1811 Coastal and estuarine land acquisition conservation program; Federal fiscal year 2008 grant solicitation

Coastal and Estuarine Land Acquisition Conservation Program; Federal Fiscal Year 2008 Grant Solicitation

[36 Pa.B. 5832]
[Saturday, September 16, 2006]

   The Coastal Zone Management (CZM) office of the Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is soliciting land acquisition grant proposals to submit to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP). This solicitation is for preliminary candidate-proposals and is for funding awards under the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2008 Funding cycle.

   Each coastal state may nominate up to three candidate projects to NOAA for this National, competitive process. Only the best, most-competitive proposals will be selected by the Department for submission to NOAA. Following review of candidate proposals by the Department, NOAA and the United States Congress, finalists will be selected and may be asked to submit a more formal application at a later date. Federal funding awards, if appropriated, are expected to be made between the spring of 2008 and December 2010. CELCP places an emphasis on ''ecologically valuable'' lands. The geographic areas covered by CELCP are the designated Delaware Estuary Coastal Zone Watershed and the Lake Erie Coastal Zone Watershed.

   Grant applications may be made for the purchase of only land acquisitions or interests; these may be in fee-simple title or as conservation easements. A major condition of the CELCP Program is that the title or easement must be held by a governmental/public entity. Further, grant awards must be matched dollar-for-dollar (may include in-kind match but not other Federal funds) and are capped at $3 million each (Federal share). Land trusts may hold subeasements for management and stewardship on CELCP-funded properties and may assist in the development of proposals but they may not hold title to any property acquired with CELCP funds.

   Preliminary candidate-proposals must be submitted no later than October 16, 2006, to James Nagy, Department of Environmental Protection, Water Planning Office, P. O. Box 2063, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063, and must include the following:

1.  A project description	(refer to Department website)
2.  Scope of Work	(refer to Department website)
3.  Proposed budget	(refer to Department website)
4.  A project application      checklist	(refer to Department website)
5.  Maps of the site/project location, and

*6.  ''Other'' materials: (such as, copy of property appraisal, title opinion, evidence of a willing seller, and the like). These may be submitted if available but are not be required at this time.

   *Note: ''Other'' materials would be required at the time of the formal grant application if the candidate-proposal is selected during the upcoming preliminary review period during the winter of 2006/07.

   The Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) Announcement, Federal Register Notice, Description and Scope of Work Formats and CELCP Checklist are listed on the Department's website at www.depweb.state.pa.us (DEP Keywords ''Coastal Zone Management Program/Coastal Zones''). These materials contain detailed information about the grant application submission and review process. The FFO Announcement also contains several links to the NOAA CELCP website for further explanations of program requirements and additional guidance.

   Persons not already familiar with CELCP should closely review the Federal Register notice and FFO to understand eligibility requirements, ranking criteria and the types of acquisition projects the program may fund.

   For additional information, contact Chris Linn at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), [phone], [e-mail]; Robert Wisener at the Erie County Planning Department, [phone], [e-mail]; Jim Nagy at the Department's Water Planning Office, [phone], [e-mail]; or Andy Zemba at the Department's Water Planning Office, [phone], azemba@state. pa.us.

KATHLEEN A. MCGINTY,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 06-1811. Filed for public inspection September 15, 2006, 9:00 a.m.]