Below is a list of questions and answers regarding the FY22/23 Clean Water Legacy Partners Grant Pilot Program Request For Proposals. The list will be updated weekly as new questions are received. Submit additional questions to: cwfquestions@state.mn.us.
Last updated: 2/13/2023
General Requirements, Policy, and Eligibility
Q: The RFP states that prevailing wages apply. What are the grant applicant’s responsibilities for compliance?
A: Prevailing wage requirements apply to all state funds used for “projects” that meet the definition identified in M.S 177.42-177.44. As the RFP states, your first source of information for questions about the application of prevailing wage rates should be directed to the Department of Labor and Industry at 651-284-5070, or https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/employment-practices/prevailing-wage-information . However, the following information may help you better understand these requirements.
The responsibilities of a grant recipient are to: (1) be aware of prevailing wage and ensure their project’s cost proposals address this requirement; (2) include prevailing wage information in their bid and contract documents; and (3) receive and maintain the payroll reports that contractors will furnish every two weeks. Prevailing wage does not apply to administrative activities of the grant recipient or construction activities directly conducted by a local government, i.e. if an SWCD uses its own staff to plant trees, prevailing wage would not apply, but if they contracted with Joe’s Planting Service it would. For additional information refer to the BWSR website: http://bwsr.state.mn.us/prevailing-wage.
Q: What can be used for in-kind cash value as match?
A: Match includes the services, materials, or cash contributed to the accomplishment of grant objectives. In-kind cash value must be directly attributed to the project or activity accomplishments and account for the same as items charged directly to the grant. Activities listed as ineligible activities in the RFP may not be counted towards match. Use the following guidance when considering in-kind cash value:
- Local staff and administrative costs in excess of the reporting and grant management, project development, or technical and engineering component of the grant funds received.
- Conservation practice costs may not be increased beyond the actual costs of technical assistance, design, materials, and installation by the application of match. In no case may conservation practice costs exceed 100% of the actual cost of design, materials, and installation. Land value match may only be used to match structural or installed conservation practices and may only be applied where changes from current land use or land cover are implemented such that water resource protection becomes the new primary objective for the land under consideration.
Q: Can loan or grant funds from other state programs be used as match?
A: Loan funds from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) Clean Water Partnership (CWP) Program, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s AgBMP Program and Public Facilities Authority’s water programs may be used as match. Any state grant funds may not be used as match.
Q: Does BWSR have any preferences for feasibility studies that are submitted for in-lake management practices?
A: Yes, BWSR prefers that feasibility studies that are assembled from multiple studies/reports include a Table of Contents that clearly indicates on what page numbers required information can be found.
Q: Are Lake Improvement Districts (LIDs) eligible to apply for the Clean Water Legacy Partners grant program?
A: A LID is a local government unit (see MN Statute 103B.501 and MN Rule 6115.0900-9080), therefor they are not eligible to be the applicant for the Clean Water Legacy Partners grant program.
Q: Who will be doing the practice certifications for grant activities? Are NGO's going to have to get JAA or would SWCD/NRCS be collaborating to get that work done?
A: While the applicant themselves doesn’t need to have the technical expertise, or JAA (Job Approval Authority), the grantee will be responsible for ensuring that appropriate technical expertise, skills and training are assigned to the practices being applied for.
- More on Technical Assistance Provider: Grantees must identify the technical assistance provider(s) for the practice or project and their credentials for providing this assistance. The technical assistance provider(s) must have appropriate credentials for practice investigation, design, and construction. Credentials can include conservation partnership Job Approval Authority (JAA), also known as technical approval authority; applicable professional licensure; reputable vendor with applicable expertise and liability coverage; or other applicable credentials, training, and/or experience.
- More on JAA: The Conservation Partnership of NRCS, SWCDs, and BWSR use the NRCS Job Approval Authority (JAA) credentialing system for planning, design and installation of standard conservation practices.
Q: What are the requirements for land acquisition?
A: For acquisitions as fee title proposals – Up to 100% of the appraised value of the property (as conducted by a certified appraiser) is grant eligible. If appraisal is not available at time of application, substitute the higher of the applicable RIM rate or tax assessed value of the land (not including buildings) as a placeholder until such time an appraisal is completed.
Q: What are the requirements for easements?
A: Total state contribution to easement payment rates shall not exceed current standard Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) rates. Lands eligible for the RIM crop rate must have annually planted crop 2 of the last 5 years or meet other requirements as listed in MN Rules Section 8400.3030.
Q: Is the replacement of an asphalt parking lot to permeable pavers eligible?
A: Yes
Q: Is installing a cistern to collect rainwater eligible?
A: Yes
Q: Can one entity submit more than one application for the maximum amount?
A: Yes
Q: Can an NGO apply for a grant and have a LGU be the fiscal agent?
A: Yes, we suggest that a subcontract/sub-agreement be used and the ultimate fiscal responsibility lies with the grantee.
Q: Can a NGO that receives a grant add LGU staff as team members in eLINK to edit the workplan?
A: Yes, though ultimate responsibility that this is done correctly is the responsibility of the grantee.
Q: We are a 501(c)3 non-profit, private university in Minnesota and are interested in applying for a grant under the Clean Water Legacy Partners Program. Are we eligible to apply as an NGO?
A: Yes, as defined in the program policy, a 501c3 is eligible to apply.
Q: Is citizen-based testing of residential drinking water for lead an eligible activity with these grant dollars?
A: No. Per the RFP, water quality monitoring is not an eligible grant activity.
Q: Can organizations submit more than one proposal?
A: Yes
Q: Do tribal governments have to submit any financial information to BWSR?
A: tribal governments will not need to provide financial information to BWSR. They will need to become a vendor of the state through the state’s financial system, SWIFT, if they are not one already. For more information on SWIFT and related requirements, please visit: https://mn.gov/mmb/accounting/swift/
Q: Can the funds be used to pay incentives on acres that have already received (or are currently receiving) funding for cover crops beyond the 3 year contract typical of other BSWR funds for this practice?
A: There is nothing in the CWLP policy/RFP stating that you could not do what you are proposing, so the answer is yes, funds could be used that way.
Q: If an NGO is new and their annual income is between 50,000-750,000, do they need to submit both their reviewed financial statement and an IRS Form 990?
A: Yes, both documents need to be submitted.
Q: Can grant funds be used to reimburse volunteers for their time? If so, what hourly rate should be used?
A: Grant funds can pay for a volunteer’s time, and BWSR’s billing rate doesn’t apply. There isn’t a set hourly rate for volunteers. As long as it is reasonable and justifiable, that rate is left to the grantee to be determined.
Q: If a shoreline restoration project is located in a non-public place, i.e., a private residential shoreline, is the landowner required to display a sign with the Clean Water Legacy logo at the project site?
A: BWSR asks that a legacy sign be displayed if practicable, but is not required. For example, if you had multiple shoreline restorations on one lake, perhaps displaying a sign on one to two sites would be adequate.
Q: There is a non-profit organization lake association interested in applying to the Clean Water Legacy Partners Grant Pilot Program. One of the lake association members owns their own LLC consulting business. This individual would be the main liaison for grant reporting and project development/outreach. Can this individual bill their time to the grant through their consulting business?
A: Yes, they could bill their time through the consulting business. Having an agreement set up between the lake association (or whomever the applicant/grantee is in this case) and that business, and then having itemized bills documenting what that business’ time was spent on, would help.
Q: Is there a budget template in the RFP?
A: No, a budget template is not included in the RFP. However, budget information will be collected when the users is completing an application in the eLINK system.
Q: Our HOA is not a 501c3 enterprise. That is a federal designation for tax-exempt non-profits. Our HOA is organized as a non-profit corporation under the Minnesota Non-Profit Corporation Act, Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 317. See attached certificate from the State of Minnesota. Do we qualify as a non-profit entity for consideration for a BWSR grant?
A: Yes, designation under Chapter 317 as a non-profit would qualify your HOA as a NGO and therefor eligible for the Clean Water Legacy Partners grant dollars.
Q: The RFP stipulates that nonprofits are eligible. Does this apply to 501c4 organizations or only 501c3 organizations?
A: NGOs are one of the eligible applicant types for this grant. A 501c4 is a type of NGO, so are eligible to apply.
Q: Can funds be used to hire SWCD staff to do Practice Certifications?
A: Staff time could be covered to do data collection, compiling and reporting as long as it is associated with grant activities, i.e. the data being collected is from farms that are a part of other grant activities such as cover crop contracts.
Q: Can a Lake Improvement District, on the same lake as the Lake Association applying for grant funds, provide the required match to the Property Owners Association for the grant?
A: Yes, a Lake Improvement District would be able to provide local match for a grant that was held by the Property Owners Association, since they are a 501c3 entity.
Q: How can I determine pollution reductions and the calculators to use?
A: BWSR has a “Choosing the Best Estimator” webpage under the eLINK guidance: https://bwsr.state.mn.us/elink-guidance-choosing-best-estimator
Q: Should a stand-alone PDF file of a feasibility study for in-lake management activities be submitted via email before the RFP closes?
A: The feasibility study for in-lake management activities is a specifically required attachment when proposing to use grant dollars for those purposes. A stand-alone sent via email to BWSR.grants@state.mn.us before the RFP closes is the correct procedure.
Q: Is it true in this case, then, that the expense of bi-weekly water quality testing (April-September 2023) cannot be included in the requested grant budget?
A: It is correct that monitoring surface water quality to assure the project’s total phosphorus goal is achieved is not an eligible grant expense. Other sources of funding should be used to conduct your monitoring.
Q: When is the Pre-Award Financial Capacity Review form required to be submitted by NGO applicants?
A: Per the RFP page 10, #2, that form needs to be received at BWSR.grants@state.mn.us prior to the RFP closing. This is to ensure the NGO meets eligibility requirements prior to the review of applications.
Q: Can match dollars be applied against expenses that are not eligible for grant funds?
A: Match can only be considered for grant eligible expenses.
eLINK
Q: Can multiple photos be submitted for an application?
A: Only one application image file in one of the allowable formats may be submitted per application (jpeg, gif, tiff, bmp, png; file extension should be lower case). The application image file will be automatically scaled to fit on one page of the final application document. The composition of the application image is up to the applicant. Images are added through the “Upload Application Image” button on the Grant Request page. Images uploaded as General Attachments will not be seen by reviewers.
Q: What are the character limits for application questions?
A: Most of the questions within the application have a 2,000-character limit (approximately 300 words), including spaces. If you choose to develop your responses outside of eLINK, e.g. in Word, note that programs may count the characters differently due to differences in how the characters are encoded. Note that a space is considered a character in eLINK.
Q: Why did I get an error message saying one of the application fields was empty after I entered the required data and then tried to submit the application?
A: You must save the information to the application before submitting. It may be necessary to scroll to the top or bottom of the page to bring the “Save” button into view. If you save while one of narrative questions is blank, the placeholder text “Not Entered” will be inserted; this will need to be replaced prior to submitting the application.
Q: My map was the last thing I created in my application. When I submitted the application, I didn’t receive an email notification that my application was submitted. What happened?
A: The map creation function may take several seconds to finish processing. If you try and submit the application before the map creation is done, the eLINK system considers the application incomplete and does not send out a notification. When the map creation function is complete, you will see a popup window indicating the map has been successfully saved. At that time, you may submit the application and should receive the proper notification.
Q: Why am I having trouble creating my map?
A1: eLINK is optimized for use with Microsoft (MS) Internet Explorer 9 or newer or Mozilla Firefox. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and any other browsers are not officially supported, and users may encounter difficulties with features such as mapping.
A2: If you select a large area, or number of HUCs, for your map, it slows down the map processing considerably and currently there is no hourglass or other symbol to alert you to this. Please consider making a smaller, more targeted HUC selection or be incredibly patient. If the project area is >50 HUC12s please select a HUC12 in the center of your project and describe the project scope in your answers to the targeting questions.
Q: Help! I lost some of the narrative portion of my application after I saved the information!
A: Each of the narrative questions within the application has a 2,000-character limit. The user interface will not allow you to enter more than 2,000 characters, and it will trim any pasted content to 2,000 characters. If you plan to develop narrative responses to the application questions in Word as a backup, be aware the character count in eLINK may be different, and your narrative may be automatically trimmed to fit the eLINK character limit. The application must be submitted through eLINK.
Q: Can I make changes to a submitted application during the RFP open period?
A: Yes. You will need to change the submitted status to “in process”, make changes, and change the status back to “Submit”. The status change triggers generating the report, which is added to the Attachments tab and seen by reviewers. Please note that failure to change the status back to “Submitted” will not capture any changes for review team, and applications not in “Submitted” status at the time the RFP closes will not be considered for funding.
Q: Can I access my earlier grant applications even if they were not funded?
A: Yes, you can access them by logging into eLINK and from the homepage under the “Grants” module, click on the “Include closed grants” box, enter the appropriate fiscal year’s allocation, and click “Go”.
Q: I have entered proposed indicators within the Application Activities. Why do I also need to provide a narrative summary of “proposed Measurable Outcomes”?
A: BWSR is required to report proposed and actual outcomes on the Legislative Coordinating Commission’s Legacy website. While grantees report proposed and actual outcomes in eLINK at the activity detail level, the LCC requires this data to be bundled into a 250-character summary for the entire grant.
Q: When attempting to submit my application, I get a message stating, “For each activity, you must either check the box verifying that there are no pollution reduction estimates associated with the Activity or enter proposed indicators.” What do I need to do?
A: Within the Application Budget tab, you will either need to ensure that the “Check here if this activity does not include proposed pollution reduction estimates” is checked within the Edit Application Activity” screen (pencil icon), or enter proposed indicators within the “Edit Indicators” screen (orange diamond icon). If your project will include on the ground practices resulting in pollution reductions, indicators must be entered.
Q: When is an additional Attachment allowed?
A: Items should only be uploaded under the Attachments tab when specifically required, as per the RFP (eg. A feasibility study for in-lake activities). If additional attachments beyond those described above are added, they will not be accessible to reviewers.