FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas (MT/DAK) Environmental Quality Protection Program | L24AS00121

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00121

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas (MT/DAK) Environmental Quality Protection Program is a discretionary federal funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), focused on environmental quality and protection work in the Montana/Dakotas BLM region. Funding is provided through cooperative agreements, which generally means BLM expects to have substantial involvement during the project (for example, coordination on technical approaches, shared oversight, or ongoing collaboration), rather than simply issuing a pass-through grant with minimal federal engagement. The program falls under CFDA (Assistance Listing) 15.236 and is framed as part of the broader IIJA/IRA funding landscape, indicating alignment with infrastructure and climate-related federal priorities.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit sectors and certain education and tribal entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible, which is an important screen for organizations that may otherwise partner on implementation or contracting but cannot serve as the primary applicant.

A key restriction in this notice is that it does not support proposals centered on hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice emphasizes that the Public Lands Corps Act is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework, and because this Environmental Quality Protection NOFO is not the Public Lands Corps authority, applicants should not propose those intern/crew hiring models here. If an organization is a Youth Conservation Corps or is otherwise aiming to conduct youth internship or crew-based work tied to Public Lands Corps authorities, they are directed instead to apply under the separate opportunity: 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. Practically speaking, applicants to this MT/DAK Environmental Quality Protection program should design projects around eligible environmental quality and protection activities without relying on Public Lands Corps internship or crew mechanisms as the core staffing or delivery model.

The notice also highlights the role of Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are partnership networks designed to support research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services that align with public land management needs. If a project is proposed under a CESU framework and a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, there is a specific cap on indirect costs: indirect costs are limited to no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Applicants are instructed to state whether their proposal furthers the CESU mission and, if it does, to identify which CESU Network should be considered the host. This matters for organizations that are CESU members or that commonly deliver applied science, monitoring, and technical assistance in partnership with federal land agencies, because the indirect cost treatment and administrative pathway can differ from standard assistance awards.

In terms of funding scale and timing, the posted award ceiling is $750,000 per award. The opportunity was created on November 15, 2023, with an original closing date of January 15, 2024. While the source excerpt does not list the expected number of awards, the ceiling provides a sense of the maximum project size BLM anticipates supporting under this notice. Overall, this NOFO is best understood as a cooperative agreement vehicle for eligible public, nonprofit, tribal, and education partners to carry out environmental quality and protection work supporting BLM priorities in the Montana/Dakotas area, with clear guardrails around applicant type, intern/crew hiring under Public Lands Corps authorities, and indirect cost limits when operating through CESU agreements.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas (MT/DAK) Environmental Quality Protection Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.236.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-11-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-01-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $750,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

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