Yes, a Tribe can apply as a Lead Applicant for a project, even if it isn’t on tribal land, if their project benefits a disadvantaged community as described in Appendix A of the NOFO and meets all the other requirements noted in the NOFO. The determination of who becomes the Lead Applicant is up to the Tribe and its Statutory Partner.
Yes, as long as the contractor operating the FFRDC is a nonprofit organization and can meet the definition of a CBO in Section III.A of the NOFO. The nonprofit contractor operating the FFRDC may apply as part of a Statutory Partnership as described in Section III.A of the NOFO in its nonprofit capacity if they otherwise meet the requirements for a CBO in Section III.A of the NOFO and other NOFO requirements, and the Department of Energy or another Federal agency operating the FFRDC gives the FFRDC contractor permission to apply for the grant.
Our policy is to treat multi-campus Institutions of Higher Education as unitary entities for the purposes of the two-application limit in the Threshold Eligibility Criteria in Section III.D of the NOFO unless there is some unique state law feature that makes each campus a separate legal entity for liability, contracting, or similar purposes. Otherwise, these multi-campus universities would be able to submit more applications than other Lead Applicants. The fact that each campus has its own Unique Entity Identifier and academic leadership is not determinative if the contracting authority for all campuses would be the same office and the campuses are not separate legal entities.
No. Federally recognized Indian tribes as defined in section 302(r) of the Clean Air Act are units of government. Their exemption from taxation, like that of states, stems from governmental powers such as taxation, law enforcement, and civil authority recognized in Federal law.
To be considered a CBO you must meet the requirements in Section III.A of the NOFO. The NOFO states in pertinent part in Section III A.1 that:
“For purposes of this NOFO, the CBO must have a geographic presence or connection in, or relationship with, the specified community that the projects are intended to benefit. For example, national or statewide CBOs must demonstrate the CBO’s connection to the community that will benefit from the grants.”
Yes, local governments are “unitary” legal entities even if they have separate agencies and departments, unless the agencies and departments can demonstrate they are legally independent of the local government. For example, if City Y is a local government, then all its agencies and departments are considered part of the local government, unless they can convincingly demonstrate that they are legally independent of, and do not report to, the executive of the local government (either elected or appointed) and the legislative body of the local government. This means that City Y, including its agencies and departments, can only submit up to two applications as a Lead Applicant under the NOFO.
However, EPA recognizes the legal structure of local governments varies and that there may be nonprofit organizations such as community economic development agencies or public bodies such as school systems, public utilities, and public housing authorities that may be sufficiently independent of the local government to qualify as separate legal entities.
A nonprofit organization affiliated with a university could qualify as a CBO if they meet the other requirements for a CBO specified in Section III.A of the NOFO. However, if the nonprofit intends to name the university parent as a Statutory Partner or otherwise provide a subaward to the university parent, then EPA’s Financial Assistance Conflict of Interest Policy (https://www.epa.gov/grants/epas-finalfinancial-assistance-conflict-interest-policy) would be implicated due to the potential for personal and organizational conflicts of interest.
No. Community colleges and other Institutions of Higher Education are Institutions of Higher Education as defined in 2 CFR 200.1 and noted in Section III.A of the NOFO, which is the definition EPA uses to interpret the term “institution of higher education” in section 138(b)(3) of the Clean Air Act. That definition incorporates the definition of an Institution of Higher Education under Title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1001.
Community colleges are identified in 20 U.S.C. 1001(a)(3) as Institutions of Higher Education offering 2- year programs “...that is acceptable for full credit toward...a bachelor’s degree.” The fact that any such institution also has nonprofit status does not alter their designation as such an institution indicated by 20 U.S.C. 1001(a)(4).
EPA does not recognize the “fiscal sponsor” or “fiscal agent” concept. Thus, a fiscally sponsored organization is not eligible to apply as a Statutory Partner as described in Section III.A and III.B of the NOFO unless they meet the requirements of a CBO described in Section III A.1 of the NOFO. Please also refer to Questions 49 through 51 of the EPA Subaward Frequent Questions which are available at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-subaward-frequent-questions.
Please refer to Section III.A.3 of the NOFO for information on the eligibility of Federally recognized Tribes. The Department of Interior keeps a list of Federally recognized Tribes. Be aware that Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) are not eligible to apply in a Statutory Partnership because they are not Indian tribes as defined in section 302(r) of the Clean Air Act, but they may participate as Collaborating Entities to receive subawards. See questions in the Target Investment Area section of this document for further information.