Note: This information is provided for reference purposes only. Although the information provided here was accurate and current when first created, it is now outdated.

The deadline for applying was April 30, 2003.

• Background
• Assistance Considerations
• Eligibility
• Granting Requirements and Restrictions
• 2003 Funding Priorities
• Award Process
• Contact Information
• Deadlines

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2 is soliciting proposals for studies, surveys, investigations, and special purpose grants related to pollution prevention. This is an announcement of the availability of Fiscal Year 2003 funds from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 2, Division of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), Strategic Planning and Multi-Media Programs Branch (SPMMPB), Pollution Prevention Team. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) 66.708: Pollution Prevention Grants Program (P2 Grants) states the intended use of these funds is to build and support State and tribal pollution prevention approaches and methodologies. This program is focused on institutionalizing multimedia pollution prevention as an environmental management priority, establishing prevention goals, providing direct technical assistance to businesses, conducting outreach, and collecting and analyzing data. EPA Region 2 will award up to a total of $480,000 in grants to state agencies, state universities and federally recognized Indian Nations. Eligible applicants may establish partnerships with business and other environmental assistance providers to seamlessly deliver pollution prevention assistance.

EPA is authorized to award P2 Grants under the statutory authority of Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, Section 6605, Public Law 101-508. The enduring mission of the P2 program is to support State and tribal environmental assistance activities that address preventative approaches to the generation and management of pollutants across all environmental media: air, land, and water.

Applicants typically find it convenient to obtain information and application forms directly from the Internet. The Federal Register Notice and grant guidance for this year’s FY2003 P2 Grants are available online. Proposals should address EPA's FY 2003 national criteria upon which proposals will be evaluated. These criteria are available at the URL above. The national criteria are in addition to the Region 2 FY2003 funding priorities listed later in this Requsest For Initial Proposals (RFIP).

Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements: Organizations receiving pollution prevention grant funds are required to match Federal funds by at least 50 percent. For example, the Federal government will provide half of the total allowable cost of the project, and the State will provide the other half. A grant request for $100,000 would support a total allowable project cost of $200,000, with the State providing $100,000. State contributions may include dollars, in-kind goods and services, and/or third party contributions.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: Grants are awarded for a project period not to exceed 3 years.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants for purposes of funding under the P2 Grants Program include the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory of or possession of the United States, any agency or instrumentality of a State including State universities, and Indian tribes that meet the requirement for treatment in a manner similar to a State at 40 CFR 35.663 and intertribal consortia that meet the requirements at 40 CFR 35.504.

Granting Requirements and Restrictions

Proposed work must take place in New York, New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, or one of seven federally recognized Indian Nations in EPA Region 2.

Organizations that are awarded grant funds for the P2 Grants Program will be required to submit semi-annual progress reports, during the life of the project, to the EPA Project Officer. Each report will summarize funds expended, tasks accomplished, and results achieved to date. A summary final report will also be required at the end of the project period. This final report should include a discussion of the prospects for continuation, further development of the pollution prevention effort, project evaluation and future direction.

2003 Funding Priorities

FY 2003 EPA Region 2 P2 Grants Program funding priorities include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Reduce the incidence of childhood lead poisoning and reduce the risks associated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCGs), mercury, dioxin, asbestos, and other chemicals of national concern.
• Promote Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
• Food Quality Protection Act/ Strategic Agricultural Initiative [including Worker Safety and Water Quality]

Award Process and Contacts

Proposal Submission

We encourage you to submit your proposal electronically, however, there is no penalty for submitting proposals by mail or through hand delivery/ courier.

1. Electronically. By e-mail to: gillespie.tristan@epa.gov. If you submit an electronic proposal, include your name, mailing address, an e-mail address and phone number. Also include this contact information on the outside of any disk or CD ROM you submit, and in any cover letter accompanying the disk or CD ROM. This ensures that you can be identified as the submitter of the proposal and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA cannot read your proposal due to technical difficulties or needs further information.
2. By mail. Send your proposal to: Tristan Gillespie, Pollution Prevention Coordinator, Pollution Prevention Team, EPA Region 2, 290 Broadway, New York, NY, 10007-1866. Please submit two copies.

To be considered timely, applications and initial proposals must be postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service, hand-delivered, or electronically delivered to the Agency, or include official delivery service documentation indicating EPA acceptance from a delivery service, on or before April 30th, 2003.

Proposals will be reviewed and ranked using the evaluation criteria noted below. Submission of the proposal is the most significant phase in the competitive process. For proposed work plans that would collect environmental data, a quality assurance project plan is not required at the time of submittal but will be required if and when you are invited to submit a complete application for the next phase of the competition. Specific instructions for preparing the full application will be provided at that time. EPA Region 2 reserves the right to reject all proposals or applications and make no awards.

Proposals should include:

• Contact information
• Summary of key objectives and final products
• Explanation of the project’s role within the geographic region, organization, or agency
• Thorough, concise description of work plan components
• Demonstration of the appropriate background, academic training, field experience, and personnel to carry out the project
• Estimated funding and personnel commitment for each work plan component
• Time line
• Performance evaluation process and reporting schedule
• Roles and responsibilities of the recipient (and EPA if a cooperative agreement is proposed) in carrying out the work plan.
• If a prior EPA pollution prevention grant recipient, a copy of the status and final reports submitted for that grant.

Evaluation Criteria

For FY03, priority in the selection process will be given to those proposals addressing the 2003 Funding Priorities noted above. All proposals, regardless of topic area will be evaluated using the following general categories of criteria:

• Clarity of the work plan and project objectives
• Likelihood of positive environmental results in the short and long term
• Transferability of results and/or methods
• Incorporation of project efforts into broad organization and/or inter-organization goals
• Involvement/commitment of the applicant - personnel and financial
• Success of previous projects (if a prior recipient)
• Proposed projects for either the P2 Grants Program or the P2 Small Grant Initiative must conform to both the metrics standards as well as the environmental management systems (EMS) standards. These are the results and process standards, respectively. It is essential that all grant applications have a clearly defined and workable metrics element that calculates and displays anticipated verifiable pollution prevention results. For more information about metrics see the “Pollution Prevention Metrics Menu” prepared by the Northeast Pollution Prevention Roundtable . For more information about EMS see the EPA EMS Web site

Criteria are of equal weight except for the last criterion which is worth half of the total weight of the proposal. A review panel of three to five EPA personnel will evaluate proposals. Ratings of 0 through 5 are assigned in each criteria and a sum of ratings is tallied. Applications are ranked by total rating scores. The highest total rating score will rank highest. The “success of previous projects” criteria is applied only amongst prior grant recipients. This criteria does not add extra points in the rating process for prior wetland grant recipients to give an automatic advantage over new applicants. The criteria does, in cases of inadequate and inappropriate prior grant performance, lower an applicant’s ranking; it allows consideration of poor past performance in the evaluation of current grant applications.

Contact Information

CONTACT	SUBMIT - 2 copie	SUBMIT
With requests for: Information ApplicationPackage Quality Assurance Guidance	Project Proposals and Work Plan	Complete Application
Tristan Gillespie (212) 637-3753 gillespie.tristan@epa.gov Pollution Prevention Team EPA Region 2 290 Broadway New York, NY 10007-1866	Robert Hargrove, Chief (212) 637-3504 hargrove.robert@epa.gov Strategic Planning and Multi- Media Programs Branch EPA Region 2 290 Broadway New York, NY 10007-1866	Roch Baamonde, Chief (212) 637-3401 baamonde.roch@epa.gov Grants and Contracts Management Branch EPA Region 2 290 Broadway New York, NY 10007-186

Those proposals receiving the highest rankings in the evaluation criteria will be requested to submit a complete application. The number of applications requested and the number of applications recommended for award will depend upon the quality of the proposal received and the relative amount of funding requests in the context of fiscal year 2003 Region 2 monies. Pertaining to award appeals: EPA does not have a formal appeal process for applicants whose proposals are not funded. Appeals with respect to other issues are described in 40 CFR Part 30.63 and Part 31, Subpart F

To those from whom we request a complete application, that includes all items noted in the EPA Region 2 Web page, Grant Application Kit. Application forms can be printed from the Web site or, requested from Tristan Gillespie, noted above. Applications may be subject to Executive Order 12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs”. The application kit includes information and contacts for this process. Completed applications should be submitted to Roch Baamonde, Chief, Grants and Contracts Management Branch, noted above.

Upon receipt of a complete application, work plan, and budget, the Pollution Prevention Team will forward its recommendations for funding award to the Regional Administrator. When all funding decisions are complete, a grant award notification will be issued to recipients. Non- award notification will be issued to all participants that did not receive award this fiscal year.

Awards involving the collection of environmental data will be subject to the requirements of a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) and will require coordination with the EPA Region 2 offices. QAPP’s can follow, as per the applicant’s choice, either EPA Region 2 guidance or Headquarters guidance, EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans EPA QA/R-5 Please request a copy of the Region 2 Quality Assurance Project Plan guidance from Tristan Gillespie, contact above.

AWARD PROCESS	DEADLINE DATES
Receipt of Proposal	April 30, 2003
EPA Region 2 review / evaluation	May 30, 2003
Request for Complete Application	June 7, 2003
Receipt of Complete Application	July 15, 2003
Expecting funding decision	September 1, 2003
Expecting grant award notification	September 20, 2003

We look forward to receiving your proposal.

* Note: this program was formerly called Pollution Prevention Incentives for States (PPIS); the name was changed since states are not the only potential grant recipients.