FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program | L24AS00039

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00039

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program is a discretionary federal funding opportunity administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to support invasive and noxious plant management work in Oregon and Washington. The program is offered under Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00039 and is designed to advance natural resource stewardship by preventing, controlling, or managing invasive plant species that threaten native ecosystems, wildlife habitat, watershed health, rangeland productivity, recreation values, and other public land resources. Awards are issued as cooperative agreements, which generally means BLM expects substantial involvement in the project (for example, coordination on priorities, methods, deliverables, or monitoring).

Eligible applicants include a wide range of public and nonprofit entities, such as state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding universities when specified in the category listing). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible for awards under this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), so proposals must come from an eligible governmental, educational, tribal, or nonprofit organization.

A key restriction in this NOFO is that it does not support projects that involve hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The Public Lands Corps Act is described as the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that specific framework, and as a result, youth-conservation-corps style internship/crew proposals are directed elsewhere. If an organization is a qualified Youth Conservation Corps and is seeking support for youth crews or internship-type work tied to Public Lands Corps authorities, the notice states those projects may only be pursued under NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands, rather than through this invasive and noxious plant management program.

The opportunity also highlights the role of Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are partnership networks intended to promote and provide research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services aligned with federal land management needs. If a cooperative agreement under this program is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement and the work is consistent with CESU purposes, then indirect costs are capped: they are limited to no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base that is recognized in the partner's federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Applicants are instructed to state clearly whether their proposal furthers CESU purposes and, if so, to identify which CESU Network should be considered the host, which matters for how the agreement is structured and how indirect costs are handled.

From a funding standpoint, the award ceiling listed for this opportunity is $950,000, indicating the maximum amount BLM expects to award per project under this announcement. The CFDA (assistance listing) number associated with the program is 15.230, and the funding activity category is Natural Resources. The original closing date shown for applications was February 19, 2024, and the opportunity record was created on November 21, 2023. Overall, the program is best suited for eligible public, tribal, academic, and nonprofit partners that can carry out on-the-ground invasive plant management and related monitoring/technical work in coordination with BLM, while avoiding proposals centered on Public Lands Corps internship or crew hiring, and while planning for the CESU indirect cost limitation if applying through a CESU partnership pathway.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.230.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-11-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-19. (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 $950,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

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