 247-7793; Lower Colorado Region: Steve Jones, Regional Drought Coordinator, B4230, P.O. Box 61470, Boulder City, NV 89006-1470, Telephone: (702) 293-8186, Fax: (702) 293-8042; Mid-Pacific Region: Lucille Billingsley, Regional Drought Coordinator, MP-410, Federal Office Building - 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95758, Telephone: (916) 978-5215, Fax: (916) 978-5290; Pacific Northwest Region: Megan Montague, Regional Drought Coordinator, PN-6436, 1150 N. Curtis Rd, Suite 100, Boise, ID 83706-1234, Telephone: (208) 378-5396, Fax: (208) 378-5305; Upper Colorado Region: Mike Stuver, Regional Drought Coordinator, UC-439, 125 S. State Street, Room 6107, Salt Lake City, UT 84138-1147, Telephone: (801) 524-3745, Fax: (801) 524-5499.

Headquarters Office

Avra Morgan Bureau of Reclamation, Mail Code 84-52000, P.O. Box 25007, Denver , Colorado 80225-0007 Phone: (303)445-2906

Web Site Address

http://www.usbr.gov/.

Examples of Funded Projects

Fiscal Year 2008: Drought contingency plans are prepared by a State, tribe, or local government and examine ways to address water shortages, identify specific actions to prevent shortages or to respond to shortages whey they occur,and identifies opportunities for water supply conservation, augmentation and use. Fiscal Year 2009: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available

Criteria for Selecting Proposals

Requests for assistance are approved on a case-by-case basis considering program priorities, Congressional direction and funding availability.

For Recovery Act projects: The purposes are among others, to quickly and prudently commence activities that preserve and create jobs and to promote economic recovery, and to invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits. To meet these purposes, Reclamation will allocate funds based on the criteria set forth in the Recovery Act and the accompanying conference report, and will target activities that quickly infuse money into the economy.