| Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation |
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| Introduction |
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The Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, or CELCP, is a federal program to provide grants to states for coastal conservation land acquisitions. Projects for CELCP funding are selected at the national level on a competitive basis, and federal funds for CELCP projects must be matched at least 1:1 by non-federal funds. Only state agencies and local governments authorized to hold title to conservation lands are eligible to apply for CELCP funds.
The Oregon Coastal Management Program (OCMP) is the “lead agency” for implementing CELCP in Oregon. As the lead agency for CELCP in Oregon, the Oregon Coastal Management Program developed and submitted to NOAA a Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan. Oregon is thus eligible to submit proposals for CELCP funding. As lead agency, the OCMP also manages the solicitation, review, and submittal of eligible projects for the national-level competitive review. The result of the national level competitive review is a ranked list of proposals from all participating states, which is then forwarded to Congress for possible inclusion in legislation to fund CELCP projects.
The review and selection process for CELCP projects in Oregon is described in Oregon’s Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan, which is available by link below. The criteria for projects and the national-level selection process are described in the CELCP Program Guidelines and a recent Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity, both of which are available by link below.
To meet the CELCP’s national criteria, projects should:
- Protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical, or aesthetic values, or that are threatened by conversion from their natural or recreational state to other uses;
- Give priority to lands that can be effectively managed and protected and that have significant ecological value; and
- Directly advance the goals, objectives, and implementation of the state or territory’s CELCP plan, which necessarily includes goals and objectives that relate to the coastal management plan or program, National Estuarine Research Reserve management plans approved under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), national objectives of the CZMA, or a regional or state watershed protection plan for states and territories with approved coastal management plans.
Additional details on the national criteria are available in the CELCP Guidelines and Oregon’s Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan.
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| CELCP FY 2010 Competition |
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On January 2, 2009, an Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity was published in the Federal Register for states to apply for funds for CELCP projects in federal fiscal year 2010. Funding for projects in FY 2010 is contingent on the availability of federal appropriations for CELCP in the fiscal year 2010 federal budget. Should funds be made available, projects selected for funding under this opportunity are anticipated to have a grant start date between March 1, 2010 and October 1, 2010.
Only states that have submitted to NOAA a CELCP plan on or before February 24, 2009 are eligible to participate in the FY 2010 funding opportunity. Oregon submitted a CELCP Plan to NOAA in December 2005, and a revised version in July 2007. Oregon’s revised CELCP Plan is the basis for Oregon’s participation in this FY 2010 funding opportunity. Oregon’s CELCP Plan is available by link below.
Under the CELCP Guidelines, states may solicit CELCP project applications from qualified entities upon notice of the availability of CELCP funds. Accordingly, the Oregon Coastal Management Program notified state agencies, local governments, and other interested parties in Oregon of the FY 2010 national solicitation. (Here is a link to the OCMP solicitation, January 20, 2009.) The OCMP solicitation directed interested parties to this website for further information and access to materials to be used in preparing an application for CELCP funding. This page provides access to all the materials a prospective applicant needs to prepare an application for CELCP funds.
Under the FY 2010 CELCP Competition, states may submit up to three separate applications of up to three million dollars each. Federal grant funds for CELCP are required to be matched dollar for dollar by non-federal funds.
Applications for CELCP funds are due to NOAA by the end of the day on March 31, 2009. To allow time for the Oregon Coastal Management Program to review, score, and select applications to forward for the national-level competition, applications for 2010 CELCP funding in Oregon must be delivered by 5:00 PM on March 20, 2009 to:
Jeffrey Weber, Coastal Conservation Projects Coordinator
The Oregon Coastal Management Program
Department of Land Conservation and Development
800 NE Oregon St.
Suite 1145
Portland, Oregon, 97232
Prospective applicants for FY 2010 CELCP funding in Oregon must contact the OCMP to arrange a pre-application meeting to be scheduled from February 24th through the 26th. The purpose of the pre-application meeting is to discuss the possible application, the national criteria for selection of CELCP projects, the process to review and submit proposals, and the applicant’s responsibilities for assembling a complete CELCP submittal based on the Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity. To arrange a pre-application meeting, please either email Jeff Weber or call 971.673.0964.
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| Oregon's CELCP Plan, July 2007 |
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The Oregon Coastal Management Program first submitted a Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan to NOAA’s Office of Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) in December 2005. OCRM provided comments to Oregon in late 2006, and the OCMP revised the CELCP Plan and re-submitted it to OCRM in July 2007. OCRM provided additional comments to Oregon on the revised draft in April 2008, but further revisions of Oregon’s plan have been deferred until after the solicitation for projects in 2010.
Oregon’s revised CELCP Plan is the basis for the OCMP’s solicitation for applications for funding in 2010. Criteria CELCP projects in Oregon are discussed in Oregon’s CELCP Plan on pages 22 through 25, and the process of selecting proposals to forward to the national-level competition is outlined on pages 26 and 27.
The Oregon Coastal Management Program Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan, July 2007 (pdf)
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| Announcement of Funding Opportunity, Application Package |
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Projects eligible for CELCP funding in federal fiscal year 2010 must meet all the requirements described in the Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity. The announcement lists the criteria for project selection and describes the project review and ranking process at the national level. The announcement includes appendices that should be used in preparing an application. These appendices are also available by link below.
As the lead agency for CELCP in Oregon, the Oregon Coastal Management Program will submit the application for CELCP funds for Oregon under the FY 2010 solicitation. The OCMP will complete the section named “Appendix C: Project Application Checklist” that begins on page 8 (of 13) in the application package. The OCMP can advise applicants on other sections of the Application Package, but the project scope, justification, description, budget, and timeline are all the sole responsibility of project applicants.
Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity
Application Package: Project and Budget Templates and Project Application Checklist
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| CELCP Guidelines, 2003 |
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The CELCP Guidelines, which were published in June 2003, establish the framework for developing state CELCP Plans and the criteria and process for NOAA to select projects at the national level for funding.
Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program Guidelines (pdf)
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| For Further Information |
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To arrange a consultation with the Oregon Coastal Management Program about a possible CELCP project, or for further information about the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, Oregon's CELCP Plan, or the Oregon Coastal Management Program, please contact Jeffrey Weber, the OCMP Conservation Coordinator, at jeff.weber@state.or.us or (971)673-0964.
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