NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS

NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets

10B Airline Drive

Albany, New York 12235

NEW YORK STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS

Agricultural Nonpoint Source Abatement and Control Grant Program

Pursuant to Article 11b of the Soil and Water Conservation District Law, applications will be accepted through June 26, 2023 for financial assistance in the form of matching grants to fund nonpoint source abatement and control projects that plan (AEM Tier III) or implement (AEM Tier IV) Agricultural Best Management Practices on New York State farms. All projects must consist of activities that will reduce, abate, control, or prevent nonpoint source pollution originating from agricultural sources. Applications must be for one of the following: planning activities (AEM Tier III) or implementation (AEM Tier IV).

Eligible applicants are County Soil and Water Conservation Districts or a group of districts acting jointly, who will be referred to as “Project Sponsors.” Groups of districts acting jointly should submit one application with one district assuming lead sponsor status. Eligible projects must be for one of the following: planning activities (AEM Tier III) or implementation of agricultural best management practices (AEM Tier IV). Priority consideration will be given to (1) proposals located within a watershed or subwatershed of a priority waterbody as identified by the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation pursuant to Section 17-1407 of the Environmental Conservation Law (2) projects that promote participation in or further priorities of the District’s local AEM program (3) projects that include the implementation of conservation buffers (4) projects that are located within a 303 D listed watershed or a watershed with a Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL) or projects located within a public drinking water source as identified on the Department of Health’s Source Water Assessment (5) projects that clearly address identified need or opportunity (6) projects that are proposed with adequate scope of work and time frame (7) projects that demonstrate strong local and landowner/operator support (8) projects that demonstrate cost effectiveness. If the proposal contains no contribution from the owner or operator of agricultural land, then the State may fund up to 75 percent of the total eligible costs for planning or BMP implementation. The amount of State funding may be increased by a percentage equal to the percentage of the total eligible costs that are contributed by the landowner or operator provided, however, that in no event shall the amount of State funding exceed 87.5 percent of total eligible costs.

Availability of funding for this program is from Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Budget, which includes an appropriation for this purpose.

Questions and Answers
Prospective applicants with questions concerning this RFP should present those questions to:
Bethany Bzduch
New York State Soil & Water Conservation Committee
10 B Airline Drive Albany, NY 12235
(518) 457-3738 (phone)
(518) 457-3412 (fax)
Bethany.bzduch@agriculture.ny.gov

All questions must be submitted in writing to Bethany Bzduch by the deadline indicated in Section 3.1 Request for Proposals Timeline. Applicants should note that all clarifications are to be resolved prior to the submission of a proposal. A list of questions about the RFP, answers to those questions as well as any addenda to the RFP, will be added to the Frequently Asked Questions Document posted on SharePoint along with the electronic version of this RFP and other program attachments. All questions and answers shall be incorporated into the RFP as a formal addendum.

For an application: contact Bethany Bzduch at bethany.bzduch@agriculture.ny.gov or 518-457-2713, login to the NYS Soil and Water Conservation Committee Sharepoint site at https://nysemail.sharepoint.com/sites/Agriculture/SWCC/SitePages/Home.aspx or visit the Department’s website at http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/RFPS.html