Resources for Thriving Communities Grantmakers

March 28, 2024

As the selected Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers work toward signing their cooperative agreements with EPA, there are a number of pre-award requirements to be met. Below are some helpful resources to fulfill those requirements. Please be aware that this is a living breathing document, and your feedback on the current resources and suggestions for additional resources are welcome. Please send an email to kathy.pope@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org if you have recommendations.

  1. EPA Grants Management Training for Applicants and Recipients

    EPA’s Office of Grants announced new requirement that, as of March 4, 2024, all new grant applicants and recipients (organizations that have never received an EPA grant, or if they last received an EPA grant before October 1, 2014) must complete two online courses, the “EPA Grants Management Training for Applicants and Recipients” and the “How to Develop a Budget.” This requirement must be completed by new applicants and recipients prior to receiving grant funds.

    For further information on both courses, applicability, accessing the courses, and utilizing available tools and resources, email EPA_Grants_Info@epa.gov and please reference: RAIN-2024-G01.

  2. Pre-Award Certification Requirements

    As part of a December 2023 pre-award certification workshop hosted by EPA, the following toolkit and other documents were provided to assist with the completion of the EPA Form 6600-01 and the development of policies and procedures. For questions, please contact OMS-ARM-OGD-PreAward@epa.gov.

    Toolkit:
    – EPA Questionnaire Form 6600 – Reminder: Nothing should be left blank on the 6600 form unless it is Section IX: Transaction Testing or you are told to skip to the next question. The pre-award certification will be valid for 4 years. The form should be completed with the mindset of this current award under review and possible future award with EPA.
    – 6600 Checklist – Please use this sheet to reference the page numbers in your supporting documents and return with your submission.
    – 6600 Sample Language
    – FY22 Notes for Grantees
    – Best Practice Guide for Procurement
    – Records Retention Guideline
    – Pre-Award Workshop Slide Deck
    – Questions 4-47 Sample language – This document is organized in numerical order to correspond to the form. Please use as needed!
    – Question 33 & More 

    Additional Guidance:
    – Preparing for your First Single Audit:
    – Follow up information on Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Reporting* (Prime Contractors awarded a Federal contract are required to file a FFATA subaward report by the end of the month following the month in which the prime contractor awards any subcontract greater than $30,000)

    *Pages 29 and 30 may be used in your Policies and Procedures. Page 32 has a training video embedded in the link for more information.

  3. Information Collection Request (ICR)

    An Information Collection Request (ICR) is a set of documents that describes reporting, record keeping, survey, or other information collection requirements imposed on the public by a federal agency. The Paperwork Reduction Act stipulates that every federal agency must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before collecting the same or similar information from 10 or more members of the public. If EPA decides to gather such information, the appropriate program office must prepare an Information Collection Request (ICR) and submit it to the appropriate Office of Enterprise Information Programs (OEIP) Desk Officer. The ICR provides an overview of the collection, and estimates the cost and time for the public to respond. The public may view an ICR and submit comments any time on Regulations.gov.

    – Here you can access a Sample Grantmakers ICR.

  4. Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP)

    Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPP) document the project planning process and serve as a blueprint for how your project will run. It provides the who, what, when, where, why and how of the project. Below are QAPP resources, templates, and samples:

    – EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans
    – EPA Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans
    – EPA Guidance on Systematic Planning Using the Data Quality Objectives Process
    – EPA Quality Assurance Project Plan Development Tool
    – EPA Quality Assurance Handbook and toolkit for Participatory Science Projects
    – South Coast AQMD Sample Quality Assurance Project Plan for Criteria Pollutant Monitoring Program
    – South Coast AQMD Sample Quality Assurance Project Plan for AB 617 Community Air Monitoring Program
    – San Diego Stat University TCTAC Quality Assurance Project Plan: Please note: This QAPP is only for the use of secondary data and may not be as helpful for projects that are mostly focused on direct data collection. It was developed in accordance with EPA Region 9 Quality Assurance guidelines and processes, which may not be the same in other EPA regions.

  5. Quality Management Tools

    EPA has developed or adapted several quality management tools to assist in implementing its quality program. For definitions of EPA’s Quality Program terms, you can access EPA’s Terminology Search Web service. And below are resources to use as you build your Quality Management Plan.

    – Quality Management Plans
    – Quality Program Assessments
    – QA Annual Report and Work Plans
    – Training
    – Laboratory On-line Resources