Grants / Department of Agriculture / Natural Resources Conservation Service

USDA-NRCS-NHQ-RCPPAFA-21-NOFO0001096: RCPP Alternative Funding Arrangement for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2021.

Closed Closed May 28, 2021 Opportunity USDA-NRCS-NHQ-RCPPAFA-21-NOFO0001096 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Natural Resources Conservation Service notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$10.0 million
• Award floor$250,000
• Total funding$75.0 million
• Expected awards15
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeOther

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Lead partner entities must qualify as one of the following: • An agricultural or silvicultural producer association or other group of producers; • A State or unit of local government; • An Indian Tribe; • A farmer cooperative; • A water district, irrigation district, rural water district or association, or other organization with specific water delivery authority to agricultural producers; • A municipal water or wastewater treatment entity; • An institution of higher education; and • An organization or entity with an established history of working cooperatively with producers on agricultural land, as determined by NRCS, to address: o Local conservation priorities related to agricultural production, wildlife habitat development, or nonindustrial private forest land management; or o Critical watershed-scale soil erosion, water quality, sediment reduction, or other natural resource issues. • An entity, such as an Indian Tribe, State government, local government, or a nongovernmental organization, as identified by NRCS pursuant to 7 CFR Part1468. • A conservation district. Individual producers and landowners are not eligible to submit project applications under this notice.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Regional Conservation Partnership Program awards averaged $1.3 million; this notice allows up to $10.0 million per award.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) promotes coordination of NRCS conservation activities with partners that offer value-added contributions that expand our collective ability to address onfarm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns. NRCS seeks to coinvest with RCPP partners to implement projects that demonstrate innovative solutions to conservation challenges and provide measurable improvements and outcomes tied to the resource concerns they seek to address. Through RCPP, partners propose projects—using guidance contained in this notice—that generate conservation benefits by addressing specific natural resource objectives in a state/multistate area or address one or more primary resource concerns within a critical conservation area (CCA). NRCS and partners design, implement and evaluate RCPP projects on agricultural and non-industrial private forest land. NRCS coinvests in RCPP projects selected through a competitive application process that evaluates applications based on four criteria: impact, partner contributions, innovation, and partnerships and management. The RCPP AFA component is intended to support project structures and approaches that cannot be carried out as effectively through RCPP Classic. RCPP AFA applicants must describe the innovative nature of the conservation approach they are proposing to justify potential funding through an RCPP AFA rather than RCPP Classic. Additionally, applicants should consider the additional administrative and technical assistance responsibilities that accompany receipt of an RCPP AFA award. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) amendments to RCPP provides examples of project types that might be implemented through RCPP AFA:  Projects that use innovative approaches to leverage the Federal investment in conservation;  Projects that deploy a pay-for-performance conservation approach;  Projects that seek large-scale infrastructure investments that generate conservation benefits for agricultural producers and nonindustrial private forest owners. Although RCPP AFA provides flexibilities to partners, these projects share the overarching focus of RCPP — engaging with producers and landowners to implement conservation practices, systems and approaches on or for the benefit of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands. This notice announces the availability of funding for up to 15 RCPP AFA projects in FY 2021.

Category: Agriculture, Natural Resources.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.