Pacific Islands Area Conservation Planning and Implementation Support Partnerships Fiscal Year 2020 Announcement for Funding | USDA NRCS MULTI 20 GEN0010737

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS MULTI 20 GEN0010737

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced this Fiscal Year 2020 funding opportunity to expand conservation planning and implementation capacity across the Pacific Islands Area, specifically Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The intent is to bring in partner organizations that can provide technical and administrative support so conservation work moves faster on the ground, especially work tied to water quality priorities and targeted conservation delivery. The funding is structured as a discretionary cooperative agreement, which generally means NRCS expects to remain actively involved during the project rather than simply issuing a pass-through grant.

At its core, the program is designed to help NRCS deliver conservation programs authorized under Title II of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill). The practical focus is on speeding up the development of conservation plans, helping implement those plans, and producing watershed assessment and areawide planning products that strengthen the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) and other targeted approaches. All supported work must follow NRCS policies and procedures laid out in its official manuals, handbooks, bulletins, and instructions, which are publicly available through the NRCS eDirectives system. This requirement matters because it sets standards for how conservation planning is documented, how contracts are administered, and how watershed assessments are conducted, so partner outputs align with NRCS program rules.

Applicants were required to address at least one of four priority areas. The first priority covers the full range of conservation planning and implementation support, carried out consistent with NRCS conservation planning policy and national planning procedures (including NRCS General Manual Title 180, Part 409, and the National Planning Procedures Handbook, Title 180, Part 600). In practice, that can include the technical work needed to develop conservation plans with producers or land managers, document resource concerns, identify and schedule conservation practices, and support the steps needed to move from a plan to implementation.

The second priority targets the business side of Farm Bill conservation delivery: technical and administrative services that help NRCS manage applications and contracts. This includes support aligned with NRCS guidance on business tools and conservation program contracting (including NRCS General Manual Title 440, Part 402, and the Conservation Program Contracting Manual, Title 440, Part 530). Typical needs in this space can include application intake support, file and data management, preparation of contracting documents, coordination to keep contracting timelines moving, and related administrative workflows that free up NRCS staff to focus on engineering, agronomy, biology, and field implementation.

The third priority emphasizes local coordination and strategic planning. NRCS sought partners who could facilitate Local Working Group meetings, assist with the development of long-range plans, and help develop Targeted Conservation Delivery proposals. This type of work supports NRCS planning and stakeholder input processes by organizing meetings, documenting priorities, coordinating partners, and turning local resource concerns into structured proposals and work plans that can guide where and how conservation assistance is concentrated.

The fourth priority is specifically aimed at watershed-scale assessment work that supports NWQI efforts in selected locations. Applicants could propose to work with partners to complete watershed assessments following NRCS watershed planning guidance (NRCS General Manual Title 150, Part 401). The announcement highlights three NWQI focus areas: West Maui, Hilo Bay, and Pelekane Bay. The underlying goal is to generate defensible assessments and planning products that identify sources of water quality impairment and guide targeted conservation actions in these watersheds.

From an applicant and administrative standpoint, the opportunity was cataloged under CFDA 10.902 and offered an award ceiling of up to $1,000,000, with NRCS anticipating about 11 awards. Eligible applicants included state, county, and city or township governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding IHEs in that nonprofit category). The funding opportunity number was USDA NRCS MULTI 20 GEN0010737. The notice was created on March 20, 2020, with an original application deadline of May 21, 2020.

NRCS also scheduled an applicant webinar for April 16, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time, with participation details to be posted on the NRCS Pacific Islands Area website. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a capacity-building partnership mechanism: NRCS uses cooperative agreements to bring in qualified partners to help produce NRCS-compliant plans, accelerate contracting and implementation workflows, convene local planning processes, and complete watershed assessments that directly support targeted water quality outcomes in the Pacific Islands.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pacific Islands Area Conservation Planning and Implementation Support Partnerships Fiscal Year 2020 Announcement for Funding" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 20, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 21, 2020. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 11 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

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