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Request for 319
I&E MiniGrant Proposals
Deadline:
April 30, 2012
This Request for Proposals
(RFP) solicits proposals to conduct
watershed information and outreach projects
in South Dakota.
I. Background
A. The 319 Information and Education
Project (IEP) was established in 2004 with a
grant to the South Dakota Discovery Center
(SD Discovery Center) as part of the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Section
319 Nonpoint Source (EPA 319) grant program.
The goal of the IEP was and is to implement
a comprehensive statewide effort to promote
and facilitate public understanding of
watersheds and related water quality
management issues in an effort to contribute
to the protection, restoration and
maintenance of water resources.
B.
The IEP is guided by the South Dakota
Nonpoint Source Information and Education
strategy adopted by the Nonpoint Source Task
Force on September 21, 2000. Allocation of
IEP funds and major policy actions are
directed by the Nonpoint Source Task Force
Information and Education Sub-Committee
(Sub-Committee) with day-to-day management
of the IEP handled by staff of the SD
DISCOVERY CENTER.
D. Execution of IEP
goals is to be achieved, in part, through a
competitive grant process. Grants are
awarded twice each year (spring and fall
cycles). Grant funds are available to
individuals, organizations and institutions
seeking to conduct activities consistent
with IEP priorities.
II. Goals &
Priorities
A. The goal of the 319
program is to protect and restore the
beneficial uses of the state’s surface and
ground water resources by controlling
nonpoint source pollution. The 319 program
takes a predominantly non-regulatory
approach, relying upon voluntary
implementation of those practices which
reduce, mitigate or prevent nonpoint source
pollution. A non-regulatory approach
requires an informed and educated citizenry
that is willing and able to support and
implement nonpoint source pollution
reduction practices and initiatives.
Information and outreach projects develop
stakeholder and citizen awareness of
watersheds, non-point source pollution, its
impacts and methods of prevention.
B. Priority Topics. Mini-grants will be made
available to qualifying groups with projects
that address priority topics. Priority
topics are:
• Wetlands, Watershed,
and Ground Water ecology
• TMDLs
•
Nutrient and manure management (no
demonstration projects)
• “Smart Growth”
and low impact development
• Phosphorous
and nutrient criteria
• Healthy watershed
protection
(http://www.epa.gov/healthywatersheds/)
C. Priority audiences. The goal of
the IEP is to reach a broad cross section of
South Dakota’s population. While
agricultural producers and other
stakeholders are the backbone audience of
the IEP, a wider scope of outreach is sought
in the projects. Specifically, projects
which engage or reach adults and the
community are encouraged.
D. Outcomes
or Expected Results. Outcomes are the
measurable results expected from a project.
They differ from an output in that an output
describes the activity while the outcome
describes what happens because of that
activity. For example, an output is a
workshop. The outcome or expected result is
increased understanding of a topic. Whether
or not the outcome was achieved is measured
by a pre-post test or by asking participants
what they learned.
Outcomes can be
short, medium or long term. The long term
outcome of the Information and Education
Project (IEP) is clean water. The medium
term outcome is more nonpoint source
pollution prevention best management
practices (BMPs) in place. The short term
outcome is more citizen awareness of
watersheds and participation in nonpoint
source pollution prevention practices.
For the purposes of this IEP, applicants
will only have to identify short term
outcomes of their projects since evaluation
of medium and long term outcomes is beyond
the scope of this grant.
Priority
short term outcomes are:
Outcome 1.
Increased awareness and/or knowledge of
watershed ecology.
Outcome 2. Increased
awareness of NPS pollution prevention,
causes, effects and
remedies.
Outcome
3. Increased awareness of and participation
in NPS best management practices.
Outcome
4. Increased capacity to deliver NPS I&E.
III. Funds
A. Requests may be up
to $10,000. Projects may request more but
must demonstrate that they are of
exceptional quality and effectiveness. The
amount requested should be no more than 60%
of your total project cost. Projects are
required to provide at least 40% non-federal
match whether cash or in kind. Activities
funded by the project should be fundable by
federal money (i.e. no food).
IV.
Proposal Review Process and Requirements
A. Proposals will be reviewed by the
project administrator for completeness. Any
project missing one of the required elements
described in the application format will be
ineligible for further consideration.
Proposals that are considered complete will
be evaluated by the Sub-Committee according
to the following guidelines.
1. Must
support the IEP priorities.
2. The need
for the project is explained.
3. Target
audience is consistent with IEP strategy.
4. Does not duplicate existing programs.
5. Sponsor has ability to complete the
project.
6. Evaluation tools and
milestones are identified.
7. Costs and
in-kind match are reasonable for the project
scope.
8. Reporting frequency is
identified.
B. In addition to
understanding the guidelines listed above,
applicants should be aware of the following.
1. Start/End Dates. Projects must start
on or after June1, 2012. Projects must be
completed within a reasonable time frame
with all projects being completed by August
1, 2013. Projects that require more than a
year to complete are multi-year projects and
require milestones and benchmarks for each
year.
2. Reporting. All projects
will be required to submit a final report.
Larger projects will be required to submit
interim reports. The content for the report
will be included in the final contract
between the SD Discovery Center and project
sponsor. Reports are typically due 30 days
after the project’s end date. The contract
will specify what content should be included
in the report.
3.
Reimbursements/Invoicing. Projects will be
funded on a reimbursement basis unless
alternate arrangements are made with the
project coordinator. The final reimbursement
request is typically due within 30 days
after the project’s end date. In cases where
an advance was made available, the expenses
covered advanced funds must be documented.
4. Change in project status. One of the
realities of working in a grant based system
is that the proposal you develop in October
may have to be reworked in March. Partners
step back, new partners step forward,
products and venues become available or
unavailable. All projects will be required
to keep the goal of their original proposal
and as many of the outcomes and products as
possible. Project coordinators of funded
proposals should stay in contact with the
IEP administrator and advise of any project
changes in a timely manner.
5.
Outcomes and Evaluation. Outcomes and
evaluation are a critical part of any
project and are addressed in Questions 4 and
5 of this request for proposal. Please
contact the I&E project administrator if you
have any questions. How these questions are
answered has a significant bearing on the
funding of the project.
V. Grant
Submission
An electronic copy of your
proposal is requested. Proposals should be
emailed to annelewis@sd-discovery.com by
11:59PM CT April 30, 2012. The Project
Summary Sheet with the signature of the
organization’s authorized representative
should be faxed to 605-224-2865 or scanned
and emailed to
annelewis@sd-discovery.com.
VI. Application Format All the elements
below should be addressed in the proposal.
Please answer each element individually even
if there is some repetition to the answers.
Not addressing one of the elements will make
the proposal ineligible for that round of
funding.
Page 1: Project Summary
Sheet.
Project Title Name:
Contact
Information
Project Coordinator:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
Which
priority topic does your project address ?
-
Wetlands, Watershed, and Ground Water
ecology
- TMDLs
-
Nutrient and manure management (no
demonstration projects)
- “Smart
Growth” and low impact development
-
Phosphorous and nutrient criteria
-
Healthy watershed protection
(http://www.epa.gov/healthywatersheds/)
Outcomes (select all that apply):
-
Outcome 1. Increased awareness and/or
knowledge of watershed ecology.
-
Outcome 2. Increased awareness of NPS
pollution prevention, causes, effects
and remedies.
- Outcome 3.
Increased awareness of and participation in
NPS best
management practices.
-
Outcome 4. Increased capacity to deliver NPS
I&E.
Project Overview
Audience:
Activities:
Start & End Dates:
Amount
Requested:
Match:
Total Project
Cost:
*Applicant Signature &
Date:
Applicant Title:
*Signatory must be a representative who
is able to commit the organization to the
project.
Page 2 - 7: Project Description
1. Need
Why is this project needed in South
Dakota?
2. Audience
Who is your
direct audience? How many do you expect to
reach? Is there a secondary audience?
Describe your audience including, where
applicable, age (e.g. student vs. adult),
geographical region (statewide vs.
watershed), stakeholder role (e.g.
landowner, producer, general public). If you
are reaching those that will in turn inform,
instruct, educate or serve as a model for
others (the secondary audience), describe
the expected secondary audience.
3.
Priority
Which priority topic does your
project address ?
- Wetlands,
Watershed, and Ground Water ecology
-
TMDLs
- Nutrient and manure
management (no demonstration projects)
-
“Smart Growth” and low impact development
- Phosphorous and nutrient
criteria
- Healthy watershed
protection
(http://www.epa.gov/healthywatersheds/)
4. Results and activity.
a.
Select one outcome category which broadly
describes the results that will occur from
this project. This is the
outcome you will evaluate. Question 7
(evaluation) should refer back to this
section. If you say that your project will
achieve this outcome, then you must
demonstrate whether or not it was achieved
in the evaluation.
- Outcome 1.
Increased awareness and/or knowledge of
watershed ecology. (What is
Watershed Ecology?)
- Outcome 2.
Increased awareness of NPS pollution
impacts, prevention, causes, effects and
remedies.
- Outcome 3. Increased
awareness of and participation in NPS best
management practices.
- Outcome 4.
Increased capacity to deliver NPS I&E.
b. Describe the activities that you will
do to achieve the results. Discuss how the
activities will achieve the results. Think
of this section as explaining what you are
going to do.
For example, if
you are going to do an outreach campaign
about water quality of a local lake, you
would select the Outcome 2. In Section 4.b,
you would discuss your activities such as
public service announcements, publications
and a meeting.
5. Project
Sustainability
Is this a one time project
or is there potential for it to continue
after the funding period? If there is
potential for it to continue after the
funding period, describe how that will
happen. Include who will manage and maintain
any equipment bought as part of the project.
6. Sponsors
Who is the project
sponsor and who are the partners? Identify
the lead sponsor and cooperating
organizations. Briefly describe the role and
responsibility of each organization. Explain
what resources the lead organization has
that will help ensure project completion. If
a cooperating organization is supplying cash
match, a letter of commitment from that
organization is required. If there are two
lead sponsors on a project, a draft
cooperative agreement should be attached.
7. Evaluation
How will you show
that you achieved the results you
anticipated
in Section 4? Each project should utilize at
least one of the methods below to evaluate
the effectiveness of their project. If
appropriate, projects will be strengthened
by using two evaluation methods.
- Numbers reached. Document the number of
people who be reached by this project. If
possible, include demographic information
about the audience. Describe how you will
collect this information.
- Survey. The
target audience will be surveyed. Depending
on the project, the survey can be informal
and self initiated (a guest book, comment
cards, recording of verbal comments from
project participants by coordinators) or
formal and a required part of the activity
(an evaluation form). Describe your survey
methods.
- Pre/post survey. The target
audience is surveyed regarding their
knowledge, attitudes or actions before the
project then re-surveyed after the project
using the same instrument to assess change.
This is an effective method to use for
workshops. Describe what changes (knowledge,
attitudes or actions) you will be surveying.
- Outside indicators of behavior change.
These might include increase purchases of
no-phosphorous fertilizer, increased usage
of no till drills, or some other indicator
that watershed friendly behaviors were
occurring. Describe the outside indicator of
behavior change and how it will be measured.
8. Milestones
What are your
milestones? Prepare a one-page table or
chart which shows the expected progression
of work on that project as discussed above.
Milestone chart must include project report
submissions.
9. Budget
See
attachment two. On the budget page of your
proposal, explain the budget and the line
items showing that costs, both direct and
matching, are reasonable for project scope.
Letters of Commitment
Letters of
commitment from organizations providing cash
match are required. Letters of support from
agencies providing in kind match strengthen
the proposal.
Page 8: Budget
1. Please complete the following chart to
show your total project costs.
Attachment 2
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Category
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319 I&E
Funds
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Match
(include column for each source)
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Total
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Salary & Wages
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Permanent
Equipment*
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Supplies &
Materials
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Contractual
Services
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Travel
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Other Direct
Costs
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Indirect
Costs**
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Total Project
Costs
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* Ownership of equipment purchased with
I&E funds that costs more than $500 and that
has a useful life-expectancy that exceeds
the length of the project will be retained
by the SD Discovery Center at the end of the
project.
** Indirect costs included
in the grant proposal budgets must be
clearly identified and the method or methods
by which indirect costs are calculated must
be explained. State-supported universities
should use the South Dakota Board of Regents
rate for the state funds, which is 60% of
their federal share.
Formula to determine
match:
Amount requested/0.60 =Total
Project Costs
Total Project Costs -
Amount Requested = Required Match
2.
Break down the line items, showing how
figures were arrived at. For example, if
part of the project involves producing
signs, in the Other Direct Costs category
breakdown the cost of the sign (7 signs
@$100 ea, +$50 set up fee = $750).
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