Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR)

ORR Natural Resource Damages Restoration Grant 

Application Dates

Purpose

The purpose of the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) Natural Resource Damages Restoration Grant Program is to solicit, evaluate, and select resource- and resource-use based restoration projects that best provide additional natural resource services of a similar type and quality to those lost due to ORR-related contamination described in the ORR Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Restoration and Compensation Determination Plan/Environmental Assessment (RCDP/EA). The Trustees for natural resources at the ORR are the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), the Tennessee Valley Authority, the United States Department of Energy (DOE), and the United States Department of the Interior, through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Funding

Projects will be funded through the ORR Fund. DOE and the State of Tennessee (the State) agreed to establish the $42 million ORR Fund to restore natural resources and services provided by those resources, protect natural resources, and enhance the environment in and around the ORR through a Consent Order on July 8, 2024. DOE and the State agreed the Trustees will administer the ORR Fund by establishing procedures for submission and approval of project applications to utilize these funds. The funds may not be used as a mechanism for fulfilling any compensatory mitigation liabilities or requirements for impacts authorized through other authorities or required to correct an unpermitted activity. However, with appropriate documentation to ensure both obligations are separately satisfied, a compensatory mitigation project could be combined with a grant-funded project, provided that the compensatory mitigation does not count as a match. “Mitigation” means the restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of natural resources to compensate for unavoidable impacts.

Restoration Projects

Resource- and resource-use based restoration projects will be solicited, evaluated, and selected through the procedures in the ORR Natural Resource Damages Restoration Project Selection Procedure Grant Program Manual (RPSP). Potential restoration projects encompass a suite of different restoration actions, all targeted towards benefiting a specific resource or set of resources, as well as the human users of these resources, of a similar type and quality to those lost due to ORR- related contamination. As described in the RCDP/EA, proposed projects must be focused on creating additional ecological, groundwater, and recreational benefits, such as habitat creation, restoration, or enhancement, groundwater infrastructure improvements, and improvements to recreational opportunities and access that result in a net gain.

Eligible Applicants

The grant funding opportunity is open to public entities such as a unit of state or local government, including a county, municipality, local public authority, school district, special district, district commission, regional government, any agency or instrumentality of government, and state authorities, and non-public entities, including organizational structures such as individuals, partnerships, and corporations (private, non-profit, quasi-public, or corporate body politic) who meet submittal guidelines. Organizations based outside the geographic focus area as described in this document are eligible to apply so long as the proposed restoration project takes place within the focus area. An eligible applicant may submit more than one application for distinct restoration projects.

Eligible Projects

Applicants must complete and provide items listed in the RPSP and the Request for Proposals (RFP) posted via the TDEC Online Grants System. All applicants will be required to submit a pre-proposal, including a grant program pre-proposal application, project proposal description, letters of commitment, budget and budget justification. Eligible watershed locations, types of resource projects requested, and other details will be included in the RFP.

Project proposal consideration for review will require a proposed contract period as specified in the RPSP and permanent project protection. Monitoring to demonstrate success and adaptive management plans will be required in proposals as appropriate for project type.

The grant proposal project must:

  1. fit into one or more of the Strategic Investment Areas; 
  2. not be intended to help meet regulatory requirements; 
  3. leverage additional resources; 
  4. be completed and final invoices submitted one month prior to the grant contract end date; 
  5. be within the State of Tennessee within the HUC 12 watershed(s) identified in the RFP; 
  6. have a project manager with demonstrated capacity to complete the project; and 
  7. be performed by a grantee with the demonstrated capacity to administer, track, and report the funds awarded.

Funding, Matching, and Permit Requirements

Project funding availability will be included in the RFP and can be viewed online after registering through the TDEC Online Grants System.

Projects will be required to leverage additional resources at a minimum of 20% of the total project cost. Project proposals that leverage additional resources at a higher percentage will receive priority consideration. In-kind leverage will be allowed, but will require presentation in the proposal budget, tracking during the project and documentation in the final report. Compensatory mitigation required by a permit or order does not count toward the match.

Projects may require coverage under Tennessee’s general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for discharges of storm water associated with construction activities (CGP) if the amount of land disturbed is one acre or more. Additionally, TDEC aquatic resource alteration permit coverage and federal Clean Water Act permit coverage through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 26a Permits from the Tennessee Valley Authority may be required prior to altering state or federal jurisdictional waters. The grantee is responsible for identifying and obtaining all necessary permits and environmental reviews (National Environmental Policy Act) required for their project.

All permit coverage, environmental reviews, and associated consultations (Endangered Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act) must be acquired and completed before any construction begins. Appropriate erosion prevention and sediment control measures should be installed and maintained for the duration of the project to protect all nearby water resources. Protective buffers for wetlands, cultural and historic resources, and endangered species must be incorporated prior to ground disturbance.

Permit application and annual maintenance fees are reimbursable by grant or in-kind match funding if the costs are included in the budget line-items of the grant contract.

The grant proposal review committee comprised of representatives from the ORR Trustees will review and recommend proposals for funding. The ORR Trustees will make the recommended proposals available for public review. Following the public review period, the Trustees will select final projects. TDEC, with consent of the Trustees, will execute grant contracts with project recipients as funds allow. TDEC, with consent of the Trustees, reserves the right to fund all or none of the proposals received and to fund partial projects.

If you are interested in applying for this grant offering, please register and apply using the TDEC Online Grants System.


NRDAR Agreement Signed in 2024

The U.S. Department of Energy has signed a $42 million agreement as part of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) process for impacts from its historic operations on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

Contamination released from the Oak Ridge Reservation negatively impacted natural resources and services depending on those resources in the region. The goal of the NRDAR process is to restore natural resources and replace natural resource services equivalent to what was lost.

A trustee council comprised of representatives from the State of Tennessee through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation as the lead state agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Valley Authority, and DOE evaluated how natural resources were injured and developed a Restoration and Compensation Determination Plan. That document was finalized in December 2022 after accepting public comments.

All funds from the $42 million agreement will be deposited into an account held by the State of Tennessee to fund grants to organizations and public entities for a wide range of local projects that either enhance the area’s natural resources or provide nature and recreational opportunities.

"This is one of the most notable days in our office’s history," said Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. "Through this agreement, DOE is accounting for past impacts and creating many new opportunities to enhance how residents can enjoy this beautiful region."

Local projects eligible for those grants must be in one of five categories: habitat creation, habitat restoration or enhancement, habitat preservation, groundwater, or recreation.

Grant applications do not have a minimum value and can go as high millions of dollars for projects in Anderson and Roane counties and portions of Loudon and Knox counties.

"TDEC is pleased to see this agreement finalized and we eagerly anticipate projects that will support these local communities," said TDEC Commissioner David Salyers. "This funding will protect the natural resources in the area as well as go towards outdoor recreational opportunities for Tennesseans, creating a more balanced and healthy environment for all."

Examples of applicable projects include clearing away abandoned parking lots to plant native vegetation, removing invasive species, land conservation, installing streets and parking lots with permeable pavements to improve rainwater infiltration, and septic conversions. It also includes projects that improve public use of natural resources such as building or improving boat launches and fishing piers, purchasing and restoring land with public access to water, creating public hiking and biking trails or wildlife viewing areas, and constructing, improving, or maintaining public recreation area amenities such as trash control, water fountains, and restrooms.

Once that document is finalized, expected this summer, the trustee council will post it online and host public meetings in the community to answer questions and help residents and organizations navigate the grant application process.

The trustee council approached the NRDAR for the Oak Ridge Reservation in two phases. This is the second phase.

The initial phase focused on the impacts to resources in Watts Bar Reservoir, involving ecological losses and recreational fishing losses downstream the Clinch River to Watts Bar Dam and the Tennessee River arm upstream to Fort Loudoun Dam. The trustees determined the terms of that agreement in 2009. Those terms involved DOE establishing the 3,000-acre Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement and funding projects to improve recreational fishing access and opportunities.

This second phase focuses on the balance of the Oak Ridge Reservation, which includes habitat across the site, the floodplain and aquatic habitat for a portion of the Clinch River and its tributaries, groundwater flowing beneath and off site, and recreational opportunities.


This Page Last Updated: November 19, 2024 at 6:09 PM