Announcement for Program Funding for NRCS’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2019

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) promotes coordination of Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation activities with partners that offer value-added contributions to expand our collective ability to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns. Through RCPP, NRCS seeks to co-invest with partners to implement projects that demonstrate innovative solutions to conservation challenges and provide measurable improvements and outcomes tied to the resource concerns they seek to address. Using guidance contained in this notice, potential RCPP partners propose projects that generate conservation benefits by addressing specific natural resource objectives in a State/multistate area, or address one or more priority resource concerns within an NRCS-designated critical conservation area (CCA), discussed in section II.A. below. NRCS and partners collaborate to design, promote, and implement RCPP projects on agricultural and non-industrial private forest land. Through RCPP, NRCS may provide both financial and technical assistance funds to project partners and agricultural producers to carry out projects.This funding announcement applies only to funds made available for FY 2019. The forthcoming RCPP rulemaking may include program changes. The 2018 Farm Bill reauthorized RCPP and made substantive changes to the program. RCPP is now a standalone program with authorized eligible activities similar to those offered by other NRCS programs, but with modifications and flexibilities unique to RCPP. Due to the large number of changes from the prior program authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill, applicants are encouraged to read the entirety of this funding announcement carefully, including the appendices, to gain a full understanding of this new version of RCPP. RCPP applications are evaluated through a competitive application process based on four criteria: impact, contributions, innovation, and partnership and management. Up to $300 million is available for RCPP projects for FY 2019. Applications are accepted from all 50 States, the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands), and U.S. territories in the Pacific Island Areas (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). SUBMISSIONS: Applications must be submitted through the RCPP portal. The RCPP Portal is undergoing updates and will not be available to partners when this funding announcement is posted. Partners should monitor the RCPP website, which will provide notice when the portal becomes available. In the interim, partners should avail themselves of the RCPP Partner Proposal Guide and Proposal Template documents posted on the RCPP website. These documents are consistent with NRCS’s proposed updates to the portal and allow partners to begin developing proposals ahead of the portal’s opening.

See section VIII of this announcement for information on using the RCPP portal to submit applications. Registration with USDA’s eAuthentication system is required to access the RCPP portal. Time sensitive information on registering for eAuthentication access is included in section VIII of this notice.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Applicants are encouraged to contact the appropriate RCPP State coordinator(s) with questions. You can find the names of RCPP coordinators (as of September 3, 2019) in appendix III of this announcement.

A webinar with general program information for RCPP applicants is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Time on September 26th. Information on how to participate in the webinar will be posted on the https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/rcpp/.

A second webinar that specifically addresses how to submit a RCPP application through the RCPP portal will be scheduled once the Portal opening date is set. Details on this webinar will be posted on the RCPP website