The principal objective of the NOAA Great Lakes Fish Habitat Restoration Partnership Grants competition is to provide federal financial and technical assistance to habitat restoration projects that meet NOAA's mission to restore coastal habitats and support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) (https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2019-10/documents/glri-action-pl...) goal to protect and restore habitats to sustain healthy populations of native fish species in the eight U.S. Great Lakes states. Proposals submitted under this solicitation will be evaluated based on alignment with our program priorities, including: 1) contribution to GLRI Focus Area 1 (Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern) goals to implement management actions within select Areas of Concern (AOC), and 2) contribution to GLRI Focus Area 4 (Habitats and Species) goals to restore habitat for native Great Lakes fish species whose populations have been impacted by habitat degradation. Through this solicitation, we intend to address GLRI Focus Area 4 goals by prioritizing a subset of habitat restoration projects identified by the Lake Committees as Environmental Priorities to meet fish community objectives for Great Lakes fish species. Lake Committees are composed of senior officials from state, provincial, and U.S. intertribal fishery agencies, convened by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Together, they are responsible for managing the Lakes’ fisheries and developing plans and guidance to sustain healthy populations of Great Lakes commercial and recreational fish species.
Deadline: Jan. 12, 2022
Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, non-profits, commercial (for profit) organizations, U.S. territories, and state, local and Native American tribal governments. Applications from federal agencies or employees of federal agencies will not be considered. Federal agencies are strongly encouraged to work with states, non- governmental organizations, municipal and county governments, and others that are eligible to apply. Eligible applicants may be located anywhere but must propose work within the Great Lakes basin and within one of the eight U.S. Great Lakes states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota).
NOAA anticipates typical federal funding for awards will range from $500,000 to $5 million over one to three years. NOAA will not accept proposals with a federal funding request of less than $300,000 or more than $30 million total over three years. NOAA anticipates up to $10 million will be available under this Announcement in FY22. Awards are dependent upon the amount of funds made available to NOAA for this purpose by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in FY22 - FY24 budgets.
