For more information, please follow this link: Innovative Nutrient And Sediment Reduction Grants 2022 Request For Proposals | NFWF

Full Proposal Due Date: November 29, 2021

APPLY

All full proposal materials must be submitted online through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Easygrants system.

  1. Go to easygrants.nfwf.org to register in our Easygrants online system. New users to the system will be prompted to register before starting the application (if you already are a registered user, use your existing login). Enter your applicant information. Please disable the pop-up blocker on your internet browser prior to beginning the application process.
  2. Once on your homepage, click the “Apply for Funding” button and select this RFP’s “Funding Opportunity” from the list of options.
  3. Follow the instructions in Easygrants to complete your application. Once an application has been started, it may be saved and returned to at a later time for completion and submission.

APPLICATION ASSISTANCE

A PDF version of this RFP can be downloaded in the Related Content Section.

A Tip Sheet is available for quick reference while you are working through your application. This document can be downloaded in the Related Content Section. Additional information to support the application process can be accessed on the NFWF website’s “Applicant Information” page (http://www.nfwf.org/whatwedo/grants/applicants/Pages/home.aspx).

For more information or questions about this RFP, please contact Jake Reilly (jake.reilly@nfwf.org), Stephanie Heidbreder (stephanie.heidbreder@nfwf.org), or Nicole Thompson (nicole.thompson@nfwf.org) via e-mail or by phone at (202) 857-0166.

For issues or assistance with our online Easygrants system, please contact:
Easygrants Helpdesk

OVERVIEW

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership, is soliciting proposals to restore water quality and habitats of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams.

NFWF is soliciting proposals under the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants (INSR) program to accelerate the rate and scale of water quality improvements specifically through the coordinated and collaborative efforts of sustainable, regional-scale1 partnerships in implementing proven water quality improvement practices more cost-effectively. Projects proposing to implement water quality improvement projects or practices at the pilot or demonstration scale, through ad-hoc project-scale partnerships, or via small-scale applications of new or innovative technologies are encouraged to apply for funding through the separate Small Watershed Grants (SWG) program (Request for Proposals anticipated for release in early 2022).

NFWF estimates awarding $7-10 million in grants through the INSR program in 2022, contingent on the availability of funding. Major funding comes from the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office, with other important contributions by Altria Group, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)  U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

All prospective applicants are required to consult with NFWF prior to submitting an application and no later than November 15, 2021. The NFWF program staff will confirm the applicant’s eligibility and provide initial feedback on the proposed project’s alignment with the INSR program priorities. Prospective applicants should contact Jake Reilly at jake.reilly@nfwf.org to schedule project consultations.

GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS

All projects must occur wholly within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and directly result in the implementation of water quality improvements across multiple sites within a defined regional project focus or service area, to be specified by program applicants. Special consideration will be provided to projects located within priority subwatersheds where NFWF has identified significant needs for additional nutrient and sediment pollution reduction; applicants should consult links in this Request for Proposals and NFWF’s online Chesapeake Bay Business Plan mapping portal for more information on priority areas.

PROGRAM PRIORITIES

As the CBP partnership initiates the critical final phase of implementation efforts under the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), NFWF, EPA and CBP partners are intentionally targeting INSR program funding towards the accelerated implementation of proven water quality improvement practices2 and approaches to achieve the level implementation necessary to achieve remaining pollution reductions by the TMDL’s 2025 deadline. The desired result of INSR funding is a cost-effective, measurable increase in the rate and/or scale of implementation for priority water quality improvement practices, as identified through the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and associated Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs), in a defined regional project focus or service area.

NFWF is specifically soliciting proposals from existing partnerships, collaboratives and networks (“partnerships”), which are an especially effective mechanism for achieving and sustaining desired water quality improvement efforts by strategic leveraging of capacities, skills, and resources of diverse stakeholders. Such partnerships can take many forms3 and may include nonprofit organizations, public agencies, institutions and/or businesses4 with a shared focus on water quality restoration and protection.

NFWF will competitively award funding under the INSR program to partnership projects that simultaneously (1) cultivate the growth and enhancement of existing regional-scale partnerships working on watershed restoration, and (2) measurably accelerate the geographic scale and/or rate of implementation for priority water quality improvement practices identified through the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and associated WIPs:

Cultivating Partnership and Network Growth and Enhancement: Consistent with program goals for accelerating near-term water quality improvements, the INSR program will focus primarily on efforts to enhance and expand the capacity and impact of existing partnerships for water quality restoration and protection. Projects seeking to establish new partnerships are encouraged to apply for funding through the separate SWG program Request for Proposals.

Proposals must summarize both the current composition, structure, and function of the existing partnership(s) included in the proposal, citing formal and informal mechanisms for coordination and collaboration, as well as enhancements in these partnerships that will be achieved through the proposed project activities. Proposals must also establish a clear connection as to how proposed changes in coordinated and collaborative structures and/or functions will help to accelerate water quality improvements, a quantification of those water quality improvements, address key implementation and adoption barriers for priority practices, and improve long-term sustainability and durability of associated partnerships.

NFWF, in partnership with University of Virginia’s Institute for Engagement and Negotiation, has identified four key areas for investment based on an extensive review of successful ecosystem restoration collaboratives, both in the Chesapeake Bay region and nationally, completed in 2019. Successful proposals will address these characteristics of effective collaboratives in describing their proposed project, work plan and collaborative structure.

  • Building and Sustaining Motivation: Shared strategic planning processes, learning agendas, stakeholder engagement and recruitment initiatives, and leadership development activities can play important roles in building and sustaining inspiration and motivation for collaborative action. These processes and activities help to maintain an evident and transparent shared collaborative vision and purpose and further attract diverse stakeholders, organizations and individuals for a comprehensive and inclusive vision given unique local or regional needs.

  • Establishing and Improving Effective Collaborative Processes: Clear, consistent and explicit agreements on internal and external communication protocols, coordinative roles and responsibilities, decision-making processes and conflict management approaches can help to build trust and contribute to more effective and transparent processes for collaborative conservation action. Ensuring effective and consistent communication and convening of partnerships often plays a central role in clarifying and refining appropriate processes.

  • Enhancing Core Capacities: Partnership-based funding of collaborative coordination activities, building of requisite technical expertise, “mapping” of technical and financial resources, and professional development efforts can enhance the collective capacity and development towards greater efficacy of collaboratives to effect on-the-ground outcomes and leverage shared or pooled funding opportunities.

  • Promoting Continuous Evaluation: Continued self-assessment and evaluation of collaborative process and performance can ensure adaptive management of collaboratives to meet emerging needs and opportunities.

Accelerating the Scale and/or Rate of Water Quality Improvements: The ultimate goal of the INSR program is to measurably increase the geographic scale and/or rate of implementation for priority water quality improvement practices, as identified through the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and associated WIPs, in a defined regional project focus or service area.

Proposed improvements to grow and enhance existing partnerships must reasonably and demonstrably result in accelerated water quality improvement and practice implementation efforts. NFWF also acknowledges that additional grant investments beyond these direct improvements to collaborative structures and functions are likely necessary to further accelerate on-the-ground implementation efforts, for example by directly funding new regional-scale outreach and implementation programs, piloting or adapting regional-scale incentive programs, and demonstrating joint restoration project financing and implementation approaches. INSR funding may be used to support these efforts. However, consistent with the program’s goals to establish more sustainable mechanisms for future efforts, NFWF expects projects to clearly demonstrate how partners will pivot towards more sustainable, non-grant funding sources to finance ongoing implementation in the future.

NFWF is especially interested in efforts that accelerate water quality improvements associated with nonpoint source agricultural pollution, small and medium agricultural operations, and stormwater runoff from small and/or unregulated communities. All proposals must document how their proposal aligns with relevant state and local WIPs. Proposals that measurably increase implementation of priority practices and/or practices that are needed for accelerated implementation will be prioritized.

Special consideration will be afforded to proposed partnerships or networks that address one or more of the following specific strategies with the potential to advance transformational water quality improvement approaches:

Managing Upland Agricultural Runoff through Farm-Scale Conservation Systems and Solutions: Includes efforts to reduce water quality impacts while simultaneously maintaining or increasing profits, reducing costs, and enhancing financial performance of the region’s farms through the implementation of best management practices that reduce pollution at the farm scale, increase cost-efficiency, and increase performance.
For projects managing agricultural runoff, the most competitive applications will seek first to utilize existing federal, state, and local cost-share and incentive programs to finance implementation of water quality improvement practices, with NFWF funding for practice implementation used to strategically fill gaps in existing funding programs. Where NFWF funding is sought to cover all or a portion of costs for practice implementation, applicants must describe why other public programs are insufficient or otherwise inappropriate for financing proposed practice implementation.

Managing Upland Urban Runoff through Green Stormwater Infrastructure Improvements (GSI): Includes efforts to assist local governments, nonprofit organizations, and community associations to improve urban and suburban stormwater management by implementing upland, green stormwater infrastructure practices that capture, store, filter, and treat stormwater runoff. In limited cases, NFWF may also support urban floodplain and stream restoration for water quality improvement where existing or planned green stormwater infrastructure initiatives that meaningfully contribute to the control of stormwater runoff from upland sources.

Restoring Riparian and Freshwater Habitats through Forested Buffers, Floodplain and Wetland Reconnection, Stream Restoration and Habitat Improvements: Includes efforts to restore degraded riparian systems to improve water quality, enhance aquatic habitat, and increase fish populations across the Chesapeake Bay region through a variety of actions including but not limited to: establishment of riparian forested buffers, livestock exclusion fencing, and associated practices like stream crossing and off-stream watering; reconnection of stream channels with historic floodplains and adjacent wetlands to further promote nutrient removal, attenuate erosive stormflows and increase resiliency of  riparian systems, and restore streams in both urban and rural landscapes to control streambank erosion, increase in-stream nutrient processing, and provide food, cover, and habitat for priority species.

Conservation Finance and Market Development to Accelerate Water Quality Improvements: U.S. EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership are increasingly looking towards conservation finance and environmental market development as strategies to help meet Bay TMDL goals by bringing additional or new revenues for watershed restoration, streamlining or reducing costs of restoration, and increasing cash flows and liquidity for on-the-ground implementation efforts. Selected examples include pay-for-performance and pay-for-success models, functional environmental credit markets, revolving funds, and consumer-funded models for sustainable food and fiber production, among others. Collectively, these approaches seek to advance novel and non-traditional transactions, payors, and capitalization approaches to enhance the pace and scale of watershed restoration efforts.

NFWF will utilize the Market Development Framework (Figure 1) developed by the Conservation Finance Network to better understand and evaluate proposals that incorporate conservation finance and market development under the INSR program.