Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Bureau-wide National Conservation Lands Scientific Studies Support Program
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Washington, DC 20240
http://www.blm.gov
November 18, 2016
In Reply Refer To:
6220 (410) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 11/29/2016
Instruction Memorandum No. 2017-013
Expires: 09/30/2020
To: State Directors
From: Assistant Director, National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships
Subject: Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Bureau-wide National Conservation Lands Scientific Studies Support Program
Program Area: National Conservation Lands
Purpose: BLM FY 2017 Bureau-wide National Conservation Lands Scientific Studies Support Program Process for Project Approval
Policy/Action: The National Conservation Lands Scientific Studies Support Program (formerly known as the National Landscape Conservation System Research Support Program) financially supports scientific studies aimed at increasing the effectiveness of BLM’s resource management decisions. The program seeks to engage the external scientific community in conducting management-focused, scientific research on the National Conservation Lands.
The FY 2017 process for funding studies will adopt a competitive financial assistance process that involves posting a Bureau-wide Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on the http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html?keywords=L17AS00001 website to allow for new and old projects to be evaluated. This change will streamline the process for submitting proposals and ensure funding can be allocated as it becomes available. All recipient packages will be submitted through http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html?keywords=L17AS00001 in
accordance with procedures stated in the FOA No. L17AS00001, BLM FY2017 Bureau-wide National Conservation Lands Scientific Studies Support Program.
The new process will be as follows:
1. BLM will be accepting complete Standard Form 424 - Applications for Federal Assistance packages on the www.grants.gov website from November 16, 2016 through January 27, 2017.
2. Designated State National Conservation Lands contacts will continue to encourage partners to submit proposals that meet the most urgent science needs of the National Conservation Lands they manage. Partners must coordinate each proposed project with the State’s designated official prior to submitting their application in Grants.gov and must follow the terms and conditions stated in the FOA.
3. Once the FOA closes in Grants.gov, the designated BLM Lead Grants Management Specialist will be responsible for managing all applications submitted and for conducting the “First Level Screening - Basic Eligibility” as stated in the FOA. The Lead Grants Management Specialist (GMS) will then provide State GMS and designated National Conservation Lands contact with a copy of their state’s application packages for their review and ranking.
4. State National Conservation Lands contacts will be responsible for designating a State Evaluation Committee with appropriate expertise and professional qualifications for the “Second Level Merit Review Evaluation.” The Committee will review, rate, rank, and recommend applications for award using the evaluation criteria in the FOA. State National Conservation Lands contacts should coordinate with Field Staff of the impacted units and the appropriate Field or District Managers on project prioritization. Once individual applicants are ranked, they will receive an overall consensus rating and State priority approved by the State Director. All applications and State Applicant Proposal Scoring Abstracts will be returned to the designated Lead GMS within 14 days.
5. Washington Office National Conservation Lands (WO-410) will facilitate a WO interdisciplinary review and ranking of the proposals. WO-410 will also consider the availability of funding, State Office rankings, the Washington Office reviews, and other national priorities when making funding decisions.
6. The designated BLM GMS will conduct the final “Fourth Level Review -Pre-award Clearance and Approval. The GMS will complete a business evaluation and determination of responsibility that includes, but is not limited to: 1) Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS); 2) Financial stability; 3); History of performance managing Federal awards, timeliness of compliance with reporting requirements, conformance to the terms and conditions of previous Federal awards, etc.; and 4) Reports and findings from audits performed. The designated BLM GMS will contact the National Conservation Lands national and state contact as soon as possible about any compliance issues or significant findings for particular projects.
7. After the WO review and ranking, the Deputy Assistant Director for WO-400 (National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships) will announce funding decisions via an email (with an attached report) to the Field Committee. Informal announcements will be sent to GMS and State National Conservation Lands Contacts.
8. Funded projects will require a certified Program Officer to coordinate with the appropriate State GMS to submit a purchase requisition and prepare final cooperative agreement for award. Recipients cannot start work until the funding is obligated and cooperative agreement is signed by a BLM Grants Management Specialist.
Time frame: Proposals should be submitted on grants.gov by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on the day of the announcement closing.
Budget Impact: The budget impact associated with the development of proposals to respond to this request is in the form of BLM labor expenses. Funds to support the research projects will be allocated from the WO-410 FY2017 operations budget (contingent upon available funds). The changes to this program will improve accountability, funding tracking, and decrease money spent on multiple Grants.gov FOA postings at the state level.
Background: The National Landscape Conservation System (also known as the National Conservation Lands) was legislatively established by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 [Public Law 111-11] in order to conserve, protect, and restore nationally significant landscapes that have outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values for the benefit of current and future generations. The National Conservation Lands include BLM’s National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Forest Reserves, legislated Outstanding Natural Areas, Cooperative Management and Protection Areas, Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Scenic and Historic Trails.
BLM policy states that “the BLM will use the best available science in managing NLCS units” and that “science and the scientific process will inform and guide management decisions concerning NLCS units” [BLM Manual §6100(1.6)(A)(9) and (1.6)(F)(1)]. Providing a scientific foundation for decision-making is also a goal identified in the National Conservation Lands 15-Year Strategy [Goal 1C].
The updated process outlined in this IM is consistent with the required competitive financial assistance process outlined in the 2 CFR, Part 200.203- Notice of Funding Opportunity, 2 CFR, Part 200.204 - Federal awarding agency review of merit of proposals, and 2 CFR, Part 200.205 - Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants prior to selecting projects for funding. This new process also will meet the requirements in the 2 CFR, Part 200 - Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. It eliminates each State posting a separate FOA in Grants.gov, after WO-410 approves projects, eliminates the recipient submitting their proposals twice to BLM, allows BLM to award to new recipients, and makes it possible to obligate funding later in the fiscal year if additional funding becomes available.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.
Coordination: This IM has been coordinated with WO-200, WO-300, WO-400, WO-600, and WO-855.
Contact: Please direct questions regarding this IM to Rachel Wootton, National Conservation Lands WO Contact and Maria Gochis, Bureau Grant Policy Manager.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Nikki Moore Robert M. Williams
Acting, Assistant Director Division of IRM Governance,WO-860
National Landscape Conservation System and Community Partnerships