Text Size:   A+ A- A   •   Text Only
Find     
Oregon Coastal Management Program

Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation
Introduction
The Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, or CELCP, is a federal program to provide grants to states for coastal conservation land acquisitions. Projects for CELCP funding are selected at the national level on a competitive basis, and federal funds for CELCP projects must be matched at least 1:1 by non-federal funds. Only state agencies and local governments authorized to hold title to conservation lands are eligible to apply for CELCP funds.
 
The Oregon Coastal Management Program (OCMP) is the “lead agency” for implementing CELCP in Oregon. As the CELCP lead agency, the Oregon Coastal Management Program developed and submitted to NOAA a draft Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan which makes Oregon eligible to submit proposals for CELCP funding. The OCMP also manages the solicitation, selection, and submittal of eligible projects in Oregon for the national-level competitive review. The result of the national level competitive review is a ranked list of CELCP projects from all participating states, which is used to identify which projects will receive funding.  The highest-scoring projects on the CELCP ranked list receive funding. Federal funding levels for CELCP ranged from $8 to $50 million from 2002 through 2009.
 
In January, 2011, the OCMP distributed a memo to coastal local governments, state agencies, and non-governmental conservation organizations to solicit proposals for CELCP funding in FY 2012. The OCMP’s memo (see below) contains links to the materials necessary to complete a CELCP proposal, and describes the process the OCMP will use to select up to three proposals to forward for the national-level competition.

The criteria for projects and the national-level review and selection process are described in the CELCP Program Guidelines and the Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity for projects in FY 2012, both of which are available by link below.
To meet the CELCP’s national criteria, projects should:
  • Protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical, or aesthetic values, or that are threatened by conversion from their natural or recreational state to other uses;
  • Give priority to lands that can be effectively managed and protected and that have significant ecological value; and
  • Directly advance the goals and objectives of the state or territory’s CELCP plan, coastal management program, National Estuarine Research Reserve management plan, or a regional or state watershed protection plan.
 
Additional details on the national criteria are available in the CELCP Guidelines.

CELCP Solicitation for FY 2012
On January 6, 2011, an Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity was published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to begin the process for states to apply for funds for CELCP projects in federal fiscal year 2012. Funding for projects in FY 2012 is contingent on the availability of federal appropriations for CELCP in FY 2012. Should funds be made available, projects selected for funding under this opportunity are anticipated to have a grant start date between June 1, and October 1, 2012.
 
States that have submitted to NOAA a CELCP plan on or before February 17, 2011 are eligible to participate in the FY 2012 funding opportunity. Oregon submitted a draft CELCP Plan to NOAA in December 2005, and a revised version in July 2007. Oregon’s revised draft CELCP Plan provides the basis for Oregon’s participation in this FY 2011 funding opportunity. Oregon’s CELCP Plan is available by link below.
 
Under the CELCP Guidelines, states may solicit CELCP project applications from qualified entities upon notice of the availability of CELCP funds. Accordingly, the Oregon Coastal Management Program has notified state agencies, local governments, and other interested parties in Oregon of the FY 2012 national solicitation. (Here is a link to the OCMP solicitation.) The OCMP solicitation directed interested parties to this website for further information and access to materials to be used in preparing an application for CELCP funding. Links below provide access to all the materials needed to prepare an application for CELCP funds.
 
Under the FY 2012 CELCP competition, states may submit up to three separate applications for up to three million dollars in federal funding each. Federal grant funds for CELCP are required to be matched at a one-to-one ratio by non-federal funds or in-kind contributions.
As the lead agency for CELCP in Oregon, the OCMP will review, select, and submit up to three proposals for the national-level competition. The OCMP will use the process described below to select proposals to submit for the FY 2012 national-level competition.
 
If you want to submit a proposal for CELCP funding, you must arrange a pre-application meeting with the OCMP to present a summary of your project based on the Evaluation Criteria in Section V.A. of the Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity. Pre-application meetings will occur in Salem in February 2011. In these meetings, project proponents will be asked to describe how their project addresses all the Evaluation Criteria, with particular emphasis on criteria 1 and 2, Importance and/or relevance of proposed project to the program goals, and Technical/Scientific merit. Please contact the OCMP before February 11th (contact information below) to arrange a pre-application meeting. The OCMP will select three proposals to submit to the national level competition based on how proposals score against the Evaluation Criteria, and will notify those applicants that they should proceed with the development of a complete CELCP application for FY 2012.
 
To arrange a pre-application meeting
Please contact the OCMP by February 11th, 2011 to arrange a pre-application meeting. Pre-application meetings will occur in Salem in February, 2011. 
To arrange a pre-application meeting, please either email Jeff Weber or call 971.673.0964.
 
To submit a proposal
To allow time for the Oregon Coastal Management Program to review and prepare applications to forward for the national-level competition, applications for 2012 CELCP funding in Oregon must be delivered by 5:00 PM on April 6, 2011 to:
 
Applications that are received by the OCMP after April 6, 2011 may not be eligible to be considered by the OCMP to forward to the national-level competition.
 

Oregon's draft CELCP Plan
The Oregon Coastal Management Program submitted a Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan to NOAA’s Office of Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) in December 2005. OCRM provided comments to Oregon in late 2006, and the OCMP revised the CELCP Plan and re-submitted it to OCRM in July 2007. OCRM has provided additional comments to Oregon on the revised draft. The OCMP anticipates revising Oregon’s draft CELCP plan in 2011.
 
Oregon’s draft CELCP Plan is the basis for the OCMP’s solicitation for applications for funding in FY 2012.
 
The Oregon Coastal Management Program Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan, July 2007 (pdf)



CELCP FY 2012 Application Materials
CELCP FY 2012 Application Materials
 
Projects eligible for CELCP funding in federal fiscal year 2012 must meet all the requirements described in the Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity. The announcement lists the criteria for project selection and describes the project review and ranking process at the national level. The announcement includes three appendices that must be used in preparing a complete application. These appendices are also available by link below.
 
As the lead agency for CELCP in Oregon, the Oregon Coastal Management Program will submit the FY 2012 application for CELCP funds. The OCMP will complete “Appendix C: Project Application Checklist” that begins on page 8 (of 13) in the application package. The OCMP will assist applicants with their CELCP applications, but responsibility for the content and completeness of proposals remains with project applicants.
 
Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity 
 
Application Package: Project and Budget Templates and Project Application Checklist 
(Note that the templates and checklist are contained in appendices that are part of the Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity.)

For Further Information
To arrange a pre-application meeting with the Oregon Coastal Management Program or for  further information about the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, Oregon's CELCP Plan, or the Oregon Coastal Management Program, please contact Jeffrey Weber, the OCMP Conservation Coordinator, at jeff.weber@state.or.us or 971.673-0964.