Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) National Grant

Under this solicitation, only the following entities are eligible to apply for assistance, in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 16131 and CFDA 66.039:

1. A regional, state, or local agency, tribal government (or intertribal consortium) or native village, or port authority, which has jurisdiction over transportation or air quality. School districts, municipalities, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), cities and counties are all generally eligible entities under this assistance agreement program to the extent that they fall within this definition.

2. A nonprofit organization or institution that:
a. Represents or provides pollution reduction or educational services to persons or organizations that own or operate diesel fleets; or
b. Has, as its principal purpose, the promotion of transportation or air quality.

Non-profit organization, as defined by 2 CFR 200.70, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve and/or expand its operations.

Note that 2 CFR Part 200 specifically excludes the following types of organizations from the definition of “non-profit organization” because they are separately defined in the regulation: (i) institutions of higher education; and (ii) state, local and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments. While not considered to be a “non-profit organization(s)” as defined by 2 CFR 200.70, Institutions of Higher Education are, nevertheless, eligible to submit applications under this RFA to the extent they fall within the definition above. Hospitals operated by state, tribal, or local governments or that meet the definition of nonprofit at 2 CFR 200.70 are also eligible to apply. For-profit colleges, universities, trade schools, and hospitals are not eligible to apply.

For-profit organizations are not an eligible entity for this funding opportunity. Additionally, non-profit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply.

For the purposes of this RFA, “intertribal consortium” is defined as a partnership between two or more tribes that is authorized by the governing bodies of those tribes to apply for and receive assistance under this program. Intertribal consortia are eligible to receive assistance under this program only if the consortium demonstrates that all members of the consortium meet the eligibility requirements for the program and authorize the consortium to apply for and receive assistance by submitting to EPA documentation of (1) the existence of the partnership between Indian tribal governments, and (2) authorization of the consortium by all its members to apply for and receive the assistance.

Please note that although tribes are eligible to apply for funding under this RFA, the DERA program also expects to issue a separate FY 2021 DERA Tribal Grant RFA in 2021.

For additional information on Eligible and Ineligible Project Costs please see https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/documents/2021-1-8-dera-national-grants.pdf#page=15

EPA will host several information sessions regarding this RFA. EPA encourages potential applicants to take advantage of these information sessions to learn more about the DERA program and the grant application process. EPA will highlight any changes to the program from previous years, review eligibility criteria, funding limits and mandatory cost share requirements, and discuss the available options for funding partner fleets. Participants will have the opportunity to have their questions answered by EPA in a public forum. Pre- registration is not required.

Funding Opportunity Information Sessions:

- Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Join the Webinar: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_ZmIyNzMzMTMtYThiYy00MWU5LWI3MWItMzlmNmZkYjJkZDVl%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%252288b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25228779d2e9-1fb9-4857-a6d5-60f4650b9168%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=8a393268-f929-418c-80cf-20bcd1f7c1b4&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true
Dial-In: (202) 991-0477
Participant Code: 863 530 573#

- Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Join the Webinar: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_ZjM5YTIwNzktMTIzZS00ZTE2LWJhZDktZDY4ZmM2YmUzNzU0%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%252288b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25228779d2e9-1fb9-4857-a6d5-60f4650b9168%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=d8ea63bb-479d-44f3-8aec-a254105bdc4a&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true
Dial-In: (202) 991-0477
Participant Code: 609 539 899#

- Thursday, February 11, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Join the Webinar: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_YzQ0MGYwODUtYjA4ZC00OTRlLTllMjItMjU2ODk0ZDhlYTc0%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%252288b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25228779d2e9-1fb9-4857-a6d5-60f4650b9168%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=012db153-7585-46cb-a1aa-e08426786fbe&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true
Dial-In: (202) 991-0477
Participant Code: 451 189 144#

Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through Grants.gov no later than Tuesday, March 16, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. (ET) to be considered for funding.

Important Dates
- Thursday, January 14, 2021 Rfa Opens
- Tuesday, March 16, 2021 Rfa Closes – Applications Due
- April-May 2021 Anticipated Notification of Selection
- June-October 2021 Anticipated Award

It is recommended that you try to submit your application to Grants.gov at least three days prior to the deadline. It is essential to allow sufficient time to ensure that your application is properly submitted to Grants.gov BEFORE the due date.

The deadline for submitting questions is March 5, 2021 at 4 p.m. ET. The final Questions and Answers document will be posted on March 10, 2021. All questions and answers, including those from all webinar information sessions, will be added to this document.

Please note that the registration process also requires that your organization have a Unique Entity Identifier (e.g. DUNS number) and a current registration with the System for Award Management (http://www.sam.gov/) and the process of obtaining both could take a month or more. Applicants must ensure that all registration requirements are met in order to apply for this opportunity through Grants.gov and should ensure that all such requirements have been met well in advance of the submission deadline.

Applicants must request funding from the EPA regional office which covers their geographic project location. For a list of regions divisions, see here: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/documents/2021-1-8-dera-national-grants.pdf#page=35

- Request For Applications: https://www.epa.gov/grants/2021-dera-national-grants
- View this opportunity at Grants.gov: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=330935