2024 Marine Debris Community Action Coalitions Opportunity

• November 3, 2023, 12:00PM PT: Completed Partnership form due to USC Sea Grant by emailing Amalia Almada (amaliaal@usc.edu) and Phyllis Grifman (grifman@usc.edu)
• December 1, 2023, 12:00PM PT: Final Letters of Intent due to USC Sea Grant
• December 14, 2023, 8:59PM PT: Letters of Intent due to sg.grants@noaa.gov
• February 13, 2024, 5:00PM PT: Full Proposals due to USC Sea Grant
• March 5, 2024, 8:59PM PT: Full Proposals submitted to grants.gov

The National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) anticipates approximately $3,000,000 in FY 2024 and 2025 federal funds will be available to individual Sea Grant programs in order to support approximately 10-20 Marine Debris Community Action Coalitions. Each award will be no greater than $300,000. Applications DO NOT require the standard 50 percent non-federal match for Sea Grant projects. Projects should have a start date of September 1, 2024, and an end date of no later than August 31, 2027.

For complete information, please review the Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity: NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-23704

This funding opportunity requires partnering with a relevant Sea Grant program. All applicants must complete a partnership form by November 3, 2023, 12:00 PM PT to help coordinate proposals with USC Sea Grant Extension personnel. See more details below.

WEBINAR

Here is a recorded presentation, as well as the presentation slides and a Google form, where you can send in questions for the National Sea Grant team to respond to. They will respond in the form of a Q&A document that will accompany all the above information on their website.

While marine debris is a global issue, it is also intensely local – the activities and attitudes of individuals, communities, and industries drive the global problem. It is important for marine debris prevention and removal to be addressed at the local scale, along with other efforts at larger scales, with the support of key players in the community. Community coalitions and local partnerships are essential to creating effective and long-lasting action on marine debris.

Due to a lack of resources, entire segments of our society have not yet been able to invest funding and time into addressing challenges related to the prevention and removal of marine debris. This includes Tribes and Indigenous People who face additional institutional barriers in order to mitigate local marine debris and pollutants. Executive Order 14096, “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All” (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/26/2023-08955/revitalizing-our-nations-commitment-toenvironmental-justice-for-all), and E.O.13985 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021- 01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government), emphasize the need for Federal agencies to take actions to redress unfair disparities and remove barriers to government programs and services. E.O. 14096 places even greater urgency on the Federal Government to “. . . build upon and strengthen its commitment to deliver environmental justice to all communities across America. Our Nation needs . . . “. Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad”, also established the Justice40 Initiative, directing that 40% of the overall benefits from certain federal investments, such as climate, clean energy, and other areas, flow to disadvantaged communities and that such communities accrue the benefits of those investments. For more information, see E.O. 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (Jan. 27, 2023), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-andabroad; Justice40 Initiative, https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/. This funding opportunity will support the creation of coalitions and partnerships among communities, groups, and localities, especially those that have been traditionally underserved, to address various marine debris challenges. Applicants and awardees from the FY22 National Sea Grant Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Marine Debris Community Action Coalitions Competition are eligible to apply for these funds. Current awardees should make clear in their application how additional funds are additive to their original award and how these additional funds would advance outcomes beyond those committed as part of their originally funded project. These applicants can focus on scaling the impact of their original proposal or adding complementary activities that will improve outcomes. NOAA also encourages new applicants or previous applicants with new project ideas to apply.

This is one of two National Sea Grant federal funding opportunities in support of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to address the prevention and removal of marine debris, focusing on bringing communities together to address local issues in marine debris. A second opportunity NOAA-OAR-SG-23706, the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Marine Debris Challenge Competition,” will support original, innovative, and transformational marine debris prevention and removal research that pushes the boundaries of existing technologies and approaches, changes the current landscape of marine debris mitigation, and ties that research to tangible outputs.

Program priorities include (but are not limited to):

• Building local coalitions and partnerships to identify and actively address marine debris prevention and removal at the community level. Coalitions must include at least one Sea Grant program but are encouraged to also include a variety of other stakeholders.
• Support projects in communities with climate and economic justice vulnerabilities. A tool that applicants may find useful to identify communities with such vulnerabilities is the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST; https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en/#3/33.47/-97.5).
• Providing technical support to local businesses, municipalities, tribes, and other stakeholders to mitigate marine debris
• Enhance community literacy about marine debris through formal and informal education
• Educate and develop a local marine debris-aware workforce (e.g., fishers, harbormasters, charter boat operators, waterfront business owners, etc.)
• Address topics from relevant, existing planning efforts, such as regional marine debris action plans (https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/emergency-response-guides-and-regional-action-plans), strategic plans, or other, similar documents. Planning and capacity-building activities are encouraged, and projects should have clear deliverables that lead to measurable positive outcomes that benefit communities.

Projects should complement broader NOAA efforts, particularly those from the National Ocean Service’s Marine Debris Program, which focuses on active removal, mitigation, and prevention of marine debris. Participating Sea Grant programs must determine and prioritize local requirements and research-driven solutions that fully integrate the needs of historically underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985 (Section 2(b)).

Proposed projects should also address the following four foundational elements:

• Be responsive to state, local, and regional needs within a national framework.
• Leverage existing Sea Grant and partner investments and capacities.
• Embed diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility (DEIJA) fully into the effort and be responsive to the Justice40 initiative.
• Show how this work will be enhanced through partnerships, including collaboration among Sea Grant programs and with other appropriate partners.

AWARD INFORMATION

Sea Grant anticipates approximately $3,000,000 in FY 2024 and 2025 federal funds will be available to individual Sea Grant programs in order to support approximately 10 to 20 Marine Debris Community Action Coalitions. Each award will be no greater than $300,000. Applications DO NOT require the standard 50 percent non-federal match for Sea Grant projects.

ELIGIBILITY

The following entities are eligible to submit to this opportunity: Sea Grant Programs (Sea Grant Colleges, Institutions, or Coherent Area Programs).

USC Sea Grant welcomes prospective collaborators of all kinds (industry, NGO, tribes, government, etc.).

USC Sea Grant requires prospective collaborators to complete a partnership form by 12:00 PM PT on November 3, 2023, to help coordinate proposals with USC Sea Grant Extension personnel. 

The National Sea Grant College Program champions diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by recruiting, retaining, and preparing a diverse workforce, and proactively engaging and serving the diverse populations of coastal communities. Sea Grant is committed to building inclusive research, extension, communication, and education programs that serve people with unique backgrounds, circumstances, needs, perspectives, and ways of thinking. We encourage Sea Grant program applications to reflect diverse participation with regards to age, race, ethnicities, national origins, gender identities, sexual orientations, disabilities, cultures, religions, citizenship types, marital statuses, education levels, job classifications, veteran status types, income, and socioeconomic status. 

COST SHARING OR MATCHING REQUIREMENT

Standard Sea Grant cost sharing is not required for this call. However, the demonstration of leveraged funds and partnerships is important.

Full details on requirements for submitting to this funding opportunity are detailed in the full announcement (NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-23704). Additional guidance and tips on how best to prepare an application are provided in the Sea Grant General Application Guide, available at (https://seagrant.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SeaGrantGeneralApplicationGuide.pdf).

PARTNERSHIP FORM

All applicants interested in partnering with USC Sea Grant must complete a partnership form to help coordinate proposals with USC Sea Grant Extension personnel. Applicants will be asked to provide an overview of their idea(s) for proposals to help our staff understand your interests. You can submit multiple forms via email for separate proposal ideas. After you email the form, our team will follow up with you directly. In order to develop meaningful collaboration and proposals, our team anticipates that only a small number of proposed ideas will move forward to the LOI and full proposal stage.

Those interested in applying need to complete this partnership form as soon as possible, and no later than 12:00 PM PT on Friday, November 3, 2023. Due to the timeline and high interest, USC Sea Grant cannot consider requests for a partnership outside of submissions via the partnership form by the specified deadline.

LETTER OF INTENT

Letter of Intent Requirements Applicants must submit a letter of intent (LOI) before a full proposal is submitted. Applicants that do not submit a LOI will not be eligible to submit a full proposal. Full proposals should not deviate greatly from the LOI. However, LOIs are not binding, and the applicant may adjust details of their project before submitting the full proposal as their research to application plan evolves. LOIs are meant to provide Sea Grant with metrics on the scope and size of the application pool to assist with reviewer recruitment and review event planning.

Letters of Intent (LOIs) will allow the NSGO to gauge interest and topics that may be submitted. To be eligible for awards, LOIs must be received via email by the Program Managers (sg.grants@noaa.gov) by 8:59 pm Pacific Time on December 14, 2023.

FULL PROPOSAL

Full Proposal requirements are outlined in the Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity: NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-23704.

USC Sea Grant will work with PIs to develop and submit the full proposal. The final draft of the proposal package will be due to USC Sea Grant by February 13, 2024, 5:00PM PT to allow for internal processing and approval time. 

Applications must be submitted to Grants.gov by 8:59 p.m. Pacific time on March 05, 2024.

Questions about the Partnership Form: Amalia Almada (amaliaal@usc.edu) and Phyllis Grifman (grifman@usc.edu)

Questions about the Funding Opportunity: sg.grants@noaa.gov

These two Sea Grant BIL NOFOs complement two NOAA Marine Debris Program funding opportunities (NOAA-NOS-ORR-20242007993 “FY24 NOAA Marine Debris Removal under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”; and NOAA-NOS-ORR-2024-2007991 “FY24 NOAA Marine Debris Interception Technologies under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”) that will fund large-scale marine debris removal and interception projects.