Video
Battlefield Restoration Grants FY24 NOFO and Program Overview
Transcript
Hello!, and welcome to this presentation on the Battlefield Restoration grants offered through the American Battlefield Protection Program. I'm Nancy Marksbury and I'm the grants management specialist for the Restoration Grant program. Slide 2: Today I plan to summarize the battlefield restoration program eligibility and timelines; show you where to find the notice of funding opportunity; review the application process and requirements; and explain the Merit review process.
Slide 3: Congress established the National Park Services' American Battlefield Protection Program to assist citizens, public and private institutions, and governments in planning, interpreting, and protecting sites where historic battles were fought on American soil during the armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States. We are a small team of Specialists who fulfill the preservation mission that Congress articulated when establishing the program more than 20 years ago.
Slide 4: Moving from left to right in this table, I'll provide a quick overview of how the restoration grant program fits into our overall preservation mission. Beginning with the preservation planning grant program, this program supports a broad array of preservation planning, resource inventory and evaluation, interpretation, and stakeholder engagement activities for projects at sites of armed conflict on American soil. We also administer three other Grant programs funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund or LWCF which reinvests earnings from offshore oil and gas leasing to help strengthen communities, preserve history, and protect the National Endowment of lands and Waters. These three Grant programs: Battlefield land acquisition grants, Battlefield interpretation grants, and Battlefield restoration grants all require a dollar for dollar non-federal match. You can learn more about each of these programs on our website.
Slide 5: However today's presentation is focused on Battlefield restoration grants, our fourth and newest grant program. Restoration grants tap LWCF funds to support the restoration of day of battle conditions at eligible American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War battlefield sites. In this annual offering, we're authorized to award up to $1 million annually to State and local governments and nonprofit organizations who are selected competitively to receive these grants for scoping or implementation projects.
Slide 6: Let's take a deeper dive into eligibility requirements for our restoration grants. You'll find a detailed description of eligibility requirements beginning on page five of the NOFO. Eligible sites are American Revolution, Civil War, and War of 1812 properties that have been either Acquired and protected with assistance from the NPS's Battlefield Land Acquisition grant program as well as properties that are owned or managed by state or local government entities such as state or local Battlefield Parks. Additionally these properties must be located outside the current legislative boundaries of a unit of the National Park System, and they should occur on properties protected by an executed preservation easement or preservation letter of agreement. The map of the US on this slide at the bottom shows by color the states where ranked battlefields are located. Our website contains the battlefield boundary map interactive tool Illustrated in the screenshot on the lower right.
Slide 7: and you can also access from our website PDF copies of the Congressional reports that rank battlefields
Slide 8: as I mentioned in our overview of ABPP Grant programs, Restoration grants along with Acquisition and Interpretation grants require dollar for dollar matching funds from a non-federal source. Contributions for cost match may include cash or in-kind contributions of services or materials. Eligible applicants are non-federal organizations including State, County, city, or Township governments. Native American tribal governments who are federally recognized, and public and state controlled institutions of higher education are also eligible. Nonprofits that do or do not have a 501c3 status with the IRS, private institutions of Higher education, and Native American tribal organizations which are not federally recognized are also eligible. A full list of eligible applicants can be found on page five of the NOFO.
Slide 9: The legislated purpose of our Restoration grant program is to support the restoration of day of battle conditions at eligible properties. We have two categories of grants available: scoping grants are available to fund early stages of project development such as research documentation and evaluation to determine appropriate treatment options that meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Landscapes. Scoping grants may include consultation with stakeholders, development of comprehensive treatment and management plans, schematic designs or specifications. We expect the Federal share for scoping grants to range from $30,000 to $100,000 with a project timeline from start to finish, what we call the period of performance, of 1 to two years. On the other hand, implementation grants are available to applicants who have completed planning activities prior to application. Prior planning activities include evaluation of historic resources and identification if preservation, rehabilitation, or restoration is the most appropriate and viable option according to the secretary's standards. We expect the Federal share for implementation grants to range from $50,000 to $500,000 with a period of performance of two to 5 years. It is not necessary to receive a scoping Grant before applying for an implementation Grant but the application must show that equivalent preparation work has been completed. Please note total reconstructions of buildings or Landscapes that no longer retain any Integrity to the period of the battle are not eligible as they serve purposes of interpretation rather than historical preservation. The applicant must provide planning documentation as part of the application that sufficiently addresses the standards and guidelines in an evaluation of historic resources. In your application, it should be clear whether your project is a scoping or implementation Grant as it can only be one or the other. However it is not necessary to receive a scoping Grant before applying for an implementation Grant but the application must show that equivalent preparation work of a scoping Grant has been completed for an implementation Grant.
Slide 10:
I'm turning now to the mechanics of how to get started. You'll want to download the notice of funding opportunity or the NOFO. It is a comprehensive guide with instructions for submitting a fully complete application and ensuring your eligibility with all criteria. To do so, go to grants.gov and use the search feature to search on the opportunity number which is P24AS00519. Click on the linked opportunity number in the results,
Slide 11: and select the related documents button. From there, you can download the full announcement with all the required forms.
Slide 12:Prior to submitting your application, your organization will require registration in grants.gov and sam.gov. Grants.gov is where your workspace is located and this allows multiple people to progress your application. Sam.gov enables your organization to do business with the Federal government, and as the Project Director or driver of this project, you will need to set up double authentication using Login.gov for your access to these sites. Please note that applications for Restoration grants for FY24 are due to grants.gov by midnight on May 15 2024.
Slide 13: on this slide are listed the mandatory forms and attachments. In the next couple of slides, I'll talk in greater detail about the project narrative, budget narrative, and attachments, as well as the Merit review process but for now, let me draw your attention to the mandatory standard forms. Application requirements for both scoping and implementation grants include a suite of standard forms that are described in more detail beginning on page seven of the NOFO. These include the sf-424 application for federal financial assistance; the sf-424a which provides budget information for non-construction programs; and SF-424b which provides assurances for non-construction programs. The SF-424 C and D serve the same purposes but for implementation proposals only. You'll need to provide a short project abstract that gets transmitted to USASpending.gov should your application get awarded, and a conflict of interest form.
Slide 14: Both scoping and implementation categories of Grants also requires submission of a project narrative. In the project narrative, you must identify the category for consideration as either a scoping Grant or an implementation Grant. The project narrative is limited to 10 pages and it's where you will provide narrative to the solicitation's prompts. These prompts are broken out by discussion topics and point values within the Merit review process so I'll now go through these individual sections. The historical significance and integrity of the site Criterion helps you situate the parcel in its historical context as well as its current state. I wish to note here that the battlefield boundaries establish the significance of the battle so applicants should not use application space to retell the full story of the battle, but rather focus on the resources to be studied and restored. The technical merits of resource analysis and proposed activities section describes how you hope to accomplish the work while not interfering with the property's historic resources. Feasibility of your proposed strategy informs the reader that your plan is well thought out and doable. Prompts in this section include the urgency and threats your project will address, as well as how the project team is set up up for Success. The sustainability Criterion asks you to justify how the proposed project will maintain impact beyond the period of Grant support; here's where you can also discuss plans for outreach and involvement of stakeholders, underserved communities and tribes. Because you have 10 pages to tell this complete story, you may wish to include additional addenda to your package to flush out particular points of your narrative without extending beyond the 10-page limit of the project narrative. You may include additional attachments but you may not include links to websites, blogs, or other informational content you wish to have evaluated.
Slide 15: The work you propose in the project narrative should be supported by costs identified in the budget justification worksheet sheet. You'll also need to submit a detailed budget narrative that substantiates the identified costs. The project budget should include detailed information on all cost categories and must clearly identify all estimated project costs. Cost categories can include but are not limited to those cost items included on the sf-424a or sf-424c. You'll want to provide unit costs for all budget items including the cost of work to be provided by contractors or subrecipients. I will note here that should your application be awarded, you will need to adhere to a Build America, Buy American Clause, so please do consider material sources that will need to be obtained from US suppliers. You'll also include a narrative description of in kind contributions of goods and services provided to meet the cost share requirement, and you'll find a detailed description of cost categories beginning on page eight of the NOFO.
Slide 16: While the standard forms, project narrative and budget narrative represent the core of the application, additional documentation is needed to support the review process and are required in a complete application. This additional documentation includes a letter of commitment for cost matching that provides a formal commitment to contribute the non-Federal share of at least 50% of the total project cost as is described in the budget narrative. The letter should be from the non-Federal Entity providing the funding and addressed to the applicant. If the matching funds derive from a source other than the applicant, applicants should submit multiple letters from each source that contributes to the required non-Federal share. You'll also need to include a copy of an executed or recorded preservation easement or preservation letter of agreement. This is required for submission as part of a complete application. For implementation proposals only, you will also need to include letters of acknowledgement from the easement holder and SHPO or state historic preservation office. A letter of owner consent is required for projects in which the applicant is not the fee simple owner of the eligible property. Please note these letters of owner consent must be submitted with the application signed no earlier than 60 days before the application due date, and the letters must specifically reference consent for the proposed activities. Please include resumés or CVS of key project Personnel, or position description, selection criteria, quotes, or statements of work for staff, consultants or contractors to be hired as part of the project. These attachments should support the descriptions of the project team in the project narrative. If the property is located in an historic area, please include that designation. Detailed planning documents should also be included if those activities are completed by the time you submit your application. Please include at least one map that depicts the subject property with reference to the core and study area boundaries of associated eligible battlefields. This map will also include the project's area of potential effect, or APE for section 106 purposes, if the application is for an implementation proposal. If you're not familiar with section 106, it applies for federally funded projects and defines a process for the federal government to consult with a SHPO, Federally recognized tribes, and other concerned parties. The map or maps should also include boundaries of any properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places within the project area, and existing building structures, as well as potential historic resources within the project area. Associated GIS shapefiles, or geodatabases, including metadata compliant with NPS Spatial Data transfer standards FBDC are also required. We also ask that you provide photos of the property and surrounding area potentially affected by the proposed Grant activities, and any relevant illustrations or images. Please note the NOFO package includes a project images worksheet for your convenience and you'll find detailed descriptions of the photo requirements on page 16 of the NOFO, and finally do include letter of support from other nonprofits or entities who have an interest in your project.
Slide 17: I mentioned earlier that several documents: the project narrative, budget narrative, and some attachments that are considered in the Merit review of an application. Once you've assembled and submitted the required application components by the May 15 deadline, the review process begins. The timeline depicted at the top of this slide shows the touch points of the evaluation process. Once your application is submitted, the initial review is performed by project staff to establish eligibility. Independent Merit review is performed by subject matter experts recruited from NPS Park Personnel. Reviewers rate the applications individually and then convene to discuss their evaluations. From these ratings, the program makes recommendations of the applications and advances those selections for the director's approval. Successful applications will be notified sometime in late October and recipients will be able to draw down funds once they have signed the grant agreement document. The earliest project start date we estimate is December 1 of 2024, and we take an exception if you are submitting an implementation project in your application.
Slide 18: So that's a brief overview of the Restoration Grant program. Please do reach out with questions to Jim Modrick or myself about your organization's eligibility or eligible activities you may have in mind. We're very happy to speak with you and we thank you in advance for your interest in the ABPP's Battlefield Restoration program.
Description
A summary of the battlefield restoration program grant eligibility and timelines. Learn how to find the notice of funding opportunity, Review the application process and requirements. Understand the Merit review process.
Duration
21 minutes, 32 seconds
Credit
NPS | Nancy Marksbury
Date Created
02/29/2024
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