Conservation Innovation Grant - New Hampshire
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service, Commodity Credit Corporation ACTION: NOTICE Conservation Innovation Grants Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Announcement for Program Funding- New Hampshire Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 10.912 SUMMARY: The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing availability of Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications will be accepted for projects that will directly benefit EQIP eligible individuals or entities in New Hampshire. NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2014 will be approximately $150,000. Applications are requested from eligible governmental or non-governmental organizations or individuals for competitive consideration of grant awards for projects between one and three years in duration. Funds will be awarded through a two-phase statewide competitive grants process that will include (1) a pre-proposal process and (2) a full proposal process. The full proposal process will only be open to applicants whose pre-proposal applications are selected by NRCS. Both phases are described in this announcement, but only pre-proposals are being solicited at this time. This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions for CIG projects. 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. NRCS will request a full proposal package only from those applicants selected in the pre-proposal phase. DATES: Applications for the pre-proposal phase must be received by NRCS before 4:00 p.m. on May 2, 2014. NH NRCS will announce selected pre-proposal applications by May 9, 2014. Selected applicants will then be required to submit a full proposal package to NRCS by 4:00 p.m. on June 6, 2014. ADDRESSES: Applications sent via United States Postal Service, express mail or overnight courier service must be sent to the following address: Dr. Brandon Smith, USDA-NRCS, CIG Program, 2 Madbury Road, Durham, NH 03824. Applications sent electronically must be sent through www.grants.gov or by email to brandon.smith@nh.usda.gov. For more information contact: Dr. Brandon Smith CIG Coordinator USDA-NRCS 2 Madbury Road, Durham NH 03824 Phone: (603) 868-9931 x.111 E-mail: brandon.smith@nh.usda.gov SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION A. Legislative Authority The Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program was authorized as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-8) under section 2509 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-246) and re-authorized under section 2207 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. The Secretary of Agriculture delegated the authority for the administration of EQIP and CIG to the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), who is Vice President of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). EQIP is funded and administered by NRCS under the authorities of the CCC. B. Overview 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 into NRCS policy, technical manuals, guides, and references, or to the private sector. CIG does not fund research projects and projects intended to test hypotheses do not qualify for a CIG award. However, NRCS fully expects data to be collected and analyzed with a large number, if not all, of these projects. CIG projects should bridge the gap between basic research and widespread adoption of a technology or approach. CIG is used to apply or demonstrate previously proven technology. It is a vehicle to stimulate development and adoption of conservation approaches or technologies that have been studied sufficiently to indicate a high likelihood of success, and that are 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. NRCS will accept applications under this notice for single or multi-year projects, not to exceed three years, submitted by eligible applicant’s whose proposed projects will directly benefit EQIP eligible individuals or entities from New Hampshire. Eligible applicants include Federally recognized Indian Tribes, State and local units of government, and non-governmental organizations and individuals. A two-phase evaluation process will be utilized for applications submitted under this notice. The first phase requires the applicant to submit a pre-proposal application. Pre-proposal 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. NRCS staff will evaluate complete pre-proposal applications based on how they demonstrate the use of innovative technologies and/or approaches to address at least one of the topics provided in section I.D. of this notice. NRCS will only request a full proposal package from those applicants selected in the pre- proposal process. Complete applications received by applicable deadlines will be evaluated by a technical peer review panel based on the Application Evaluation Criteria identified in the application instructions in section VI.B. C. Innovative Conservation Projects or Activities For the purposes of CIG, the proposed innovative project or activity must encompass the development, demonstration, evaluation, implementation, and monitoring of the following: • Conservation adoption approaches or incentive systems; • Promising conservation technologies, practices, systems, procedures, or approaches; or • Environmental soundness with goals of environmental protection and natural resource enhancement. To be given consideration, the innovative project or activity must comply with all federal, state, and local regulations throughout the duration of the project and should: • Make use of a proven technology or a technology that has been studied sufficiently to indicate a high probability of success; • Demonstrate and verify environmental (e.g., soil, water, air, plants, energy, and animal) effectiveness, utility, affordability, and usability of conservation technology in the field; • Adapt conservation technologies, management, practices, systems, procedures, approaches, and incentive systems to improve performance and encourage adoption; • Introduce conservation systems, approaches, and procedures from another geographic area or agricultural sector; or • Demonstrate transferability of knowledge. D. State Priorities For FY 2014, NRCS will consider offering CIG in the following broad areas: 1) Plant Materials and 2) Nitrogen Management. Proposals that demonstrate and quantify the use of innovative technologies or approaches to address at least one bulleted topic listed below will be considered. 1. Plant Materials • Cover Crops Innovative methods for establishing cover crops (e.g. aerial seeding, manure slurry seeding) Evaluating multiple species cover crop mixes (“cocktails”) to improve soil health Timing and variety trials • Pollinator Habitat Enhancement – seeding trials and establishment techniques 2. Nitrogen Management • Effectiveness of enhanced efficiency fertilizer products, such as inhibitors and delayed release products, on yield and nutrient use efficiency • Adaptive nitrogen management strategies • Alternative systems for managing and handling liquid manure on farms to reduce N loss • Active methods to improve the capture of nitrogen in manure management systems and provide the opportunity to recycle the manure nitrogen in lieu of synthetic fertilizers.
Office: Natural Resources Conservation Service
Grants/Agreements Specialist
Phone 530-792-5678
