COMMUNITY AND SMALL BUSINESS GRANT APPLICATION

FISCAL YEAR 2016

Toxics Use Reduction Institute

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Lowell, Massachusetts

TURICOMMUNITY AND SMALL BUSINESS GRANT APPLICATION

FISCAL YEAR 2016

IINTRODUCTION

IIWHAT IS TOXICS USE REDUCTION (TUR)?

IIITHE MASSACHUSETTS TOXICS USE REDUCTION INSTITUTE

IVTURI COMMUNITY AND SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM

VCOMMUNITY GRANT DELIVERABLES

VIGRANT AGREEMENT AND GRANTEE REQUIREMENTS

VIIPROPOSAL SELECTION CRITERIA

VIIIAPPLICATION AND PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

IXDEADLINE AND WHERE TO SEND THE APPLICATION

IINTRODUCTION

The Toxics Use Reduction Institute is pleased to invite proposals from community organizations, municipal departments, small businesses, trade associations, and regional and statewide organizations for support under our Community and Small Business Grant Program.

Alternatives to toxic chemicals exist. With the support of grant funding, you have the opportunity to create and promote healthier communities throughout the Commonwealth by raising awareness and educating people about safer alternatives.

This year we are especially interested in supporting projects that elevate toxics use reduction ideas and projects to a regional or statewide level; however, we also welcome applications for more local projects.

At the core of the Communityand Small Business Program is the creation of partnerships and collaboration. The Programhas fostered the development of unique partnerships around toxics use reduction (TUR) among many diverse groups. These collaborative efforts have addressed toxics in and around schools, municipal buildings and operations, households, recreational activities, and small businesses such as auto body shops and hair and nail salons.

The maximum award amount for regional or statewide projects is$20,000. The maximum award amount for local projects is$10,000. Funding is contingent on availability of program funds. Applications must be received by June 30,2015 at NOON.

For questions at any time during the application process, please contact Joy Onasch, Community and Small Business ProgramManager, at 978-934-4343. You are encouraged to contact the program to discuss project ideas sufficiently in advance of theJune30 deadline.

IIWHAT IS TOXICS USE REDUCTION (TUR)?

TUR is an environmental concept that involves preventing pollution at the source rather than controlling it once it has been generated. It involves processes and planning tools to eliminate waste in operations and find suitable less toxic alternatives where possible. This approach, promoted in industry and manufacturing in Massachusetts since 1990, has reduced the amount of toxic chemicals used by 40% and released to the environment by 91%. The same approaches can also apply to other areas, such as home and janitorial cleaning, land care, municipal purchasing, and small business applications.

IIITHE MASSACHUSETTS TOXICS USE REDUCTION INSTITUTE

The Institute’s mission is to promote reduction in the use of toxic chemicals and the generation of hazardous by-products in industry and commerce in Massachusetts.The Institute provides trainingto industry professionals and the public, conducts research on alternatives, sponsors industry mentoring programs, and promotes green chemistry. The Institute also houses the largest collection of TUR and pollution prevention materials in New England and a university-based laboratory that tests and evaluates safer alternatives to hazardous cleaning solvents. We support community efforts to reduce toxics through education and grant projects.

The Institute is funded through the Massachusetts TUR Program and is located within the School of Health and the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. It maintains a core staff of scientists, analysts, engineers and educators and draws upon the expertise of community and public interest groups, industrial managers, workers, government officials, private consultants, and faculty from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and other universities.

IVTURICOMMUNITYAND SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM

Eligibility

We are accepting applications from community organizations, municipal departments, small businesses, trade associations, youth groups, and regional and state-wide organizations. We strongly encourage partnerships betweentwo or many of these types of organizations. The partnerships should reflect a shared topic of interest that expands over a region or the entire state.

Examples: These examples are provided only for guidance and are not meant to be all-inclusive. We are in search of new and fresh ideas and focus areas and new ways to disseminate existing materials:

  • Youth organizations (such as YMCA or Boys & Girls Club) partnering across the state to develop and implement youth-oriented workshops on reducing toxics in personal care products.
  • Health Departments in a region partnering to develop toxics use reduction guidance and providing samples of less toxic alternative materials such as nail polishes to salons or perchloroethylene in dry cleaning.
  • State-wide automotive trade associations partnering with local shops to reduce their use of solvents.
  • School districts partnering with each other and green cleaning experts to develop and implement green cleaning practices across their regions.
  • Municipal water departments partnering within their watershed to educate homeowners and professional landscapers about organic lawn care practices to reduce the use of pesticides.
  • Housing authorities partnering together and with integrated pest management experts to create guidance and workshops statewide on how to reduce the use of pesticides in their buildings.

We also welcome applications from projects on a more local level, though funding will be at a reduced amount.This type of project would include work performed by community organizations, including any non-profit group operating at the local level, particularly those involved or otherwise interested in promoting environmental activities. Participating organization’s primary office and majority of work must be performed in Massachusetts. Examples include, but are not limited to: environmental organizations, environmental justice organizations, youth organizations, public interest groups, neighborhood associations, community development corporations, health centers, hospitals, civic organizations such as chambers of commerce, local unions and labor organizations. Individuals are also eligible to apply, with some organizational affiliation.

Municipalities include any office, agency, or department that is operated through a city or town in Massachusetts. Examples include, but are not limited to: schools, departments of public works, fire departments, police departments, localemergency response offices, health departments, planning and zoning boards, town commissions, and libraries.

Basic Criteria

All projects must meet the following basic criteria:

  • Involve active partnerships and collaboration
  • Raise level of awareness, understanding and or implementation of TUR concepts and practices for communities, municipalities, or small businesses(potentially on a regional or statewide level)
  • Produce a tangible product such as policies, informational brochures, training workshops, surveys, or videos
  • Be feasible within the time period of the grant program (September – June)
  • Be replicable and transferable to other communities

Examples of projects that do not meet the Community Grants Program criteria include:

  • Projects conducted for a municipality or community organization solely by a consultant
  • Lobbying or environmental enforcement activities
  • Training programs or materials that focus on community or household recycling
  • Training programs or materials that do not have TUR as the primary focus
  • Any activity that falls outside of the realm of the Toxics Use Reduction Act

Focus Areas

The TURI Community Program strongly encourages future grantees to replicate and expand on previously executed projects. Many resources exist, such as trainings, brochures, flyers, posters, and networks that can be utilized to implement projects in additional communities. It is TURI’s hope that many of the past projects can be self-sustaining at a statewide level. This year we are interested in projects that expand beyond community or municipal borders and take successful TUR projects to a regional or statewide level. Organizational collaborations and including statewide organizations in your project are strongly encouraged. It is also recommended that resources already created under past projects be used to implement statewide projects. Examples of areas where TURI has a particular interest include:

  • Solvent and lead use in auto shops
  • Solvent and other hazardous material use in art and artist studios
  • Formaldehyde use in specimen preservation or mortuaries
  • Solvent use in furniture refinishing
  • Methylene chloride use in bathtub refinishing
  • Solvent, such as formaldehyde and methylene chloride, use in schools and science laboratories
  • Indoor integrated pest management (IPM) – a subject covered in the state-wide asthma plan
  • Household cleaners – a subject covered in the state-wide asthma plan

NOTE: the state-wide asthma plan can be found here

TURI also has a consistent programmatic focus of helping Massachusetts industry as well as communities and small businesses reduce the use of chemicals that have been designated as Higher Hazard Substances (HHS) within the program. Below is a list of those HHS chemicals; we welcome projects under this grant program that focus on reducing the use of these chemicals:

Examples of areas where past projects, both locally and regionally, have been completed can be found on our web site. You are encouraged to visit and look at materials created under past projects in your category of interest, and use the brochures, training slides, flyers, posters, videos, etc., that have been created by other grantees.

Grant Funding

Regional or statewide projects will be funded up to $20,000. More local projects will be funded up to $10,000. Note: All grant awards are contingent upon availability of funding.

Project Timeline

Deadline for proposals...... Tuesday, June 30, 2015, NOON

Notification of awards...... August 2015

Grant kick-off meeting...... August/early September 2015

Project duration...... September 2015 through June 2016

State House recognition ceremony.....June 2016

Resources

We strongly encourage people who are considering applying for a grant to make a pre-application phone call to TURI to discuss your ideas and help fine-tune your projects. Please call the Community and Small Business Programat 978-934-4343at any time in your application process.

Resources available to you at the Institute include the TURI library, TURI laboratory, chemical fact sheets and reports, the TURI website ( and the Community and Small Business Program resources.

VCOMMUNITY GRANT DELIVERABLES

Information about the following deliverables and sessions will be coordinated with grantees once projects are under way.

August 2015 / Awardees contacted
August 2015 / Grantees return completed contracts
August/early September 2015 / Grant kick-off meeting in Lowell, 3-4 hour meeting/training
September 2015 / Projects officially begin
September 2015 – June 2016 / Bi-Monthly phone call check-ins with grant administrator
Mid-February2016 / Interim project meeting in Lowell, 3-4 hour meeting with status updates from grantees
Mid-February2016 / Interim progress report, interim expense report and invoice due
Mid-June2016 / State House event and presentations
Late June2016 / Project materials due
Late June2016 / Final progress report, final expense report and invoice due

VIGRANT AGREEMENT AND GRANTEE REQUIREMENTS

The contract between TURI and the grantee will be based on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Standard Contract. The contract will be sent to grant recipients to review and complete at the time they receive notification of the grant award. Award recipients will be required to:

  • Attend all of the above-listed meetings and events.
  • Prepare an interim and final progress report.
  • Develop a project poster for the State House event.
  • Submit all project materials for review throughout the grant project.The Institute must review any materials developed under the grant prior to their dissemination and all materials must contain language regarding the funding source.
  • Submit all final project materials in electronic format or hard copy if electronic is not feasible. We encourage electronic materials so that they may be easily used by other entities in the future.

Failure to meet these requirements may result in a reduction in the final grant payment.

The final report and other information generated through the project become public documents and may be published without prior notice by the Toxics Use Reduction Institute and/or be used by future grantees in their projects.

VIIPROPOSAL SELECTION CRITERIA

A team of representatives from community organizations, industry, labor, municipalities, and the TURA Program will review the grant applications and recommend proposals to be funded. Final decisions on grant awards are made by the Institute. The following criteria and points will be used in selecting projects. The maximum number of points is 100.

A. Ability to raise the level of awareness, understanding orimplementation
of TUR practices at the regional or statewide level (40 points)

B. Feasibility/achievability of the proposal (20 points)

C. Level of collaboration (20 points)

D. Potential to transfer the end product(s) to others of similar mission (10 points)

E. Measures for evaluating project success or outcome(s) (10 points)

VIIIAPPLICATION AND PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

Proposals should be no longer than seven single-spaced pages using 12-point font, excluding the proposal cover sheet, title page, and budget and budget justification pages. Proposals that do not follow the required format, or address the required areas as identified below, will not be reviewed. The proposal format and contents should be as follows:

  1. Proposal Cover Sheet (Complete the form provided at the end of this section)

2.Project Description:

Describe the goals and objectives of the project, including:

  • What toxic(s) you are addressing
  • How the goals/objectives will be met
  • Who will participate in developing and implementing the project
  • Who/what will be affected, trained and/or impacted by the project and how
  • What the short and long term impacts of the project are
  • What the end product(s) of the project (e.g., flyer, training program, brochure, site visit, video, etc.)are

3.Partnership and Collaborative Efforts:

List the project partners and contact information.

Submit Letters of Commitment from each project partner describing their commitment to the project, their role, and estimated time on the project. Grantees should clarify roles and expectations with proposed partners early in the project development process.

(note: a partner is an individual or organization who commits to execute some portion of your project – either for payment or as an in-kind service. e.g. a cable channel that agrees to air your educational video; a subject expert that will be conducting a workshop for your project; an organization that will be promoting your events through their networks, etc.)

4.Information Dissemination:

Describe how you plan to disseminate your project materials to others of similar mission and purpose, including:

  • To whom they will be disseminated
  • How they will be disseminated
  • What you will need to execute the plan (printing costs, email distribution lists, etc.)

For instance, if you are having a community training, who will be your audience and how will you get them to the training (through Chamber of Commerce outreach, press releases, public cable announcements, targeted mailing or phone calls, etc.)?

5.Project Evaluation:

Describe what will define success for your project, including:

  • How you will evaluate whether your project is successful
  • What evaluation criteria or measures you will use
  • Who will conduct the evaluation. (note: for trainings you can develop evaluations)

6.Applicant Description:

Briefly describe the lead organization’s history, mission, and some of your accomplishments. Briefly describe the Project Leader and participating staff’s capabilities to carry out the project. Describe your organization’s familiarity or experience with TUR.

7.Timeline:

Outline/list project activities (milestones) and indicate their start and completion date.

8.Budget:

Detail how and for what the grant money will be used. Please use the budget sheet in this application packet, and provide a brief justification. Do not include figures associated with overhead costs as those costs are not supported through this grant program.

9.Training Needs:

Please describe the type of training and assistance that you believe would best benefit your project. (This will not be used to evaluate proposals. You are not required to have any background in TUR. It is intended onlyto help the Institute prepare an appropriate level of training for grantees.)

IXDEADLINE AND WHERE TO SEND THE APPLICATION

Mail your completed proposal along with a proposal cover sheet, budget, and budget justification to:

Toxics Use Reduction Institute

Attn: Community and Small Business Grants Program
University of Massachusetts Lowell

600 Suffolk St., Wannalancit Mill, Suite 501

Lowell, MA 01854

Applications must be received at the Institute office by NOON on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

For more information concerning the Community Grants Program contactJoy Onasch at 978-934-4343.

FY2016 TURI COMMUNITY AND SMALL BUSINESSGRANT APPLICATION

PROPOSAL COVER SHEET
Lead Organization:
Contact Person /Project Manager:
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:
Focus Area:
(e.g.,auto shops, mortuaries, pesticide reduction, household cleaners, etc)
Project Title:

Total amount requested: $______

Is the project part of an already existing project? yes no

Are other funds being sought to support this project? yes no

If yes, please indicate how much $______and from whom: ______

Please identify all partners* and attachLetters of Commitment.

Name Organization

1.
2.
3.
4.

*A partner is defined as a person, agency, organization, program, etc. who/that will participate in the development, implementation, and/or evaluation of the proposed project.

FY2016 TURI COMMUNITY AND SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS PROGRAM PROPOSAL BUDGET
I. / Personnel/Salaries
1. / $
2. / $
3. / $
4. / $
Subtotal: / $
II. / Materials and Supplies
1. / $
2. / $
3. / $
4. / $
Subtotal: / $
III. / Other Costs (printing, travel, postage, etc.)
1. / $
2. / $
3. / $
4. / $
Subtotal: / $
Total Budget Request: / $

BUDGET JUSTIFICATION: