None

To let EPA know of your group's interest in obtaining a TAG, your group should first submit to its EPA regional office a Letter of Intent. (The addresses of EPA's regional offices' TAG Coordinators are listed in §35.4275.)

The LOI should clearly state that your group intends to apply for a TAG, and should identify:

(a) The name of your group;

(b) The Superfund site(s) for which your group intends to submit an application; and

(c) Provide the name of a contact person in the group and his or her mailing address and telephone number.

The following table shows what EPA does when it receives the first LOI from a group:

Your group has 30 days (from the date the public notice appears in your local newspaper) to submit documentation that you have formed a coalition with the first group and any other groups, or to submit a separate LOI. This 30-day period is the first 30 days with which your group must be concerned.

(a) After you submit an LOI, you must determine whether your application is subject to Federal intergovernmental review requirements under 40 CFR part 29 or intergovernmental review procedures established in state or local law.

(b) To determine whether your TAG application is subject to Federal intergovernmental review, you must consult EPA's list of financial assistance programs subject to intergovernmental review under 40 CFR part 29 posted at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-financial-assistance-programs-subject-executive-order-12372-and-section-204-demonstration (EPA IR List). The EPA IR List identifies the Assistance Listing Numbers for EPA financial assistance programs that have Federal intergovernmental review requirements. The Assistance Listing Number for the TAG program is 66.806.

[87 FR 30400, May 19, 2022]

Once you've determined whether Federal intergovernmental review requirements apply, you must prepare a TAG application on EPA SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance, or those forms and instructions provided by EPA that include:

(a) A “budget”;

(b) A scope of work;

(c) Assurances, certifications and other pre-award paperwork as 2 CFR part 200 requires. Your EPA regional office will provide you with the required forms.

[65 FR 58858, Oct. 2, 2000, as amended at 79 FR 76058, Dec. 19, 2014; 87 FR 30400, May 19, 2022]

Your budget must clearly show how:

(a) You will spend the money and how the spending meets the objectives of the TAG project;

(b) Your group will provide the required cash and/or in-kind contributions; and

(c) Your group derived the figures included in the budget.

The period of time your group's budget covers (the “funding period” of your grant) will be:

(a) One which best accommodates your needs;

(b) Negotiated between your group and EPA; and

(c) Stated in the “award document.”

(a) Your scope of work must clearly explain how your group:

(1) Will organize;

(2) Intends to use personnel you will procure for management/coordination and technical advice; and

(3) Will share and disseminate information to the rest of the affected community.

(b) Your scope of work must also clearly explain your project's milestones and the schedule for meeting those milestones.

(c) Finally, your scope of work must explain how your board of directors, technical advisor(s) and “project manager” will interact with each other.

(a) Your group must file your application with your EPA regional office within the second 30 days after the date the public notice appears in your local newspaper announcing that EPA has received an LOI. This second 30-day period begins on the day after the first 30-day period §35.4115 describes ends. EPA will only accept applications from groups that submitted an LOI within 30 days from the date of that public notice.

(b) If your group requires more time to file a TAG application, you may submit a written request asking for an extension. If EPA decides to extend the time period for applications in response to your request, it will notify, in writing, all groups that submitted an LOI of the new deadline for submitting TAG applications.

(c) EPA will not accept other applications or requests for extensions after the final application deadline has passed.

(a) EPA will review your application and send you a letter containing written comments telling you what changes need to be made to the application to make it complete.

(b) Your group has 90 days from the date on the EPA letter to make the changes to your application and resubmit it to EPA.

(c) Once the 90-day period ends, EPA will begin the process to select a TAG recipient, or, in the case of a single applicant, if, EPA does not receive a complete application (meaning, an application that does not have the changes provided in the letter described in paragraph (b) of this section), then EPA will readvertise the fact that a TAG is available and the award process will begin again.

Once EPA determines your group meets the eligibility requirements in §35.4020 the Agency considers whether and how successfully your group meets these criteria, each of which are of equal weight:

(a) Representation of groups and individuals affected by the site;

(b) Your group's plans to use the services of a technical advisor throughout the Superfund response action; and

(c) Your group's ability and plan to inform others in the community of the information provided by the technical advisor.

When multiple groups apply, EPA will rank each applicant relative to other applicants using the criteria in §35.4155.

No, the schedule for response activities at your site is not affected by the TAG process.

(a) EPA may award TAGs throughout the Superfund process, including during operation and maintenance, but we will not award a TAG before the start of your site's response action if the site is proposed for listing on the NPL.

(b) Based on the availability of funds, EPA may delay awards of grants to qualified applicants.