LWCF State Assistance Formula Grants - Construction - FY22 Cycle 2 | P22AS00412

Opportunity Information: Apply for P22AS00412

The LWCF State Assistance Formula Grants - Construction - FY22 Cycle 2 (Funding Opportunity Number P22AS00412) is a National Park Service (NPS) discretionary grant program under CFDA 15.916 that supports the development and renovation of public outdoor recreation resources. It comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) State and Local Assistance Program, created in 1964 to help preserve, develop, and ensure long-term public access to outdoor recreation opportunities that strengthen community health and quality of life. In practical terms, this funding is meant to expand or improve the kinds of places where people can actively recreate, and to make sure those places remain available and accessible for current and future generations.

This FY22 Cycle 2 construction-focused opportunity can fund a broad range of recreation development projects, including building new facilities or rehabilitating existing ones. Examples called out in the program description include community parks, playgrounds, picnic areas, campgrounds, trails, swimming pools, and sports fields, along with certain supporting indoor elements that directly serve outdoor recreation use, such as restrooms. A core requirement is that assisted sites and facilities must be publicly owned and open to the general public, meaning they cannot be restricted to select groups or private membership-type access.

A major feature of this program is that applications do not begin with NPS directly. The process runs through each state or territory's designated LWCF lead agency. Interested entities are expected to contact their state lead agency first to learn about available funding, application timelines, state priorities, and selection criteria. States run their own competitive process, soliciting project proposals from eligible partners, reviewing them for eligibility and completeness, and then ranking proposals using the state's Open Project Selection Process. Projects are expected to align with priorities in the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP). Only states or territories with a current NPS-approved SCORP are eligible to participate, because the SCORP is the document that guides what recreation needs and priorities the state is trying to address.

Eligibility is narrower at the federal submission stage than many grantseekers initially assume. Under 54 U.S.C. 200305(a), only the state or territory LWCF lead agency is allowed to submit the final application to NPS under this announcement, whether the project is for the lead agency itself or for another eligible entity. For this program, "State" includes not only the 50 U.S. states, but also American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. While NPS awards the grant to the lead agency, funds may be passed through as subawards to other eligible public entities, including other state or territorial agencies, local political subdivisions, and Indian tribes. The notice provides a broad definition of local political subdivisions, such as counties, municipalities, towns, townships, parishes, school districts, special districts like park districts, councils of governments, and similar local or regional government bodies.

By contrast, individuals, private organizations, and most nonprofit organizations are generally not eligible applicants. The main exception mentioned is for nonprofit organizations that are publicly chartered under state or local law to serve a public purpose (for example, in cases where a nonprofit is established by government action to manage a park or park district). Even in those cases, participation typically occurs through the state process and often through a public sponsor structure, depending on state rules.

Administrative responsibility stays with the state lead agency throughout the life of the award. After the state selects and nominates projects, NPS reviews the final applications and makes award decisions. If funded, NPS issues the financial assistance award to the state lead agency, which then oversees day-to-day implementation and ensures compliance with the LWCF Act, the LWCF Manual, and other applicable federal requirements. This includes making sure subrecipients use funds properly, that the project stays aligned with approved purposes, and that performance goals and public access obligations are met. The announcement is explicit that NPS cannot award directly to entities other than the state lead agency; any application submitted by a non-lead entity is automatically eliminated.

Key opportunity details included in the source are: the agency is the National Park Service; the instrument type is a grant; the eligible applicant type for submission is state governments (via the LWCF lead agency); the opportunity closed on August 10, 2022; and the listed award ceiling is $5,000,000. For practical next steps, the program directs interested applicants to start by locating and contacting their state LWCF lead agency using the NPS contact list at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lwcf/contact-list.htm, since the state sets the schedule, competition approach, and project selection priorities for nominations to NPS.

• The National Park Service in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "LWCF State Assistance Formula Grants - Construction - FY22 Cycle 2" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.916.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-07-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-08-10. (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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for P22AS00412

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