We recognize that full awards are typically needed for the success and completion of a project. The grant review committee will strive to fully fund all eligible costs and activities for selected grant projects when possible. However, due to the limited availability of funding, it may be necessary to make some partial awards.
If your grant project is recommended for partial funding, you may work with us to review and revise your scope of work and budget as necessary before a final grant contract agreement is executed. For example, you may be awarded grant funds to expand your facility but not to purchase additional equipment, and you will be given the opportunity to remove the purchase and installation of equipment from your work plan and budget. It is also allowable to turn down partial project funding if it’s no longer feasible to complete your project with only a portion of the funds.
We recognize that full awards are typically needed for the success and completion of a project. The grant review committee will strive to fully fund all eligible costs and activities for selected grant projects when possible. However, due to the limited availability of funding, it may be necessary to make some partial awards.
If your grant project is recommended for partial funding, you may work with us to review and revise your scope of work and budget as necessary before a final grant contract agreement is executed. For example, you may be awarded grant funds to expand your facility but not to purchase additional equipment, and you will be given the opportunity to remove the purchase and installation of equipment from your work plan and budget. It is also allowable to turn down partial project funding if it’s no longer feasible to complete your project with only a portion of the funds.
We are not able to provide an exact date at this time, but we expect that it will be in late summer or fall of 2024. Following our MDA application review and final application review conducted by USDA, we expect that we’ll notify applicants of decisions sometime this summer (2024), but the review process could take more or less time than expected. Once we have notified applicants of award decisions, we’ll set up grant contract agreements sometime in late summer or fall (2024). Once your grant contract agreement is fully executed (signed by all parties), only then may you begin your project and request reimbursement for funds.
We expect that grant contract agreements will begin sometime in late summer or fall 2024. The project timeline and acquisition dates you provide in your grant application should be your best estimate for your project. We recommend beginning your project timeline no earlier than August 2024, with the understanding that your timeline may need to be pushed back if the USDA review process or the environmental review process cause grant awards to be delayed.
You can request reimbursement after you have paid for expenses that are part of your grant budget. Typically, requests are made quarterly, but exceptions to this schedule can be made if needed. More information can be found in this MDA Reimbursement Guide, but note there may be additional or different requirements because RFSI grants are federal funds.
We are not able to provide a definitive answer on how funds will be split between larger projects requesting more funds and smaller projects requesting less funds, nor specific guidance on how big to make your request. We expect to award approximately $9.6 million using a competitive review process. The smallest possible award will be $100,000 and the largest will be $3 million. Although you may request up to $3 million, you should expect that very few, if any, applicants will receive the largest award amount. We expect to award between 25 to 40 grants, but the final number of grants will depend on the size of each grant award.
We encourage you to scale your project appropriately and request funds that correspond to the individual characteristics of your project, your actual need, and the size of your operation, rather than determining the scale of your project based on the amount of available grant funding. The impact of your project relative to the amount of funds you are requesting, how realistic your project's workplan is, your readiness to take on a project at the scale requested, and the cost effectiveness of your budget are all criteria that will be considered by the review committee when making award recommendations. The Project Evaluation Profile in the RFP outlines how applications will be scored.
We recognize that full awards are typically needed for the success and completion of a project. The grant review committee will strive to fully fund all eligible costs and activities for selected grant projects when possible. However, due to the limited availability of funding, it may be necessary to make some partial awards.
If your grant project is recommended for partial funding, you may work with us to review and revise your scope of work and budget as necessary before a final grant contract agreement is executed. For example, you may be awarded grant funds to expand your facility but not to purchase additional equipment, and you will be given the opportunity to remove the purchase and installation of equipment from your work plan and budget. It is also allowable to turn down partial project funding if it’s no longer feasible to complete your project with only a portion of the funds.
On our RFSI Grant Reviewers web page, there is information about the grant review committee selection process and an interest form for those interested in serving as a reviewer for the RFSI grant.
Requirements for grant recipients
Yes, you will need to pay taxes on the grant funds in the year that you receive them. All grantees will receive a 1099 from the State of Minnesota for income tax purposes.
Yes, you will need to pay taxes on the grant funds in the year that you receive them. All grantees will receive a 1099 from the State of Minnesota for income tax purposes.
If your grant proposal is selected for funding, it must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related applicable agency regulations and instructions; Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA); the Endangered Species Act (ESA); other federal environmental laws and regulations; and any applicable state, local, or tribal laws.
A review for NEPA compliance is required prior to the award of grant funds. If selected for an award, applicants must provide all requested information to support compliance with NEPA, NHPA, ESA, and all other federal environmental laws and regulations. USDA has released information about the type of information and documents that will be requested from RFSI grantees during this review on their NEPA Resources website. Projects involving construction of new structures, the expansion of existing structures, wastewater structures, ground disturbance, or other resource impacts are most likely to require additional site-specific environmental review and consultation. Please be advised that while we expect the environmental review process to go quickly for many grantees, some projects could be delayed by several months or more depending on the level of review required.
Resource: A Citizen's Guide to NEPA (PDF) provides an overview of NEPA requirements.
If your grant proposal is selected for funding, it must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related applicable agency regulations and instructions; Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA); the Endangered Species Act (ESA); other federal environmental laws and regulations; and any applicable state, local, or tribal laws.
A review for NEPA compliance is required prior to the award of grant funds. If selected for an award, applicants must provide all requested information to support compliance with NEPA, NHPA, ESA, and all other federal environmental laws and regulations. USDA has released information about the type of information and documents that will be requested from RFSI grantees during this review on their NEPA Resources website. Projects involving construction of new structures, the expansion of existing structures, wastewater structures, ground disturbance, or other resource impacts are most likely to require additional site-specific environmental review and consultation. Please be advised that while we expect the environmental review process to go quickly for many grantees, some projects could be delayed by several months or more depending on the level of review required.
Resource: A Citizen's Guide to NEPA (PDF) provides an overview of NEPA requirements.
The Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act, enacted in 2021, established a domestic content procurement preference for all federal financial assistance obligated for infrastructure projects after May 14, 2022. The domestic content procurement preference requires that all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in covered infrastructure projects are produced in the United States. Any public infrastructure project funded under the RFSI program must coordinate with us and USDA AMS to ensure it adheres to BABA guidance. We will help you determine if your project must comply with BABA. For such projects, you must comply with the Buy America Sourcing requirements outlined in the BABA provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and further described in 2 CFR Part 184 – Buy America Preferences For Infrastructure Projects.
For-Profit Entities: BABA does not apply to for-profit entities (either primary grantee or subrecipient) for infrastructure projects. AMS will review facilities owned by public entities to determine whether BABA requirements apply, following USDA guidance to exempt de minimis grant awards and other inapplicable activities. All other Infrastructure Grant recipients that surpass the $250,000 threshold of applicable procurement costs must adhere to BABA.
Small Grants Waiver: The small grants waiver will apply to awards with total federal funding below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, which is currently set at $250,000.
Resource: See BABA requirements for USDA sub-awards (PDF) for additional guidance.
The Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act, enacted in 2021, established a domestic content procurement preference for all federal financial assistance obligated for infrastructure projects after May 14, 2022. The domestic content procurement preference requires that all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in covered infrastructure projects are produced in the United States. Any public infrastructure project funded under the RFSI program must coordinate with us and USDA AMS to ensure it adheres to BABA guidance. We will help you determine if your project must comply with BABA. For such projects, you must comply with the Buy America Sourcing requirements outlined in the BABA provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and further described in 2 CFR Part 184 – Buy America Preferences For Infrastructure Projects.
For-Profit Entities: BABA does not apply to for-profit entities (either primary grantee or subrecipient) for infrastructure projects. AMS will review facilities owned by public entities to determine whether BABA requirements apply, following USDA guidance to exempt de minimis grant awards and other inapplicable activities. All other Infrastructure Grant recipients that surpass the $250,000 threshold of applicable procurement costs must adhere to BABA.
Small Grants Waiver: The small grants waiver will apply to awards with total federal funding below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, which is currently set at $250,000.
Resource: See BABA requirements for USDA sub-awards (PDF) for additional guidance.