Tips for Submitting Brownfields Grant Applications Through www.grants.gov

General Tips 

• Register NOW! There is a 5-step registration process outlined below. The process to register in www.sam.gov and/or obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) can take a month or more. Further details and assistance can be found at www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration.  
  1. Register with SAM (the System for Award Management) at www.sam.gov. If you are already registered with www.sam.gov, make sure your account is active. 
  2. Obtain a UEI, a 12-digit alphanumeric ID, assigned in www.sam.gov for your organization.
  3. Complete an AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) profile, and create a username and password in www.grants.gov; using the correct UEI.
  4. Become an authorized AOR by requesting approval from your organization’s E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC). 
  5. Track the AOR status by logging into www.grants.gov. 
• Registering in www.sam.gov and obtaining a UEI are both free of charge. Please be advised, some companies may offer to register your organization for a fee. If you choose to use one of these companies, any fee you incur is not reimbursable with Brownfield Grant funds.  
• Use the same, 12-digit UEI in www.grants.gov and on the application forms. 
• The approved AOR must be the person who submits the application package in www.grants.gov. (The AOR is the person within the applicant’s organization who will submit the grant application through www.grants.gov, even if other individuals (within or outside of the applicant’s organization) prepared/wrote the grant.)    
• EPA recommends combining the Narrative Information Sheet, the Narrative, and associated attachments into a single file. Attach the single file to the Project Narrative Attachment Form. This will ensure that EPA receives your entire submission and the submission is in the order that you intended.  Additionally, applicants will be required to complete the following federal forms in order to submit the application through www.grants.gov: 
  1. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) 
  2. Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424 A) 
  3. EPA Key Contacts (Form 5700-54) 
  4. Preaward Compliance Review Report (EPA Form 4700-4) 
• The following forms and documents are optional under this announcement:​
  1. ​​​​​​Grants.gov Lobbying Form – To be submitted by applicants requesting more than $100,000 of EPA grant funding.
  2. Negotiated/Proposed Indirect Cost Rate Agreement – To be submitted using the Project Narrative Attachment Form by applicants proposing to charge indirect costs to the EPA grant. Please note that applicants may budget for indirect costs pending approval of their Indirect Cost Rate Agreement by the cognizant Federal agency or an exception granted by EPA under section 6.3 or 6.4 of EPA’s Indirect Cost Policy for Recipients of EPA Assistance Agreements. However, recipients may not draw down indirect costs until their rate is approved or EPA grants an exception. 
• Do not submit password-protected files. 
• Make PDF files searchable by creating the PDF from its source document (e.g., a Microsoft Word file). Searchable PDF files make it easier for reviewers to review your narrative. The easiest way to do this is to use the “Create PDF/XPS Document” feature, found under the Export Tab.  
• Submitting an application through www.grants.gov does NOT automatically mean www.grants.gov accepted the application or that EPA received the application. Submit your application at least two to three days early. By submitting your information early, you will have time to find out if your application has been received, is free of errors, and is accepted by the www.grants.gov system before the deadline. 
• After signing and successfully submitting the application package, within 24 to 48 hours the AOR should receive a series of notification emails from www.grants.gov with the following subject lines: 
  1. GRANT###### Grants.gov Submission Receipt 
     • Indicates www.grants.gov (not EPA) received the application package and assigned a tracking number. 
  2. GRANT###### Grants.gov Submission Validation Receipt for Application 
     • Indicates www.grants.gov either validated and accepted the application package, and the application is free of errors, OR that www.grants.gov did not accept the application package due to errors which need be resolved. Your application package has not been accepted until you receive an email stating that it has been successfully validated. 
  3. GRANT##### Grants.gov Grantor Agency Retrieval Receipt for Application  
     • Indicates EPA retrieved the application package from www.grants.gov.
  4. GRANT##### Grants.gov Agency Tracking Number Assignment for Application 
     • Indicates EPA assigned an EPA tracking number to the application package. 
• If the AOR did not receive any of the notification emails listed above, contact the www.grants.gov Support Center at 1-800-518-4726. 
• You can check the status of your application package anytime after submission by using the tracking link provided in the Submission Receipt email, or by logging into www.grants.gov using the “Applicants” link at the top of any page and clicking on the “Check Application Status” link. 
• Review instructions in Section IV.B. of the Brownfield Grant competition Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on how to submit the application package through www.grants.gov. Additional information can be found at www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-faqs. 
• If you experience transmission difficulties, please refer to Section IV.B. and Appendix 1 in the NOFO for more information and contact the www.grants.gov Support Center (1-800-518-4726). 
• If you are experiencing technical difficulties in applying through www.grants.gov because of limited or no Internet access, please see Section IV.B. of the NOFO. 

Common Issues to Avoid When Trying to Submit the Application Package through www.grants.gov

• Ensure that your files are not corrupt or forcing any errors before uploading them to www.grants.gov. 
• Ensure the file name(s) does not exceed 50 characters.  
• Incorrect version of Adobe Reader – www.grants.gov supports Adobe Reader version DC through 11.x. For additional information on software compatibility, please visit www.grants.gov/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html.
• Review other common error messages at www.grants.gov/applicants/encountering-error-messages.html.

Common Reasons for www.grants.gov Application Package Rejection

• Applicant’s www.sam.gov account is inactive: You must log into your account at least once per year for your account to remain active. It’s easy to check your account status by going to www.sam.gov and entering your organization’s UEI. 
• Applicant used the wrong UEI: Use the same, 12-digit alphanumeric ID in www.grants.gov and on the application forms. 
• The submitter is not the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR): Individuals submitting application packages on behalf of their organization must be the AOR, or use the AOR’s username and password. The organization’s E-Biz POC must authorize the individual as the AOR. 
• The application was submitted with another organization’s account information: The applicant did not have an active www.sam.gov account and had another party submit an application package on their behalf. EPA considers the party submitting the application package as the applicant and will not accept applications on behalf of other organizations. 
• The applicant is unsure if the application was submitted successfully: When attempting to submit the application package, some applicants have reported their screen continuing to say “in progress.” Make sure you submit the application early to allow for any issues that may occur along the way. Call the www.grants.gov Support Center for FREE assistance at 1-800-518-4726.