FY24 NOAA Marine Debris Interception Technologies under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Applicant Resources

The NOAA Marine Debris Program will award up to $4 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the installation of proven marine debris interception technologies, throughout the coastal United States, Great Lakes, territories, and Freely Associated States. Projects will focus on the installation, monitoring, and maintenance of proven marine debris interception technologies that will capture marine debris at or close to known marine debris sources or pathways.

Application Deadlines:

Required Letter of Intent Deadline: Wednesday, November 15, 2023

The letter of intent (LOI) deadline has passed for this competition and submissions are currently under review. Applicants can expect to receive notification following the LOI review process in mid-Janauary. Only LOI applicants who are invited to submit a full proposal may submit a full application. Full applications are due March 15, 2024, 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: Friday, March 15, 2024*

*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 2024 NOAA Marine Debris Interception Technologies 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.

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. 

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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 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. 

Resources for Preparing an Application for the Interception Technologies Notice of Funding Opportunity:

Webinar: 

An informational webinar on the FY24 Marine Debris Interception Technology Funding Opportunity through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law occurred on February 1, 2024. The NOAA Marine Debris Program provided an overview of the funding available and the priorities of this competition, an overview of the submission process, as well as application resources. 

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.

Project Narrative Resources:

This template provides an example of what is required in a letter of intent:

Budget Resources:

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

Other Resources:

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.

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.

Last updated Fri, 03/22/2024 - 14:49

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