Clean Energy Technology Deployment 2023 FOA Webinar

LIZANA PIERCE: Good afternoon or good morning, depending on where you are, and welcome to the webinar. This information webinar is for people interested in applying to the Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy funding opportunity announcement, or FOA, as we call it, entitled "Clean Energy Technology Deployment on Tribal Lands 2023," which was issued February 16, 2023. 

The intent of this webinar is to cover the basic aspects of the funding opportunity announcement, again, otherwise known as the FOA, and highlight essential details about the application process, including the types of applications being sought, who is eligible to apply, cost share and other requirements, what the application needs to contain, how to ask questions, and how applications will be reviewed and selected for funding. 

Before we begin, I'd like to draw your attention to the email address in the footer on the slide, [email protected]. This is the official mailbox to direct all of your questions to during the entire FOA process. Please do not contact DOE, or DOE laboratory staff, or contractors directly with any questions, including myself or Tweedie, as questions must be in writing. 

The reason for this only accepting written questions through the mailbox is to ensure that you receive an official response and so that everyone has the benefit of that same response. Because typically, if you have a question, other potential applicants may have similar questions. 

As we will not have a question and answer session as part of this webinar, please capture your questions as they come up and send them via email to [email protected]. Please also include the FOA number, DE-FOA-0002975 in the subject line of your email, please. 

Unless a similar question has already been asked, responses to questions received at this mailbox will be posted to the Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ webpage for this FOA on exchange website. Responses to your questions will typically be posted within about three business days after receipt or the best as we can get them to you. 

Before submitting the question, please check the FAQs webpage on IE-Exchange, as a similar question may have already been answered. In submitting your questions, we also ask that you be careful not to include any language that might be business sensitive, proprietary, confidential. We will amend the question so that it's not specific to a particular tribe, or particular individual, or that kind of thing so that it's somewhat generic. 

Your participation in this webinar is completely voluntary. There are no particular advantages to the application evaluation process with respect to your participation in the webinar today. Note that if there are any inconsistencies between the funding opportunity announcement itself and this presentation or statement from DOE or other personnel, the FOA document is the controlling document. And applicants should rely solely on the FOA language or seek clarification by sending your questions to [email protected] 

These slides and an audio recording of this webinar will be posted in the next week or so or maybe sooner. And as a registrant of the webinar, you will receive an email when the material is available. So let's get started. Next slide, please. 

So my name is Lizana Pierce. I should probably should have said that at the beginning. I am a senior engineer with the Department of Energy and the employment supervisor for the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, otherwise known simply as the Office of Indian Energy. 

I'm now working in clean energy for about the last 25, maybe more years, and specifically, in Indian Energy since the late '90s. In my current position as deployment supervisor, I support the Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy by executing the deployment program, which is comprised of financial assistance, typically through competitive grants such as this, technical assistance at no cost to requesting Indian tribes and tribal entities, and education capacity-building activities. 

Additionally, I manage the National Funding Opportunity Announcement active project officer for some of the resulting grants and agreements and implement the outreach through our website email, newsletters, and oversee the support of our laboratory partners. 

I also have with me Tweedie Doe, who is a project officer with the office. And she's also stationed in Colorado with myself. And this time, I actually might let her speak. [LAUGHS] I think last time I introduced her, I didn't let her present at all. 

So I'll start the webinar by-- because there's so much information, Tweedie and I are going to swap out. And I will let her speak this time throughout the presentation. So Tweedie, next slide, please. And if you want to, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the office. 

TWEEDIE DOE: Yes, I'm happy to be able to be speaking with all of you. And I want to welcome-- I think there are 223 of us on this webinar today. So welcome, everyone. My name again is Tweedie D-O-E. You'll remember my last name because I've been with the DOE here for about 13 and 1/2 years and with the Office of Indian Energy for over half of that time. 

The best part of my job is working with our Indian Energy team, like Lizana and many, many other people behind the scene here, and to be able to work with you to realize your energy goals. Do have a lot of information, as Lizana said, to share with you on this Funding Opportunity Announcement, also FOA. So plan to get up, stretch a little bit, stretch often. And we'll try not to put anyone to sleep. Next slide, please. 

All right, as advocated for and by the tribes and incorporated into the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Office of Indian Energy was stood up in 2011 as one of the dozen assistant secretarial-level offices within the department. 

The office authorized under the Energy Policy Act, or EPAC 2005, is charged by Congress to promote Indian energy development, efficiency, and use, two, reduce or stabilize energy costs, and three, enhance and strengthen Indian tribal energy and economic infrastructure relating to natural resource, development, and electrification, and a number four, to bring electrical power and service to Indian land and the homes of tribal members located on Indian lands or acquired, constructed, or improved, in whole or in part, with federal funds. 

And to aid us in accomplishing our mission, the office receives insights on issues affecting energy and infrastructure development on tribal lands. And to help guide us through the Indian country energy and infras-- sorry, through the Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure working group, also known by some of us as ICEIWG. I won't go through each of the pictures that you see on your right. But you'll see lots of examples of co-funded projects throughout the presentation. Next slide, please. 

I have a different slide of deployment programs. I'm sorry, could you go back one slide? Sorry about that, Joe. Maybe we won't have-- we don't have that one. So I'm just going to go through here. To achieve our mission and address barriers, the Office of Indian Energy offers three things-- financial assistance through competitive grants, two, technical assistance offered at no charge to Indian tribes and tribal entities, and three, our third major program is education and capacity-building. 

These three prongs, the three legs, are intended to assist Indian tribes and tribal entities overcome the unique regulatory, technical, and economic challenges to developing the vast energy resources and if and how they choose to do so. Let's try next slide, see what we see. 

All right. The office is comprised of 14 federal staff, duty station in Washington, DC; Golden, Colorado; and Anchorage, Alaska. We also have a contractor team in Golden, Colorado supporting financial assistance grants and agreements across the nation. 

For the competitive grants we also have a memorandum of understanding, or an MOU-- little bit easier to say-- for support from the DOE Golden field office for financial assistance, for legal, and NEPA support. The office also receives support from the National Renewable Energy Lab, also known as NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, SNL, and other local technical assistance providers. Next slide, please. 

And here, you see most of our happy faces. This is not the entire team. This picture was taken in April of 2022 and includes many of us at the Office of Indian Energy Federal and Contractor Team. Sadly, we've lost a few people on our team in this picture. But we've also gained some people too. So we are growing. Next slide, please. 

LIZANA PIERCE: We've only lost them because they've retired or otherwise, not because we lost them. 

TWEEDIE DOE: Yes. No, no, no. We didn't lose anybody to-- in any bad way, only in good ways. All right, here's the slide that should have come up earlier. I think we had this slide a little bit out of order, so my apologies. These are the three prongs in our program that I talked about earlier. So we'll go to the next slide, please, Joe. OK. Now, I think we're on track. 

So since 2010, the Office of Indian Energy has invested 122-- well, over $122 million in more than 210 projects. I think it's about 213 tribal energy projects across the contiguous 48 states and Alaska, valued over $215 million. 

And through these grants, the Office of Indian Energy continues its efforts in partnership with Native communities to maximize the deployment of clean energy solutions for the benefit of American Indians and Alaska Natives. The deployment of energy projects in American Indian-Alaska Native communities has had tangible impacts, which I will detail on the next slide. 

And by the way, the slide that you see here is on our Tribal Energy Projects database, which is located on our website. You can go to our website and access all of this. And it offers an interactive map, along with a sortable table. You can find project summaries of all the projects that we have supported, presentations, and if the projects have been completed. You'll also see the final report on all of these projects. Next slide, please. 

Of the $122 million that we invested, over $93 million, or 76% of all investment, has been invested in energy hardware installations, or what we call deployment projects. These projects, valued over $175 million, have resulted in tangible results for over 100 American Indian and Alaska Native communities. 

The positive impacts to those communities include nearly 46 megawatts of new generation installed, nearly 13 megawatt hours of battery storage installed, over $14.4 million saved every year, nearly $315 million saved over the system lifetime. And for every dollar that we invested, we saved $338, so a very good return. And nearly 8,800 tribal buildings have been affected by these projects. Next slide, please. 

Before we discuss this FOA, or this Funding Opportunity Announcement, DE-FOA-0002975, I wanted to walk you through the IE exchange site-- and hopefully, many of you have seen this site already-- and where to find the BOA document itself, the application forms, and also the Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs. 

The IE-Exchange website is at ie-exchange.energy.gov. And you can see that up on the top there of that slide. Clicking on the FOA number, where we got it circled red in the FOA list will take you to the section of the web page specific to this FOA, as shown on the slide here that you see. 

And as you can see in this slide of the IE-Exchange exchange website, the section specific to this FOA, which is FOA 2975-- the last four digits I'll call out instead of reading the whole thing-- includes a brief summary and other key information. The direct link to this summary is at the bottom of the slide. The screenshot may make it difficult for you to see. But we'll expand that on the next few slides. 

Sorry, to apply for the FOA, start by registering with IE-Exchange and then clicking the Apply button shown on the right of this slide. During the process, a control number will be assigned. Retain this number as it will be used as an identifier. And it's required on all of your application documents. Note also that there are manuals on this site, which will provide you more directions on registering and submitting an application. All right, let's go on to the next slide, please. 

From this screenshot, the IE-Exchange exchange summary for this FOA includes, one, the FOA document itself for download. So you can click on that and it will download the FOA document for you. The application forms and templates, the next circle red down on the slide-- and note that the application forms and templates for this FOA on IE-Exchange represent only a portion of the documents that are required for a complete application. The remaining documents required for complete application have no specific format and are to be generated by you, the applicant. 

The next circle, red circle, there is the contact information for submitting questions regarding this FOA and for IE-Exchange support. The link to the Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, webpage specific to this FOA-- and also, note that we have a general non-FOA specific FAQs that's available on the website as well. 

And the last red circle on the bottom is very important. It's the submission deadline, which is May 16, 2023 at 5:00 PM Eastern. This is Eastern Time. So please plan accordingly and adjust for whichever time zone you may be located in. 

If the application forms and templates are not shown, you'll need to click on the View Application Forms and Templates. And a list of forms and templates will be revealed, which I'll show you on the next slide. Remember, these are only a portion of the documents required for complete application. The remaining documents required for a complete application have no specific format and are to be generated by the applicants. Next slide, please. 

So once you click on View Application Forms and Templates, you'll see the various forms and templates that need to be included as part of your application. These forms and templates represent only a portion of the documents required for complete application. The remaining documents, again, required for complete application have no specific format and are to be generated by the applicant. 

Further into this presentation, we'll go through all of the documents that comprise a complete application. So the forms-- and you see that list on the slide in front of you-- the forms and templates include the following, which we'll go over in more detail later in the presentation. 

Number one, at the top of that list, is the application for federal assistance, the SF-424 is what it's also known as. The second item is the summary slide. Third down is Technical Volume template. Number four is the work plan, followed by eligibility statements and evidence. 

Next is the budget justification workbook, followed by a sub-recipient budget justification workbook. And then we've got the Budget Support templates, Cost Share Reduction Request template and instructions, the applicant registration certification. And lastly on that list is the disclosure of lobbying activities, also known as the SF-LLL, triple L. 

All of the other documents required to complete your application have no specific format and are to be generated by you, the applicant. For a complete list of required application documents, please see the table on pages 42, 43, and 44 of the document. And at the very bottom of this slide, you'll see the Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, which we will discuss on the next slide. So let's go to the next slide. 

Responses to all FOA-related questions are received in our email mailbox, which is [email protected], will be posted on the Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, webpage specific to the FOA on IE-Exchange website. So please check this page periodically, as questions and responses will continue to be posted throughout the entire time the FOA is open. 

Please also check this page before submitting a question, as a similar question may have already been answered. You can also see the Questions and Answers page for non-FOA-specific questions and answer on our website-- I'm sorry, on IE-Exchange. Next slide, please. 

I also wanted to let you know that we have developed two user guides for you one on IE-Exchange. And the other is on the login and registration process, including a multi-factor authentication process. You can access these user guides by clicking Manuals. That's on IE-Exchange on the left navigation, as shown on the far left of that slide. You'll see that where it's Manuals, it's circled red. 

Each has numerous screenshots to help you navigate the registration and application process. So please make use of those resources if you need them. And let us know if there is anything that would improve those resources, as we do want them to be as useful as possible to you. Next slide, please. 

On the cover page of the FOA, you will find key dates. The FOA has already been posted. And we are conducting the FOA information webinar right now, as I speak. All the applications are due on IE-Exchange website no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on May 16, 2023. Note that the closing time, again, is 5:00 PM Eastern time. So remember, Eastern time. So please plan accordingly and adjust for the time zone you are located in. 

Also note that we will not extend the submission deadline for applicants who fail to submit required information due to server connection congestion. IE-Exchange is designed to enforce the deadline specifically to FOA. The Apply and Submit buttons may be disabled at the defined submission deadline. Therefore, please ensure you begin uploading your complete application at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadline to ensure you meet that deadline, allowing at least one hour to submit an application. 

Once the application is submitted on the IE-Exchange, you may revise or update your application up until the deadline-- so lots of time for you to adjust things. DOE anticipates notifying applicants selected for negotiation and award all of 2023 and making awards approximately 90 days after receipt of any requested supplemental information. 

Each and every applicant will receive a notification letter by email to the technical and administrative points of contact who are designated by the applicants in IE-Exchange. The notification letters will say whether the application is determined to be non-compliant, if this is an incomplete or a late application, or it's ineligible, where it does not meet the eligibility requirements beginning on page 30 of the FOA document, or non-responsive, as defined under Section 1-C, applications specifically not of interest, that being on the bottom of page 27 of the FOA document. 

Or also, not selected for funding or selection for funding is postponed, also not selected for funding but designated as an alternate, or happily selected for negotiation of an award. This notification letter will state the basis upon which those decisions were made. Next slide, please. 

We are going through a lot of the information that's contained in the Funding Opportunity Announcement in this webinar today. But we do urge you to read the FOA and then read it again, maybe diving deeper into the sections more applicable to your proposed project. Next slide, please. 

To apply for this FOA, applicants must register, create an account, and submit all required application documents to IE-Exchange at the URL shown. A control number will be assigned while registering in IE-Exchange. Retain this number, as it will be required on all application documents. 

The IE-Exchange registration does not have a delay. However, the remaining registration requirements could take several weeks to process and are required prior to submitting an application. An authorized representative of the applicant must certify that those registrations are complete. And that certification's included as part of your application. So therefore, all potential applicants lacking what's now known as a Unique Entity Identifier, or UEI number, this replaced the Data Universal Numbering System, DUNS, number maybe we are more familiar with for entities doing business with the federal government. 

Or if you're not yet registered with the system for award management, or also known as SAM, or the Fed Connect, or Grants.gov, you should complete those registrations as soon as possible. You will also need to register in Grants.gov, which is at www.grants.gov, so that you receive automatic updates when amendments to this FOA are posted, if any. And note that applications will only be accepted through IE-Exchange. We are not accepting any applications through Grants.gov. Next slide, please. 

So regarding registrations, again, the IE-Exchange registration does not have a delay. However, the other remaining registration requirements could take several weeks, again, to process all potential applicants lacking the UEI that we just mentioned, or not yet registered in SAM, or Fed Connect must complete those registrations prior to submitting an application. 

Please see part 6-B of the FOA beginning on page 73 of the FOA document for more information on how to register in the above system. It is important you register in these systems as soon as possible, as these registrations need to be completed prior to submitting an application, as those registrations could take several weeks. Again, an authorized representative of the applicant must certify that all system registrations have been completed and that certification as part of your application. 

The Applicant Registration Certification template is available under the application forms and templates for this FOA on IE-Exchange. And again, the URL is ie-exchange.energy.gov. All right, let's go on to the next slide, please. 

All applicants are strongly encouraged to carefully read the Funding Opportunity Announcement, the FOA, and adhere to the stated submission requirements. This presentation summarizes the contents of the FOA. However, if there are any inconsistencies between the FOA and this presentation or statements from DOE or other personnel, the FOA is the controlling document. And applicants should rely solely on the FOA language or seek clarification from DOE. 

If you believe there is an inconsistency, please contact us by sending an email to [email protected]. All right, I've talked enough. Lizana has let me talk a little bit. So I'm going to pass it back to her for some FOA-specific information. Next slide, please. 

LIZANA PIERCE: Thank you, Tweedie. So the agenda for this webinar is as shown and will provide the Funding Opportunity overview and, briefly, Office of Indian Energy requirements associated with the FOA, talk about the required application documents, the topic areas, discuss the applications specifically not of interest, discuss award information, go over who is eligible to apply, cautionary requirements. 

We'll discuss the content and form of a complete application, talk about application eligibility requirements, and merit review, and selection criteria, and process. We'll talk about registration requirements, which Tweedie just covered-- we'll probably cover it again-- how to submit an application and your points of contact, how to submit questions, and some best practices, and then closing statements. 

Just as a reminder, we will not have a question and answer session as part of this webinar. So please, capture your questions as they come up and send them via email to [email protected]. And again, the slides and audio recording for the webinar will be posted shortly. And you'll receive an email on where to find that material in the next day or two, probably. 

Again, note that if there are any inconsistencies between the Funding Opportunity Announcement presentation or statements by DOE or other personnel, the FOE document's the controlling document. You should rely solely on that document or seek clarifications through [email protected] OK. The next slide, please. 

So first, we're going to talk about Funding Opportunity overview and the Office of Indian Energy requirements. Next slide, please. 

So the Funding Opportunity overview begins on page 1 of the FOA document. It includes key information on this FOA. And this information is summarized on this and the next few slides. We'll go over this information as part of the presentation, but is provided here as a summary. 

There are four topic areas under which you can submit an application described in the FOA summary. We'll discuss each of those topic areas in more detail. One change to this FOA is that the powering unelectrified tribal buildings, which previously was a separate FOA, is now included here as topic area 4. 

We will have approximately $50 million in federal funds. We anticipate 10 to 25 awards resulting from this Funding Opportunity Announcement. And I'll just give you a moment to read through the slide. Next slide, please. 

So continued on this slide's the additional key information relative to the FOA. As indicated, depending on whether your proposed project is facility scale or community scale, the FOA establishes a minimum, a maximum amount of DOE funding for award. 

For facility-scale projects, DOE's funding for individual award is no less than $100,000 to a maximum of $2 and 1/2 million. And this applies to topic area 1 to topic area 3A. For community-scale projects, from no less than $250,000 to a maximum of $5 million, which applies to topic area 2, and topic area 3B, and topic area 4. 

And for those of you who are familiar with previous FOAs, the maximum amount of DOE funding per award has increased under this FOA. Awards under the FOA will be grants with a period of performance of each award of approximately two to four years, which must include a mandatory 12-month verification period. Next slide, please. 

So continued on this slide, we'll go over the eligible applicant requirements in further detail on subsequent slides. I'm sorry, I'm going to forego it here. Please note, however, that we will not make eligibility determination for potential applicants prior to the date on which applications to the FOA must be submitted. 

You can ask clarifying questions. But yeah, we will not determine whether an applicant or specific project is eligible during the application preparation stage. As such, the decision of whether to submit an application in response to the FOA lies solely with the applicant. Next slide, please. 

So a 20% cost share of the total allowable costs of the project is required unless the 20% cost share requirement is reduced to 10% as described in the FOA. The total cost of the project is the sum of the federal share and the non-federal recipient cost share. The allowable cost equals the total allowable cost of the project. 

For instance, if a proposed project is estimated to cost a total of $500,000, the required cost share would be $100,000, or 20% of the total project cost of $500,000. And therefore, the requested DOE amount would be $400,000. Hopefully, that makes sense. 

However, if the applicant, as part of their application, submits a cost share reduction to 10% may be considered based on poverty rate and median household income of the tribal community relative to the statewide median household income. And you can see section 3-B-2 of the FOA and the application forms and templates for this-- so on IE-Exchange-- there's a template included with instructions on how to calculate the eligibility and submit the request for reduced cost share. 

In addition to the ability to consider geographic distribution, technology, diversity, and the optimal use of DOE funding to achieve programmatic objectives, a selection official may, through the application of program policy factors, give additional consideration in the selection of applications for funding as to whether the proposed project serves the tribal community with high energy costs, whether the proposed project serves tribal communities not connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid, the degree to which the proposed project will employ procurement of US iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials, and applicants who have not previously received a grant from the Office of Indian Energy. 

This third item, of the degree to which the proposed project will employ procurement of US iron, steel manufactured products, and construction materials is the new consideration resulting from the Buy American requirement that came out through the bipartisan infrastructure law. And that's a new one. Next slide, please. 

Furthermore, the DOE Office of Indian Energy may, upon request, provide technical assistance to all eligible applicants who apply in to this FOA. And these applications are comprehensively reviewed, but not selected for negotiation. Hence, technical assistance will be provided on a priority basis or for those who request technical assistance, but have not applied to the FOA. 

You may submit more than one application to the FOA, including more than one application under a particular topic area or subtopic area, provided each application is for a distinctly different project and each application addresses only one subtopic area. Each of those applications must have a distinct title, a unique control number, which is assigned to IE-Exchange during the registration process can be readily distinguishable. 

Each application must be limited to a single, unique, and distinct project. Unrelated projects cannot be consolidated into a single application. And also note that for this FOA, we are not accepting concept papers. They're not required, only [INAUDIBLE] applications. Next slide, please. 

As mentioned previously, applications will only be accepted through IE-Exchange. And the required forms and templates are readily available under the FOA on IE-Exchange, as previously discussed. All the forms and templates are available on IE-Exchange. 

Remember, these forms and templates represent only a portion of the documents required for complete application. The remaining documents required to complete your application have no specific format and are to be generated by you, the applicant. 

Further into the presentation, we'll go through all the documents that comprise a complete application. As was previously discussed, DOE will notify all applicants of its eligibility and selection determinations via a notification letter by email. The notification letter will inform the applicants with eligible applications if its application was selected for award negotiations or not. And those applicants will also receive written feedback at the time of notification. 

And ineligible applications will not be reviewed or considered for award. If determined ineligible, the contracting officer will send the notification letter via email, again, stating the basis upon which the application is ineligible and will not be considered further. Next slide, please. 

So the requirements included on pages 3 through 5 of the FOA document and listed on this slide are not all-inclusive and cannot exclusively be relied upon, as they do not reflect all the evaluation factors and requirements for this FOA. Applicants must read the entire FOA to determine the complete set of requirements. But we will go through these briefly. 

Pre-award costs-- only cost share contributions made during the period of performance of the grant, if one is awarded, can be considered. Any costs incurred prior to award selection cannot be considered as cost share or as reimbursement by the DOE. Eligibility statements and evidence-- to support the Office of Indian Energy's eligibility determination, all applicants are required to submit an eligibility statement as part of their application. And this document then provides us evidence and information on the applicant, and the tribal land, and tribal building eligibility. 

We also require statements of commitment and cost sharing. The statements of commitment and cost sharing will be discussed in greater detail. However, all applicants are required to submit an applicant tribal council resolution or Declaration of Commitment and Cost Sharing file, which must include a statement of commitment and cost sharing by the applicant. 

For Indian tribes, the statement of commitment and cost sharing must be in the form of an executed tribal council resolution, unless an Indian tribe provides a commitment in a format other than a tribal council resolution and can provide evidence of a statutory and legal authority for that form of commitment in lieu of a tribal council resolution and that accompanies of the commitment in your application. And such evidence may establish that the commitment submit carries that same tribal leadership commitment as a tribal council resolution. I hope that makes sense. 

Declarations or resolutions-- for Alaska Native regional corps, village corps, intertribal organizations, or tribal energy development organizations, the statement of commitment and cost sharing may be in the form of a declaration or a resolution signed by an authorized representative able to commit that entity. In addition, letters of commitment and cost sharing are required from all other project participants, except for vendors. And that is to be provided under the participant letters of commitment and Cost Sharing file. 

Letters of support-- letters of support by anyone not participating in the proposed project are not required or desired and should not be provided in the application. Please, don't send us letters of support. 

Post-award payment-- payments, if you're selected for an award, and an award is executed, the payment would be made electronically and on reimbursement basis through the Automated Clearing House, or ACH. And provided the requisite support is submitted, reimbursement of costs will normally be made within about seven to 10 days. However, it may take up to 30 days. And you can see the FOA for more details on payment. 

Post-award reporting requirements-- selected applicants will be required to document progress in quarterly reports and project [INAUDIBLE] outcomes in the comprehensive final report, as well as presented our annual program review, which is typically held each fall in Colorado. And travel costs for that annual review-- one week in duration, plus travel days-- must be included for each year of the grant in the proposed budget, including the initial award year, fall of 2023. So again, put that travel cost in there. 

Equipment, title, and vested interests are subject to conditions provided in 2 CFR 200.313. Title to equipment acquired under a federal award will conditionally judicially vest upon acquisition with a non-federal entity. That non-federal entity, the recipient or applicant becoming a recipient, cannot encumber that equipment. And you must follow the requirements of 2 CFR 200.313 before disposing of that equipment. 

So again, you cannot use that for loan. You can't incorporate any of that as part of receiving federal funds per the Code of Federal Regulations. Note that if the federal share of the financial assistance agreement is more than $1,000,000, pursuant, again, to the Code of Federal Regulation, for-profit recipients of more than $1 million must properly record Uniform Commercial Code, UCC, financial statements for all equipment with a per unit acquisition cost of $5,000 or more purchased in whole or part by federal funds. So for for-profit entities, if the DOE amount is $1,000,000 or more, you must record Uniform Commercial Code for all that equipment as long as it-- per unit value is more than $5,000. 

Cost share-- so for every cost share contribution must be allowable under the applicable federal cost principles as described under Section 3-B of the FOA. In addition, cost share must be available or accessible at the time of submission of the application, meaning that the cost share cannot be dependent upon a potential future grant or maybe a loan you might get. You really have to have the funds there to commit at the time you apply. Next slide, please. 

OK. Next, we're going to discuss the required application documents. Next slide. 

So the content and form of an application will be covered in more detail. However, a summary of each of the required application documents is included here, and on the next slide, and in section 4 of the FOA document beginning on page 32. So I'd recommend you use that table 3, required application documents, on pages 42, 43, 44 of the FOA as a checklist when you're preparing your application. Remember, forms and templates can be found on IE-Exchange under Application Forms and Templates. All other required documents are applicant-generated. 

Application documents for which a formal template has been provided to you is shaded on this slide. And those must be executed or signed by an authorized representative are denoted with an asterisk. I'll give you a moment. 

Again, there's a form and template for the application, for the summary slide, technical volume, workplan, eligibility statements and evidence, and budget justification. The resolution, the letters, and the resumes are all applicant-generated in a specific format, although there's specific content required for those. Next slide, please. 

So again, shown here is the remaining documents that comprise a complete application. We're going to go over each of those later. Application documents for which form and template have been provided, again, are shaded. And those that must be executed signed by an authorized representative are denoted with an asterisk. 

Note that you may submit an application any time before the due date. And you'll be able to update it as needed up until the deadline. And we say this because, usually, the last day or so, there's frantic people saying-- something goes awry, the internet, who knows, whatever. So again, you can submit it and then you can modify it if you need to up until the deadline. But please, allow sufficient time to ensure you have uploaded all required documents. 

And you can verify that they're uploaded, and what's uploaded is what you wanted uploaded, and that your application is complete prior to the due date and time. The system actually shuts down at that expiration time. So you cannot upload things after that. 

Again, just as a reminder, if there are any inconsistencies between the Funding Opportunity Announcement, this presentation, anything I say, Tweedie says, or any other DOE or other person, the FOA document is the controlling document. And you must rely solely on that language or seek clarification. Again, these slides and audio recordings will be posted the next few days, I think. And you'll get an email on where to get them. Next slide, please. 

Topic areas-- so again, no question and answer session. Capture your questions and send them to [email protected] with the 2975 number for the FOA in the subject line. Slides and audio recording will be made available. Rely solely on the FOA document itself. Next slide, please. 

So this funding opportunity builds on efforts by DOE to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and infrastructure on tribal land. As we said earlier, between 2010 and 2022 the Office of Indian Energy invested over $120 million to more than 210 tribal energy projects across the contiguous 48 states and Alaska. And those projects were valued at more than $250 million, leveraged by $93 million in intercity and cost share. Next slide, please. 

So eligible applicants include Indian tribes, which includes Alaska Native regional corps and village corps, intertribal organizations, and tribal energy development organizations, and on whose tribal lands those projects will be located. Note that applications may also be submitted on behalf of an Indian tribe by an authorized tribal organization, such as a subsidiary or instrumentality, provided evidence of that authority supplied as part of the application. 

Definitions and eligibility are included under Section 3-B of the FOA. And we'll go over the definitions of eligible entities in more detail later. Next slide, please. 

So this slide shows the eligible topic areas under this FOA. Topic area 1 and subtopic area 3-A are for clean energy technology deployment on tribal building for facility-scale projects, whereas topic area 2 and subtopic area 3-B are for clean energy technology deployment on a community scale. And topic area 4, which is powering unelectrified tribal buildings could be facility scale or community scale. 

Specifically, topic area 1 is for the installation of clean energy generating systems and/or energy efficiency measures on tribal buildings. There are three subtopic areas, one for the installation of clean energy generating systems, one for the installation of single or multiple energy efficiency measures, and the last, for accommodation of energy generating systems and energy efficiency measures. So the proposed installations may be for either existing tribal buildings or new tribal buildings that are currently being constructed or plan to be constructed during the proposed grant period. 

So we'll define tribal buildings on a subsequent slide. Topic area 2 is for the deployment of community-scale clean energy generating system or community energy storage. For purposes of topic area 2, community-scale means serving a substantial number of the public building within the community or a substantial portion of the community's energy load for the entire community. For the purposes of this FOA, substantial means an ample or considerable amount. And you will need to address the community and substantial elements of your proposed project in your application. 

Under topic area 3, the Office of Indian Energy is soliciting applications to install integrated energy systems for autonomous operations. That means operating independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid to power either a single or multiple essential tribal buildings during emergency situations or powering a substantial number of essential tribal buildings for tribal community resilience. And the tribe or the applicant determines what is an essential building for them. 

For purposes of topic area 3, community scale means serving a substantial number of essential tribal buildings within a community, or a substantial portion of the community energy load, or an entire tribal community. Again, you need to discuss community scale and substantial in your application. 

For topic area 2 and subtopic area 3-B, an explanation of how those proposed projects meet that community-scale requirement is required as part of your technical volume and specifically must address the substantial spec. Under topic area 4, the Office of Indian Energy is seeking applications to provide electric power to tribal buildings which otherwise would be unelectrified by deploying an integrated energy system, which is topic area 4-A or energy infrastructure, which is topic area 4-B. 

Projects proposed under topic area 4 are intended for unelectrified tribal buildings, where unelectrified being tribal buildings that are not connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid and not connected to a standalone isolated micro-grid that normally operates autonomously from traditional centralized electric power grid. So unelectrified buildings can't be grid connected and/or connected to a micro-grid. Next slide, please. 

So this table, table 2 on pages 13 and 14 of the FOA document provides key information for a snapshot of the subtopic area. Note that the requirements reflected in this table-- summary is topic area requirements-- may not be all-inclusive and cannot be relied upon exclusively, as they do not reflect all the requirements for each topic area. Applicants, again, must read the entire FOA to determine the complete requirements for each topic area. 

And you can see more detailed descriptions of each below in Definitions in Appendix A. And again, if there's any inconsistencies in what I say, what I'm presenting, what anybody says, the FOA document is the controlling document. And you must rely solely on it. 

So we previously discussed which subtopic areas are intended for facility scale and which are intended for community scale. The table also identifies the subtopic areas that are intended for systems that are grid-connected or not. And we'll go over that in a little bit more detail. 

You'll notice that commercially-proven warranty technology in the far right in this matrix is required for all topic areas. It's got to be commercial, got to be warrantied. And every project must have a 12-month verification period. It is required for your proposed project. 

Per the table, a comprehensive feasibility study is required for all topic areas, except topic area 1-B, which requires an energy audit or an industrial energy assessment, and topic area 1-C which requires both a comprehensive feasibility study and an energy audit or industrial energy assessment. Next slide, please. 

So for topic area 1 and topic area 4, all buildings must be tribal buildings as defined in the FOA. And for topic area 3, essential tribal buildings, which the tribe or the applicant defines what is essential. For topic area 2, all proposed projects or buildings on which the systems are proposed must be on tribal land and must be owned or controlled by the eligible entity. You got to have site access. And it must benefit the eligible entity and the tribal community. However, a substantial number of buildings within the tribal community where the energy or heat should be used do not need to be owned or controlled by the eligible entity. 

For topic area 2, and subtopic area 3-B, and subtopic area 4-A, interconnection infrastructure, such as distribution, substation, circuit, circuit-breaker, switchgear, bus bar, distribution lines, distribution transformers, capacity, voltage regulated meters, utility poles may be proposed, provided the proposed interconnection infrastructure is essential to the proposed project. And the justification as to why that infrastructure is essential must be addressed as part of your technical volume. 

Note that in order for the proposed interconnection infrastructure to be eligible, not only must it be essential, but the land on which that infrastructure is proposed must either be on tribal land or the necessary site access, such as rights of way must have been obtained prior to submitting the application. You have to have site access. 

All clean energy technology proposed under the FOA, again, must be commercially proven, at least a technology readiness level of 9, and must be warrantied. And again, if there's inconsistencies, look at the FOA document or get clarification. Next slide, please. 

So I'm going to go through a few definitions. Maybe I should have done that before we went over the summary matrix. But anyhow, so grid-connected, for purposes of the FOA, means connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid the grid-- big grid, I call it-- where the traditional centralized electric power grid refers to the main power grids in the continental United States-- the Eastern, the Western, the Texas, and the interconnected grid system in Alaska that connects Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Kenai Peninsula. 

Except for projects proposing energy efficiency measures, that's subtopic area 1-B, all projects proposed under topic area 1 and topic area 3 are intended for buildings that are either grid-connected, as we just defined, or connected to a standalone isolated micro-grid. 

Projects proposing energy efficiency measures may be tribal buildings that are grid-connected, or connected to a standalone isolated micro-grid, or totally unelectrified, where unelectrified means tribal buildings that are not connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid and not connected to a standalone isolated micro-grid that would normally operate autonomously from the grid. 

Projects proposed under topic area 2 are intended solely for tribal buildings that are grid-connected, which for purposes of this FOA, means tribal buildings connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid. Got to be grid-connected for topic area 2. 

Projects proposed under topic area 4, this is powering unelectrified tribal buildings, isn't intended where the unelectrified means tribal buildings, again, that are not connected to the traditional grid and are not connected to a standalone isolated micro-grid, pretty much unelectrified. Next slide, please. 

So tribal buildings-- I think it's important to understand what that means in the context of this FOA. Tribal buildings for the purposes of this FOA is a single or multiple buildings located on tribal lands where the eligible entity, tribal entity, has or has been granted certain rights and duties, specifically the ability to exercise authority, direction control of the project. Got to have [INAUDIBLE]. 

Note that ownership may be private, collective. Here's all the legalese. The ownership can be private, collective, or common. And some of those rights and duties may be held by different parties. 

Tribal buildings are those where the eligible tribal entity has the authority to augment or modify the building, or the building is owned by the eligible tribal entity, tribal members, and tribal organization, or the eligible tribal entity has a long-term lease for the minimum useful life of the proposed project. Got to have site access. 

Tribal buildings may include, but they're not limited to, tribal member homes, schools-- as long as they're tribal schools, not state schools-- community buildings, clinics, hospitals, tribal government buildings, fire stations, police stations, radio stations, washaterias, utility facilities, such as water-wastewater systems and tribal businesses. And as mentioned earlier, proposed installations may be for either an existing tribal building or new tribal buildings that are currently being constructed or planned to be constructed during the grant period. Next slide, please. 

So specific to topic area 3, which is the integrated energy systems for autonomous operations, basically micro-grid, essential tribal buildings for the purposes of this FOA are those tribal buildings necessary to provide essential services, where essential services means services that, if interrupted, could endanger the lives, health, and personal safety of the whole or part of the tribal community. 

Such essential services include, but aren't limited to, emergency facilities and shelters, hospitals or medical services, fire services, police services, water-wastewater sewage, communications, electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, including telephone, radio, or television, broadcasting, internet connectivity, and broadband, and transportation. And also, I want to say, emergency facilities and shelters, which could be any tribal buildings, sometimes casinos, or community centers, or so forth. Next slide, please. 

So again, just more definitions. Clean energy generating systems, for the purposes of the FOA, are either renewable energy systems or combined heat and power systems that use renewable fuels. Energy efficiency measures, for purposes of the FOA, means the implementation of either building efficiency measures or industrial process efficiency measures. And all these definitions can be found in Appendix A of the FOA. Energy storage systems, for the purposes of this FOA, includes, but not limited to, batteries, pumped hydro, flywheels, compressed air energy storage, thermal energy storage systems, et cetera. 

For topic area 2-B, community-scale energy storage is intended to provide backup power during outages, increase electric distribution system reliability, reduce the frequency of both momentary and sustained outages, reducing the duration of those outages, and reducing the operations and maintenance cost associated with outage management, or provide energy time-shifting, which means storing power when it's least expensive and using it during peak demand, when prices are high. 

Here, subtopic 2-B, community store systems are not intended to be combined with energy-generating systems, which is a big battery attached to the transmission. Next slide-- and remember, topic area 2 is intended for projects that are grid-connected. Next slide, please. 

So integrated energy systems under topic area 3, must as a minimum provide power to essential tribal buildings, including clean energy-generating system, controls management systems, and energy storage. Such systems may also include some conventional energy-generating devices. However, those conventional energy-generating devices are eligible only if used solely as a dispatchable standby power source. 

Also note that some components of the proposed integrated energy system, micro-grid, if you will, may already exist. And therefore, not all of those components must be proposed for DOE funding. However, the integrated energy system as a whole, whether you're requesting funds from DOE or they already exist, must meet the requirements of topic area 3, which is to operate it autonomous from the traditional centralized electric power grid. 

So for subtopic area 3-A, those integrated energy systems must power a single multiple essential tribal building during an emergency situation, and where emergency means a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, environment and requires urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation. 

Subtopic 3-B, which is on the community scale, is for integrated energy systems to power a substantial number of essential tribal buildings-- pardon me, substantial number of essential buildings within the community, or substantial portion of the community energy mode, or an entire community for resilience. And substantial means ample or considerable amount. And again, all definitions can be found in Appendix A. Next slide, please. 

So for topic area 4, for subtopic area 4-B, DOE is seeking applications for the deployment of energy infrastructure. Remember, topic area 4 is powering unelectrified buildings. 4-A is for the integrated energy system. And 4-B is for energy infrastructure. So under subtopic area 4-B, DOE is seeking applications for the deployment of energy infrastructure and to electrify tribal buildings which otherwise would be unelectrified. 

And for this FOA, unelectrified means tribal buildings that are not connected to the traditional centralized electric grid, not connected to the big grid, as I call it, and not connected to a standalone isolated micro-grid that already operates autonomously from the traditional centralized electrical power grid, such as many of the villages in Alaska. 

Energy infrastructure means electric power distribution technology that transports electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers, and may include, but is not limited to, distribution, substation, circuits, circuit breakers, switchgears, busbars, distribution lines, distribution transformers, capacitors, voltage regulators, meters, and utility poles. 

Applications under subtopic area 4-B must demonstrate the availability of the energy source for the life of the project. Where is that energy coming from? And under subtopic area 4-B, it could be for either single or multiple tribal buildings. And all proposed energy infrastructure and tribal buildings must be on tribal lands. Next slide, please. 

We're almost done with fast definitions. As previously mentioned, interconnection infrastructure may be proposed under topic area 2, subtopic area 3-B, and subtopic area 4-A. And I will give you a minute to read the slide. Next slide, please. I didn't give you very long, I know. 

So next on the agenda are applications not of interest. So just a reminder, no question and answer session. Send your emails to [email protected]. Responses will be posted on the FAQ page of IE-Exchange. We will send you an email with where the audio recording and slides from this webinar will be located. And again, the public document takes precedence over everything. And you need to rely solely on that or seek clarification. Next slide, please. 

It's kind of grueling, I know. So bear with me, please. So the types of application on this and on the next two slides are specifically not of interest and will be deemed non-responsive. And we will not review them or consider them. 

So as the intent of this FOA is for the deployment of energy hardware, energy technology, applications that fall outside the technical parameters of section 1-B of the FOA are not of interest. Applications proposing study, design, engineering-- excluding finals-- or development pre-construction-type activities, or any other activity which does not directly result in the installation of equipment or generate electricity are not of interest. 

Applications proposed in the evaluation or product marketing opportunities assessment, manufacturing opportunities research, design, engineering-- excluding final-- product development, or the construction of manufacturing facilities are not considered. Again, we're looking for energy technology installations, not engineering, design, and all that other stuff before that. Next slide, please. 

So to continue, applications proposing the cost to construct a building or structure, such as car parts, are not of interest. Only the incremental costs associated with that installation of the clean energy technology will be considered applicable to the proposed DOE-funded project and not the cost of constructing the building or those structures, unless those carport structures are integral or other structures are integral to the proposed project. 

We are also not looking for an application where the applicant has already taken irreversible actions regarding the DOE-funded projects. A lot of this has to do with NEPA. We can't consider if you've already started stuff. And note that the proposed DOE-funded project consists of the installation of clean energy technology, including irreversible actions related to construction of the buildings or structures, if the buildings or structures are being built specifically to enable the new project. 

Irreversible actions relative to the proposed funded project may include, but are not limited to, site clearing, groundbreaking, equipment or system purchases or installation, building renovations, building retrofits. Again, if you've already started stuff, then we cannot consider it. Next slide, please. 

Also, applications proposing energy conservation are not of interest. And this is where energy conservation is decreasing energy consumption by using less of or going without. Usually involves a behavioral change, like turning things off or using timers and such-- using monitors or indicators to induce that behavior change. We're not looking for that. We're looking for hardware, energy efficiency measures, hardware in the building. 

Applications also for commercial or utility-scale projects intended solely for revenue generation through the export of electricity off tribal lands for commercial sale are not of interest unless revenue from the sale of a portion of the electricity will benefit the eligible entity and the tribal community or revenue from the export of that electricity is used to offset the eligible entity's or tribal members' electric bills. 

There may be instances where you have metering considerations, where you have to sell the electricity through the utility, basically, to do a payment, a reduction on your electric bill. So those kinds of situations may be allowable. Next slide, please. 

So applications proposing conventional energy-generating devices are not of interest unless they are used solely as dispatchable standby power source. And the conventional energy generation devices are only eligible as dispatchable standby power and only under topic area 3 and topic area 4-A. 

Applications proposing the use of material supplies or equipment which are not commercially-proven or warrantied are not of interest. Applications proposing to deploy integrated energy systems or energy infrastructure to provide electricity to tribal buildings which otherwise would be unelectrified or not of interest unless it's under topic area 4. Next slide, please. 

And applications proposing the construction of a-- as a primary activity-- for purposes of the FOA, construction is defined as, but not limited to, building, erecting, altering, remodeling, repairing a particular building or structure, as well as making major renovations or additions to existing buildings or structures. Construction does not include the installation of equipment, energy, clean energy technology, if you will. Projects that include construction as a primary activity will not be considered unless such activity is integral to the objective of the FOA, and only with prior written authorization from the contracting officer. OK. We got over that. Next slide, please. 

OK. Next, we're going to talk about some award information, money. Next slide, please. 

So just award information that's included on this slide is also in the executive summary, which starts on page 1 of the FOA. DOE expects to make approximately $50 million available in federal funds. We anticipate from 10 to 25 works resulting from this FOA. 

And also, be aware that there are different restrictions on the minimum and the maximum amount of DOE funding per award that can be requested. Again, as we discussed, for facility-scale-type projects, which is topic area 1 and topic area 3-A, DOE funding for individual award is from no less than $100,000 to a maximum of $2.5 million. For community-scale-type projects, which is topic area 2 and subtopic area 3-B, DOE funding per individual award is from no less than $250,000 to maximum $5 million and for topic area 4, from no less than $250,000 to a maximum of $5 million. 

And again, I think we said this a couple times, the awards are anticipated between two and four years, but they must include that 12-month verification period. So once you install your hardware, we want you to track your savings to see a good comparison with what you had estimated to start with. Next slide, please. 

Next, we're going to discuss eligibility requirements. I'm not sure when Tweedie's turn comes up, hopefully soon. So next, we're going to go over eligibility information. So remember, one of the files that comprise your complete application is the Eligibility Statement and Evidence file. 

You will be required to complete the template provided and provide evidence to support DOE's eligibility determination, which will be eligible applicants, whether it's on tribal lands, tribal buildings, et cetera. So please see the Microsoft Word template as found under Application Forms and Templates for the FOA on IE-Exchange. And note that the use of the template is not required. However, the information included in that template is required. 

Additionally, again, we're not going to be able to make any sufficiency determinations prior to an application being submitted. Eligibility for award under this Funding Opportunity Announcement is restricted to an Indian tribe, which includes Alaska Native regional corps and village corps, intertribal organizations, or tribal energy development organizations, and on whose tribal lands the projects will be located. 

As we said earlier, other entities may submit an application on behalf of an Indian tribe or tribe, provided evidence of that authority is included as part of the application. And those would be tribal organizations, subsidiaries, instrumentality to the tribe. Next slide, please. Think we're on the next slide, Joe. There we go. Thanks. 

So the definition of Indian tribes is as shown on the slide. Note that eligible Indian tribes are those federally recognized and listed in the Indian entities recognized who are-- and eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, usually called the BIA, federally-recognized Indian tribes. And this is the one published in the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Federal Register on January 12 of 2023. 

So remember, for purposes of this FOA, an Indian tribe also includes Alaska Native regional corporations and village corporations as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act, or ANCSA. Alaska Native regional corporations, for the purposes of this FOA, being one of the 13-- I think there's only 12 now. I don't know. Alaska Native regional corporations as defined and established pursuant to ANCSA. 

Alaska Native village corporations or village corporations, for the purposes, mean Alaskan village corporations organized under the laws of the state of Alaska as a business, for-profit or non-profit corporation, to hold, invest, manage, and/or distribute lands, property funds, and other rights and assets for and on behalf of a Native village as defined in and established pursuant to ANCSA. A tribal consortium means a group of Indian tribes that have chosen to submit a single application, provided the application was submitted by a single Indian tribe representing the consortium. 

Applications may also be submitted on behalf of an Indian tribe by an authorized tribal organization, provided evidence of that authority is included as part of the application. A tribal organization has meaning given the term in Section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Systems Act, specifically, recognized governing body of Indian tribal organization means the recognized governing body of any Indian tribe, any legally-established organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be formed by such an organization, which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities, provided that in any case where a contract is led or grant made to an organization to perform services benefiting more than one Indian tribe, the approval of each such Indian tribe shall be prerequisite to the letting or making of such a contract or grant. Yes, lots of legalese. 

Tribal organizations-- generally subsidiary instrumentality of the tribe, generally. More entities, I believe, that 638 contract on behalf of the Indian tribe. Next slide, please. 

So the second type of applicant besides an Indian tribe is an intertribal organization, which is defined, for the purposes of this FOA, meaning an organization comprised of two or more Indian tribes established under congressional, state, or tribal law to act on behalf of the participating Indian tribes. Intertribal organizations may include, but are not limited to, intertribal councils, regional or tribal organizations or associations, Alaska regional development organizations, or tribal federations, [? ASM-- ?] Alaska federal. Next slide, please. 

So in addition to Indian tribes, tribal energy resource development, tribal [INAUDIBLE] as of the [INAUDIBLE] tribal energy development organizations are eligible applicants. 

So a tribal energy development organization needs an enterprise partnership, consortium, corporation, or other type of business organization that is engaged in the development of energy resources and is wholly owned by an Indian tribe, including Section 17 corporations and organizations formed under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, and any organization of two or more entities, at least one of which is an Indian tribe, that has the written consent of the governing bodies of all Indian tribes participating in that organization to apply for grant, loan, or other assistance under Section 2602 of the Energy Policy Act, or to enter into a lease or business agreement with or acquire a right of way from an Indian tribe pursuant to Section 2604 of the Energy Policy Act. 

Note that any organization must have the written consent of the governing bodies of all Indian tribes participating in that organization, where an organization could be a partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or other unincorporated association or entity that's established to develop Indian energy resources. In addition to the applicant eligibility as prescribed by statute, projects must also be on tribal land to be eligible. Next slide, please. 

So again, to be eligible, all projects must also be on tribal land, defined here. Specifically, tribal land, for purposes of this FOA, include Indian land, lands held in fee simple by the eligible applicant, lands held under long-term land lease, at least for the useful life of the proposed project, and land that was conveyed to a Native Corporation pursuant to ANCSA, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and subsequently, conveyed to another entity, provided that entity is either a Native village or tribal government entity where the land is held, invested, managed for and on behalf of that Native village or tribal government entity. Next slide, please. 

And for purposes of the FOA, Indian land is defined under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. And it's shown here, which I'm not going to go through. But I will say that I want to bring to your attention that Congress expanded the definition of Indian land through the 2020 Energy Act. And we have a number of D and E above, which specifically includes any census tract in which the majority of residents are native, or ANCSA, or enrolled members of a federally-recognized tribe-- again, majority in the census tract. Next slide, please. 

And here is the definition of Indian reservation. It's the standard definition, as prescribed to us by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. All of these eligibility requirements are prescribed by Congress in law. And remember, all the definitions are included under Appendix A of the FOA. Next slide, please. 

So again, if I hit some of these things repeatedly, I apologize. But we cannot make eligibility determinations for potential applicants prior to the date of which applications to FOA must be submitted. That decision to submit an application in response to FOA lies solely with the applicant. Typically, there's not enough information, and we cannot make eligibility determinations without the full [INAUDIBLE] of information. 

Again, remind you, we're not going to have a question and answer session. Send all your questions to [email protected]. And we'll let you know where you can find the slides and the audio recording via email if you're registered. Next slide, please. 

So I also wanted to bring to your attention a new requirement that came out of the bipartisan infrastructure law, I believe. Yep. It's Buy America requirements. This is new. And it's not only applicable to projects funded under the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but all projects funded, [INAUDIBLE]. 

So federal assistance projects which involve infrastructure work undertaken by applicable recipient types require that all iron, steel, and manufactured products used in the infrastructure work are produced in the United States and all construction materials used in the infrastructure work are manufactured in the United States. 

Whether a given project must apply this requirement is project-specific and is dependent on several factors, such as the recipient's entity type, whether the work involves infrastructure-- and that term is defined in section 70914 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-- and whether the infrastructure in question is publicly-owned or serves a public function. 

Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult Appendix C of the FOA to determine whether their projects may have to apply to this requirement, both to make an early determination as to the need for a waiver, as well as to determine what impact, if any, this requirement may have on your proposed project budget. 

And I will say, there is a Made in America website. And if I recall, I think that is also where they're posting any waivers to this. Next slide, please. 

I don't know when Tweedie's next turn is coming up. I hope it's quick. I'm all talked out. So next, we're going to discuss cost share. Again, if there's any inconsistencies, the FOA document takes precedence. If you see any inconsistencies or need clarification, send us an email, [email protected]. 

OK, money, more money, money topics. So next, on to cost share. Unless DOE approves a requested cost share reduction from 20% to 10%, a 20% cost share of the total allowable cost of the project is required. And the total allowable cost of the projects is the sum of the federal share and the non-federal recipient cost share. 

This is not a match. It's a cost share. It's different. For example, if the requested DOE costs are $800,000, the recipient cost share would be $200,000. 20% of the total project cost, which in this example is $1,000,000, not 20% of the amount you requested from DOE. Again, the cost share is 20% of the total project cost. And this example is $1,000,000. 

You can also refer to section 3-B for instances where federal funds may be permissible to use as cost share. Most of the self-determination-type funds, I think HUD funds and so forth. By statute, there's a lot of federal funds for tribes. And within their statute allows them to be used as non-federal cost share. So consider that. 

Again, such sources might be the Indian Self-Determination Act, the Tribal Self-Governance Funding Agreement, Self-Determination Contract Funding, compact funding, NAHASD, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination fund. You will need to verify that the statute allows you to use those non-federal cost share, but just places to explore. 

To assist the applicant in calculating proper cost share amounts, we've included some information in Appendix B to the FOA. Next slide, please. Am I stuck, Joe? And did you-- are we not moving? I think we're one side behind. There we go. Thank you. 

So next, on to cost share reduction requests. An applicant may request a reduction in cost share from 20% to 10% based on one of the two factors below. You only have to qualify for one of these two factors to get a reduction. 

The poverty rate of the tribal community is at least 20% based on the census data in My Tribal Area or the median household income of the tribal community does not exceed 80% of the statewide median household income based on the Census Bureau, My Tribal Area, and ACS data profiles by state. Although the applicant is only required to meet one of those two factors to be eligible for a cost share, we do request that you calculate both just in case. 

And if an applicant does not qualify for the cost share reduction based on the Census Bureau data, either in My Tribal Area or the ACS data profiles by state, the applicant has the option to self-reported data for poverty rate and median household income for those communities where the project will be located. So you need to see alternate data option instructions in the cost share reduction request template for instructions on supplying applicant self-reported data. 

So to submit a cost share reduction request, see section 3-B-2 of the FOA and the cost share reduction request template under Application Forms and Templates on IE-Exchange. And when requesting the cost share reduction, the applicant must complete the application based on whether they-- on the requested cost share reduction amount. 

So if you calculate that and you qualify for the cost share reduction, your entire application should be based on 10% cost share. However, if the DOE does not approve the request for reduced cost share, the applicant will be required to meet the minimum cost share of 20%. Next slide, please. 

So more legalese here on cost share and cost. All cost share must come from a non-federal source, unless otherwise allowed by law. They have listed some of those potential other federal sources in the FOA. So there are federal sources that, per statute, allow it to be used as non-federal cost share. 

Note that except under limited situations, and only with prior DOE approval, all cost share must be made during the period of performance of the grant. You can't have already invested stuff today and use that as cost share in your application, for instance. So cost share must also be available and accessible at the time of submission of an applicant-- submission of an application, pardon me. It can't be based on a grant you might get or a loan that you've applied for some future happening. 

And a written assurance or commitment must be provided at the time of the application submission. A written assurance commitment that you have the cost share and you've committed is a binding guarantee that funds are available or with respect to the use of equipment, contributed labor hours, or unrecovered indirect costs accessible. Also note that cost share commitments cannot be, again-- as I just said, sorry-- cannot be dependent on some future event, like receiving a grant, obtaining a loan, securing an investor, et cetera. Next slide, please. 

So although the cost share requirement applies to the project as a whole, including work performed by members of the project team or other than the recipient, the applicant, at this point, is ultimately and legally responsible for the entire amount of cost share if an award was made and you're committing to that, regardless of who is providing those funds. In addition, if an award is made, cost share will be verified once invoiced. 

You'll receive documentation of all costs, federal and cost share. Everything is federalized. We treat it all the same, including evidence of those expenditures associated with the project, and will be required-- that supporting documentation will be required with each-- any cost share contributions with each and every request for reimbursement for DOE's portion of those costs. 

DOE requires by default recipients to contribute cost share amount incrementally over the life of the award on an invoice-by-invoice basis. So we mean that if you submit an invoice for $100 and the cost share's 20%, you have to supply those $20 when you're requesting $100 from DOE. So each invoice has to have that same percentage cost share that you are requesting from DOE. Hopefully, that made sense. I don't know. 

In limited circumstances, and where it is in the government's interest, the DOE contracting officer may approve a request by the recipient to meet its cost share requirements on a less frequent basis. For instance, if the cost share is contributions of labor time or unrecovered indirect costs, those kinds of things, and it's not cash, sometimes it's very difficult to provide the cost share percentage for percentage of the dollars that you're requesting from DOE. So if you make a case and the DOE contracting officer approves it, you may not have to show that on an invoice-by-invoice basis. Next slide, please. 

So the total budget included in the application must reflect both DOE and the non-federal cost share combined as the total project cost. So we don't distinguish between DOE dollars and cost share. All the same rules apply to both. Everything is federalized. And you work in the total project cost. That's why cost share is a percentage of that total amount. 

Again, all costs must be verifiable from the recipient's records and be necessary or reasonable to accomplish the proposed project. And we will verify that through the invoice process. Every cost share contribution must be reviewed and approved in advance by the contracting officer. That is approved through the budget and the actual award with the budget incorporated into it before you can make those expenditures. Next slide, too, please. Thank you. 

So on a final note is all sources of cost share are considered part of the total project cost. If selected for funding, the cost share dollars will be scrutinized under the same federal regulations [AUDIO OUT]. Whether they be requested from DOE or contributed as cost share will require the same level of documentation to support those costs. We always work on a total project cost. And they will undergo the same level of review to determine whether they are allowable, allocable, and reasonable. Next slide, please. 

So pardon me. So cost share must be allowable. It must be verifiable at the time you submit the application. This chart shows the applicable cost principles to the type of entities, specific types of entities. It is imperative that you follow these applicable cost principles when creating your budget for the application. Next slide, please. 

So cost share could be provided in cash or as in-kind contributions. It could be provided by the recipient, the sub-recipient, or a third party. Allowable in-kind contributions may include, but aren't limited to, contributions of time, unrecovered indirect costs, unrecovered facilities and administrative costs, which are basically indirect costs, the rental value of building the land or equipment, again, rental or lease value, buildings, land, or equipment-- not the purchase price. Only for the period of the grant should we consider those rental values, lease values. 

Also, value of services, or other resources, or third-party contributions are also allowable in-kind contributions, assuming they're allocable to the project. Again, only the rental or lease value of building plans and equipment are allowable and only for the period of the grant, not the purchase price of those things. Next slide, please. 

So be aware that there are items that are considered unallowable cost share. If cost share is considered unallowable, it cannot be requested from DOE or contributed as cost share. This slide provides some examples of cost share that's unallowable. And there's more examples on page 36 and 37 of the FOA. And I'll give you just a moment to look through those. 

So just a general note-- any costs before or after the grant period cannot be considered as cost share. And a footnote-- investment, tax credits, and production tax credits, and direct payments in lieu of tax credits are not considered federal funding after receipt by a grantee and may be used as cost share. To be eligible as cost share, any investment, or production tax credits, or direct payments in lieu of received would need to be monetized. It's got to be dollars. They need to be monetized. They need to be received and contributed to the project during the grant period. 

Additionally, direct payments in lieu of tax credits may also be used as cost share, provided those funds are received and contributed to the project during the grant period. That could be huge. And at this point, thankfully, I'm going to turn it back over to Tweedie to present the required application document. Tweedie, you're up. 

TWEEDIE DOE: All right. I think Lizana deserves a big virtual applause for going through very dense, but very valuable information. And a big applause to the big group of listeners who are still with us. So applause to everyone. All right, I get the easy stuff next. So again, thank you, Lizana. And we're going to move on to the content and form of the application. 

And reminder, I know you've heard this before, but no Q&A as part of this webinar. Send all your questions that you've been writing up to [email protected]. And then we'll make these slides and audio recording available to you in about a week or so. 

And if we made some errors on this webinar, any inconsistencies between the FOA and this presentation, the controlling document is the FOA. And if you have any questions about, you can send your questions to [email protected]. OK, let's move on to the next slide. I think we're on slide 74 now. Next slide. There we go. 

OK. So on this slide, we've got the content and form of an application. There are 19, 19 required application documents. And we'll go over each one of them on this slide. OK, remember that each of the files shown on this slide and the next are required for a complete application. 

A similar table as this is on pages 42, 43, and 44 of the document. And we urge you to use the checklist that we provided in the FOA when you are preparing and uploading your application just to make sure that all the relevant documents comprising a complete application are submitted to Exchange. And that is IE-Exchange. 

And a reminder-- application documents for which a form or template has been provided are shaded here in the slide in front of you. And those that must be executed or signed by an authorized representative are denoted with an asterisk. Please bear with me, as you have Lizana, in covering the next two slides. 

And remember, much of this is documented in section 4-C of the FOA document under Content and Form of the Application. And remember, the table of required application documents begins on page 42. The FOA should be used as a checklist, as we just mentioned. All right, let's go on to slide 75. 

We've got some screenshots here for you to look at. These are forms. And forms or templates have been provided for the first five required application documents, as shown on this slide. And they're overlapping here, so just to give you a bit of preview of what you're looking for. And we'll go through each one briefly. 

Each application must include an application-- number one, an application for federal assistance, which is form SF-424 That is behind on the left-hand side. It's got some yellow boxes in there. The application for federal assistance is a formal application for funding. 

The form must be signed by an authorized representative of the applicant. And by signing, the authorized representative is making certain certifications and assurances. And therefore, the form must be either digitally or manually signed in ink and scanned before being uploaded as part of your application. Keep in mind that typed signatures do not constitute a digital signature. 

And note that forms and templates can be obtained from IE-Exchange webpage under the Application Forms and Templates by clicking on the View Application Forms and Templates for the entire list, which then can be opened, saved, completed, and then uploaded as part of the application. All other elements are self-generated by the applicant if we do not provide you with a template. 

The next one, a summary slide, that's the one that's sitting on top of the SF-424. It is a single PowerPoint slide that provides quick facts about the proposed project. Slide content requirements are provided in the FOA. And a template is provided as part of the application forms and template on IE-Exchange. 

The next one, the technical volume-- OK, this is sitting right in front because it is the key submission document. It describes the proposed project and addresses the merit review criteria. The technical volume must not exceed 15 pages, excluding the cover page and the table of contents. DOE will only review the first 15 pages. So keep that in mind. Don't keep anything important on pages that exceed 15 pages. 

And you can see the Technical Volume template, which is relatively new. I think we created something that would be helpful to you. And it is available on IE-Exchange for instructions and format. 

And briefly, the technical volume should include a cover page. Again, the cover page is not counted toward the 15-page limit. The table of contents, again, not counted against your page limit. The executive summary, the project description and outcomes, the roles, responsibilities, capabilities, and commitments-- those items do count towards the 15-page limit. 

The next document just behind the eligibility-- I'm sorry-- oh, gosh I messed up here. The technical volume is actually behind the scenes. It's on the right-hand side behind there. You can just see it peeking up, technical volume. So my mistake. Sorry about that. 

The workplan is the document. And there's a screenshot that's sitting on top of the technical volume on the screenshot there in front of you. And the workplan is-- it is not a part of the technical volume, but it is to be included as a separate file. The workplan should describe the work to be accomplished and how the applicant will achieve project milestones. 

The workplan must not exceed five pages, excluding the milestone table. And you can see the template for instructions and formats. The template can be obtained, again, under Application Forms and Templates on IE-Exchange. 

All right, so what is actually facing you in front, not being covered, is the Eligibility Statements and Evidence file. All applicants are required to submit eligibility statements that document and provide evidence of applicant and land status eligibility to support DOE's eligibility determination. A Microsoft Word template has been provided. And this template is also available under the FOA under Application Forms and Templates on IE-Exchange. 

And as with all of the templates, the use of the Eligibility Statements and Evidence template is not required. But the information included within the Eligibility Statements and Evidence template is required. This form must be signed by an authorized representative, either digitally or manually in ink, and scanned before being uploaded as part of your application. And as we mentioned before, typed signatures do not constitute a digital signature. OK. Let's move on to the next slide. 

The next three required application documents are applicant-generated. And we'll go through each briefly, then discuss the Budget Justification Workbook, for which a template has been provided. Let's see. The sixth required application document is the applicant tribal council resolution or declaration of commitment and Cost Sharing file. All applicants are required to submit an applicant tribal council resolution or declaration of commitment and Cost Sharing file to include a statement of commitment and cost sharing by the applicant. You can see page 39 of the FOA for more on the specific information that is needed as part of those applicant commitments. 

For Indian tribes, that statement of commitment and cost sharing must be in the form of an executed tribal council resolution, unless an Indian tribe provides a commitment in a format other than a tribal council resolution and evidence of that statutory or other legal authority authorizing that form of commitment in place of a tribal council resolution accompanies that commitment. Such evidence must establish that the commitment submitted carries the same level of tribal leadership commitment as a tribal council resolution. 

For Alaska Native regional corporations or village corporations, intertribal organizations, and tribal energy development organizations, the statement of commitment and cost sharing may be in the form of a declaration or resolution signed by an authorized representative able to commit the entity. Remember, cost share must be available or accessible at the time of submission of the application, as Lizana talked about. 

A written assurance, like a commitment, must be provided at the time of application submission. So written assurance or commitment is a binding guarantee that funds are available or, with respect to the use of equipment, contributed labor hours, unrecovered indirect costs, are accessible. Cost share commitments cannot be dependent on some future events. 

I think Lizana mentioned this maybe a few times, such as receiving a grant, obtaining a loan, or securing an investor. And the recipient is really, ultimately, and legally responsible for the entire amount of cost share if an award is made. And that commitment for the total amount of cost share, specific dollar amount, or up to a maximum amount and percentage of total proposed project costs, regardless of the source of that cost share is required as part of the applicant tribal council resolution or declaration of commitment and Cost Sharing file. Please see instructions beginning on page 47 for the content of those commitments. 

OK. The next item-- participant letters of commitment and Cost Sharing file-- the participant letters of commitment and Cost Sharing file needs to include letters of commitment and cost sharing from all other project participants, excluding vendors. The letters must be specific to this FOA. And if cost sharing is being committed, include a statement of the total amount and type of cost share being committed and a detailed estimate of the cash value, basis of, and the nature of it, of all contributions to the project by the project participant. 

And remember, letters of support from anyone not participating in the proposed project are not required or desired and should not be provided as part of the application. And you can see more on pages 50 and 51 of the FOA document. 

The next item is the Resume file. All applicants are required to provide a resume for the business contact and the project manager. Some of you who are familiar working with us may know the project manager by a different name, which is the technical contact, or sometimes, other offices will call it the principal investigator. This is the project manager-- same person, different title here. And each key person proposed, including tribal staff-- as part of the project, a key person is any individual who contributes in a substantive, measurable way to the execution of the project. 

Each resume must not exceed two pages. And save all resumes into a single file for uploading with your application. All right. The last one on this list, and required for the application, is the Budget Justification Workbook. The Budget Justification Workbook-- I'm going to spare you the internal numbers we call it. It is a required form and must include both the funds being requested from DOE, as well as those proposed as cost share. 

So I'll say that again. The budget and budget justification must reflect all project costs, the total project costs, regardless of whether those funds are being requested from DOE or provided as cost share. The form itself is a multi-tab Microsoft Excel workbook. 

And in addition to the proposed costs, the form requests the basis of estimate for the cost being proposed. The form can be downloaded from IE-Exchange website, again, under the same place, Application Forms and Templates. OK. Let that sink in. And we'll move on to the next slide, please, Joe. 

The other 10-- so I mentioned before, there are 19. So we talked about nine. And the remainder 10 required application documents are shown here. And we'll go over each of those briefly. And instructions for each of these are included under Section 4-C of the FOA document. Next slide, please. 

All right, more screenshots for me to try and pinpoint to you as I talk about them. The forms and templates have been provided for the first five required application documents, as shown here on this slide. We'll go through each one. The Subrecipient Budget Justification Workbook-- so this is on the left-hand side, sitting on top of the screenshot that looks like the FOA. 

Applicants must provide a separate budget justification for each subrecipient-- not vendors, but subrecipients-- who is expected to perform work estimated to be more than $250,000 or 25% of the total work effort, whichever amount is less. A subrecipient is a sub-awardee who is providing cost share or with a vested interest in the proposed project beyond providing goods and services to the proposed project. 

If none of the proposed subrecipients meet the thresholds above, the $250,000 or 25% of the project, a Subrecipient Budget Justification form is not required. And instead, a file stating no subrecipients being proposed meet the threshold requirements, and therefore, a Subrecipient Budget Justification form is not being proposed here as an attachment and quote must be uploaded instead. 

A vendor budget information should not be included as part of the subrecipient budget justification, but rather included as part of the applicant's Budget Support file under Contractual. There's a tab that will be labeled as Contractual in that workbook. A vendor is an entity contracted to provide goods and services within normal business operations who provides similar goods or services to many different purchasers and operates in a competitive environment. 

All right. The next file is the Budget Support file. That one, you can see sitting on top of the Excel-looking file. And it's labeled. There you go, Budget Support. All applicants are required to submit support for their proposed budget to include an indirect rate agreement, a breakdown of fringe costs, basis of cost estimate documentation, budget support for vendors, and other relevant supplemental information. 

A Microsoft Word template has been provided. The Budget Support template is available in place under Application Forms and Templates for this particular FOA on IE-Exchange website. The use of the Budget Support template is not required. But the information included within the Budget Support template is required. So it's a little bit easier if you go ahead and use the template that we provided for you. 

Number 12-- we're on number 12 here. Cost share reduction requests-- I think a lot of people will be interested in this. And you can see, the top that's peaking out on the right-hand side, where it says Cost Share Reduction Requests on top. Applicants requesting a cost share reduction must-- must, must, must submit a cost share reduction request using the format and instructions included within the Cost Share Reduction Request template. 

And this is provided, again, at the same place, under Application Forms and Templates for this FOA on IE-Exchange. And we haven't said the URL in a while, so I'll say it here. It's ie-exchange.energy.gov. A Word template has been provided for this. The use of the Cost Share Reduction Request template, again, is not required. However, the information included within the Cost Share Reduction Request template is required. This form provides instructions on how to calculate whether you meet one of the two factors for reduction in cost share from 20% to 10%. 

And I think Lizana went through this, but those calculations are based on Census Bureau data. If, however, the applicant does not qualify for a cost share reduction based on the Census Bureau, My Tribal Area, and ACS data profile by state data, and if you review the template that we provide to use, maybe some of this will make sense, the applicant has the option to use self-reported data for the poverty rate and median household income of the tribal communities where the project will be located. 

If a cost share reduction is not being requested, submit a signed statement on the applicant's letterhead affirmatively stating, quote, "the applicant hereby represents and certifies that it is not requesting a cost share reduction and that the individual signing this statement is authorized to make this certification on behalf of the applicant," end quote. And you can see this statement and other statements that I've made in the FOA document. So this particular one is on page 54 of the FOA document. 

The applicant registration certification-- OK, this is also a screenshot. You can see that label, Applicant Registration Certification, in the middle there. All applicants must certify that all system registrations have been completed and certify to those registrations as part of the applicant Registration Certification file. 

A Microsoft Word template has been provided. The Applicant Registration Certification template, as with other forms and templates, is available, again, the same place, on Exchange, under Application Forms and Templates. Furthermore, the use of the Registration Certification template is not required, but the information included within the Registration Certification template is required. 

All right. We're getting closer to the end here. So stay with us. Instructions for documents comprising a complete application is contained under Section 4-C of the FOA document. The SF-LLL, that's one that's right in front with nothing blocking it, the disclosure of lobbying activities, is a required application document. This disclosure of lobbying activities, again, Form SF-LLL, is required to be submitted, regardless of whether funds are being paid or will be paid for influencing or attempting to influence persons in connection with this application. 

Recipients and sub-recipients may not use any federal funds to influence or attempt to influence, directly or indirectly, congressional action on any legislative or appropriation matters. All applicants are required to complete and submit an SF-LLL. Again, it's for disclosure of lobbying activity. 

And disclose if any non-federal funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence any of the following connection with your application-- one, an officer or employee of any federal agency, two, any member of Congress, three, an officer or employee of Congress or foreign employee of a member of Congress. 

If no non-federal funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence any of the above in connection with your application, indicate none and sign and date the form. This form is also available under the announcements under Required Application Documents on IE-Exchange. Great. Let's go on to the next slide. 

OK. Yep, that's the right one. The last five required documents, yay, are all applicant-generated. And we'll go over each one briefly. Instructions for each of these are included beginning on page 45 of the FOA document. OK, number 15 out of the 19 required documents-- Potentially Duplicate Funding Notice, the PDFN file. All applicants must provide a Potentially Duplicate Funding Notice. 

The PDFN is a new requirement. Specifically, if the applicant or project team member has other active awards of federal funds, the applicant must determine whether the activities of those awards potentially overlap with the activities set forth and in its application to this FOA. If there is a potential overlap the applicant must notify DOE in writing of the potential overlap and state how it will ensure any project funds-- for example, the recipient cost share and the federal funds-- how these funds will not be used for identical cost items under multiple awards. 

Likewise, for projects that receive funding under this FOA, if a recipient or project team member received any other award of federal funds for activities that potentially overlap with that to be funded under the FOA award, the recipient must promptly notify DOE in writing of the potential overlap and state whether project funds from any of those other federal awards have been, are being, or are to be used in whole or in part for one or more of the identical cost items under the DOE award. If there are identical cost items, the recipient must promptly notify the DOE contracting officer in writing of the potential duplication and eliminate any inappropriate duplication of funding. 

If potentially duplicate funding does not apply, the Potential Duplicative Funding Notice is not required, and instead, a file must be submitted stating, quote, "the applicant or project team member do not have other active awards that potentially overlap with activities proposed in this application. And therefore, a potentially duplicative funding notice is not being provided here as an attachment," end of quote. 

All right, number 16-- Site and Resource Maps and Graphics file. All applicants must provide a Site and Resource Maps and Graphics file. That include any graphics to supplement the technical volume, including maps, photographs, or other visuals of the project location or buildings affected by the proposed project. Any other relevant background or supplemental data may be included here, excluding the studies and analysis plans, as required under the Studies and Analysis file that I'll talk to in just a second. 

If you choose not to provide any graphics, relevant background, or a supplemental data beyond that which may be already in the technical volume, then submit a file stating, no additional site, resource, maps, or graphics information is being provided as an attachment. This information may actually be necessary. So consider this when you are completing your application, to fully address the technical review criteria. 

The technical review criteria, again, is found in section 5-A of the FOA. Number 17-- Studies and Analysis file-- all applicants are required to submit a comprehensive feasibility study, or energy audit, or industrial assessments, as specifically required for each subtopic area. So review the topic area that you are interested in applying for. Review section 1-B and Technical Volume template under Application Forms and Templates for this FOA, which is on ie-exchange.energy.gov for the required content. 

These submissions must, as a minimum, include energy audits or energy assessments for topic area 1-B and topic area 1-C. And a feasibility study or studies for topic area 1-A, topic area 1-C, topic area 2, topic area 3, and topic area 4. Other supporting studies or analysis should also be included. Any other relevant background data may be included under the Site and Resource Map and Graphics file. 

The next one, number 18-- we're getting very close here-- the Design and Engineering file. All applicants must provide a Design and Engineering file and include copies of any hardware performance specifications, warranties, engineering drawings, and any other design or engineering data to supplement the technical volume. The requisite material and equipment list for any proposed energy efficiency measures should also be included here. 

If you choose not to provide any design and engineering information beyond that which may be in the technical volume, submit a file stating, no additional design and engineering information is being provided as an attachment. And note that this information may actually be necessary to complete your application to fully address the technical review criteria, again, located in section 5-A. Review that carefully before you decide that it's not necessary. 

And lastly, number 19, the Economics file-- as with the other required application documents, all applicants must submit an Economics file. Provide supplemental data to support the economic analysis, unless included as part of the technical volume. You can see section 1-B and section 2.4 under Economic Viability of the Technical Volume template. The Technical Volume template is available under Application Forms and Templates for this FOA, again, at ie-exchange.energy.gov for required content. 

And similarly, if you choose not to provide any economic information beyond that which may be in the technical volume, submit a file stating, no additional economic information is being provided as an attachment. And again, note that this information may be necessary to complete your application so that it fully addresses the technical review criteria, again, in section 5-A. 

All right, wow, that's 19-- 19 documents we just went through. And you can review all of that. All of that is available in the FOA document. You may submit an application any time before the due date. And you will be able to go back to update it as needed up until the deadline. 

We're not going to look at anything until the deadline. Please allow sufficient time to ensure that you have uploaded all required documents and that your application is complete prior to the due date and time. Next slide, please. 

All right. We are going to discuss the application eligibility requirements. I know we've gone through this, but we're going to give you a little bit more information. And as a reminder, no Q&A with this session, with this webinar. 

Everything is being recorded. So you can listen to this again and again, if you need to, and look at the slides again and again, if needed. And any inconsistencies between the FOA document and anything Lizana and I are saying today, the FOA document is the controlling document. So applicants should rely solely on the full language or seek clarification by sending your questions to [email protected]. 

Next, we are on slide 81 here. We are getting really close. I don't think we've said this enough, but applicants must submit applications no later than 5:00 PM Eastern time on May 16, 2023. That's this year. That's in-- oh, my goodness, March, April, May, so about three months, less than three months. Note that the deadline is 5:00 PM Eastern time, Eastern Time Zone. So please plan depending on which time zone you are in to make sure you meet that deadline. 

Once submitted, DOE will conduct an eligibility review. And applications will be deemed eligible only if the applicant is an eligible entity. You can look at section 3-A of the FOA document for this. It's eligible only if the costs share requirement is satisfied. And that is described in section 3-B of the FOA. 

The application complies with the content format and submission requirements in section 4-A and section 4-C of the FOA. The applicant successfully uploaded all required documents and clicked the Submit button on IE-Exchange by the deadline stated in the FOA. The proposed project is responsive to the intent of the FOA, which is described in section 1 and section 3-D of the FOA. 

And next, lastly, for-- maybe not lastly, but an application will be deemed eligible only if the application meets any other eligibility requirements identified in section 3 of the FOA. And please be aware that DOE will not make eligibility determinations prior to the date on which the applications are due. The decision to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the applicant. 

In other words, DOE will not advise you or make determination on whether your entity or your proposed project are eligible prior to an application being submitted. So please, do not seek advice from any DOE employee. Don't ask Lizana. Don't ask me. Don't ask DOE contractor or laboratory staff. 

If you have a question, any questions, all questions regarding this FOA must be submitted in writing by email to [email protected]. This ensures you receive an official answer. And it also ensures that all potential applicants have the benefit of those responses. All right, I think I've given Lizana a quick break here. So I'm going to pass it back to you, Lizana. 

LIZANA PIERCE: OK. Thank you, Tweedie. Next slide, please. And thank you, everybody for bearing with us. One of these days, I'm going to get the duration. I think Tweedie speaks a little slower than I do. Anyway. You're welcome to hang or listen to the recording afterwards. OK. So let's go on to how these applications are going to be reviewed and the selection criteria in the process. Next slide, please. 

So regarding the merit review and selection process, the merit review and selection process consists of a series of reviews, including an initial eligibility review, a rigorous technical review, and a programmatic review. The rigorous technical reviews are conducted by reviewers that are experts in the subject matter of the FOA. And ultimately, the selection official considers the recommendations of the reviewers, along with other considerations, such as the program policy factors, to make the selection decision. Next slide, please. 

This slide reflects the multitude of review process, which begins with an eligibility review. Sorry. I have a noise out the door. Hopefully it doesn't bother. So this slide reflects the multi-tiered review process, which begins with an eligibility review. And if the application and applicant is determined eligible, the application undergoes a comprehensive technical review, consisting of an independent review by subject matter experts, who provide ratings and document strengths and weaknesses of each application relative to the merit review criteria published in the FOA. 

After the independent review meeting concludes, a federal consensus board begins its review. The federal consensus board's primary responsibility is to determine the technical merit of each application, which is inherently a government function. And the federal consensus board makes selection recommendations based on their technical review. In other words, the federal consensus board determines the selection range. 

Following the federal consensus board, a merit review advisory report is produced, which describes how the review was conducted and sets forth the federal consensus board technical rankings, addresses the FOA-specific program policy factors, and other selections as are set forth in the FOA. Finally, the selection official reviews the merit review advisory report, considers the recommendation of the federal consensus board, applies federal-- pardon me, applies program policy factors if he or she chooses, and makes the selection decision for negotiation of award. Next slide, please. 

So next, we're going to go over the merit review criteria, or what your application will be reviewed against. There are four criterion. And their weights are-- the first is goals and objectives. And its weight is at 10%. Project description and outcome is weighted at 50%. Roles, responsibilities, capabilities, and commitment is weighted at 30%. And then the workplan, of which there's a template provided, is weighted at 10%. 

Section 5-A of the FOA document, beginning on page 65, identifies the technical review criteria upon which applications will be reviewed. And we'll go over that briefly in a subsequent slide. So on this slide, and beginning on page 65 of the FOA, you'll see criterion 1, goals and objectives, and the three sub-criteria that will be reviewed relative to that criterion. 

First is clarity and completeness of the executive summary, including the extent to which the proposed project provides economic and other benefits to the tribe and tribal community, soundness of the discussions of the need for and impact of DOE funding for the proposed project, and the implications if it's not funded. 

Remember, the technical volume template has been provided, again, on IE-Exchange. And the use of this template's not required. However, the information within it is required. The technical volume must address the technical review criteria included in section 5-A. And applicants really should consider the weight of each of these evaluation criteria when they prepare the technical volume. Next slide, please. 

So criteria 2, project description and outcomes, is weighted at 50%. It's huge. And it includes four sub-criteria, including clarity and completeness of a detailed project description, technical viability of the proposed project, economic viability of the proposed project, and the significance of the outcome. 

Note that under this criterion, the mandatory feasibility study and/or energy audit or audits will be reviewed to assess the technical viability, along with the Engineering and Economics files. And I'll give you just a moment to read through the sub-criteria. Next slide, please. 

OK. Continuing on, these are the last two sub-criteria that comprise criterion 2-- economic viability as well as the significance of the outcome, as we discussed. Next slide, please. 

The third criterion-- roles, responsibilities, capabilities, and commitments is weighted at 30% and will include the soundness of the project management approach and the demonstrated level of commitment of the applicant and each participating organization, as evidenced by past energy-related efforts and/or commitments evidenced in the letters of commitments. Next slide, please. And I'm on slide 90. 

OK. The fourth and final criterion is the workplan, rated at 10%. Again, there's a template for that. The workplan will be reviewed based on the clarity and completeness of the narrative-- we want words, a narrative description of each activity necessary to complete your proposed project-- and also, on the likelihood of achieving the project objectives through logical task structure. Next slide, please. 

So onto program policy factors. In addition to the technical review criteria and the recommendations of the federal consensus board, selection official may consider program policy factors in determining which applications to select for negotiation work. So next slide, please. 

So the selection official may consider the program policy factors shown here to come to his or her funding selection decision. They are also included on page 58 of the FOA. 

So the selection official can consider in no particular order geographic distribution, technology diversity, degree to which the proposed project optimizes the use of available DOE funding, and whether the proposed project serves tribal communities with high energy costs, tribal communities not connected to the traditional centralized electric grid, and then this new one, the degree to which the proposed project will employ procurement of US iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials, and finally, applicants who have not previously received a grant from the Office of Indian Energy. Next slide, please. 

We're close. We're really close, guys. Hang with me. I think we're going to let Tweedie finish us off here. Maybe not. OK, I'm going to keep going. 

TWEEDIE DOE: Sorry. Sorry, Lizana. 

LIZANA PIERCE: That's OK. Next, we're going to talk about the requisite registration requirements. OK, let's go to slide 94. Tweedie, you're up. 

TWEEDIE DOE: Thank you. Thanks for the cue as well. OK, we are on slide 94. And we are so, so close. The following registrations are required before submitting an application. So it is essential that these registrations be completed as soon as possible, as some of them will take several weeks to process, or I should say, may take several weeks to process. 

The first one, IE-Exchange-- IE-Exchange. Register and create an account on IE-Exchange at ie-exchange.energy.gov. This account will then allow the user to register for any open FOAs that are currently in IE-Exchange. Remember, applications will only be accepted through IE-Exchange. That's the only system-- only way that we are accepting applications. A control number will be assigned while registering in IE-Exchange. Retain this number, as it will be required on all application documents. 

The IE-Exchange registration does not have a delay. However, as we said before, the remaining registration requirements below could take several weeks to process and are required prior to submitting an application. Therefore, all potential applicants lacking things like a UEI-- remember what that stands for, Unique Entity Identifier number-- or not yet registered with SAM, or FedConnect, or Grants.gov should complete those registrations as soon as possible. 

OK. To obtain a Unique Entity Identifier, UEI number, you can obtain this UEI number-- again, that replaced the DUNS that many of us may be accustomed to, the DUNS number. And the UEI number is for entities doing business with the federal government during the same registration or renewal process at www.sam.gov. A UEI is required for all entities doing business with the federal government. And SAM will assign this number to you. And there's no cost associated with that. 

Systems for award management, this is SAM. Register with SAM on sam.gov. And this is where you designate an electronic business point of contact, [INAUDIBLE] [? TOC ?] I think is what they have on there, to obtain a special password called an MPIN, an MPIN, and obtaining a UEI number are important steps in SAM registration. 

And a reminder, SAM registration must be updated annually. You can't just sign up for an account and forget about it. It's got some sensitive banking information. So it requires annual renewal. If you think you've already registered on it, make sure you are up to date and current with SAM. 

And let's see, I've got some extra notes here. Effective June of 2017, you can no longer access SAM using IE, the Internet Explorer browser, versions older than IE11. You either need to upgrade to an Internet Explorer version of IE11 or higher or access SAM using another supported browser type, like Chrome, Firefox, Safari. And there may be others that are supported. 

FedConnect is another system. Register in FedConnect on www.fedconnect.net. To create an organization account, your organization's SAM MPIN that I just mentioned above is required. For more information about the SAM MPIN or other registration requirements, review the FedConnect Ready, Set, Go guide. And this guide is found at fedconnect.net. I think we've got-- yep, we've got the URL up there on the screen. So you can click on that and find the documents. 

Grants.gov-- register with Grants.gov to receive automatic updates when amendments to this FOA are posted. However, please note that applications are not accepted through Grants.gov. All applications must be submitted through IE-Exchange at ie-exchange.energy.gov. Your registration in Grants.gov only means you'll receive email notices of any amendments to the FOA. 

The applicant will be required to certify that these registrations have been completed and to include that certification as part of their application. Therefore, it is very essential that these registrations are completed as soon as possible. And some, again, may take several weeks to process. 

Failure to complete the registration below prior to submitting an application could result in DOE determining that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal award. See section 6-B of the FOA, beginning on page 73 for more on required registration-- again, page 73 of the FOA if you have questions on required registration. Next slide, please. 

All right. Next, we're going to talk about application submission requirements and designated points of contact. Next slide, please. 

All applicants must-- sorry, all applications must be submitted to IE-Exchange. DOE will not review or consider applications submitted through any other means. Please see IE-Exchange Applicant guide that's found on IE-Exchange under Manuals. This will provide step-by-step guide, including screenshots, on how to register, create an account, and submit an application into IE-Exchange. 

We also create an IE-Exchange registration and login guide to help you through the multi-factor login process. And this guide also has screenshots, explains the login. We try to create as many resources available to you as we can because we understand all the different systems that you have to navigate. Next slide, please. 

Next is key information regarding submission of an application. Check entries in IE-Exchange. Submissions could be deemed ineligible due to an incorrect entry. DOE strongly encourages applicants to submit applications one to two days, at least 48 hours prior to the deadline to allow for full upload of the application documents and to avoid any potential technical issues that you may encounter. 

Make sure you push the Submit button, that button that's necessary for you to actually push through your documents. Any changes that are made after you push the Submit button will be unsubmit your application. And you will need to push the Submit button again. So I'll say that again. Any changes that you make after you push the Submit button will unsubmit the application. And you'll have to submit it again. 

For your records, print out the IE-Exchange Confirmation page at each step, which contains the application's control number. IE-Exchange is designed to enforce the deadline set by this FOA. The Apply and the Submit buttons will be automatically disabled at the defined submission deadlines. 

Should applicants experience problems with IE-Exchange, some information in that document might be helpful to you. Applicants experienced issues with submission prior to the FOA deadline-- let's say in the event an applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance. And this email address is [email protected]. 

The Exchange helpdesk will assist applicants in resolving issues. However, those applicants who are unable to submit their applications because they are submitting them at the last minute when network traffic may be at its heaviest will not be eligible for assistance from the Exchange helpdesk. The Office of Indian Energy is not able to assist with technical issues associated with the IE-Exchange system or the middle of an application. Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in late submissions should also contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance. The Exchange helpdesk and the IE-Exchange system administrators may not-- I'm sorry, may-- may be able to assist. 

And we strongly encourage you to keep records and/or documentation, including screenshots, of any issues you experience in submitting your application and any efforts made to resolve those issues. In the event of a late submission, that documentation may be factored into whether your late application is considered. Next slide, please. 

In addition, per page 50-- I'm sorry, page 81 of the FOA, page 81 of the FOA, please keep in mind that all information provided by the applicant must, to the greatest extent possible, exclude any Personally-Identifiable Information-- PII. Specifically, applicants must screen resumes to ensure that they do not contain PII, such as personal addresses, phone or mobile numbers, personal emails, or Social Security numbers. Make sure none of those information are included in the resumes or anywhere. In short, if the PII is not essential to the application, it should not be in the application. Next slide, please. 

Applicants must designate a primary and a backup point of contact in IE-Exchange with whom DOE will communicate during the process. Remember, these are the contacts that will be used to notify applicants whether their applications were deemed non-responsive, non-compliant, unsuccessful, or selected for negotiation and award-- good news and maybe news on how to improve. Next slide, please. 

And next, how to submit FOA-related questions. Next slide, please. For questions regarding the FOA, send an email to [email protected]. However, before you submit your questions, we urge you to check out FAQ-- Frequently Asked Questions-- on IE-Exchange to see if your question has already been asked and answered. We will attempt to answer questions within three business days. You will be notified when a response to your question is posted. Next, please. 

For problems logging into IE-Exchange or uploading and submitting application documents, email Exchange helpdesk at [email protected] and include the FOA name and number in the subject line. Exchange help can be found in the upper-right corner of each webpage on IE-Exchange or under Contact Us at the bottom of each webpage. 

We also recommend, if you are having difficulties, that you see the IE-Exchange applicant guide and the exchange registration and login guide that can be found on IE-Exchange under Manuals on the left-hand side of the navigation, as these documents will provide step-by-step guides with screenshots on how to login, register, create an account, and submit an application on IE-Exchange. 

Specific questions regarding the FOA itself should be sent to [email protected]. Please include the FOA number in the subject line. We've got a few FOAs out there. So that would be very helpful to us. 

Also, remember to check out the non-FOA-specific questions on IE-Exchange under Questions and Answers in the left navigation or at IE Exchange dot-- I'm sorry, ie-exchange.energy.gov under FAQ for the frequently asked questions on the FAQs webpage for this FOA. Next slide, please. 

OK. Best practices-- we're almost done. Just remember that we will not have a Q&A, again. And we're recording everything. All the errors that I have made my speaking here, everything will be recorded for you to listen to again, and the slides, for you to review. 

And any inconsistencies between the FOA, this presentation, or statements from DOE or other personnel, the FOA, the document is the controlling document. And the applicant should rely solely on that FOA language or seek clarification by sending your questions to [email protected]. Next, please. 

And in closing, a few recommendations. Please download the Funding Opportunity Announcement. Read it thoroughly so you understand all the steps and requirements for submitting applications. And do not rely solely on this webinar. 

If you are considering submitting an application, please register in IE-Exchange as soon as possible and obtain that control number that we talked about. This control number must be included on all application documents. Check the Frequently Asked Questions, FAQs on IE-Exchange periodically for any supplemental information or amendments to the FOA, additional information that may be useful to you. All right, I'm going to pass it back to Lizana to finally close us out. Lizana. 

LIZANA PIERCE: OK. We're going to close out. They are supposed to do some software updates to my laptop. So if that happens and I go away, Tweedie's going to say goodbye. OK. Here we go. Next slide, please. So thank you, Tweedie, in closing. Next slide, please. 

A few final comments. First of all, thank you so very much for hanging with us. I'm so sorry. One of these days, I'll get the timeline right and we won't go over. But a few final comments-- hopefully, we've answered some of your questions and provided an overview of the FOA and the process. 

However, if you have any questions, please send us an email at [email protected]. Please don't ask me or any Office of Indian Energy staff, contractors, or laboratory personnel about the eligibility of your project or any other question related to the FOA, as only formal official responses posted under the FAQs on IE-Exchange will be honored. 

The purpose of accepting only written questions is that, typically, if you have a question, someone else may have similar questions. And this also ensures that everyone has the same information relative to this competitive opportunity. Remember, registering on Grants.gov means that you'll receive email notices of any amendments to the FOA. But applications will not be accepted through Grants.gov. 

And also, I would urge you to consider submitting your application early. You can always revise it, the documents, up until the deadline, just as long as you submit. If you've changed it or uploaded it, you have to resubmit your application. 

I'd also like to invite you to join the Office of Indian Energy's email list if you haven't already. To join, you can see the main page of our website at www.energy.gov/indianenergy. By subscribing, you'll receive any information on this funding opportunity announcement, funding opportunities through the Department of Energy, or other agencies, training opportunities, webinars, and other upcoming events. 

For information on previously-funded tribal energy projects, you can see Projects on the top nav of our website. For a list of other open funding opportunities, you could see funding and/or current funding opportunities we have done only for IE, but for DOE and for other agencies, anything that is tribal energy-related. 

We also offer technical assistance at no cost to tribes and tribal entities. If you're interested, please check out the technical assistance section of the website to submit a request. It's just basically an email with a few questions. Again, finally, the slides and audio recording will be posted. And you'll get an email, probably, in the next couple of days and tell you where those may be available if you so desire to listen to this yet again. 

Just a reminder that your participation in this webinar is completely voluntary. There are no particular advantages or disadvantages to an application evaluation process with respect to your participation in the webinar today. 

And finally, if there's any inconsistencies between the Funding Opportunity Announcement itself, the presentation, or statements by Tweedie, or I, or anyone else, the FOA document is the controlling document. And please rely solely on the written FOA document. Or seek clarification through [email protected]. Next slide, please. 

And finally, I just want to thank you so much for your interest and for your attention during the webinar. Have a wonderful afternoon. And this concludes today's webinar. Goodbye.