1 EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND (ESHPF) HURRICANES IRMA AND MARIA DISASTER RECOVERY REIMBURSEMENT SUBGRANTS PROGRAM FORMAL SOLICITATION FOR STEP 1 APPLICATIONS Step 1 Applications Deadline Extension: March 31, 2021 5:00 PM The Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office (VISHPO) is soliciting applications for historic preservation projects at properties damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Properties must be listed in, or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places to be able to apply for assistance. The Step 1, application package can be requested by sending an email to Historic.Recovery@dpnr.vi.gov or applying online at https://dpnr.vi.gov/vi-state-historic- preservation/applications. Applications, may be submitted electronically, hand-delivery to VISHPO Offices or via US Postal Mail to Fort Christian Museum VI State Historic Preservation Office 5064 Fortets Strade, St. Thomas, USVI 00802 and must be received by March 31, 2021, with a timestamp of 5:00 PM or earlier. Submit your application and attachments by email to Historic.Recovery@dpnr.vi.gov, preferred. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. PROGRAM FUNDING SOURCE AND AMOUNTS Funding for this program is provided by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior (NPS) pursuant to its Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund (ESHPF): Harvey, Irma, and Maria (HIM) Recovery Grant Program, CFDA: 15.957. FY2018 Public Law 115-123 appropriated $48.5 million from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) for historic preservation projects in areas that have received a major disaster declaration pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 USC 5121 et seq.) as a result of 2017 Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The HPF uses revenue from federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf to assist a broad range of preservation projects without expending taxpayer dollars. Pursuant to Grant Number P19AP00016, NPS awarded DPNR-VI State Historic Preservation Office (VISHPO), $10,056,864.00 from the ESHPF, of which $5,732,412.28 is available as sub grants. Sub grants shall be used for the preservation, stabilization, rehabilitation and repair of historic properties eligible or listed on the National Register of Historic Places within the Virgin Islands that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, incident period starting dates of September 6, 2017 and September 16, 2017, respectively. This program will prioritize historic contributing properties located within the National Register Historic Districts of Charlotte Amalie, Christiansted, Frederiksted and Cruz Bay within the Virgin Islands of the USA. Sub-Awards are reimbursement grants. Sub-awards recipients must document and provide proof of expenditures and submit for reimbursement as instructed in the Sub-Award Agreement. 2 DPNR- Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office receives federal funds from the National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior. Regulations of the U.S. Department of the Interior strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination in federally assisted departmental programs on the basis race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, or reprisal for protected EEO activity in its federally assisted programs. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility operated by a recipient of federal assistance should contact the Equal Opportunity Program Office, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, N.W., Mail Stop 7360, Washington, D.C. 20240; visit https://www.doi.gov/pmb/eeo or phone (202) 208-5693. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS Eligible applicants are individuals, businesses, private owners, governmental agencies, organizations that are a public entity (non-federal), or a non-profit with proof of 501 (c) (3) status as determined by the Internal Revenue Service. Non-profits must demonstrate active status for the three years prior to their storm incident date. Projects must involve either National Historic Landmarks, historic properties listed in, or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places within the U.S. Virgin Islands that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. AWARD AMOUNT AND MATCH REQUIREMENTS Minimum award amount: $10,000 Maximum award amount: $200,000 Match requirement: No match required APPLICATION RESTRICTIONS An applicant or organization may submit any number of applications under this program, provided that applications do not address the same facility, project, property, archeological study, or site. Projects must be located in the U.S. Virgin Islands with FEMA disaster declarations for Irma (DR- 4335) and/or Maria (DR-4340). Regardless of project type, the following requirements must be met to receive grant funding: The project must involve a historic district, building, site, structure and/or object listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Eligible, but not listed, properties that receive funding must complete and submit a nomination to the National Register as part of the project. All work must meet the Secretary of Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/arch_stnds_0.htm. Projects must substantially mitigate the threat and include steps to mitigate future damage. ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES The allowable costs for this grant program are specific to damage directly related to Hurricanes Irma and Maria and include the following activities: 3  Recovery and repair of archeological and architectural historic properties in areas that received a major disaster declaration pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and that were damaged by one of the named Hurricanes.  Preparation of historic structure reports, architectural plans and specifications, site-specific disaster and resiliency plans, elevation studies, and/or flood proof plans.  Landscaping costs are limited to drainage issues, or the restoration of a landscape or feature with historic documentation  Creation of updated design standards, and community disaster preparation and response plans for historic resources within the statewide disaster planning framework, in communities with National Register-listed and/or -eligible properties and a local preservation program.  Mitigation measures, in conformance with federal Guidelines on Flood Adaptation for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings (November 2019) and updated local design standards.  Phase I archeological survey to determine degree of damage and Phase II testing to determine National Register eligibility of sites damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Phase III is allowed only for projects where both the damage and continued threat are severe enough to warrant salvage archeology.  Survey and Inventory of multiple historic properties to assess degree of hurricane damage, determine National Register eligibility, and provide preparedness for future disasters. Ineligible activities include:  Acquisition of real property.  Work that does not conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archeology and Historic Preservation.  Architectural salvage.  Additions.  Historic Interpretive signs, not related to the work being done with ESHPF Grant Funds  Total or major reconstruction. Allowable minor reconstruction activities are limited to portions of a historic property that still retain (prior to reconstruction) sufficient significance and integrity to remain listed on the National Register, and for which adequate historical documentation is available.  Curation. The placement in a museum and subsequent care of artifacts and records associated with those archeological resources recovered with grant assistance is not allowable. Immediate curation costs may be allowed for artifacts discovered as part of an eligible awarded project. Curation costs for this circumstance are not allowed beyond the grant end date. APPLICATION EVALUATION AND PROJECT SELECTION Your application must include a detailed and specific list of the final products to be accomplished with the sub grant and provide a detailed line-item budget on the SF 424 C Budget Information – Construction Programs Form that includes all major work elements. While no match is required for most projects, the use, donor, source, kind, and amount of any additional funding contributed to any project must be identified. VISHPO hurricane grants staff will conduct a threshold review to determine project eligibility in Step 1, Application. Eligible applications will be reviewed by VISHPO multi-disciplinary selection committee according to these criteria in Step 2, Application: 1. Project is well-planned, proposes sound methodology, has an appropriate budget, will be completed in a reasonable time frame, and will use qualified personnel. Applicant demonstrates satisfactory record of previous performance on similar projects and grant awards. Projects that provide a model for disaster planning and resiliency for future events that can be transferred to other properties and jurisdictions will score higher. Bonus points will not provide an advantage 4 over smaller projects. (Maximum 50 points + up to 5 point bonus, if site is a National Historic Landmark) 2. Project involves historic or prehistoric resources damaged by Hurricane Irma and/or Maria and continues to be threatened as a result of storm-related damage. (Maximum 25 points) 3. Project demonstrates historic or prehistoric resources significant at the local, state or national levels, with greater significance scoring higher. Resources significant for African American or Native American historical association, and/or resources significant for being among the last remaining examples of their type score higher. (Maximum 25 points + potential 10 point bonus) Award Decisions: Projects as ranked by the VISHPO Selection Committee will make award recommendations to the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). The final award decision will be made by the SHPO in his Federal role as outlined in the National Historic Preservation Act. Both the VISHPO Selection Committee and the SHPO reserve the right to add, subtract, and balance project awards based upon project schedules, geographic distribution, and significance/rarity/types of resources represented. Applications selected for funding approval will be submitted to NPS for final review. Following final review and approval by NPS, all applicants will be notified in writing of the award decisions. RELEASE OF FUNDS To receive grant funds for a project approved by NPS, grantees will be required to sign a Grant Award Funding Agreement with the DPNR-VISHPO containing specific administrative responsibilities and other terms and conditions for receiving funding. No project procurement or work may begin until the Grant Award Funding Agreement is executed. Any unexpended balance of grant funds will revert on September 30, 2023. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (a) Applicability. (1) This section intends to ensure that non-Federal entities and their employees take appropriate steps to avoid conflicts of interest in their responsibilities under or with respect to Federal financial assistance agreements. (2) In the procurement of supplies, equipment, construction, and services by recipients and by subrecipients, the conflict of interest provisions in 2 CFR 200.318 apply. (b) Notification. (1) Non-Federal entities, including applicants for financial assistance awards, must disclose in writing any conflict of interest to the DOI awarding agency or pass-through entity in accordance with 2 CFR 200.112. (2) Recipients must establish internal controls that include, at a minimum, procedures to identify, disclose, and mitigate or eliminate identified conflicts of interest. The recipient is responsible for notifying the Financial Assistance Officer in writing of any conflicts of interest that may arise during the life of the award, including those that have been reported by sub recipients. (c) Restrictions on lobbying. Non-Federal entities are strictly prohibited from using funds under a grant or cooperative agreement for lobbying activities and must provide the required certifications and disclosures pursuant to 43 CFR part 18 and 31 U.S.C. 1352. (d) Review procedures. The Financial Assistance Officer will examine each conflict of interest disclosure on the basis of its particular facts and the nature of the proposed grant or cooperative agreement, and will determine whether a significant potential conflict exists and, if it does, develop an appropriate means for resolving it. 5 (e) Enforcement. Failure to resolve conflicts of interest in a manner that satisfies the government may be cause for termination of the award. Failure to make required disclosures may result in any of the remedies described in 2 CFR 200.338, Remedies for noncompliance, including suspension or debarment (see also 2 CFR part 180). ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS All subgrants must follow OMB regulations in 2 CFR 200 (available at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi- bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl and the Historic Preservation Fund Grant Manual (available at https://www.nps.gov/preservation-grants/). All project activities and deliverables must be completed by September 30, 2023. Projects receiving development (brick and mortar) repair assistance will be required to execute a preservation covenant/easement. The length of the covenant depends on the amount of HPF funds invested into the project. The HPF Manual lists the amounts and time periods required by NPS:  $25,001 to $50,000: 10-year minimum covenant recorded on the property deed.  $50,001 to $100,000: 15-year minimum covenant recorded on the property deed.  $100,001 to $200,000: 20-year minimum covenant recorded on the property deed. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION If you have any questions regarding proposed projects or the application form, please contact VISHPO at Historic.Recovery@dpnr.vi.gov or visit the homepage on SHPO section of the DPNR Website at https://dpnr.vi.gov/vi-state-historic-preservation/applications/