04/22/24 - 117 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/9bh4zbtr
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DEP Accepting Grant Proposals For Coastal Estuarine Land Conservation Program
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The Department of Environmental Protection is now soliciting land acquisition grant proposals to submit to the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program. (formal notice)
The deadline for applications is March 8. This solicitation is for preliminary candidate proposals and is for funding awards under NOAA’s federal fiscal year 2011 funding cycle.
The Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program places emphasis on “ecologically valuable” lands. The geographic areas covered by the program are the designated Delaware Estuary Coastal Zone Watershed, the Lake Erie Coastal Zone Watershed, and select watersheds that share a border with Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay.
Grant applications may be made for the purchase of land acquisitions or interests. These may be in fee-simple title or as conservation easements.
A major condition of the program is the title or easement must be held by a governmental/ public entity. Further, grant awards must be matched dollar-for-dollar (may include in-kind match but not other federal funds) and are capped at $3 million each (federal share).
Land trusts may hold sub-easements for management and stewardship on program-funded properties and may assist in the development of proposals, but they may not hold title to any property acquired with Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program funds.
Each coastal state may nominate up to three candidate projects to NOAA for this national, competitive process. DEP will select the three Pennsylvania candidate projects for submission to NOAA employing the guidelines issued by the federal agency. NOAA will develop a ranked list of projects eligible for funding.
Once NOAA receives final appropriations from Congress, the agency will make final determinations as to which projects are selected for funding within amounts available. Federal funding awards, based on the final Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program funding appropriated, are expected to be made in the fall of 2010.
The federal funding opportunity announcement, Federal Register notice, description and scope of work formats, and Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program checklist are available on DEP’s website. The materials contain detailed information about the grant application submission and review process. Applications should follow the format listed in the federal funding opportunity.
The website contains the Pennsylvania Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program plan, as reference for applicants submitting proposals. Applicants should closely review the Federal Register notice, federal funding opportunity and the Pennsylvania Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program plan to understand eligibility requirements, ranking criteria and the types of acquisition projects the program may fund.
Proposals must be submitted to Jeff Dewey, Department of Environmental Protection, Water Planning Office, P.O. Box 2063, 400 Market St., Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063, and must include the following: A Project Description/Scope of Work; Project Budget and Justification of Proposed Costs; Project Checklist; and Project Location and Site Maps.
Additionally, applicants may submit supplemental materials listed in the federal announcement, such as a copy of a property appraisal, title opinion or evidence of a willing seller.
For more information, contact Chris Linn at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, at 215-238-2873, send email to: clinn@dvrpc.org; Julia MConnaughey at the Erie County Planning Department at 814-451-6018, send email to: jmcconnaughey@eriecountygov.org; or Jeff Dewey at DEP’s Water Planning Office, at 717-772-5619 or send email to: jdewey@state.pa.us.
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2/8/2010 |
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