Summary


The Non-Traditional Section 6 grants are Federal Grants that provide flow-through funds from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to non-federal entities. The Non-Traditional Section 6 grants to be included are Habitat Conservation Planning Grants, Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Grants, and Recovery Lands Acquisitions Grants programs. The proposed addition to the rule will allow FWC the ability to provide guidance to applicants and assure that project packages are complete and appropriately detailed in budget and scope prior to being submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The intent is to standardize the application, tracking and reporting processes for these grant programs. Proposed revisions to the Boating Safety and Education Grant Program Guidelines include eligible and ineligible uses of grant funds, eligible participants, the minimum grant award, the evaluation criteria, and the evaluation committee. Proposed revisions to the Florida Boating Improvement Program Guidelines include project type categories and eligible uses of program funds; distribution of funds; evaluation criteria, compliance requirements regarding construction permits, and changes to the application form to clarify pre-award costs and cost share and the instructions for submitting attachments to the application. The proposed amendment would also address revisions and reformatting to Florida’s State Wildlife Grants Program Guidelines, Budget Form, and Application Form. These revisions would remove obsolete language and references, provide updated language and references, clarify changes to the grants program regarding targeted and general grant types, and include new requirements for complete proposals to address reporting needs for the federal Tracking and Reporting Actions for the Conservation of Species (TRACS) system.