National Spatial Data Infrastructure Cooperative Agreements Program

 

The purpose of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Cooperative Agreements Program (NSDI CAP) is to fund innovative projects in the geospatial data community to build the infrastructure necessary to effectively discover, access, share, manage, and use digital geospatial data. The NSDI consists of the technologies, policies, organizations, and people necessary to promote cost-effective production, ready availability, and greater utilization of geospatial data among a variety of sectors, disciplines, and communities. Specific NSDI CAP areas of emphasis include: documenting, implementing, and providing outreach standards including metadata; expanding geographic information coordination accross and between organizational levels; promoting geospatial best practices; advancing geospatial related Web services; framework development; and clearinghouse establishement. The results of the awarded projects benefit multiple Federal agencies as well as the overall geospatial community.

General information about this opportunity
Last Known Status
Deleted 04/02/2020 (Archived.)
Program Number
15.809
Federal Agency/Office
Agency: Department of the Interior
Office: U.S. Geological Survey
Type(s) of Assistance Offered
Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)
Program Accomplishments
Fiscal Year 2014: 18 projects were completed for projects that were awarded in FY11 and FY12. Training and outreach continued to be valued outcomes of the program. The Sonoma Ecology Center's metadata training reached a wide range organizations and individuals in California. One project investigated the transition from FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) to internationally accepted geospatial metadata standards (ISO 19115). Other FGDC-endorsed standards promoted this year were the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) Standard and the Wetland Mapping Standard. The standard for Cadastral Data Content benefited from the development of a draft implementation model in Extensible Markup Language/Geographic Markup Language (XML/GML) for parcel data. Oregon held several successful outreach efforts to introduce the benefits and capabilities of sharing data catalogs using open standards and developed training materials available at www.coastalmarinedata.net/resources.
As part of the Fifty States Initiative, three projects were completed in Maine, Maryland, and Nevada to advance each State’s geospatial business plans. Maine's orthoimagery business plan implementation resulted in greater community involvement, especially in small communities and rural counties. Maryland's plan focused on activities necessary to support the creation, expansion, and widespread distribution of statewide parcel data. Nevada completed business plans for statewide parcel data and enhanced elevation data, which both point out the need for a single organization to set priorities for geospatial data at a statewide level and coordinate strategies for data acquisition and dissemination.
Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, and Ohio increased participation in the National States Geographic Information Council’s (NSGIC) GIS Inventory System (gisinventory.net), adding metadata containing links to standards-compliant data or data services that support Federal Geoplatform.gov activities. A project completed by the California Emergency Management Agency promoted the adoption of Unified Incident Command Decision Support (UICDS) middleware to achieve geospatial data sharing and interoperability in the emergency management environment.
And finally three Geospatial Platform Cloud Service Testbed projects were completed and provided valuable information about the deployment costs and performance characteristics of secure geospatial cloud services at the State and Tribal levels.
For more information see http://www.fgdc.gov/grants. Fiscal Year 2015: To be determined. Fiscal Year 2016: No Current Data Available.
Authorization
Organic Act of March 3, 1879, 43 U.S.C. 31; Executive Order 12906, April 13, 1994.
Who is eligible to apply/benefit from this assistance?
Applicant Eligibility
Proposals from State and local government agencies, educational institutions, private firms, private foundations, nonprofit organizations and Federally acknowledged or state-recognized Indian Tribes or groups are invited.
Beneficiary Eligibility
Agencies and organizations participating in the project, as well as the general public will ultimately benefit from this program.
Credentials/Documentation
Proposals must furnish evidence of the applicant's qualifications for performance of the proposed project. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.
What is the process for applying and being award this assistance?
Pre-Application Procedure
Preapplication coordination is required. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure
2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. This program is subject to the provisions of 2 CFR Part 200 and Department of the Interior regulations 2 CFR Part 1402 and 43 CFR Part 12. Application form Standard Form (SF) 424 must be used. The application requirements as contained in the announcement package and the above regulations must be used for this program. Applications may be made only through the internet site http://www.grants.gov.
Award Procedure
Notification of an award is by receipt of a grant or cooperative agreement from a U.S. Geological Survey contracting officer through FedConnect (https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/).
Deadlines
Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.
Approval/Disapproval Decision Time
From 1 to 2 months.
Appeals
Not Applicable.
Renewals
Not Applicable.
How are proposals selected?
Proposals will be evaluated through formal review panels. Proposals will be evaluated on the quality and relevance of the project to the NSDI; the technical approach taken to implement the project; the level and diversity of participation and the applicant's experience and competence to perform the proposed effort successfully; and the extent to which the applicant shows evidence of a capability and willingness to continue and build upon the project when the agreement period ends.
How may assistance be used?
Specific objectives are identified in the annual program announcement. Applications for projects not covered by one of the objectives are not solicited. Funds are set aside for discretionary activities.
What are the requirements after being awarded this opportunity?
Reporting
Annual and final technical reports, as well as other products, are required and must be submitted as described in the award terms and conditions. Annual and final financial reports must be submitted as described in the award terms and conditions. Cash reports are not applicable. Progress reports are not applicable. Annual and final financial reports are must be submitted as described in the award terms and conditions. Performance monitoring is not applicable.
Auditing
In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, non-Federal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503. Recipients are subject to the audit requirements of 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F.
Records
All records must be maintained for 3 years after submission of the final financial report.
Other Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
This program has no statutory formula.
This program has no matching requirements. Recipients are expected to cost-share depending upon the category of the project up to 50 percent of the amount of funding received from the Federal government. In 2012 the matching requirement was 30-50%.MOE requirements are not applicable to this program.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this program.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Cooperative agreements will normally be awarded in 12-month budget periods. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Recipients request payment as needed throughout the award period.
Who do I contact about this opportunity?
Regional or Local Office
See Regional Agency Offices. Brigitta Urban-Mathieux, FGDC CAP Coordinator; Telephone: (703) 648-5175, Fax: (703) 648-5755, burbanma@fgdc.gov.
Headquarters Office
Director, Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Federal Geographic Data Committee Secretariat, MS 590 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia 20192 Email: gdc@usgs.gov Phone: (703) 648-4150 Fax: (703) 648-5755.
Website Address
http://www.fgdc.gov/grants.
Financial Information
Account Identification
14-0804-0-1-306.
Obligations
(Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 14 $0; FY 15 est $0; and FY 16 Estimate Not Available(Exp: funding level to be determined.) - (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 14 $0; FY 15 $0; FY 16 funding level to be determined.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$25,000 to $70,000; average $35,000.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
Federal Register Vol. 60, No. 242, December 18, 1995, page 65064; Commerce Business Daily announcement January 25, 1996, Section T, program Announcement No. 8187; internet URL http://www.fgdc.gov/funding/cap2002.html.
Examples of Funded Projects
Fiscal Year 2014: No projects were funded in FY14. Fiscal . Fiscal Year 2015: No projects were funded in FY15. Fiscal Year 2016: No Current Data Available.

 



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