Questions and Answers: Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program

2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity

Updated on 11/25/2024

The following are formal Agency responses to questions and comments regarding the Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Grant Program. As this is the second round of REO funding, it is also referred throughout this document as “REO Round 2.” We will update this list of questions and answers as we receive questions about the funding opportunity. For more information on this funding opportunity, please refer to EPA’s Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program webpage, where you can find the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and other resources.

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General

1. What is the structure of this REO Funding Opportunity?

REO Round 2 is structured as one cooperative agreement with three projects:

Project #1: Develop and Implement a National Consumer Wasted Food Reduction Campaign.

Project #2: Expand the Market and Sales of Compost.

Project #3: Increase Education and Outreach to Households on Composting.

For more information, refer to Section I.F. Scope of Work in the NOFO. For more questions on activities, refer to the “Eligible Activities” section below.

2. Is this funding opportunity a grant, or a cooperative agreement?

This funding opportunity is a cooperative agreement, but EPA will often use the term “grant” to describe this program.

3. Will EPA accept applications from individual applicants?

No. EPA recognizes that there is a wide range of expertise required to be able to satisfy the three components of this cooperative agreement. Therefore, all applications for this opportunity must be coalition applications, not individual applications. For more information on this, refer to Section I.G. Coalitions in the NOFO and the “Eligible Activities” section below.

4. Am I limited to apply to only one of EPA’s current recycling-related funding opportunities (SWIFR and REO)?

An entity may apply to both the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program (SWIFR) and the Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Grant Program, assuming they are eligible for both opportunities. Applying or receiving one grant does not make you ineligible for the other. However, please note the differences in the funding opportunities as stated in Section I.F. Scope of Work in the NOFOs. SWIFR funds are used to implement projects related to solid waste infrastructure, while REO funds are used to implement projects related to education and outreach. The respective webpages for the SWIFR Funding Opportunities for Communities/Political Subdivisions and SWIFR Funding Opportunities for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia have more information.

5. Will my project need to report on all or just some of the outputs and outcomes listed in Section I.L. Measuring and Reporting Environmental Results: Outputs and Outcomes?

For REO Round 2, all of the outputs and outcomes in Section I.L. Measuring and Reporting Environmental Results: Evaluation, Outputs and Outcomes of the NOFO are required for reporting. Please note that some are specific to certain projects, and some would apply to all three projects. Please refer to EPA Recycling Education and Outreach Grant (Round 2) "A Quick Reference Guide for Evaluating Progress and Reporting Achievements Over Time" (pdf)(810.44 KB).

6. What should I consider as the period of performance of these grants?

The estimated start date for the REO grant is September 2025. All project activities must be completed within the negotiated project performance period of five years.

7. How will grant funds be disbursed?

Grant funds will be available once awards are made. Recipients must draw funds from the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system for the minimum amounts needed for actual and immediate cash requirements to pay employees, contractors, subrecipients or to satisfy other obligations for allowable costs under this assistance agreement. Recipients do not have to pay employees, contractors and subrecipients before obtaining payment from ASAP but must disburse the funds for the incurred costs within 5 working days of receiving the ASAP payment subject to a 5% of the amount of payment or $1,000 cushion for calculation errors. EPA’s Award Official may make exceptions to the 5-business day disbursement basis based on documented circumstances that prevent the recipient from complying with that requirement. Recipients must return excess funds that cannot be spent within five days through ASAP.

For additional information, please refer to EPA's General Terms and Conditions.

8. Where can I learn more about SAM.gov registration, UEI numbers, and Grants.gov registration?

Please review Section IV.B. Submission Instructions of the REO NOFO. Also, you can visit Grants.gov support page and the SAM.gov contact page for more help. You will be able to live chat or call an expert who will be able to help you with your issue.

9. Is one application per project allowed or one application overall?

Please refer to the NOFO, in particular Section I.F. Scope of Work and Section III.C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria. All applications must include all three projects. If your organization wishes to participate in just 1 of the 3 projects, you may wish to seek coalition members and become part of a coalition. Information on coalitions can be found in Section I.G. Coalitions in the NOFO.

10. Which solicitation clauses apply to this funding opportunity?

This NOFO was released on September 13, 2024, and will close after June 14, 2024. Therefore, the solicitation clauses can be found on this webpage.

11. What kind of financial audits, statements, etc., are expected to be submitted by coalition members (not lead), as either part of the application or part of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) among coalition members and the lead applicant?

The MOA required to be submitted by 3/1/25 is described in Section II.A. and Appendix A. As far as the application, it is submitted by the lead applicant, but there are parts of the project narrative attachment form where information about the coalition members will need to be included. Refer to Section IV.E. Project Narrative Attachment Form and Section V.A. Evaluation Criteria.

12. May we include in our proposal team members who are not members of the coalition? These would be eligible entities who have a role such as serving as a regional representative on an advisory board, but their role is not large enough to satisfy these criteria from the NOFO: “…a strong and substantial commitment to the projects (e.g., financially, materially, or operationally) such that withdrawal by any single member from the coalition would fundamentally alter the design or expected outputs and outcomes of the projects” and “The lead applicant for any coalition application selected for award will be required to submit a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed by all coalition members prior to receiving the award.” 

Coalition members are subrecipients and will receive subawards. You may list non-coalition members as collaborators. Collaborators can include funders, implementers, allies, and messengers. Applicants should describe what strategies they would use to recruit collaborators in campaign development. Refer to NOFO Section V.A. Evaluation Criteria, evaluation criterion #1. While collaborators support successful campaign implementation, they should not be confused with coalition member subrecipients; in addition, some collaborators may wish to seek funding as competitive campaign implementation subrecipients, but the term “collaborator” encompasses many more entities than only those who seek subawards for implementation. Refer to Section I.F. of the NOFO for more information. 

13. Can the font size be smaller than 12-point in tables, charts, exhibits, and graphics as long as they are legible? 

Yes, the font can be smaller than 12-point in tables, charts, exhibits, and graphics as long as they are legible.

Eligible Activities

1. What activities are eligible under this funding opportunity?

REO Round 2 will fund one cooperative agreement to complete three projects:

  1. Develop and Implement a National Consumer Wasted Food Reduction Campaign.
  2. Expand the Market and Sales of Compost.
  3. Increase Education and Outreach to Households on Composting.

Activities may include but are not limited to:

  • Public service announcements.
  • Door-to-door education and outreach campaigns.
  • Social media and digital outreach.
  • An advertising campaign on food waste reduction or composting.
  • Translation and transcreation of outreach materials.
  • The development and dissemination of:
    • A toolkit for implementation of outreach and education programs.
    • Information on the importance of quality in the composting stream.
    • Information on the economic and environmental benefits of food waste reduction and composting.
    • Information on what happens to materials after the materials are placed into a residential composting program.
  • Businesses composting outreach.
  • Bin, cart, and other receptacle labeling and signs.

Refer to Section I.F. Scope of Work in the NOFO for more information.

2. Using grant funds, may grantees purchase small incentives for participants in project activities, such as gift cards, meal vouchers, a compost bin for contest winners, etc.?

Yes, reasonable costs for gift cards and similar incentives for program participation are allowable (with prior approval of the Award Official) under the "EPA Guidance on Participant Support Costs" (pdf)(213 KB) as long as EPA determines that the incentives further the statutory objective of the Grant Program. Grant recipients should include this information within their project budget with their application.

3. Can the funds be used to establish baselines and measure the impact of education and outreach (say by funding a waste characterization study)? The baseline and measurements would be in conjunction with educational projects.

Yes, as long as the baselines and measures are developed to evaluate the education and outreach activities undertaken with EPA funding and the evaluation process is described in the scope of work for the EPA grant.

4. Can I use grant funding to pay for projects already underway (i.e., reimbursement)?

Our anticipated announcement of REO selections is in Spring 2025 and any costs incurred prior to an applicant receiving notification of selection would not be approved by an EPA award official. Costs incurred after selection but up to 90 days prior to the award, under 2 CFR Part 1500.9, may be allowable even if the applicant did not request prior approval to incur pre-award costs provided the costs are eligible and allowable. Pre-award costs should be “directly pursuant to the negotiation and in anticipation of the Federal award where such costs are necessary for efficient and timely performance of the scope of work.” Refer to 2 CFR 200.458. Costs incurred more than 90 days prior to award require specific approval of an EPA award official.

For example, costs for contracts (including consultants) are allowable only if the contract was entered into in a manner that complies with the competitive procurement provisions of EPA’s grant regulations (2 CFR 200.318 – 200.320) within a reasonable time frame (typically five years) such that the pricing under the contract reflects current market conditions. Selected applicants must include the pre-award costs in their final budget and workplan submitted to EPA and provide the date the pre-award costs were incurred. For more information, please refer to EPA’s term and condition on pre-award costs (EPA's General Terms and Conditions).

Please note that applicants incur pre-award at their own risk. EPA is not obligated to reimburse applicants for pre-award costs that are not included in the workplan and budget EPA approves. EPA has no obligation to reimburse unsuccessful applicants or selectees for pre-award costs. Selected applicants should discuss pre-award costs with their EPA Project Officer.

5. Does the campaign for project #1 have to be national in scope?

Yes. Please refer to the NOFO, Section I.F. Scope of Work for more details.

6. Is Project #3, “Increase Education and Outreach to Households on Composting” to be interpreted as education for local governments and their composting programs only? Or is backyard composting outreach and education a solution for household food waste landfill diversion?

Backyard composting outreach and education would be eligible, however we cannot comment on how this project would fare in the rankings on the merits.

7. Is outreach and education around home composting considered part of Project 1 or Project 3? Over the years, home composting has often been considered a source reduction method. 

For project #1, wasted food reduction or prevention refers to reducing the amount of food that goes uneaten. Please refer to page 5 of the NOFO in Section I.A. Background for more discussion about wasted food prevention. For project #3, backyard composting outreach and education would be eligible, however we cannot comment on how this project would fare in the rankings on the merits.

8. Project #2 is focused on conducting outreach and education promoting the use of compost in non-agricultural applications. For purposes of this grant, what are non-agricultural applications? I assume these include compost applications to manage stormwater run-off, soil erosion (e.g., bioswales, rain gardens, compost socks, compost blankets, tree beds, reclaiming mining land). I am looking for clarity on whether compost use in residential backyards (for home gardens), school and other community gardens, and even small urban farms would count? Are these considered non-agricultural applications? 

For Project #2, examples of non-agricultural uses include but are not limited to green infrastructure to limit erosion and protect water quality, restoration of disturbed soils, and remediation of contaminated sites. Project #2’s focus on applications outside of agriculture is meant to encourage uses of compost that are not primarily focused on growing food or plants (e.g., home/school/community gardens, urban farms, larger farms, etc.). However, if the application of compost is primarily focused on remediation or land revitalization, and if growing food is a future potential use on that site, that would not be excluded from the scope.

Surveys and Information Collection

1. Can grant recipients conduct surveys with EPA grant funds?

If the applicant intends to use EPA funds to develop and administer surveys or other information collections with identical questions to 10 or more persons, the applicant must comply with the Office of Management and Budget regulations implementing Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Refer to 5 CFR Part 1320. This applies to both the applicant and any contractors or subaward recipients supported with EPA funding as well.

Compliance with the OMB PRA regulations will require a considerable amount of time. Therefore, EPA strongly encourages applicants to obtain other sources of funding to develop and administer robust and replicable evaluation tools (e.g., surveys, focus groups, etc.). EPA funds can be used to evaluate survey results and do other types of evaluation and measurement.

Please refer to Section I.L. Measuring and Reporting Environmental Results: Evaluation, Outputs and Outcomes and Section III.F. Ineligible Costs or Activities and Other Considerations for more information.

For additional information on the PRA, refer to "A Guide to the Paperwork Reduction Act."

2. How would direct mailing/door hanger/sticker marketing pieces that drive people to a specific website, etc. intersect "information collection"? For instance, could the grant recipient direct people to a website that allows them to sign up for a newsletter?

Collecting information for a mailing list would generally not trigger the Paperwork Reduction Act, as long as the sign-up process does not involve the collection of information beyond that “necessary to ensure proper transmission” of the information. It cannot, for example, also include questions intended to collect demographic information.

Please refer to this excerpt from OMB’s 2010 Guidance on Social Media: Electronic subscriptions to agency notifications or publications (pdf)(83.4 KB). 

OMB does not consider mailing addresses collected for agency mailing lists to be information subject to the PRA. Similarly, an agency is not collecting information when it collects email addresses for agency updates, alerts, publications, or email subscription services; mobile phone numbers for text notification lists; or addresses for RSS feeds, which allow individuals to customize and subscribe to updates from websites.

If, however, the agency requests a member of the public to provide additional information (e.g., age, sex, race/ethnicity, employment, or citizenship status) beyond what is necessary to ensure proper transmission of responses, the collection of that additional information is covered under the PRA. As with non-electronic mailing lists, the use of email lists to survey subscribers (about, for example, satisfaction with government program design) is an information collection under the PRA.

If an agency authorizes website users to share content, such as “send to a friend” using a web form, this authorization is not covered by the PRA unless the agency collects the “friend’s” email address or username to use it for some purpose other than sharing the content selected by the sender. Agencies should provide notice to users on the web form if they intend to retain email addresses for future use.

Eligible Entities

1. What is the difference between “lead applicant” and “coalition member” for this opportunity?

For the purposes of this grant program, all applications for this funding opportunity are required to be coalition applications.

One entity will be responsible for the grant (i.e., the grant recipient/lead applicant) and the other entities (“coalition members” or “coalition member subrecipients”) would be brought on via subawards. A coalition is a group of two or more eligible applicants that share a strong and substantial commitment to the projects (e.g., financially, materially, or operationally) such that withdrawal by any single member from the coalition would fundamentally alter the design or expected outputs and outcomes of the projects. The grant recipient that administers the grant and subawards will be accountable to EPA for proper expenditure of the funds and reporting and will be the point of contact for the coalition. As provided in 2 CFR 200.332, all subrecipients are accountable to the grant recipient for proper use of EPA funding and the grant recipient is required to report on their subaward monitoring activities under 2 CFR 200.332(d). Please refer to Section I.G. Coalitions, Section III.A. Eligible Applicants, Section III.C. Threshold Eligibility Criteria, and Section III.E. Subrecipients for more information.

2. What types of entities are eligible to be lead applicants or coalition members for this opportunity?

Eligible lead applicants or coalition members must be one of the following:

  • U.S. State, including the District of Columbia;
  • Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any agency or instrumentality thereof;
  • a unit of local government as defined in the Local government provision of 2 CFR 200.1;
  • an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304));
  • a Native Hawaiian organization (as defined in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517));
  • the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands;
  • the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;
  • a nonprofit organization; or
  • a public-private partnership (PPP).

Refer to Section III.A. Eligible Applicants for more information.

While coalition members must be “eligible applicants” as defined above and by statute, they will be brought on by subawards (non-competitive) through the lead applicant consistent with EPA’s subaward regulations.

3. I am a not-for-profit university. Am I eligible to apply for the REO grant?

Nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for REO round 2, so if your university is a nonprofit organization, you are an eligible entity. Please refer to Section I.C. Key Definitions and Section III.A. Eligible Applicants.

4. Are federal agencies eligible entities?

No, federal agencies are not an eligible entity in Section III.A. Eligible Entities of the NOFO.

5. How should public-private partnerships apply to this opportunity in SAM.gov and Grants.gov?

If the PPP has created an incorporated legal entity, separate from either the public or private partner, the PPP may register in SAM.gov with that entity’s legal business name and date/state of incorporation. If the PPP does not have an incorporated legal existence, then the public entity of the partnership must apply as the lead applicant using its own account in SAM.gov and Grants.gov. The partnership may not use the private entity’s SAM.gov and Grants.gov accounts. All PPP applications should include a copy of the legally binding agreement establishing the PPP in their application.

6. Are for-profit entities eligible to apply to this opportunity?

For-profit businesses are not eligible entities. However, for-profit businesses can be part of a public-private partnership, which are eligible to apply (refer to NOFO Section I.C. Key Definitions and Section III.A. Eligible Applicants for more information).

7. Can you please share with me what entities you expect to apply, so I can reach out to hopefully be a part of the coalition?

We do not know ahead of time who will be applying for this opportunity. You may wish to look to see who in the U.S. is already doing education on wasted food and composting; there are several organizations that do so. You may want to start by checking who commented on the "National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics." All comments were submitted publicly and may be found on Regulations.gov.

8. Is an entity allowed to be part of multiple coalitions or can it only be part of one coalition for one application?

An entity is allowed to be part of multiple coalitions for REO (and therefore be part of more than one REO application).

9. We are wondering if an organization could participate in the coalition but not take a subgrant. In other words, could an org be a part of the coalition working to implement the grant projects and not take any money?

If your org was not interested in being a coalition member subrecipient, then it could either be considered a collaborator (refer to Section I.F.: “While collaborators support successful campaign implementation, they should not be confused with coalition member subrecipients; in addition, some collaborators may wish to seek funding as competitive campaign implementation subrecipients, but the term “collaborator” encompasses many more entities than only those who seek subawards for implementation”). Another potential option would be that your org’s in kind resources be considered leveraged resources, which would be included in the Project Narrative Attachment Form and is one of the evaluation criteria (#7) in Section V.A. of the NOFO.

10. Would a federally-funded research and development center (FFRDC) be considered an eligible lead or sub applicant for this solicitation?

Eligible lead applicants or coalition members must be one of the following (refer to Section III.A. Eligible Applicants):

  • a U.S. State, including the District of Columbia;
  • Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any agency or instrumentality thereof;
  • a unit of local government as defined in the Local government provision of 2 CFR 200.1;
  • an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304));
  • a Native Hawaiian organization (as defined in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517));
  • the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands;
  • the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;
  • a nonprofit organization; or
  • a public-private partnership.

FFRDCs are public-private partnerships, usually between a university and a corporation. So, an FFRDC could apply as a PPP, or if the university administers and manages the FFRDC, it could apply as a nonprofit organization. The federal agency operating the FFRDC would have to give permission to apply for the grant.

11. Does a coalition member need to be a US-registered nonprofit, or can a coalition member be a nonprofit registered outside the U.S.? 

In accordance with EPA Order 4540.1, EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA), must consent to proposed EPA financial assistance agreements, prior to award, where work will be performed by any recipient or subrecipient in whole or in part in a foreign country, or where work will be performed in the United States by a foreign government recipient and its subrecipient or an international organization recipient and its subrecipient. OITA must consent to any work by a subrecipient that meets these criteria either prior to award of the EPA assistance agreement to the pass- through entity or prior the pass-through entity’s award of the subaward. Please refer to EPA's Terms & Conditions, which state that, as a pass-through entity, the grant recipient agrees to "Work with EPA’s Project Officer to obtain the written consent of EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA) prior to awarding a subaward to a foreign or international organization or a subaward to be performed in a foreign country, even if that subaward is described in a proposed scope of work."

12. We already applied for REO funding in round 1. Can we apply again? We are a subcontractor/subrecipient of a SWIFR grant- are we eligible to apply for REO round 2 funding? 

Previously applying or receiving one grant does not make you ineligible for REO round 2. You are eligible to apply to this opportunity as the lead applicant (if you fall under one of the confirmed lead applicants described in Section III.A. Eligible Applicants) despite being a subrecipient of a SWIFR Grant.

13. We are discussing the possibility of proposing a coalition that would be led by two organizations, to ensure a balance of perspectives and experience. One would contract with the USEPA, and the other would share with the first organization in all decisions regarding budget, messages/content, subawardees, and use of consultants. Would that be acceptable to USEPA? Are there any provisions of the NOFO or USEPA regulations that would provide insight into how we could accomplish this most successfully? 

Please refer to Sections I.G. Coalitions and III.A. Eligible Applicants of the NOFO, where we describe how coalition applications work from EPA's perspective. There is one grant recipient who is accountable to EPA for the financial and programmatic management of the cooperative agreement, and they have their own relationships with coalition members. How the lead applicant divides decision making responsibilities among the members of its coalition is up to the lead applicant. As part of the application, EPA requires a signed letter of intent from each coalition member stating the member’s intent to sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) (refer to Section IV. D. Application Materials). The lead applicant for any coalition application will be required to submit a MOA signed by all coalition members prior to receiving the award. The MOA does not need to be submitted at the time of application, but the lead applicant shall submit the MOA signed by all coalition members by March 1, 2025, to [email protected].

With regard to your question about how you could accomplish your desired approach most successfully, EPA is not able to discuss the merit of applications with applicants. Please refer to the REO NOFO, Section IV.F. Pre-application Assistance: In accordance with EPA's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy (EPA Order 5700.5A1), EPA staff will not meet with individual applicants to discuss draft applications, provide informal comments on draft applications, or provide advice to applicants on how to respond to ranking criteria. Applicants are responsible for the contents of their applications. However, consistent with the provisions in the announcement, EPA will respond to questions from individual applicants regarding threshold eligibility criteria, administrative issues related to the submission of the application, and requests for clarification about any of the language or provisions in the announcement. Please note that applicants should raise any questions they may have about the solicitation language to the contact identified in Section VII: Agency Contact as soon as possible so that any questions about the solicitation language may be resolved prior to submitting an application.

Procurement and Subawards

1. What types of entities are eligible to be subrecipients?

Eligible subrecipients are as follows:

  • Nonprofit organizations.
  • Tribal governments (both federally recognized and state-recognized) and intertribal consortia as defined by 40 CFR 35.504.
  • Local governments (as defined by 2 CFR 200.1 – includes cities, towns, municipalities, and counties, public housing authorities and councils of government).
  • Institutions of higher education (e.g., private and public universities and colleges, including community colleges).
  • U.S. Territories and States.
  • a Native Hawaiian organization (as defined in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517)).
  • the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
  • the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Ineligible subrecipients are as follows:

  • Individuals.
  • For-profit businesses.

Refer to Section III.E. Subrecipients in the NOFO for more details on subrecipients.

2. Do I need to list contractors in my application?

The EPA does not require and advises against applicants naming procurement contractors (including individual consultants) in applications for grant funding. However, if an applicant chooses to identify a procurement contractor(s) to conduct work proposed in this application, the applicant must comply with the requirements in Section III.D. Named Contractors in the NOFO, even if the entity is referred to as a “partner” or “collaborator” in the application.

3. What is the difference between “contractor” and “coalition member”? Do I need to name my coalition members in my application?

Eligible coalition members must be one of the following:

  • a U.S. State, including the District of Columbia;
  • Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any agency or instrumentality thereof;
  • a unit of local government as defined in the Local government provision of 2 CFR 200.1;
  • an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304));
  • a Native Hawaiian organization (as defined in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517));
  • the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands;
  • the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;
  • a nonprofit organization; or
  • a public-private partnership.

All applications for this funding opportunity are required to be coalition applications. To demonstrate the other members’ commitment to the coalition, the lead applicant must include in their application a signed letter of intent from each coalition member stating the member’s intent to sign the MOA if the coalition application is selected. The lead applicant for any coalition application selected for award will be required to submit a Memorandum of Agreement signed by all coalition members by March 1, 2025. (The MOA does not need to be submitted at the time of application.) Please note that if an identified coalition member withdraws from an application after the submission deadline, it may impact the evaluation and/or selection of the application.

Refer to Section I.G. Coalitions and Section III.A. Eligible Applicants and Appendix A: Guidelines for a Memorandum of Agreement for a Coalition in the NOFO for guidance on recommended elements of an MOA.

Unlike coalition members, EPA does not require and advises against naming contractors in applications for grant funding. Refer to Section III.D. Named Contractors in the NOFO for more information.

4. What is the 20% statutory set-aside requirement? Will an applicant receive more points in the evaluation if they set aside more than 20% of their funds for subawards?

As provided in Section 70402(d)(2) of the BIL, EPA must allocate at least 20% of the funding Congress appropriated each fiscal year for:

  • Low-income communities.
  • Rural communities.
  • Communities identified as Native American pursuant to section 2(9) of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001(9)).

Please refer to Section I.C. Key Definitions and Section III.E. Subrecipients.

To meet this 20% statutory set aside, the grant recipient must allocate 20% of the total funding requested to low-income, rural, and Native American communities through subawards to entities that target authorized education and outreach activities to members of those communities. However, applications that allocate more than 20% of the total amount requested to competitive campaign implementation subawards are more likely to receive a higher evaluation score (refer to evaluation criterion #6 in Section V.A. Evaluation Criteria).

5. Are there budgetary limits for each subaward?

No. For Project #1 and Project #3, the grant recipient is required to conduct a competitive process to administer subawards for implementing outreach and education locally, but EPA is not specifying overall limits or individual subaward limits. For project #2, subawards for local outreach and implementation are allowed but not required (and EPA is not specifying that any such subawards for Project #2 would need to be done via a competitive process). Refer to Section I.F. Scope of Work in the NOFO for more information on overall budget requirements, including a table.

Refer to Section III.E. Subrecipients in the NOFO for more information.

6. Can an applicant’s project budget include funding a fiscally-sponsored organization (not an incorporated legal entity themselves), in order for that organization to execute part of the applicant’s project initiatives?

No. An entity must be incorporated with its own legal existence in order to enter into a legal subaward agreement with the applicant. However, a fiscal sponsor may receive a subaward from the applicant and employ individuals from the unincorporated entity to carry out the work, but the fiscal sponsor remains accountable to EPA for the proper management and expenditure of funds and for effective project performance. The fiscal sponsor would also have to comply with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including competitive procurement requirements for hiring contractors and consultants. A fiscal sponsor of an incorporated entity may be able to enter into a subaward agreement with the applicant and provide a sub-subaward to the incorporated entity.

In addition, EPA does not recognize or accept a “fiscal sponsorship” relationship in which an eligible applicant such as a non-profit organization applies for funding on behalf of an ineligible organization such as a for-profit firm that will provide services necessary to execute a project. We have made that point clearly and directly in previous webinars on compliance with competitive procurement requirements contained in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1500. EPA does not recognize “fiscally-sponsored organization” relationships that could be used to circumvent competitive procurement requirements. Any contracts between eligible applicants and for-profit service providers must comply with the competition requirements in 2 CFR 200.319 and 2 CFR 200.320 as interpreted by EPA’s "Best Practice Guide for Procuring Services, Supplies, and Equipment Under EPA Assistance Agreements." Note in particular the restrictions in 2 CFR 200.319(b) on potential contractors assisting applicants or recipients in preparing Requests for Proposals.

7. Do all coalition members need to receive sub-awards? If they were not to receive funding, should they be listed as collaborators instead?

Yes, all coalition members will receive a subaward. Collaborators can include funders, implementers, allies, and messengers. Applicants should describe what strategies they would use to recruit collaborators in campaign development. While collaborators support successful campaign implementation, they should not be confused with coalition member subrecipients; in addition, some collaborators may wish to seek funding as competitive campaign implementation subrecipients, but the term “collaborator” encompasses many more entities than only those who seek subawards for implementation. Refer to Section I.F. of the NOFO for more information.

Costs

Is there a maximum amount of overhead costs that the lead applicant can take for administration of the grant?

REO does not have a cap on “overhead,” otherwise known as indirect costs. If an entity has negotiated an indirect cost (IDC) rate with its cognizant agency, they can use that for calculating overhead. If the entity does not have negotiated rate, they can claim the de minimis rate, which as of October 1, 2024, is set at 15% of the modified total direct costs, as authorized by 2 CFR 200.414(f). Per 2 CFR 200.1 Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) means all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award). MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each subaward in excess of $50,000. Other items may only be excluded when necessary to avoid a serious inequity in the distribution of indirect costs and with the approval of the cognizant agency for indirect costs. 

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Last updated on November 25, 2024