On October 6, 2022, EPA's Office of Brownfields & Land Revitalization held a webinar to assist applicants with preparing applications for Fiscal Year 2023 RLF Grants. Below is a transcript of questions submitted by participants and EPA's response. Responses below may include additional information than what was provided during the webinar. If you have general questions about EPA's Brownfields Program or questions about a specific site for which you're seeking funding, please contact your Regional Brownfields Contact listed in Section VII. of the Guidelines. If you have questions on how to submit an application through www.grants.gov. please visit the "APPLICANTS" tab on the grants.gov website for information. GENERAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS THRESHOLD CRITERIA QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GENERAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS General No general questions were submitted for Threshold criteria. Contractor/Subawards Q: If an applicant has an approved qualified environmental professional (QEP) list and would like to add consultants, can the applicant 1) use those already on the approved list; and 2) procure additions to the list and use new consultants as well? A: The use of approved/qualified lists of contractors is permissible as long as the process used to add firms to the list is open to all potentially qualified applicants. Typically, organizations ask for price quotations from a minimum number of firms on the qualified list. Organizations 1 ------- may solicit other firms not on their qualified list provided that practice is consistent with their own rules and there is adequate competition to comply with Federal requirements. Q: Do we need to list all of the contractors in the grant application that are part of the approved list, or can we simply indicate we have an approved contractor list? A: Just advise EPA that you have an approved contractor list and explain how firms are added to the list and how many price quotations will be obtained for the work contemplated in your grant application. If there are local statutes/ordinances that are relevant just provide citations. EPA does not need to see the list itself or the language of the statutes/ordinances. RLF Grants No questions were submitted for RLF Threshold criteria. PROJECT AREA DESCRIPTION AND PLANS FOR REVITALIZATION QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q: What's the minimum number of priority sites needed? A: For the purposes of your application, you must specifically highlight one or more sites that are a priority and discuss why the site(s) is a priority for cleanup and reuse. COMMUNITY NEED AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q: What number of partners will be expected? Is more necessarily better? A: Please review the guidance in the NOFO. EPA staff cannot provide information regarding what approach is better than another. TASK DESCRIPTIONS, COST ESTIMATES, AND MEASURING PROGRESS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS No questions were submitted for this criterion. PROGRAMMATIC CAPABILITY AND PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS No questions were submitted for this criterion. 2 ------- |