RESTORE Act Direct Component-- Non-Construction Activities | GR RDC 20 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for GR RDC 20 001

The RESTORE Act Direct Component - Non-Construction Activities grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number GR RDC 20 001) is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Treasury RESTORE Act Program. It is funded through the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund, which was created by the RESTORE Act (Subtitle F of P.L. 112-141) after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Trust Fund receives 80 percent of certain civil penalties paid under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in connection with the spill (for penalties paid after July 6, 2012), and those amounts are deposited and invested so they can be used for long-term Gulf Coast recovery and resilience efforts.

This particular announcement is limited to the Direct Component of RESTORE Act funding and, more specifically, to eligible non-construction activities. In practical terms, it is meant to support actions that do not involve building facilities or acquiring real property. It also explicitly covers planning assistance needed to prepare the Multiyear Implementation Plan required by the RESTORE Act, which is an important prerequisite document that lays out how an eligible applicant will prioritize, sequence, and manage RESTORE-funded work over time. If a proposed effort involves construction and/or purchasing land or other real property, applicants are expected to use the separate funding opportunity notice dedicated to construction and real property acquisition rather than this non-construction announcement.

Eligible applicants under this notice are state governments and county governments. The eligible activity categories are intentionally broad and cover environmental restoration as well as economic and community recovery priorities. Treasury indicates that applications may include projects that have a non-federal cost share connected to another federally funded project, but cost share is not necessarily required for every project. The activities supported by the Trust Fund under the RESTORE Act include restoration and protection of natural resources and ecosystems (such as fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands), mitigation of damage to fish and wildlife and other natural resources, and implementation of federally approved marine, coastal, or comprehensive conservation management plans, including fisheries monitoring. The program also supports workforce development and job creation, improvements to or on state parks in coastal areas affected by the spill, and certain infrastructure efforts that benefit the economy or ecological resources, including port infrastructure. It further allows coastal flood protection and related infrastructure, planning assistance, administrative costs, tourism promotion in the Gulf Coast (including recreational fishing), and promotion of consumption of seafood harvested from the Gulf Coast region.

A key geographic rule applies to many of the core activities. Eligible activities numbered 1 through 7 in the notice (the restoration, mitigation, conservation plan implementation, workforce development, state park improvements, infrastructure, and coastal flood protection categories) must be carried out in the Gulf Coast region. The overall intent is to ensure that the funds tied to Deepwater Horizon penalties are directed to tangible recovery and long-term sustainability outcomes for the Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems most directly affected.

From the posted opportunity data, the program was created in the system on June 5, 2020, and the original closing date listed is June 30, 2022. The award ceiling shown is $85,917,454, and the opportunity anticipated up to 50 awards. The funding activity categories include environment, natural resources, and employment/labor/training (plus other), reflecting that the program is designed to address both ecological restoration and economic revitalization goals under one umbrella.

• The U.S. Dept. of Treasury RESTORE Act Program in the employment, labor and training, environment, natural resources, other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "RESTORE Act Direct Component-- Non-Construction Activities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 21.015.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-06-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-06-30. (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 $85,917,454.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments.

Apply for GR RDC 20 001

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