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2025 Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund: Conservation Planning Assistance (Nontraditional Section 6)

Grantor:
Department of Fish and Wildlife
Portal ID:
85307
Status:
Active
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
 | 
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

Support the development of new, or the renewal or amendment of existing, Habitat Conservation Plans and Conservation Benefit Agreements (formerly referred to as Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances).

Description:

The Conservation Planning Assistance Grant program provides funding to States to support the development of new Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) and Conservation Benefit Agreements (CBAs; formerly referred to as Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances). Funding may also be used to support the renewal or amendment of existing HCPs or CBAs. The development of HCPs that include only candidate or at-risk species (i.e., no Federally listed species covered by the HCP), such that the HCP would be in place if the species is listed, is also supported through this program.  Funding may be used to support development and planning activities such as document preparation, public outreach, baseline species surveys, habitat assessments, and inventories. The preparation of environmental compliance review documents, such as National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), is also an eligible use of grant funds. For CBAs, outreach, coordination, and administrative costs associated with the implementation of permitted agreements is also an eligible use of funds this year.

Contact your CDFW Region to coordinate on proposals. Proposals are submitted by CDFW Regions to the nccp@wildlife.ca.gov email address.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Business
  • Individual
  • Nonprofit
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

Includes State and local government agencies; private entities; institutions of higher education, including public, private, state colleges and universities; 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations; Native American tribal organizations. Private entities will require a different agreement type. Contact your CDFW Region for further information on these agreements.

Eligible Geographies:

Statewide voluntary conservation efforts.

Matching Funding Requirement:

The minimum non-federal cost share is 25 percent of the total project cost, i.e., the amount requested from the program plus the amount of non‐Federal cost share. Other funds related to the project, but not designated as cost share, should not be included in the total project costs when calculating minimum non-Federal cost share.

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
May 30, 2025
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
HCP 3 yrs, CBA 5 yrs

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$8,740,000
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
$1 – $1,000,000
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
25%
The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • Federal

Funding Source Notes:

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (CESCF)

In order to ensure that funding is available to fund both HCPs and CBAs, the Service will roughly split the total funding available as follows:• Up to 40% to HCPs;• Up to 40% dedicated to CBA planning and development;• Up to 10% dedicated to the administration of permitted CBAs;• Remaining funds as needed to any application type dependent on the number and quality of applications received.

The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Reimbursement(s)

Funding Method Notes:

Grant.

For planning assistance grants, the maximum award is $1 million with a maximum period of performance of three years. For Conservation Benefit Agreement administration grants, the maximum award is $500,000 ($100,000/ year for up to five years). There is no award floor.

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
HCPB-LCPP, 1-916-594-4485, NCCP@wildlife.ca.gov

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