The objective of NOAA’s Restoring Fish Passage through Barrier Removal Notice of Funding Opportunity is to provide federal financial and technical assistance to fish passage through the removal of dams and other in-stream barriers for native migratory or sea-run fish.
Donor Name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
U.S. Territory: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/16/2023
Size of the Grant: $3 million to $6 million
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
Funding will be used for fish passage that rebuilds productive and sustainable fisheries, contributes to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species, enhances watershed health, promotes resilient ecosystems and communities, especially in underserved communities, and improves economic vitality, including local employment. This funding opportunity announcement is authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Public Law 117-58) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA, Public Law 117-169).
Proposals submitted under this funding opportunity should describe how the proposed fish passage will meet one or more of the following objectives:
- Contribute to the recovery of threatened and endangered species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (hereafter, Listed Species), including species identified by NMFS as “Species in the Spotlight”
- Sustain or help rebuild fish stocks managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which includes benefits to Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for recreationally and commercially important species and their prey
- Improve passage to support native fish species of the Great Lakes;
- Enhance the sustainability of saltwater recreational fisheries by restoring habitat that supports the National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy and Implementation Plans
- Enhance community resilience, including to extreme weather and climate hazards, by removing or improving aging infrastructure, and meaningfully engage with or provide benefits to tribal, indigenous or underserved communities. Projects that use natural channel design and low impact development often result in co-benefits such as protection from flooding and extreme weather events, reduced erosion, and creation of public spaces; or
- Support hydroelectric license surrender to remove dams that are no longer economically viable or provide significant public benefits yet remain in service or are abandoned due to cost and uncertainties regarding their decommissioning and removal.
Priorities
Applicants should address at least one of the following program priorities, which are the basis for the Importance and Applicability evaluation criteria:
- Achieving measurable and lasting benefits for migratory fish populations. NOAA prioritizes proposed work that will achieve measurable, sustainable, and lasting benefits for migratory fish populations. Proposals that focus on removal of barriers will receive higher priority (e.g., dam removals will receive higher priority than installation of structures that require operations and maintenance, such as fish ladders).
- Enhancing community resilience to extreme weather and climate hazards and providing other co-benefits. Applicants should describe how the proposed fish passage will benefit human populations within or near the project site(s), and how these actions will reduce vulnerability to the climate hazards that are most threatening to the local communities. Applicants may also describe how the proposed work will enhance the ability to plan and prepare for adverse effects of extreme weather events or climate hazards or provide additional co-benefits to the community (e.g., economic vitality, increased access to natural resources).
- Fostering regionally important habitat restoration. This funding opportunity will fund restoration actions that demonstrate high priority within a defined geographic region. Applicants should refer to watershed plans, resilience plans, or other fishery-related strategic planning, conservation, or management documents to support the importance of the proposed work. Proposals should identify how the fish passage aligns with relevant planning documents, and if the proposed actions are ranked highly within a prioritized list of restoration needs within the defined geographic area.
- Providing benefit to and engaging with underserved communities, including through partnerships with Indian tribes and/or other indigenous communities. NOAA is committed to the goals of advancing equity and support for tribal, indigenous and underserved communities. Applicants should identify if they are a tribe, indigenous or an underserved community or if the project is located within underserved communities and how those communities have, and will continue to, meaningfully engage in the project. Applicants should indicate whether a portion of the resilience benefits or other co-benefits from the proposed work will flow to underserved communities and how those benefits will be measured. This is a Justice40 covered program and applicants should review. “Project Narrative” for information pertaining to the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to assist in identifying disadvantaged communities.
Funding Information
- NOAA anticipates up to $175 million will be available under this opportunity. NOAA will not accept proposals with a federal funding request of less than $1 million or more than $20 million for the entire award.
- NOAA anticipates that typical federal funding awards will range from $3 million to $6 million. NOAA expects that any single fish passage project that is awarded the maximum allowed request ($20 million) will have significant ecological impact, detailed and credible cost estimates and clear justifications, and construction readiness.
Project/Award Period
NOAA encourages and anticipates a period of performance for most awards of up to three years, with the potential for up to five years if necessary.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, non-profits, commercial (for profit) organizations, U.S. territories, and state, local, and Native American and Alaska Native tribal governments. Applications from federal agencies or employees of federal agencies will not be considered. Federal agencies are strongly encouraged to work with applicants who are eligible to apply.
- Applicants must propose work in areas that benefit United States migratory fish as defined in the Program Objective. Eligible applicants for Great Lakes projects must propose work within one of the eight U.S. Great Lakes states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota), within the Great Lakes basin. Eligible applicants that propose projects in the Commonwealth and Territories of the United States must propose work in American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
