An abandoned and derelict vessel submerged in a marina.

FY25 NOAA Marine Debris Removal under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Applicant Resources

The NOAA Marine Debris Program will award up to $47 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the removal of large marine debris throughout the coastal United States, Great Lakes, territories, and Freely Associated States. These removal projects should focus on large marine debris, including abandoned and derelict vessels, derelict fishing gear, and other debris that is generally unable to be collected by hand.

Important Application Deadlines:

Required Letter of Intent Deadline: September 27, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

The letter of intent (LOI) deadline has passed for this competition and submissions are currently under review. Applicants who submitted an LOI can expect to receive notification following the LOI review process in November 2024. Only LOI applicants who are invited to submit a full proposal may submit a full application. Full applications are due January 31, 2025, and those invited to submit a full proposal may refer to this page for additional resources on writing and submitting your application.

Full Proposal Deadline: January 31, 2025*

*Full proposals will only be accepted from applicants that received an invitation to submit a full proposal following review of the letters of intent

The information below is intended to assist applicants in applying for funding through the Fiscal Year 2025 NOAA Marine Debris Removal under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The NOAA Marine Debris Program recognizes applying for federal funding can be complex and has provided resources to support applicants in preparing to submit a strong proposal and understanding the requirements needed if an award is granted. Many of these documents are referenced in our Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Step 1: Review the Notice of Funding Opportunity

While it is important to read the entire Funding Opportunity before you submit your application to ensure you didn’t miss any important application and/or submission details, in your first review of the NOFO we suggest you review a few specific sections to ensure you will be able to submit a competitive application:

  • Review the Program Objective and Program Priorities. These sections will help you understand if the idea you are proposing fits within the goals of this competition
  • Review the evaluation criteria to ensure your project idea will be able to satisfy the criteria reviewers will use when evaluating your proposal. Proposals that strongly meet all of the evaluation criteria will be the most competition
  • Review the eligibility criteria to ensure you are an eligible applicant 

Please see our Notice of Funding Opportunity Guidance Document for more information.

Step 2: If you submitted a letter of intent and were invited to submit a full proposal please review the 'Resources for Other Application Components' in Step 4 and complete all needed registrations for submission of your application.

Please note, applications to the NOAA Marine Debris Program will need to meet acceptance criteria for both grants.gov and eRA. Please see detailed instructions throughout the NOFO to ensure your applications are successfully submitted. Rejections may occur through eRA up to 48 hours after your application is submitted in grants.gov. For this reason, we encourage you submit your application several days before the deadline as late applications will not be accepted. 

Required registrations for all applicants submitting full proposals:

An application cannot be submitted in Grants.gov without the following three active registrations. It may take several weeks for the registration process to be completed, so NOAA MDP advises all applicants to start the registration process as early as possible.  

Grants.gov

Grants.gov is your place to find and apply for federal grants. This is a government-wide website for grantees to find and apply to federal grant opportunities. All open NOAA Marine Debris Program grants are advertised on Grants.gov. NOAA does not administer the Grants.gov system. We can provide assistance in the application process, however any technical issues or questions should be addressed to the Grants.gov Helpdesk staff at 1-800-518-4726; support@grants.gov

  • Grants.gov  
    Search, apply, and track your grant applications here.
  • Grants.gov Organization Registration Checklist  
    The checklist provides registration guidance for Grants.gov. Registration is a one-time process, and is required before the Authorized Representative(s) of an organization can submit a grant application electronically through the Grants.gov system. The registration process can take several weeks depending on your organization. Problems or issues related to Grants.gov registration may prevent the timely submission of an application, as such please plan accordingly and register early.
SAM.gov

The System for Award Management is a consolidation of all government-wide acquisition and award support systems. Active registration with the SAM.gov system is required in order to be eligible to submit via Grants.gov, and to be a recipient of federal funds (see link below). We recommend that as soon as you are sure you are going to apply for a NOAA grant, you begin your organization’s registration process in SAM.gov, as it may take several weeks to complete. If your organization already has a SAM.gov registration, please be sure it will not expire during the application process. Problems or issues related to SAM.gov registration may prevent the timely submission of an application, as such please plan accordingly and register early.

  • Quick Start Guide for New Grantee Registration  
    Please ignore the option to get a Unique Entity ID without going through the registration process. To apply in grants.gov you will need to complete the SAM.gov registration process.
eRA Commons

**Returning applicants should note this is a new registration requirement that was not needed for previous NOAA MDP competitions

NOAA is in the process of transitioning from their current grants management system GrantsOnline, to a new grants management system, eRA Commons. eRA Commons requires active registration for proposals to be submitted to Grants.gov. All applicants, including current and past MDP grantees, will need active registration. Please note, this is an organizational registration requirement, and not every individual applicant needs to register, as long as your organization has active registration. 

Step 3: Before starting an application, please review the current NOAA-MDP funded BIL removal projects from past competitions to ensure the project ideas you are proposing are not duplicative of similar removal projects in current project locations. 

Step 4: Carefully review the Application Content section and re-review the competition priorities to prepare your proposal. 

The following resources may be helpful in creating your application:

Resources for Preparing an Application for the Removal Notice of Funding Opportunity:

Notice of Funding Opportunity Resources

The Notice of Funding Opportunity provides instructions and all relevant information for preparing your application. The guidance document and evaluation criteria are designed to assist applicants in understanding the Notice of Funding Opportunity, but all applicants must read the Notice of Funding Opportunity itself to understand the full requirements for submitting an application.

Full Proposal Applicant Webinar Resources

An informational webinar on the FY25 Marine Debris Removal Funding Opportunity through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was held on November 25, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The NOAA Marine Debris Program will provided an overview of the priorities of this competition,  submission process, as well as application resources.

Project Narrative Resources

These resources provide examples of requirements in a grant application:

Budget Resources

A well-thought out and well-presented budget is critical to communicating the activities and goals of your project. Applicants are encouraged to utilize the below information in crafting the proposal budget.

Resources for Other Application Components

As part of the application process to the NOAA Marine Debris Program, applicants are required to develop (and submit with their application) a Data Management Plan that describes how the public can access data generated by NOAA-funded activities. Additionally, strong applications will include letters of support from partners and impacted areas of the proposed project activities.

Terms and Conditions

Below are examples of some of the Terms and Conditions that must be adhered to in order to receive federal financial assistance from NOAA Marine Debris Program. Please note these are provided as examples and the terms and conditions placed on a NOAA award may differ from those indicated here.

Step 5: Carefully Review and Follow the Submission Instructions in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and submit your application

*As a reminder, we strongly encourage you to submit several days before the deadline to ensure you have a successful submission and technical difficulties will not be a reason late applications are accepted

Grants.gov Instructions for Submitting Application: 

PLEASE NOTE: All applicants MUST follow the guidance on file naming conventions. To avoid submission issues, please follow the guidance provided in the Applicant FAQs. File attachment names longer than approximately 50 characters can cause problems processing packages. Please limit file attachment names. Also, do not use any special characters (example: &, ¿, *, %, /, #, -); this includes periods (.) and spacing followed by a dash in the file. For word separation, use underscores (example: Attached_File.pdf) in naming the attachments. Please note that if these guidelines are not followed, your application may be rejected.

Following submission of your application, you can use ‘Track My Application’, which allows you to track and check the status of your application following submission. Please note that once your application is validated by Grants.gov, it is sent over to NOAA for review and this process tracker will not show further updates.

For citation purposes, unless otherwise noted, this article was authored by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Last updated Wed, 11/27/2024 - 11:24 am EST