Opportunities – Federal contracts, grants, and jobs for and in the Mariana Islands:

Opportunities – Federal contracts, grants, and jobs for and in the Mariana Islands:

A note to those receiving or applying for federal grants during the COVID-19 crisis: The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may extend for up to 12 months certain grants set to expire between March 31 and December 31, 2020. OMB is also providing some deadline flexibility for grant applications. Check out these links for OMB’s March 9 and March 17 memo on these extensions.

Grants:

  • Citizenship Instruction and Natulization Application Services- This grant opportunity will fund up to 33 organizations that offer both citizenship instruction and naturalization application services to lawful permanent residents. Closing date is August 31, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=327875.
  • Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the availability of $40 million in Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants to expand community colleges’ ability to meet labor market demand for a skilled workforce. Closing date is October 08, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=327958
  • EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance - EDA’s CARES Act Recovery Assistance is designed to provide a wide-range of financial assistance to communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of this  pandemic.The CARES Act provides EDA with $1.5 billion of which $1.467 billion is available for grant making. The remaining funds will be transferred to cover salaries and expenses and oversight activities. For more information, go to https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2020/05/us-department-commerce-announces-availability-15-billion-cares-act.
  • NEH Care: Cultural Organizations - NEH emergency relief grants provide up to $300,000 to cultural nonprofits to support a range of humanities activities across the fields of education, preservation and access, public programming, digital humanities, and scholarly research through December 31, 2020. Funding may be used for short-term activities that emphasize retaining or hiring humanities staff at cultural organizations across the country to maintain or adapt critical programs during the pandemic. Closing date is May 11, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.neh.gov/program/neh-cares-cultural-organizations.
  • Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) – The Department of Homeland Security’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants provide financial assistance to help fire departments increase frontline firefighters. SAFER offers grants to support the hiring of firefighters and the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. Closing date is May 15, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=326125.
  • Traditional Conservation Grants – The objective of the Traditional Conservation Grant program is to support the development and implementation of programs to conserve and recover threated and endangered species. Financial assistance, provided in the form of grants, can be used to support projects that have direct conservation benefits for federally listed species, candidate and at-risk species, and recently delisted species. Closing date is July 6, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=326053.
  • Recovery Challenge – The Recovery Challenge aims to enhance and increase partnerships with agencies and organizations implementing highest priority recovery actions for federally listed endangered and threatened species, and in particular for genetically-sound breeding, rearing and reintroduction programs. Closing date is June 4, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=326041.
  • Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program - The Administration on Children, Youth and are now accepting mandatory formula grant applications and State Plans from states and territories for the development of and implementation for Title V State Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program. The Title V State SRAE Funding Opportunity Announcement sets forth the application requirements for the receipt of the following documents from applicants and awardees: Application, State Plan, and Performance Progress Report. Deadline for comments is May 24, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program – EPA is announcing a grant competition to fund two-year Source Reduction Assistance agreements that support research, investigation, study, demonstration, education and training using source reduction approaches. Closing date is April 30, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=325091.
  • Land and Water Conservation Fund – The National Park Service provides matching grants to states and through states to local governments for the acquisition and development of lands and waters for outdoor recreation purposes. Closing date is April 30, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=325093.
  • Housing Preservation Grant- Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand today announced that USDA is seeking applications for grants to make housing repairs for low- and very-low-income rural residents. Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that provide measurable results in helping rural communities build robust and sustainable economies through strategic investments in infrastructure, partnerships and innovation. Closing date is May 7, 2020. For more information, go to https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDARD/bulletins/283071b.
  • EDA Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance – The Economic Development Administration is soliciting applications to provide investments that support construction, non-construction, technical assistance, and revolving loan fund projects under EDA’s Public Works and EAA programs. Grants and cooperative agreements made under these programs are designed to leverage existing regional assets and support the implementation of economic development strategies that advance new ideas and creative approaches to advance economic prosperity in distressed communities. There are no deadlines. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=321695.
  • National Fish Passage Program – The National Fish Passage Program is a voluntary program that provides direct technical and financial assistance to partners to provide fish (and other aquatic organisms) passage and restore aquatic connectivity for the benefit of federal trust resources. The program aims to maintain or increase fish populations in order to improve ecosystem resiliency and to provide quality fishing experiences for the American people. Closing date is September 30, 2020. For more information, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=321478.
  • EDA Disaster Supplemental – The Economic Development Administration Economic Adjustment Assistance program will help communities and regions devise and implement long-term economic recovery strategies through a variety projects to address economic challenges in areas where a declaration of a major disaster was issued, including Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut. Inclusion of resilience principles in the project is a necessary step to improve the capacity of the region to recover more quickly from future disaster events. Applications are accepted on a continuing basis and processed as received. For more information go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=319126.
  • Sport Fish Restoration Grant – The Sport Fish Restoration Grant Program provides funding to restore, conserve, manage, or enhance sport fish populations and the public use and benefits from these resources; to educate the public about aquatic resources; and to provide boating access to public waters. Closing date for applications is August 31, 2020. For more information, click here.

Public Comment:

  • Prevailing wage changes - The Department of Labor is amending Employment and Training Administration regulations governing the prevailing wages for employment opportunities that United States employers seek to fill with foreign workers on a permanent or temporary basis through certain employment-based immigrant visas or through H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 nonimmigrant visas. Specifically, DOL is amending its regulations governing permanent labor certifications and Labor Condition Applications to incorporate changes to the computation of wage levels under the Department's four-tiered wage structure based on the Occupational Employment Statistics wage survey administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Deadline for comments is November 9, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Changes in VA system of records - The Department of Veterans Affairs seeks comments on amending the system of records entitled “Patient Medical Records-VA.” The VA is amending the system by revising the System Number; System Location; System Manager; Purpose; Categories of Individuals Covered by the System; Categories of Records in the System; Record Source Categories; Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System; Policies and Practices for Storage of Records; Policies and Practices For Retention and Disposal of Records; Physical, Procedural, and Administrative Safeguards; and Appendix. Deadline for comments is November 2, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Assistive Technology Program data - The Administration for Community Living (of the Department of Health & Human Services) seeks comments on information being collected for the annual progress report for the State Grants for Assistive Technology Program. Deadline for comments is November 27, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Data for federal-aid highway projects - The Federal Highway Administration seeks comments on information collection regarding project agreements required for Federal-aid highway projects. Deadline for comments is November 27, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Inquiry and Case Management System changes - Office of the Secretary of Defense seeks comments regarding modifying the system of records titled, “Inquiry and Case Management System.” This system provides assistance to U.S. Military Service Members and members of the National Disaster Medical System with resolving employment and or re-employment conflicts and provides employers with Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Act information. This system of records modification is effective upon publication; however, comments on the Routine Uses will be accepted on or before October 23, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • DoJ Immigration rule change - Executive Office for Immigration Review (of the Department of Justice) seeks comments on a rule amendment to the EOIR regulations governing asylum and withholding of removal, including changes to what must be included with an application for such relief for it to be considered complete and the consequences of filing an incomplete application, changes establishing a 15-day filing deadline for aliens applying for asylum in asylum-and-withholding-only proceedings, and changes related to the 180-day asylum adjudication clock. Deadline for comments is October 23, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Fishery data - National Marine Fisheries Service seeks comments for putting together its List of Fisheries for 2021. The LOF for 2021 reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals. NMFS must classify each commercial fishery on the LOF into one of three categories under the MMPA based upon the level of mortality and serious injury of marine mammals that occurs incidental to each fishery. Deadline for comments is October 21, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Grant report extension request - Office of Community Services (of the Department of Health and Human Services) seeks comments on the Administration for Children and Families requesting a 3-year extension of the Social Services Block Grant Post-Expenditure Report. ACF is proposing to reduce the burden estimates in the previously approved request by removing use of the form for the Pre-Expenditure Report. Deadline for comments is November 15, 2020. For more information, click here.
  • Data for Marianas commercial fishing - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeks comments on information collected for commercial fishing in the Marianas area. Regulations require that the owner of a vessel used to fish for, land, or transship bottomfish management unit species using a large vessel (50 ft or longer) in the Guam management subarea, fish commercially for BMUS in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands management subarea, or fish for BMUS in allowed locations within the exclusive economic zon around each of the Pacific Remote Island Areas, must register it to a valid Federal fishing permit. Deadline for comments is Novemebr 13, 2020. For more information, click here.