FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program | L24AS00047

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00047

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program (Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00047, CFDA 15.228) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity run by the Bureau of Land Management to support fuels management and community fire assistance work in Oregon and Washington. The work is intended to reduce wildfire risk and improve community resilience by funding projects that address hazardous fuels, strengthen preparedness, and support on-the-ground actions and coordination that help prevent or lessen the impacts of wildfire. Awards are made as cooperative agreements, which typically means BLM expects to remain substantially involved in the project during performance (for example, through coordination, technical input, or shared project planning), rather than issuing a hands-off grant.

Eligible applicants are public-sector and mission-driven organizations, including state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), as long as they are not for-profit). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible, so proposals must come from an eligible governmental, educational, tribal, housing authority, or nonprofit entity.

Two important limitations are spelled out in the notice. First, this NOFO does not support entities that want to hire interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice emphasizes that the Public Lands Corps Act is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework, and that projects involving Youth Conservation Corps-type placements need to be pursued through a different funding opportunity: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In practical terms, applicants should avoid building proposals around PLC-style internships or youth crews under this specific OR/WA fuels and community fire assistance NOFO, and should route those concepts to the dedicated youth opportunity instead.

Second, the notice highlights how indirect costs work for Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) partners. CESUs are partnerships designed to facilitate research, monitoring, assessments, technical assistance, and education, and they operate under formally negotiated master CESU agreements. If a CESU partner is awarded a cooperative agreement under this NOFO in a way that is consistent with the CESU purpose, indirect costs are capped: they may not exceed 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Applicants are expected to state whether their proposal furthers the CESU program purpose and, if it does, identify which CESU Network should be considered the host. This matters for budgeting and compliance, because it can reduce the indirect rate below what an organization might otherwise expect under its NICRA.

Key administrative details include an original application closing date of February 22, 2024, an award ceiling of $950,000, and an activity category focused on natural resources. Overall, this opportunity is geared toward funding partners that can deliver fuels reduction and community wildfire assistance outcomes in OR/WA, while keeping proposals aligned with eligibility rules, avoiding PLC intern/crew hiring under this NOFO, and properly handling CESU-related indirect cost limitations and network identification when applicable.

• 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) Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.228.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-11-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-22. (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.

Apply for L24AS00047

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