NERRS Habitat Protection and Restoration Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Competition

Eligible applicants are NERRS lead state agencies or universities designated to receive NERRS operations funding through a Memorandum of Understanding with NOAA in coastal states and territories including the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes. Eligible applicants should meet requirements as stated in the NERRS regulations codified at 15 C.F.R. § 921.32 that are available online at http://go.usa.gov/xkGEf. Each applicant may submit no more than three letters of intent for consideration under this competition. NOAA may, with concurrence of the NERRS lead state agency or university, make a grant directly to an eligible Reserve partner in order to expedite completion of an approved project. For these projects, the NERRS lead state agency or university would submit the Letter of Intent and include a description of which Reserve partner would be the final grant recipient. If the Reserve is invited to submit a final application for this proposal, then the Reserve partner would submit the final application through grants.gov. These final proposals should include a letter of support from the Reserve. In such cases, the Reserve Partner (as the grant recipient) will be responsible for ensuring that allocated funds are used for the approved purposes and in a manner consistent with this program. Non-governmental organizations may serve as the lead applicant for habitat restoration projects or for habitat restoration engineering, design and planning projects. As noted in section III C.3. Public Benefit, all projects must be located on publicly-owned land, or land where a public entity holds a lease or easement that provides for adequate public control of the property. For these projects, the project application should also include a letter of support from the public entity who holds title or a legal interest on the project site. Non-governmental organizations are not eligible to hold title to lands acquired with these funds and therefore may not serve as the lead applicant for habitat conservation projects and also should not be listed as a subawardee for the land acquisition portion of the project However, non-governmental organizations may participate as partners with eligible entities in the acquisition, restoration and long-term stewardship of lands through this program, such as: identifying target properties; conducting or assisting in acquisition negotiations to secure properties; conducting restoration activities; and providing stewardship and management of properties in perpetuity, including holding a secondary easement or other stewardship agreement for these lands. DOC/NOAA supports cultural and gender diversity and is strongly committed to broadening the participation of Minority Service Institutions, including historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and Asian American and Pacific Islander serving institutions that work in underserved areas. While this program limits applicants to NERRS lead agencies or universities, DOC/NOAA encourages applicants to include partners and contributors from any of the above groups or institutions.

Office for Coastal Management