2023 USDA NRCS California Conservation Cooperative Agreements | USDA NRCS CA MULTI 23 NOFO0001281

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS CA MULTI 23 NOFO0001281

The 2023 USDA NRCS California Conservation Cooperative Agreements funding opportunity (NOFO USDA-NRCS-CA-MULTI-23-NOFO0001281) is a discretionary federal assistance program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California. It is designed to bring in partner organizations that can help NRCS carry out conservation work tied to Farm Bill programs and the NRCS California Strategic Plan. Awards are made as cooperative agreements, meaning recipients should expect an active working relationship with NRCS rather than a hands-off grant structure.

Funding under this announcement is intended to be relatively small, project-focused support for organizations doing conservation implementation and outreach. Individual awards are expected to range from $25,000 to $75,000, with about $1,000,000 potentially available in total and an estimated 15 awards. The stated purpose is to strengthen the resiliency of California agriculture by advancing climate-smart agriculture and addressing specific priority resource concerns. Those priority areas include climate resiliency and drought, plant productivity and forest health, air quality, water quality, water quantity, soil health/soil quality, wildlife habitat, and outreach. In practice, proposals are expected to clearly tie planned activities to one or more of these resource concerns and explain how the work supports conservation outcomes on the ground.

A major theme of this NOFO is supporting NRCS program delivery capacity. NRCS indicates that emphasis will be given to projects that provide direct technical assistance to NRCS staff in implementing Farm Bill conservation programs, with Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) specifically named as an example. The NOFO also notes that additional emphasis may be given to proposals that increase utilization of CSP in California, signaling that applicants who can help identify eligible producers, guide application development, support planning, or otherwise help move CSP participation forward may be particularly competitive.

The opportunity is open to a wide range of applicant types, reflecting NRCS interest in building broad conservation partnerships across the state. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Tribal governments and other Tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. NRCS also highlights an ongoing priority to expand conservation participation across all California communities, with explicit interest in partnerships that include Tribes, urban producers, and partners serving Historically Underserved farming, ranching, and forestry communities.

From an administrative standpoint, applications had to be submitted through Grants.gov, with a deadline of 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 3, 2023 (8:59 pm Pacific). NRCS noted that Grants.gov technical support is handled by the Grants.gov helpdesk rather than NRCS staff, and that agency questions would be limited to clarifying the NOFO itself rather than pre-evaluating eligibility or commenting on proposal quality. The agency expected to make selections around June 5, 2023, with award execution anticipated by August 31, 2023 (both timelines stated as estimates and subject to change).

This NOFO is tied to several Assistance Listings (formerly CFDA) that cover major NRCS conservation authorities and programs, including Soil and Water Conservation (10.902), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP, 10.912), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP, 10.924), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP, 10.931), and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP, 10.069). NRCS also makes a clear boundary around what this solicitation covers: Conservation Contribution Agreements and Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) are advertised separately and should not be submitted under this announcement. Finally, because this is federal financial assistance, NRCS points applicants to publicly available “Grants 101” training covering federal grant rules, cost principles, administrative requirements, and audit/risk management concepts, which can be helpful for applicants that do not regularly manage federal awards.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2023 USDA NRCS California Conservation Cooperative Agreements" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 04, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 03, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $75,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for USDA NRCS CA MULTI 23 NOFO0001281

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: