Funding Opportunities

Nonpoint source pollution is the primary cause of water quality impairments throughout Nevada and the nation. Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse sources (See NAC 445A.309). NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and ground water.

The overall aim of the federal Nonpoint Source Program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is to restore and protect waters across the nation. The focus of the federal NPS Program is the removal of waters from the state’s 303(d) impaired waterbodies list. This is primary accomplished through the issuance of Clean Water Act 319(h) funds to designated states and tribal agencies to implement their approved nonpoint source management plans. Within Nevada, most of this grant funding is passed on to proponents seeking to implement actions to improve water quality.

USEPA guidance prioritizes 319(h) funding be utilized on implementation efforts within watersheds with approved watershed-based plans (WBPs). To gain approval, WBPs should, at a minimum, include the following nine elements:
1. Pollutant sources or causes
2. Management measures to be implemented to address pollutant sources/causes
3. Load reduction estimates for management measures to be implemented
4. Estimate of technical and financial assistance needed
5. Stakeholder information and engagement component
6. Implementation schedule
7. Measurable implementation milestones
8. Indicators to measure progress
9. Monitoring component to evaluate progress.

The Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act (FRIMA) (Public Law 106-502) of 2000 was established with the goals of decreasing fish mortality associated with the withdrawal of water for irrigation and other purposes without impairing the continued withdrawal of water for those purposes; and to decrease the incidence of juvenile and adult fish entering water supply systems. FRIMA is a voluntary fish screening and passage program targeted to Pacific Ocean drainage areas of Idaho, western Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

Eligible projects include fish screens, fish passage devices, and related inventories by the States. FRIMA was Reauthorized in FY2009. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 provided $5 million to the National Fish Passage Program (NFPP) for the implementation of FRIMA and added the Pacific Ocean drainage areas of California as eligible for FRIMA funds.The National Fish Passage Program (NFPP) is a voluntary program that provides direct technical and financial assistance to partners to remove instream barriers and restore aquatic organism passage and aquatic connectivity for the benefit of Federal trust resources. In doing so, NFPP aims to maintain or increase fish populations to improve ecosystem resiliency and provide quality fishing experiences for the American people. Funds provided to NFPP for the implementation of FRIMA will support the development, improvement, or installation of fish screens, fish passage devices and related features to mitigate impacts on fisheries associated with irrigation water system diversions in Pacific Ocean drainages in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and California.

The NFPP is delivered through the Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program (FAC). We use our staff and cooperative partnerships to provide:
(1) information on habitat needs of fish and other aquatic species;
(2) methods for fish to bypass barriers;
(3) technical support to review project designs and recommend the most cost-effective techniques;
(4) assistance to partners in planning and prioritizing fish passage projects; and
(5) assistance in fulfilling environmental compliance requirements.

Activities proposed under this award for FRIMA:
(1) must be located in areas of California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, or western Montana that drain into the Pacific Ocean,
(2) participation must be voluntary,
(3) must have 35% Non-Federal cost share per Public Law 106-502. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funding can be applied to the Non-Federal cost share,
(4) project type must be voluntary irrigation diversion passage, screening, barrier inventories, and ‘related features’,
(5) project components that receive funding under this Act shall be ineligible to receive federal funds from any other source (with the exception of BPA funds) for the same purpose,
(6) the project will be agreeable to Federal and non-Federal entities with authority and responsibility for the project,
(7) award minimum will be $100,000; award maximum will be $1,000,000, and
(8) the non-Federal participants in any project carried out under the Program on land or at a facility that is not owned by the United States shall be responsible for all costs associated with operating, maintaining, repairing, rehabilitating, and replacing the project.

The purpose of the Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH) program is to fund federally-recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes, tribal colleges or universities, tribal health programs, or tribal organizations (collectively, eligible AI/AN tribal entities) to support health-related research, research career enhancement, and research infrastructure enhancement activities.

Program Description
A NARCH award supports health-related research, research career enhancement, and/or research infrastructure enhancement projects at one or more eligible AI/AN tribal entities (See Part II. Section III. Eligibility Information. An applicant organization must be one of the eligible AI/AN tribal entities, and must be committed to supporting a NARCH and its goals. The applicant organizations should also have the research administrative infrastructure to manage the multiple-component grant. An applicant organization (see Section III, Eligibility Information), may partner with other eligible AI/AN tribal entities as well as additional non-AI/AN organizations. In such cases, 60% or more of requested funds must remain with the eligible AI/AN tribal entities.

A NARCH supports an Administrative Core and one or more of the following components:

Research Projects (RPs)
Pilot Project Program (PPP)
Career Enhancement Projects (CEPs)
Research Infrastructure Enhancement Projects (RIEPs)
Each proposed component must contribute toward the overall goals of the NARCH. Each proposed component should be led by an individual with relevant expertise and experience. The PD(s)/PI(s) of the NARCH award may lead other proposed components in addition to the Administrative Core. Each proposed component will be reviewed on its own merit and may be selected for funding even if other components in the same application are not.

Administrative Core (Required): The Administrative Core (AC) manages the NARCH award and coordinates the Center’s activities. Its responsibilities include, but are not limited to, managing the NARCH's budget, preparing and submitting accurate and timely program and financial reports, ensuring all activities supported by the award are compliant with federal regulations, organizing and coordinating Center-wide activities such as seminars and workshops for research and career development, and coordinating activities of the proposed components. The AC is located within the applicant organization, led by a PD/PI, and supported by a staff needed to carry out the responsibilities. The AC should work closely with relevant components of the grantee organization, such as the Sponsored Programs Administration or Grants and Contracts Office, as well as those at any sub-contracting organizations, in order to carry out its functions.

Research Projects (RPs): RPs support innovative and culturally appropriate health-related research prioritized by the applicant organization and partner organizations that are eligible AI/AN tribal entities , if applicable. The research project(s) should focus on issues related to AI/AN health including strengths and resiliency factors contributing to and conditions hindering AI/AN health, mechanisms underlying diseases or conditions that are prevalent in AI/AN communities, and/or the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions that address health challenges faced by the AI/AN communities. The scope of a project should be appropriate for 5 years of funding concurrent with the NARCH award. The RP Leader (RPL) should have expertise in the subject area. If the research involves human subjects, gaps in the RPL’s scientific and regulatory knowledge relevant to the study must be adequately addressed through mentorship, collaboration, and training. A NARCH may support up to three RPs. A RPL may not lead another RP or a pilot project supported by NARCH grants awarded to the same grantee organization simultaneously .

Pilot Project Program (PPP): A NARCH award may support a PPP to fund exploratory and/or preparatory research as Pilot Projects (PPs). PPs should be limited in scope compared to RPs but with the potential to develop into RPs. Each PP may have up to two years of support and should be led by Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) or New Investigators as defined by NIH. The PPP Director (PPPD) should have experience in mentoring, health-related research, and knowledge in culturally appropriate research approaches. The PPPD manages the solicitation and review of PP applications, and selection of meritorious projects for funding. The PPPD also assumes oversight responsibilities of funded PPs, including those with human subjects. A PP Leader (PPL) may not lead more than one PP nor a RP supported by NARCH grants awarded to the same grantee organization simultaneously . The PPPD is ineligible to receive a PP from the NARCH.

Career Enhancement Projects (CEPs): A CEP supports culturally appropriate career development programs to enhance knowledge and research skills of current and/or next generation participating health researchers. Participants of a CEP may be early career investigators, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduate students, and/or high school students interested in AI/AN health-related research. Proposed program activities may include, but are not limited to, research internships, workshops, and courses. A CEP may support participants to attend career enhancement programs sponsored by organizations other than those supported by the NARCH award. A CEP Leader (CEPL) should be an investigator with experience in mentoring, career development, research, and knowledge of culturally appropriate research, mentoring and educational approaches. A NARCH can support up to two CEPs.

Research Infrastructure Enhancement Projects (RIEPs): RIEP projects aim to address a specific research infrastructural need of the NARCH. Examples of an RIEP can include, but are not limited to, support of technological or methodological cores that develop or strengthen technical capacity needed for health-related research at the applicant and partner organizations that are eligible AI/AN tribal entities; research resources such as a bio- or data-repository; or research administration infrastructure such as Tribal Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). An RIEP leader should have expertise in the appropriate area of scientific capacity building. A NARCH can support up to two RIEPs.

While NIGMS leads this FOA and will manage the NARCH awards, NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) participating in the FOA are committed to fund meritorious components that align with their research interests. A description of the participating NIH ICO's areas of scientific interest for this FOA can be found at Research Interests of NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices Participating in NARCH.

See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

Investigators proposing NIH-defined clinical trials may refer to the Research Methods Resources website for information about developing statistical methods and study designs.

Program Overview:
The Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services (NANH) grant program is designed to support Indian tribes and organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians in sustaining indigenous heritage, culture, and knowledge. The program supports projects such as exhibitions, educational services and programming, workforce professional development, organizational capacity building, and collections stewardship.

Program Overview:
The Museum Grants for American Latino History and Culture (ALHC) grant program supports projects that build the capacity of American Latino history and culture museums to serve their communities as well as projects that broadly advance the growth and development of a professional workforce in American Latino institutions.

Program Overview:
Museums Empowered: Professional Development Opportunities for Museum Staff is a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program. It is designed to support projects that use the transformative power of professional development and training to generate systemic change within museums of all types and sizes.

Museums Empowered has four project categories:

Digital Technology: Provide museum staff with the skills to integrate digital technology into museum operations.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Support museum staff in providing inclusive and equitable services to people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds and to individuals with disabilities.
Evaluation: Strengthen the ability of museum staff to use evaluation as a tool to shape museum programs and improve outcomes.
Organizational Management: Strengthen and support museum staff as the essential part of a resilient organizational culture.

Program Overview:
The Museums for America program supports museums of all sizes and disciplines in strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, professional development, community debate and dialogue, audience-focused studies, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. Museums for America has three project categories:

Lifelong Learning
Community Engagement
Collections Stewardship and Access

The goal of the RAISE program is to fund eligible surface transportation projects that will have a significant local or regional impact that advance the Departmental priorities of safety, equity, climate and sustainability, and workforce development, job quality, and wealth creation, consistent with law, and as described in the Department’s Strategic Plan4 and in executive orders.

The Department seeks to fund projects under the RAISE program that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector; incorporate evidence-based climate resilience measures and features; avoid adverse environmental impacts to air or water quality, wetlands, and endangered species; and address the disproportionate negative environmental impacts of transportation on disadvantaged communities, consistent with Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (86 FR 7619).

In addition, the Department seeks to award projects under the RAISE program that proactively evaluate whether a project will create proportional impacts to all populations in a project area and increase equitable access to project benefits, consistent with Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (86 FR 7009). The Department also seeks to award projects that address environmental justice, particularly for communities that have experienced decades of underinvestment and are most impacted by climate change, pollution, and environmental hazards, consistent with Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (86 FR 7619). The RAISE program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain climate, clean energy, and other covered Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities.

In addition, the Department intends to use the RAISE program to support the creation of goodpaying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union and the incorporation of strong labor standards and training and placement programs, especially registered apprenticeships, in project planning stages, consistent with Executive Order 14025, Worker Organizing and Empowerment (86 FR 22829), and Executive Order 14052, Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (86 FR 64335). The Department also intends to use the RAISE program to support wealth creation, consistent with the Department's Equity Action Plan, through the inclusion of local inclusive economic development and entrepreneurship such as the utilization of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises or 8(a) firms. The BIL included provisions for Metropolitan Planning Organizations to consider integrating transportation planning, housing, employment opportunities, and economic development strategies. 5 The Department strongly encourages applicants to utilize these new planning coordination opportunities in their proposed projects and describe them in their applications. Note, the RAISE program can only fund the surface transportation infrastructure elements of a project that may also include housing, employment opportunities, and economic development strategies.

Section E of this NOFO, which outlines FY 2024 RAISE Grant merit criteria, describes the process for selecting projects that further these goals. Section F.3 describes progress and performance reporting requirements for selected projects, including the relationship between that reporting and the program’s selection criteria. The FY 2024 RAISE NOFO includes a Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Program Extra element. Applications for the FY 2024 RAISE grant program that have identical project scope to applications that were submitted and evaluated under the FY 2023 Reconnecting Communities Neighborhoods Program competition and received the designation of “RCN Program Extra,” will automatically advance for second-tier analysis if they receive an overall merit rating of “Recommended” and have at least one “High” rating in a priority criterion. See Section E.2. The Department expects projects that rated well under the FY 2023 RCN Program criteria will do well under the FY 2024 RAISE program criteria.

Research shows that intersecting systems of privilege and oppression produce and sustain wide and unjust variations in health. The Axes Initiative will support research to understand health at the intersections of social statuses such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and ability, by examining contributions of social and other determinants of health.

This NOFO requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP), which will be assessed as part of the scientific and technical peer review evaluation. Applications that fail to include a PEDP will be considered incomplete and will be withdrawn.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the NOFO instructions carefully and view the available PEDP guidance material (https://braininitiative.nih.gov/vision/plan-enhancing-diverse-perspecti…)

The purpose of this notice is to solicit grant proposals from eligible National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs or Reserves) for coastal habitat restoration; coastal habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design; and coastal land conservation projects that support the goals and intent of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) (BIL, Public Law 117-58, 135 STAT. 1356 (Nov. 15, 2021).

NOAA anticipates that approximately $13.5 million will be competitively awarded to approved Reserves or eligible Program partners. For habitat restoration engineering, design and planning projects, it is anticipated that awards will range from approximately $200,000-$350,000. For habitat restoration projects, it is anticipated that awards will range from approximately $2 million to $4 million. For land conservation projects, it is anticipated that awards will range from approximately $500,000 to $1.5 million. Applicants may propose projects with a Federal funding request less than or more than these amounts, up to $4 million.

The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) encourages applicants and awardees to support the principles of equity and inclusion when writing their proposals and performing their work. Promoting equity and inclusion through community engagement, co-development, and partnership improves creativity, productivity, and the vitality of the coastal management community that OCM supports. NOAA also encourages applicants to propose projects with benefits to tribal, indigenous, and/or underserved communities, and projects that appropriately consider and elevate local or indigenous knowledge in project design, implementation, and evaluation. Applicants should identify if the project is located within tribal, indigenous, and/or underserved communities, and/or whether a portion of the resilience benefits from the proposed work will flow to tribal, indigenous, and/or underserved communities.