CAP/RISA FY2023 NOFO FAQ and Reminders

What are the competition ID numbers for the BIL CSI NOFO competitions?

Competition 1: Improving Engagement Methods for Coastal Resilience Planning: 3127151

Competition 2: Assessing Tradeoffs and Co-Benefits for Complex Decision-Making in Communities Facing Coastal Inundation and/or Inland Flooding 3127152

Competition 3: Identifying Complex Interactions between Social Infrastructure and Wildfire Risks to Improve Community Adaptive Capacity 3127153

What are the due dates for this opportunity?

The CAP/RISA FY23 Funding Opportunity Info Webinar took place on Jan 10, 2023 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET. Watch the webinar recording here and review the webinar slides here.

LOIs for all competitions are due: 5 pm ET Feburary 1st, 2023. LOIs for all competitions should be emailed to oar.cpo.risa@noaa.gov

Full applications for all applications are due via grants.gov on: March 29th, 2023 at 5:00pm ET

What is NOAA’s Role in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)?

NOAA has received $3 Billion through the BIL to take action over 5 years in the areas of habitat restoration, coastal resilience, and weather forecasting infrastructure. This money is being distributed through 18 provisions. Funding for this NOFO comes from Provision 3- Flood and inundation mapping and forecasting and Provision 5- Wildfire research operations.

Letters of Intent

Is there any way we can submit a LOI if we miss the deadline? Once the LOI deadline has passed, LOIs cannot be submitted. However, LOIs are not a requirement for submitting a full proposal.

Can we submit a proposal despite not having submitted an LOI?

LOIs are not a requirement, so you can still submit a proposal without going through the LOI stage. Office hours with program staff are available via Google Calendar.

We understand that the LOI should be no more than four pages in length. Will a cover page and preliminary budget information sheet be counted in the page limitation?

The LOI should not have a cover/title page. The instructions for and information that needs to be included in the LOI is listed in the NOFO in section I.V.B.I.

All Competitions

Who can apply?

In addition to institutional eligibility guidelines listed in the NOFO, there are three requirements for applying to all competitions

1. 1. The Principal Investigator (PI) must be a member of a current CAP/RISA team. Members of a current CAP/RISA team include PIs, Co-PIs, senior personnel, researchers/investigators, post doctoral fellow, etc.
  2. Co-PIs on the project must include:
    1. A member from an additional CAP/RISA team as depicted on this map. And/or
    2. A partner from a CAP/RISA expansion geographies. Expansion geographies include the Central Midwest (Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas), the Upper Northeast (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, western Massachusetts, and upstate New York), Appalachia (West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, and mountainous areas of western North Carolina, western Virginia, and southern Ohio) and the Southeast (Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee) as depicted on this map. New collaborators from CAP/RISA expansion activity areas need not be current CAP/RISA project PIs.
  3. A local community partner from targeted geographies must be included in the proposal. Community partners can include organizations or institutions that can represent and facilitate the inclusion of local community members in the project, these include but are not limited to community based organizations, tribal colleges, local governments, etc.

Where are the current CAP/RISA teams and expansion activities?

See the following resources:

- A map and list of currently funded CAP/RISA teams.
- A map and list of CAP/RISA expansion activities.

I’m in one of the expansion areas and am interested in working with one of the CAP/RISA teams. What are some resources I can review to familiarize myself with current and potential future work?

I’m a lead PI on a CAP/RISA Collaborative Planning Activity grant (one of the expansion activities). Can I be a lead PI on a proposal for competitions in the CSI BIL NOFO?

No. Proposals to competitions must be led by a team member of a current CAP/RISA regional team. PIs on Collaborative Planning Activity grants can be included on a proposal as a Co-PI.

I am a CAP/RISA team member, but am not at the primary institution hosting the CAP/RISA team grant. Do I need to apply through the primary institution that hosts the CAP/RISA team grant?

No. Applicants can submit applications through their own institution.

Can a non-profit organization serve as a lead institution or sub-awardee?

Yes, a non-profit organization can serve as a lead institution as long as the PI from that institution is a team member of a CAP regional team. PIs from non-profit organizations who are not currently members of a CAP regional team can be sub-awardees

Will you accept non-academics as co-PIs on proposals?

Yes. We would consider all eligible institution types listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Is a federal center or laboratory (e.g. DOE national lab) eligible to participate on proposals?

Yes, but note that we cannot support federal salaries.

Is there information available on past CAP/RISA awardees or successful proposals?

The CAP/RISA website includes links to implemented team projects, expansion activities, and our program approach.

What is the CAP/RISA team participation letter? And why do I need it?

In addition to ensuring PIs are members of current CAP/RISA teams, the letter of CAP/RISA team support is intended to demonstrate that this project aligns with the goals and objectives of the CAP/RISA team, and fits into and enhances the overall portfolio of work of the relevant teams.

Is there a limit to how many proposals a person can be involved in?

There is no limit on how many proposals an individual can be on, but PIs should be realistic about the time they can spend should more than one or two of the proposals be funded.

Prior Research

For teams that are existing CAP/RISAs, may we cite work done by members of our team who are not official PIs in the new proposal? For the prior research section, do we include only research from the actual group of PIs listed on the proposal, or can we include previous research from the CAP/RISA even if the person who led it is not going to be a named PI on the new proposal? Where is the boundary of whose research is included?

The section is explicitly intended to include prior research for the PIs named on the proposal. You can cite previous work of researchers not named as PIs in the project narrative.

What is the difference between the “prior research” and “current and pending research” sections?

Results from prior research may include any relevant research. This section is not limited to NOAA-funded grants. This section is used to understand the relevance of the team’s experience to the competition. The current and pending support section is limited to federal support. The purpose of this section is to assess what projects could be leveraged, whether investigators are overcommitted, and whether federal projects are being duplicated.

Budget / Funding

Can applicants include a small stipend based on the days of participation to be paid to stakeholders who will participate in the team’s workshops? Would these be considered as participant costs in the proposal?

Yes, applicants can include stipends (Participant Support Cost) for participants in connection to a conference/Workshop/training If they are considered essential in completing the objectives of the project. The budget justification should include an explanation on why input from the participants is valuable and serves project objectives. Participant support costs can be stipends, travel allowance, registration fee, and subsistence allowance.

Does NOAA have salary caps on grant funding?

There is no salary cap. The salary will be reviewed by the grants management division to determine if it is reasonable and allowable.

If submitting a proposal with a sub-award, do we need to submit separate forms for the sub-award recipient?

Yes. If you are going to be providing funds to a sub-awardee, you will need to get the federal forms (SF424, SF424A), separate budget table and narrative from the recipient and include in your application package.

Will the funding associated with this funding solicitation be disbursed annually by NOAA or in a single lump sum to the awardees?

It is anticipated that funding for Competition 1 will be disbursed annually over four years. It is anticipated funding for Competitions 2 and 3 will be disbursed in a lump sum, and projects can span up to four years. The availability of funds is subject to congressional budget processes.

Miscellaneous

Can we submit letters of collaboration from community partners? Do you have instructions on those letters? Do you have a limit on the number of letters we can include in a proposal?

Letters of Support are not required. However, up to 5 letters may be submitted and can be used to supplement information included in the Full Proposal, and they will be taken into consideration when evaluating the proposal if submitted as part of the application. When collecting letters of support, applicants should prioritize partners whose terms of engagement and participation are already well developed or in the process of developing. Potential partners or partners at the very early stages of engagement should be described in the narrative as part of the proposal’s engagement strategy.

When deciding who to gather letters of support from, consider the centrality of the partner’s role in the project and the relevance of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. However, it is important not to rush a relationship, create burdens, or create hard to meet expectations in order to submit a letter of support.

Where should Letters of Support be included in the proposal document?

The letters of support can be placed anywhere after the appendices. There are no strict guidelines for placement of the letters.

What is the start date and duration of the proposed work?

All projects should have a start date of September 1, 2023.

Projects for competition 1 are expected to last 4 years.

Projects for competitions 2 and 3 are expected to last up to 4 years.