Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Tribal Engagement in Regional Ocean Partnership Priorities | NOAA NOS OCM 2024 27598

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA NOS OCM 2024 27598

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Tribal Engagement in Regional Ocean Partnership Priorities grant (Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA NOS OCM 2024 27598) is a NOAA competitive funding opportunity designed to strengthen how federally recognized Tribes engage with existing Regional Ocean Partnerships (ROPs). At its core, the program is meant to help Tribes participate more fully in regional ocean and coastal efforts by building relationships, improving coordination, and ensuring Tribal priorities and knowledge are meaningfully considered alongside broader regional planning and management work. The award is issued as a cooperative agreement, which typically means NOAA expects to have more active involvement during the project period than under a standard grant, such as coordination, technical input, or participation in key project activities.

Projects funded under this opportunity must align with the priorities of one of the established ROPs and support Tribal ocean and coastal activities that connect directly to those priorities. The announcement emphasizes several types of activities as a good fit: helping Tribes identify and articulate ocean and coastal priorities; creating space for multiple Tribes to work together to define shared or intertribal management priorities and to map where those priorities intersect with ROP goals; building or expanding Tribal capacity to engage in ROP activities (including practical participation supports such as webinars, meetings, workshops, and related convenings); and developing or strengthening partnerships between a Tribal government and a ROP for the management of ocean and coastal resources. Another major focus is improving how Tribal information and knowledge are considered in regional ocean data systems, when appropriate, including regional data portals. This can include increasing the inclusion of Tribal knowledge in data tools (as appropriate and consistent with Tribal preferences), improving Tribal access to data developed by ROPs, and helping shape what datasets and decision-support tools are made available through those regional portals.

Eligibility is centered on U.S. federally recognized Indian Tribes that have current and/or ancestral interests in a region served by an established ROP and that want to pursue coastal and ocean activities aligned with that ROPs priorities. The eligible ROP regions named in the announcement are the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, the West Coast Ocean Alliance, the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean. In addition to Tribal governments themselves, Tribal-serving organizations are also allowed to apply on behalf of one or more Tribes. When a Tribal-serving organization applies, the application must include letter(s) from the Tribe(s) confirming leadership support and explaining how the Tribe will be involved in the proposed work, which signals that the project should be Tribe-supported and Tribe-engaged rather than simply Tribe-adjacent.

This opportunity is funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also referred to throughout the materials as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). It is listed under CFDA 11.473 and categorized as discretionary funding, with an activity focus that includes natural resources and science and technology/research and development. The maximum federal funding amount listed for an individual award is $400,000, and the original application closing date shown is October 31, 2024.

A practical but important part of this announcement is the required federal systems registration. Applicants must have active registrations in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons in order to submit and receive an award. NOAA flags that completing all three registrations can take roughly 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants are expected to start early to avoid being locked out by administrative delays. A Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov is required before eRA Commons registration if the organization does not already have one. eRA Commons also requires the organization to designate at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account, since both roles are needed for an application to be submitted. For eligible applicants without reliable internet access, the announcement notes that they should contact the agency points of contact listed in the notice for alternative submission instructions.

Overall, this program is best understood as capacity-building and partnership-building funding aimed at ensuring Tribes can engage in regional ocean governance and planning on their own terms, with adequate support to participate in ROP processes, convene with other Tribes, and improve access to and influence over regional coastal and ocean data tools that shape decision-making.

• The DOC NOAA - ERA Production in the iij, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Tribal Engagement in Regional Ocean Partnership Priorities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.473.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-07-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-10-31. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments).

Apply for NOAA NOS OCM 2024 27598

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