Announcement for Program Funding for NRCS’ Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2021 – Massachusetts | USDA NRCS MA CIG NOFO0001057

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS MA CIG NOFO0001057

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is offering Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) funding for federal fiscal year 2021 specifically for projects carried out in Massachusetts. The purpose of this opportunity is to stimulate the development, testing, and wider adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies, particularly those that can strengthen conservation outcomes in agriculture and natural resource management. The funding is provided through a competitive, discretionary grant process under CFDA 10.912, with the overall program emphasis on encouraging practical innovation that can be replicated or scaled beyond a single site or operation.

For this Massachusetts state competition, NRCS is making up to $200,000 total available in FY 2021. Individual awards can be as large as $200,000, meaning a single strong proposal could potentially receive the full amount, although NRCS anticipates making about four awards. Projects can run from one to three years, giving applicants flexibility to propose shorter pilot efforts or multi-season demonstrations and evaluations. The funding instrument is a grant, and the activity categories associated with the opportunity include agriculture, environment, and natural resources.

Eligibility is broad: all non-federal entities and individuals may apply, with the only clear exclusion being federal agencies. In other words, the competition is open to a wide range of applicants such as nonprofit organizations, universities, local or state units of government, tribes, private businesses, farmer-led groups, and individual producers or researchers, as long as the proposed work takes place in Massachusetts and aligns with the goals of CIG. The notice also points applicants to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement, which is typical for USDA opportunities that may include requirements tied to project type, documentation, or compliance items.

Applications had to be submitted electronically through Grants.gov, with a firm deadline of 11:59 pm Eastern Time on April 23, 2021. The announcement emphasizes that applicants should plan ahead, especially first-time Grants.gov users, because registration and setup can take time and incomplete registrations can prevent timely submission. If technical problems occur within Grants.gov itself, applicants are instructed to contact Grants.gov Applicant Support (1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov). NRCS staff administering the grant cannot help troubleshoot Grants.gov accounts, which is a common limitation across federal funding programs.

NRCS also set a question period for prospective applicants: questions about the notice of funding opportunity could be submitted until April 2, 2021. To keep the competition fair and ensure everyone has access to the same information, NRCS planned to post responses to submitted questions on Grants.gov about two weeks before the application deadline. Applicants were also encouraged to review the Massachusetts State CIG website for more program context and state-specific guidance, which can be useful for understanding local priorities or examples of past funded projects.

In terms of timeline after submission, NRCS expected to make selections by May 21, 2021 and aimed to execute (finalize) awards by July 30, 2021. The opportunity was posted under Funding Opportunity Number USDA NRCS MA CIG NOFO0001057, created March 8, 2021, and closed April 23, 2021. Overall, this funding call was designed to move promising conservation innovations from concept to on-the-ground testing and adoption in Massachusetts, using relatively modest but targeted grants to demonstrate measurable conservation benefits and encourage broader use of successful practices and technologies.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Announcement for Program Funding for NRCS’ Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2021 – Massachusetts" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 08, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 23, 2021 Applications must be received by 1159 pm Eastern Time. (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 $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for USDA NRCS MA CIG NOFO0001057

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