This competitive program provides funding to institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, and local and Indian tribal government agencies to support coral reef conservation projects in the United States, as authorized under the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. §§ 6401-6409).
These awards are intended to support coral reef conservation projects in shallow water coral reef ecosystems, including reefs at mesophotic depths, in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and coral-dominated banks in U.S. portions of the Gulf of Mexico. Projects may be proposed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands, but these locations are not considered geographic priorities under this announcement.
Priorities are listed by jurisdiction under these four major categories: 1) Fishing Impacts; 2) Land-Based Sources of Pollution; 3) Climate Change; and 4) Local and Emerging Management Issues (coral disease, invasive species, endangered species, restoration, and recreation use). These categories are described in more detail in the full Federal Funding Opportunity announcement. All proposed work should be consistent with the Coral Reef Conservation Program National Goals and Objectives 2010-2015: http://coralreef.noaa.gov/conservation/resources/3threats_go.pdf (still current).
Applicants may propose projects that include a Federal funding amount between $30,000 and $80,000; the average Federal funding amount for successful projects will be approximately $50,000. Applicants must provide a 1:1 match of non-Federal funds or must submit a request to NOAA to waive the matching requirement if the applicant can demonstrate 1) no reasonable means are available through which an applicant can meet the matching requirement, and 2) the probable benefit of the project outweighs the public interest in such matching requirement.
Applicants should apply through www.grants.gov; however, applicants unable to use www.grants.gov may mail a complete application package including the required Federal forms, which must be signed by hand and dated. All applications should follow the specific application requirements described in the full Federal funding opportunity announcement.
Applications must be submitted via www.grants.gov by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on January 11, 2017. If submitted via mail, applications must include an official postmark or a delivery service that provides a tracking number and receipt, documenting that the application was mailed prior to the January 11, 2017 deadline. Private metered postmarks are not acceptable. In any event, mailed applications received more than 10 business days following the closing date will not be accepted.
Interested applicants may obtain the full Federal Funding Opportunity announcement by visiting www.grants.gov, clicking on the “Search Grants, tab” and searching by funding opportunity number (NOAA-NOS-OCM-2017-2005011) or by CFDA number (11.482).