The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is soliciting proposals under the Pennsylvania Most Effective Basins (PA‐MEB) grants program for projects that accelerate volunteer implementation of cost-effective agricultural best management practices (“practices”) in selected basins of the Chesapeake Bay watershed of Pennsylvania.
Donor Name: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
State: Pennsylvania
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/27/2023
Size of the Grant: up to $1,000,000
Grant Duration: 18-24 months
Details:
NFWF, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership, is soliciting proposals to restore water quality and habitats of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams in Pennsylvania.
The intent of the PA-MEB program is to assist the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in achieving its 2025 water quality goals for the agricultural sector under the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Pennsylvania’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).
Priorities
The primary purpose of the PA-MEB program is to maximize cost-effective reductions of agricultural nitrogen loads through the volunteer implementation of eligible agricultural conservation practices in Pennsylvania’s most effective basins, consistent with the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Pennsylvania’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). In addition, NFWF will prioritize funding for proposals that can yield rapid implementation outcomes related to planning, design and engineering, permitting, and construction of eligible practices and those that provide additional conservation and farm management co-benefits beyond water quality improvement.
Eligible Practices for Implementation, Technical Assistance, and Verification Activities
- Tillage Management
- Tree Planting
- Wetland Restoration
- Prescribed Grazing
- Animal Waste Management Systems
- Manure Incorporation
- Manure Injection
- Manure Transport
- Barnyard Runoff Control
- Loafing Lot Management
- Alternative Crops
- Retirement of Highly Erodible Land
- Cover Crops –Traditional
- Cover Crops – Commodity
- Forest and Grass Buffers
- Forest and Grass Buffers with Stream Exclusion Fencing
- Core Nutrient Management – Nitrogen
- Supplemental Nutrient Management – N Rate
- Supplemental Nutrient Management – N Placement
- Supplemental Nutrient Management – N Timing
- Soil and Water Conservation Plan
In addition to proposals seeking funding for direct practice implementation, NFWF and program partners are also soliciting proposals to provide for: (1) necessary technical assistance costs associated with conservation planning, and the design, engineering, and permitting of eligible practices that may be implemented at a later date or through other funding sources; and (2) piloting of innovative methods and approaches for verification of existing practices in support of ongoing crediting of existing practices for additional nitrogen reduction.
- Priority #1 – Cost‐Effectiveness for Agricultural Nitrogen Load Reductions
- Priority #2 – Readiness to Proceed
- Priority #3 – Conservation and Farm Management Co‐Benefits
Funding Information
NFWF will award up to $5 million in grants through the PA-MEB program in 2023 through awards of up to $1,000,000. Multiple proposals may be submitted that benefit a single landowner/operator, but each proposal will be evaluated independently. Similarly, proposals may be submitted that provide benefits for multiple landowner/operators. However, total technical assistance and implementation funding will be capped at $450,000 per landowner/operator.
Project Period
Given program priorities for rapid implementation outcomes, NFWF generally expects awarded projects to be completed within 18-24 months.
Geographic Focus
All projects must occur wholly within selected basins of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Pennsylvania, identified by EPA as most effective basins (MEB) based on the cost effectiveness of agricultural nitrogen load reduction practices in each basin to positively influence dissolved oxygen in the Bay.
Eligiblity Criteria
- Eligible Applicants for the PA-MEB program are limited to conservation districts, technical service providers certified by the Pennsylvania office of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, countywide action planning coordinators identified through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Phase III WIP planning process. Non-profit 501(c) organizations and local and municipal governments are also eligible but must demonstrate partnership and coordination with appropriate conservation districts, technical service providers, and/or countywide action planning coordinators by providing associated letters of support.
- For‐profit applicants: Please note that this is a request for grant proposals, not a procurement of goods and services; see the Budget section below for specific cost considerations.
- Eligible Landowners/Operators are limited to individuals and entities with ownership or management control of an agricultural operation, as defined by applicable Pennsylvania statutes, and located within identified most effective basins. Applicants must also complete signed Landowner-Grantee Agreements for all proposed landowners/operators prior to executing grant contracts with NFWF. In addition, landowners/operators must be able to document compliance with all applicable agricultural erosion and sediment control, manure, and/or nutrient management plan requirements prior to project completion.
Ineligible Uses of Grant Funds
- Equipment: Applicants are encouraged to rent equipment where possible and cost effective or use matching funds to make those purchases. NFWF acknowledges, however, that some projects may only be completed using NFWF funds to procure equipment. If this applies to your project, please contact the NFWF program staff listed.
- Federal funds and matching contributions may not be used to procure or obtain equipment, services, or systems (including entering or renewing a contract) that uses telecommunications equipment or services produced by Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation (or any subsidiary or affiliate of such entities) as a substantial or essential component, or as critical technology of any system.
- NFWF funds and matching contributions may not be used to support political advocacy, fundraising, lobbying, litigation, terrorist activities or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
- For the purposes of the PA-MEB program, operations under enforcement action by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, State Conservation Commission, or U.S. EPA are ineligible for program funding.
For more information, visit Most Effective Basins Grants.
