Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Round 1 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

2. Partnership

2.1- Co-Applicant Requirements

Question: Do I need a Co-Applicant to apply for this grant program?

Answer: Co-Applicant requirements for this program vary depending on if you are applying for a small or large grant. You can review the full requirements on pages 17-19 of the Final Grant Guidelines.

Applicants for Small Planning Grants and Small Implementation Grants are not required to apply with a Co-Applicant(s) at time of application. If applying without a Co-Applicant, Applicants are required include partnership development in the project workplan and budget.

Large Planning Grants and Large Implementation Grants have different requirements. It is preferred that local public entities or academic institutions applying for a include a Community Based Organization (CBO) Co-Applicant. Conversely, it is preferred that Community Based Organization or Coalition Lead-Applicants include a Local Public Entity Co-Applicant. If this is not feasible, however, they may also complete the "alternate" requirements which includes a written justification and inclusion of partnership development.

Exception: Tribes do not need to apply with a Co-Applicant for any grant type, including Large Planning Grants or Large Implementation Grants. If applying without a Co-Applicant, tribal applicants are required to include partnership development in project workplan and budget. Unlike other applicants of Large Planning/Implementation Grants, Tribal Lead Applicants without a Co-Applicant do not need to submit a justification.

2.2- Large Grant: No CBO Co-Applicant

Question: Local Public Entity/Academic Institution Lead Applicant only- What happens if I don't apply with a CBO Co-Applicant? How will my application score?

Answer: Unfortunately, ICARP program staff cannot provide counsel on how specific applications will score. Our interagency review panel, comprised of experts from different state agencies, will review and score your partnership justification according to our scoring criteria.

With this in mind, please review the requirements for the justification should you choose to apply without a CBO Co-Applicant. Applicants will need to "submit a justification explaining barriers to partnership, how you will meaningfully engage with the community throughout the project, and how you plan to develop new partnerships with CBOs through the grant."

Additionally, it may be helpful to review the scoring criteria for the partnership section. Your case would align with Partnership Option Number 3, which is explained on Page 60 and 61 of the Guidelines.

It may also be helpful to review the workshop recording from February 20th. In this workshop, we review the partnership requirements for Large Implementation Grants and give a few examples of reasons for lack of CBO partner.

2.3- Contributors

Question: I have a group I want to add as a partner, but they don't have the capacity to be a Co-Applicant. Would they be a good fit for the Contributor role?

Answer: A contributor is a partner who receives funds from EHCRP through the Lead Applicant whose role will evolve over the course of the project. This form of partnership allows for engagement in the project but gives time and flexibility to the partner to develop a project scope and organizational alignment.

Note that adding a contributor will not satisfy any of the Co-Applicant requirements, but it does allow for the addition of flexible partnership on the grant.

2.4- Co-Applicant Funding

Question: I would like to add a Co-Applicant to my project, but they don't require funding from EHCRP. Is this okay?

Answer: A Co-Applicant is a partner who receives funds from EHCRP through the Lead-Applicant (Grant Guidelines page 16). If the potential partner will not receive any funding from EHCRP, they will not qualify as a Co-Applicant.

In this case, the partner could join on as a "Supporter". A Supporter is defined as “a non-funded partner that is in favor of the project but does not need funds to participate in grant activities. This may include local governments that will benefit from the work but will not play a deep role in the project or have other funding resources to participate in the process" (Grant Guidelines Page 17).

4. Grant Activities

4.1- Maintenance

Question: Is maintenance for nature-based solutions an eligible expense?

Answer: Maintenance for nature-based solutions is an eligible activity for this grant program.

Please refer to page 33 of the Final Grant Guidelines for more details on watering as an eligible activity: "Maintenance and watering for nature-based solutions and any staff training necessary to ensure landscapes are maintained to achieve desired outcomes. Pending state funding availability, invoices for maintenance costs may be accepted beyond the 30-month grant term. Please indicate interest in funding for this activity beyond the 30- month grant term in the project workplan and budget."

4.2- Concrete Cutting

Question: Is concrete cutting an acceptable expense?

Answer: "Parking space, asphalt, and/or other impervious and/or low albedo surface removal with trees or shade replacement" is listed as an eligible activity on Page 32 of the Final Grant Guidelines.

4.3- Community Resilience Centers

Question: Is developing and building a Community Resilience Center an eligible activity for this grant program?

Answer: It is important to note that, unlike the SGC Community Resilience Centers Grant, the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program (EHCRP) is not designed to support the beginning to end development and construction of Community Resilience Centers. Despite this, EHCRP can fund some planning, infrastructure, services, and programing related to Community Resilience Centers for extreme heat. The implementation eligible activities section of the Final Grant Guidelines lists examples of these activities (Page 29-33).

4.4- Playground Equipment

Question: Is playground equipment (with shade construction) an eligible cost?

Answer: Playground equipment, shade structures, trees, and accompanying facilities (i.e. water fountain) are all eligible activities.

4.5- Purchasing Land

Question: Is purchasing land/property an eligible activity?

Answer: No. Purchasing land is not an eligible cost for this grant program. (Page 47 of Final Grant Guidelines).

4.6- Combined Planning/Implementation

Question: Can I apply for a combined planning/implementation grant?

Answer: This program requires you to specify whether you will apply for a Planning Grant or Implementation Grant. There is no formal "hybrid" option.

It may be interesting to note, however, that up to 25% of the project budget for Large Planning Grants may be used on small scale implementation projects to provide proof of concept for proposed investment(s) included in planning projects. You can find information on this on Page 27 of the Final Grant Guidelines.

Please also note that you may apply and be awarded for multiple grant types (each in a separate proposal).

4.7 Implementation Grant w/ Planning

Question: Is there a specific amount or percentage of the large implementation grants that can be allocated towards a planning aspect of a proposed project at all?

Answer: You can choose to select awareness building, communications activities that support the implementation of your project. If you project is related to infrastructure, you can spend money on the necessary activities to design that infrastructure. While “planning” is not an eligible activity in the implementation grant there are an array of planning-like activities that are eligible to use in an implementation grant.

4.8 Multiple Locations/Activities

Question: Can one application include multiple locations or extreme heat solutions?

Answer: You may combine multiple solutions/locations into one grant application. For example, one project proposal could include multiple locations (ex. multiple schools) and/or extreme heat solutions (ex. cool coating + shade structures). For Implementation Grants, applicants are encouraged to include activities from multiple tracks in one proposal and/or combine different types of infrastructure and programs into one project. For example, a project could propose the creation of a cool corridor that includes community created art (Track A), mutual aid resources during extreme heat events (Track B), water fountains (Track C), and shade trees (Track D).

6. Grant Administration

6.1- Reimbursement Process

Question: As a reimbursement grant, if our Co-Applicant spends money, would the co-applicant invoice OPR directly, or invoice the Lead Applicant who then invoices the co-applicant?

Answer: Lead Applicants are the only entity that invoices OPR. This means that if a Co-Applicant spends money, they will invoice the Lead Applicant who then invoices OPR.

6.2- Project Completion

Question: If I am awarded, when does my project need to be completed?

Answer: All invoiced must be submitted by March 31, 2028. We plan to make Round One awards in summer of 2024. It is encouraged to use the 30-month grant duration to frontload engagement and other costs. Additionally, during this 30-month period, you will have access to technical assistance and a cohort of grantees.

Please note that, given funding availability, we anticipate conducting at least one more round of funding. While the 2028 liquidation date currently remains the same for all funding rounds, any second round of grant projects will begin later.

6.3- Binding Award

Question: Is the grant a binding grant? If we get awarded but then decide not to accept are we able to decline at that time?

Answer: This is not a binding grant. You may decline the grant at the time of award. Once you accept the grant award, however, you will be required to sign a contract to receive funds.

6.4- Partial Award

Question: Does this grant opportunity operate on an "all or nothing" basis? In other words, if our application is successful, would the entire requested amount be granted, or is there potential for partial funding?

Answer: Possible reasons for why an Applicant might not receive their full funding request include:

• Concerns regarding the feasibility of all proposed activities within the grant term
• Removal of ineligible costs that are included in the proposal.
• If funding remains after awarding the highest scoring Applicants, partial awards may be made to the next best-scored Applicant.

These reasons are listed on Page 68 of the Final Grant Guidelines

8. Application Support and Technical Assistance

8.1- Office Hours

Question: Do I need to sign up for a specific timeslot for office hours?

Answer: There are no specific time slots for office hours. We will accept questions in the order that people enter the zoom room. The reason for this is so that everyone can have access to the same information about the grant application.

8.2- Application Support

Question: Will you tell me if I am a competitive candidate for receiving funding?

Answer: ICARP Staff can alert you of any general eligibility issues with your application and answer general questions but cannot provide direct support on designing your application. Our third party Applicational Technical Assistance providers can provide more detailed support on your application. You can request Application Technical Assistance when completing the Pre-Application Interest Form.

8.3- Technical Assistance Timeline

Question: I requested technical assistance. When will I hear back?

Answer: As of 3/21/2024, if you requested Technical Assistance before the priority due date (5pm 3/5/2024), ICARP Staff and the Technical Assistance provider are in the process of reviewing your application and reaching out. If your request for Application Technical Assistance was submitted after the priority due date (March 5), your application may not be reviewed. Should staff have additional capacity, a member of the third-party TA provider team or ICARP staff will reach out once they have reviewed your application.

8.4- What is Application Technical Assistance?

Question: What is Application Technical Assistance?

Answer: Application TA activities during the application development process may include, but are not limited to:

• Clarifying guidance about requirements and guidelines during application development
• Frameworks, tools, and templates for EHCRP Applicant use in proposals.
• Direct application assistance, including answering specific TA questions, review of proposed application responses, and partnership support.

EHCRP and the TA provider will work collaboratively with Applicants to determine the scope, scale, and timeline of direct Application TA available to those prioritized for assistance. Applicants prioritized and selected for TA will be notified by OPR.

Please note that receiving Application TA does not guarantee that an Applicant will be awarded an EHCRP grant.

8.4- TA Due Date

Question: I missed the priority due date for requesting Application Technical Assistance. Can I still apply?

Answer: Unfortunately, the priority due date for application technical assistance was March 5th. You are still able to include a request for technical assistance in your pre-Application interest form, but it will only be reviewed should Technical Assistance staff have additional capacity.

8.5- Word Version of Application

Question: Is there a Word version of the application available online?

Answer: We have received requests to create a Word Document version of the application so applicants can collaborate on your application responses more freely before submitting. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a document like this available although we hope to create one soon if our staff capacity allows.

In the meantime, you can view the "Application Narrative" section of the Final Grant Guidelines (Pages 37-43) to see the narrative questions you will be required to complete. You can also view the scoring criteria for these questions in Appendix A (pages 53-66).

You can also copy and paste the questions from the Full Application Form into a shared document to facilitate collaboration.

Finally, you can add a collaborator to the Submittable form. There are full instructions to do this available on the application forms.

8.6- Office Hour/Workshop Recording

Question: Where can I find the workshop/office hours recording?

Answer: We post all the recordings online and link to them on our website. To find them, visit the EHCRP webpage and navigate to the Workshop/Office Hour Session you would like to view. Press the button that says, "View the recording". There is some lag time between the live workshop/office hours and when the recording is posted.

8.7- Letter of Commitment Example

Question: Do you have an example letter of commitment that you can provide?

Answer: Unfortunately, we do not currently have any examples of letters of commitment available.