Conservation Collaboration Cooperative Agreements Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Announcement for Program Funding – SOUTH DAKOTA | USDA NRCS SD MULTI 22 NOFO0001167

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS SD MULTI 22 NOFO0001167

The Conservation Collaboration Cooperative Agreements FY 2022 Announcement for Program Funding - South Dakota is a discretionary funding opportunity from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) intended to support collaborative conservation work within South Dakota. Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO), NRCS is looking to fund cooperative agreement projects that make better use of NRCS resources by partnering with local and state organizations to tackle natural resource concerns, strengthen collaboration among conservation partners, and build conservation leadership at the state and community level. The announcement notes that it was released before final FY 2022 appropriations and apportionments were complete, meaning the total funding available could change depending on federal budget actions such as continuing resolutions or a final appropriations act.

Projects proposed under this opportunity must be located in South Dakota and are expected to run for a period of one to three years. Applications are competitive, and organizations are allowed to submit multiple applications as long as each application is for a different project. Likewise, an applicant can potentially receive more than one award if more than one of its distinct proposals is selected. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates NRCS expects to have substantial involvement during the project (for example, coordination, technical engagement, or shared responsibilities), rather than simply issuing a grant with minimal agency participation.

A broad range of applicant types are eligible. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other Native American tribal organizations; and nonprofit organizations, including both 501(c)(3) nonprofits and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education). The program is listed under CFDA number 10.902 and falls within the funding activity areas of agriculture, environment, and natural resources. The opportunity number is USDA NRCS SD MULTI 22 NOFO0001167.

In terms of funding scale and anticipated awards, the notice lists an award ceiling of $1,000,000 and an expectation of approximately 15 awards. While the NFO summary does not provide a guaranteed minimum award amount in the excerpt provided, it makes clear that awards will be made through a competitive selection process and are dependent on final funding availability for FY 2022.

The application process is handled through Grants.gov, and applicants must submit complete applications by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on May 13, 2022. NRCS emphasizes that proposals will be screened for completeness and compliance with the NFO instructions. Applications that are incomplete or do not meet the stated requirements will be removed from consideration, and the applicant will be notified of the elimination. The notice also points new applicants to instructions in the NFO (Section D) covering the preliminary steps needed to apply through Grants.gov, which can be important because account registration and validation steps can take time.

For applicant support, the NFO draws a clear line between technical platform issues and program-content questions. Technical problems with Grants.gov submissions are handled by Grants.gov Applicant Support (1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov), and NRCS staff are not able to help applicants troubleshoot Grants.gov account or system issues. For questions about the NFO itself, applicants are directed to the federal awarding agency contact listed in Section G. However, NRCS limits the scope of questions it will answer to clarifications about the NFO content (such as dates, page references, or resolving discrepancies). Questions about whether an applicant is eligible or whether a specific project idea is strong are explicitly not addressed through these inquiries.

Finally, NRCS provides an estimated timeline for award decisions and execution. The agency anticipated making selections on or before June 30, 2022, with awards expected to be executed by September 1, 2022. These dates are presented as estimates and may change, especially given the note that the NFO was released ahead of final appropriations decisions.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Conservation Collaboration Cooperative Agreements Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Announcement for Program Funding – SOUTH DAKOTA" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 14, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 13, 2022 Applications must be received by1159 pm Eastern Time.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA NRCS SD MULTI 22 NOFO0001167

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