- A. Eligible Applicants
- B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement
- C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility
NOFO Field: Eligible Applicants
OMB Guidance:
III. Eligibility Information
This section addresses considerations or factors that make an applicant or application eligible or ineligible for consideration. This includes the eligibility of particular types of applicant organizations, any factors affecting the eligibility of the principal investigator or project director, and any criteria that make particular projects ineligible. You should make clear whether an applicant’s failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the time of an application deadline will result in your agency’s returning the application without review or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude the agency from making an award. Key elements to be addressed are:
1. Eligible Applicants - Required.
You must clearly identify the types of entities that are eligible to apply. If there are no restrictions on eligibility, this section may simply indicate that all potential applicants are eligible. If there are restrictions on eligibility, it is important to be clear about the specific types of entities that are eligible, not just the types that are ineligible. For example, if your program is limited to non-profit organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, your announcement should say so. Similarly, it is better to state explicitly that Native American tribal organizations are eligible than to assume that they can unambiguously infer that from a statement that non-profit organizations may apply. Eligibility also can be expressed by exception, (e.g., open to all types of domestic applicants other than individuals). This section should refer to any portion of Section IV specifying documentation that must be submitted to support an eligibility determination (e.g., proof of 501(c)(3) status as determined by the Internal Revenue Service or an authorizing tribal resolution). To the extent that any funding restriction in Section IV.5 could affect the eligibility of an applicant or project, you must either restate that restriction in this section or provide a cross-reference to its description in Section IV.5.
Additional Guidance:
- Do not enter the field name (shown in bold in the examples). The NOFO generator will enter the field name.
- The Department has broken this required section into 3 required subsections. Eligible Applicants is the first of these.
Published Examples:
A. Eligible Applicants:
Eligible applicants are not-for-profit organizations with demonstrated administrative experience operating fellowships, scholarship and internship programs for in science and technology fields. Federal agencies are not eligible to apply for Federal assistance under this notice.
A. Eligible Applicants:
Eligible applicants are K-through-12 public and independent schools and school systems, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, state or local government agencies, and Indian tribal governments.
The Department of Commerce/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to broadening the participation of historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and institutions that service undeserved areas. The National Marine Sanctuary Program encourages proposals involving any of the above institutions.
A. Eligible Applicants:
Eligible applicants are the governor-appointed point of contact agencies for coral reef activities in each of the jurisdictions of American Samoa, Florida, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
A. Eligible Applicants:
Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education; other nonprofits; commercial organizations; foreign governments; organizations under the jurisdiction of foreign governments; international organizations; state, local and Indian tribal governments; and Federal agencies. Applications from non-Federal and Federal applicants will be competed against each other. Proposals selected for funding from non-Federal applicants will be funded through a cooperative agreement as described above in section II. C. of this notice. Proposals selected for funding from NOAA scientists shall be effected by an intra-agency fund transfer. Proposals selected for funding from a non-NOAA Federal agency will be funded through an inter-agency transfer. PLEASE NOTE: Before non-NOAA Federal applicants may be funded, they must demonstrate that they have legal authority to receive funds from another Federal agency in excess of their appropriation. The only exception to this is governmental research facilities for awards issued under the authority of 49 USC 44720(b). Because this announcement is not proposing to procure goods or services from applicants, the Economy Act (31 USC 1535) is not an appropriate legal basis.
NOFO Field: Cost Share or Matching Requirement
OMB Guidance:
III. Eligibility Information
This section addresses considerations or factors that make an applicant or application eligible or ineligible for consideration. This includes the eligibility of particular types of applicant organizations, any factors affecting the eligibility of the principal investigator or project director, and any criteria that make particular projects ineligible. You should make clear whether an applicant’s failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the time of an application deadline will result in your agency’s returning the application without review or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude the agency from making an award. Key elements to be addressed are:
2. Cost Sharing or Matching -- Required.
You must state whether there is required cost sharing, matching, or cost participation without which an application would be ineligible (if cost sharing is not required, you must explicitly say so). Required cost sharing may be a certain percentage or amount, or may be in the form of contributions of specified items or activities (e.g., provision of equipment). It is important that the announcement be clear about any restrictions on the types of cost (e.g., in-kind contributions) that are acceptable as cost sharing. Cost sharing as an eligibility criterion includes requirements based in statute or regulation, as well as those imposed by administrative decision of the agency. This section should refer to the appropriate portion(s) of Section IV stating any pre-award requirements for submission of letters or other documentation to verify commitments to meet cost-sharing requirements if an award is made.
Additional Guidance:
- Do not enter the field name (shown in bold in the examples). The NOFO generator will enter the field name.
- The Department has broken this required section into 3 required subsections. Cost Share or Matching Requirement is the second of these.
- Voluntary committed cost sharing for research awards is not expected and cannot be use as a factor during the merit review of applications. Refer to 200.306 for more information.
Published Examples:
B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement:
No cost sharing is required under this program. Applicant resource commitment will, however, be considered in the competitive selection process. Refer to Part V, Section A, Paragraph 3 for further information.
View Corresponding Omnibus Synopsis COST SHARING REQUIREMENTS (First Example)
B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement:
Applications for RDTE facility cooperative agreements must include additional non-federal matching funds equal to at least 20% of the total NOAA funds requested over the duration of the cooperative agreement. In-kind contributions are eligible to satisfy the match requirement. Matching funds for each individual year need not equal a 20% match of that year’s request, as long as the total matching funds for the duration of the cooperative agreement meet the 20% match requirements for the total request amount.
View Corresponding Omnibus Synopsis COST SHARING REQUIREMENTS (Second Example)
B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement:
There will be the one-third required cost share of the total cost of the award for those applicants selected as legislative fellows.
View Corresponding Omnibus Synopsis COST SHARING REQUIREMENTS (Third Example)
B. Cost Share or Matching Requirement:
A major goal of the MDP is to provide seed money to projects that leverage funds and other contributions from a broad public and private sector to implement locally important marine debris prevention and removal activities to benefit living marine resources. To this end, applicants are encouraged to demonstrate a minimum 1:1 non- Federal match for MDP funds requested to conduct the proposed project. NOAA strongly encourages applicants to leverage as much investment as possible. Applicants with less than 1:1 match will not be disqualified, however, applicants should note that cost sharing is an element considered in Evaluation Criterion #4. “Project Costs”.
Match can come from a variety of public and private sources and can include inkind goods and services such as private boat use and volunteer labor. Federal sources cannot be considered for matching funds, but can be described in the budget narrative to demonstrate additional leverage. Applicants are permitted to combine contributions from multiple non-federal partners in order to meet the 1:1 match recommendation, as long as such contributions are not being used to match any other funds. Applicants are also permitted to apply federally negotiated indirect costs in excess of federal share limits as described in Section IV. E. 2. “Indirect Costs”.
Applicants whose proposals are selected for funding will be bound by the percentage of cost sharing reflected in the award document signed by the NOAA Grants Officer. Successful applicants should be prepared to carefully document matching contributions, including the names of participating volunteers and the overall number of volunteer or community participation hours devoted to individual marine debris prevention or removal projects. Letters of commitment for any secured resources expected to be used as match for an award should be submitted as an attachment to the application
View Corresponding Omnibus Synopsis COST SHARING REQUIREMENTS (Fourth Example)
NOFO Field: Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility
OMB Guidance:
III. Eligibility Information
This section addresses considerations or factors that make an applicant or application eligible or ineligible for consideration. This includes the eligibility of particular types of applicant organizations, any factors affecting the eligibility of the principal investigator or project director, and any criteria that make particular projects ineligible. You should make clear whether an applicant’s failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the time of an application deadline will result in your agency’s returning the application without review or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude the agency from making an award. Key elements to be addressed are:
3. Other -- Required, if applicable.
If there are other eligibility criteria (i.e., criteria that have the effect of making an application or project ineligible for award, whether you refer to them as ‘‘responsiveness’’ criteria, ‘‘go-no go’’ criteria, ‘‘threshold’’ criteria, or in other ways), you must clearly state them. For example, if entities that have been found to be in violation of a particular Federal statute are ineligible, it is important to say so. In this section you also must state any limit on the number of applications an applicant may submit under the announcement and make clear whether the limitation is on the submitting organization, individual investigator/program director, or both. Also use this section to address any eligibility criteria for beneficiaries or for program participants other than award recipients.
Additional Guidance:
- Do not enter the field name (shown in bold in the examples). The NOFO generator will enter the field name.
- The Department has broken this required section into 3 required subsections. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility is the third of these.
Published Examples:
C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility:
Not applicable
C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility:
Each proposal must also include the twelve elements listed under Proposal Requirements, (a)-(l) or it will be returned to sender without further consideration.
C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility:
Proposals must meet the statutory requirements of Ballast Water Management Demonstration Program projects as codified in Title 16, United States Code, section 4714, including the requirement that installation and construction of the technologies and practices used in the demonstration program must be performed in the United States.
Certain actions, such as discharge of water containing materials defined as pollutants by authorized regulatory agencies, or discharge of un-exchanged ballast water from beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone into the Great Lakes, may require regulatory approval. A proposal that requires such approval in order to carry out its work plan may be considered ineligible for funding if (a) the applicant does not request approval from the appropriate regulatory body, (b) the regulatory body denies the request, or (c) the regulatory body has not decided whether to grant the request at the time funding decisions under this program are made.