The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (Program or ACCSP) is issuing a
Request for Proposals (RFP) to program partner agencies or Committees for FY18 funding.
The
Funding Decision Document provides general guidance and includes information on proposal preparation, the project approval process, and the RFP schedule. Projects in areas not specifically addressed may still be considered for funding if they help achieve Program goals. These goals, listed by priority, are improvements in:
1. Catch, effort, and landings data (including licensing, permit and vessel registration data);
2. Biological data;
3. Releases, discards and protected species data; and
4. Economic and sociological data.
Project activities that will be considered, according to priority, may include:
* Partner implementation of data collection programs;
* Continuation of current program funded partner programs;
* Funding for personnel required to implement Program related projects/proposals; and
* Data management system upgrades or establishment of partner data feeds to the Data Warehouse and/or Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System.
Proposals to continue Program-funded partner programs ("maintenance proposals") may not contain significant changes in scope (for example the addition of bycatch data collection to a dealer reporting project), and must include in the cover letter whether there are any changes in the current proposal from prior years, and if so, provide a brief summary of those changes.
Project submissions will be reviewed in accordance with the Funding Decision Document
, ranking criteria, and funding allocation. Current funding allocation guidelines are
75% for maintenance projects and 25% for new projects within the Program priorities. Additionally, a
long-term funding strategy policy was approved requiring maintenance projects to be subject to a prior
two year average as base funding. A funding decrease will begin after year 4 of maintenance funding
with funds decreasing 33% each year starting in year 5 with no funding year 7. Overhead rates may not
exceed 25% of total costs unless mandated by law or policy. Items included within overhead should not
also be listed as in-kind match. The final decisions on proposals to be funded for FY18 will be made in
October 2017. We strongly urge you to carefully review the Funding Decision Document, especially in
reference to the budget template.
Project awards will be subject to funding availability. If there is a funding shortfall, adjustments may be
made to awards in accordance with the Funding Decision Document.
Successful applications will be notified when funding becomes available and project investigators will
be required to report progress directly to the Program Operations and Advisory Committees in
addition to the standard Federal reporting requirements.
Please submit initial proposals as Microsoft Word and Excel files no later than June 19, 2017, by email
to both Mike Cahall and Elizabeth Wyatt. If you
have any questions about the funding decision process, please contact your agency's
Operations Committee
member, Mike Cahall (703-842-0781), or Elizabeth
Wyatt (703-842-0780).
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