John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program (Prescott Grant Program) | NOAA NMFS PRPO 2021 2006563

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA NMFS PRPO 2021 2006563

The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program (often called the Prescott Grant Program) is a NOAA Fisheries (NOAA NMFS) funding opportunity under the U.S. Department of Commerce that supports work carried out through the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network. The program sits within NOAA's Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, which operates under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Its overall purpose is to strengthen the national capacity to respond to marine mammal strandings and to improve the quality and availability of data on stranded animals, rehabilitation outcomes, and broader health trends in wild marine mammal populations.

Funding is intended to provide federal assistance to eligible stranding network participants in three main ways. First, it helps cover the basic, day-to-day needs required to respond when marine mammals strand, including rescue response, treatment and stabilization, necropsy and sample collection, and the routine data collection that supports national reference datasets. Second, it supports targeted scientific research that uses information and samples from stranded animals (both live and dead) to answer practical questions about strandings, disease and health patterns, causes of injury or mortality, and the effectiveness of rehabilitation and veterinary techniques. Third, it can support facility operations when those operations are directly tied to recovering animals, treating or rehabilitating them, and collecting and managing the associated biological and stranding-response data. In other words, the program is designed to keep response organizations functioning, improve the science behind stranding response and rehabilitation, and ensure that information gathered from these events contributes to understanding marine mammal health at a population level.

For the FY 2021 cycle described in the notice, the opportunity is listed as discretionary funding and may be awarded as either a grant or a cooperative agreement, depending on the level of NOAA involvement required during the project. The Funding Opportunity Number is NOAA NMFS PRPO 2021 2006563, and the CFDA number is 11.439. NOAA anticipated making around 45 awards, with an award ceiling of $100,000 per award. The announcement was created on July 14, 2020, with an original closing date of October 13, 2020. Eligibility is summarized broadly as "Others," with the key practical point being that applicants must be eligible members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network, as further clarified in the notice's eligibility section.

A notable point in the description is that applicants are instructed to read the full announcement closely because some elements changed from the prior year. The notice also explains that it covers both how to submit proposals for FY 2021 funding and the process NMFS will use to determine which proposals are selected for funding, signaling that applicants should expect specific submission requirements and evaluation criteria tied to the program's three focus areas: operational response capacity, research that improves understanding and outcomes, and direct support for facilities engaged in recovery, treatment, and data collection activities.

• The Department of Commerce in the environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program (Prescott Grant Program)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.439.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 14, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 13, 2020. (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 $100,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 45 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NOAA NMFS PRPO 2021 2006563

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: