Staff Support for Regional Engagement with the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Storage Transportation on Radioactive Materials Transportation Planning

The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, is offering the Staff Support for Regional State Engagement with the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Storage and Transportation on Radioactive Materials Transportation Planning funding opportunity, NOFO DE-FOA-0003617. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement. The program is intended to facilitate engagement between State government representatives in four specific regions and the DOE Office of Storage and Transportation in planning for future large-scale transportation of commercial used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. DOE considers this engagement an essential component of developing and implementing a transportation program that is safe, secure, and merits public trust and confidence. DOE anticipates four awards, one for each of the Eastern, Midwestern, Southern, and Western regions. Up to 6800000 may be available across all awards, subject to future appropriations. Funding for all awards combined is expected in tranches of up to 1360000 per year for five fiscal years, with individual awards funded in tranches of up to 340000 per year. Approximate total funding for each regional topic area is 1700000. Eastern and Midwestern Region individual awards are approximately 1400000 to 1700000, while Southern and Western Region individual awards are approximately 1600000 to 1700000. The anticipated project period is 60 months, with 12-month budget periods. Cost sharing is not required. Foreign travel is not allowed. Work generally must be performed in the United States unless DOE approves an explicit foreign work waiver. Funded work centers on regional planning, policy, shipment preparedness, communications, and coordination. Principal activities include convening regional committees of participating State representatives, holding two regional committee meetings annually, coordinating quarterly calls or meetings with DOE, supporting working groups and Transportation Core Group participation, assessing routing and infrastructure issues, supporting site visits, developing and distributing public information, reviewing DOE materials, maintaining a public regional website, and collaborating with Tribal and State governments. Recipients may also enter into financial assistance agreements supporting participating State engagement in activities such as training and exercises. Supplemental Program Tasks may be proposed annually and require DOE approval. Required deliverables include regional committee contact information, meeting summaries, quarterly progress reports, annual feedback on support services, and electronic copies of work products. Eligible domestic prime applicants and subrecipients include institutions of higher education, for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, State and local government entities, and Indian Tribes. Domestic entities must be organized or otherwise formed under United States or State or territorial law, have majority domestic ownership and control, and maintain a physical place of business in the United States. DOE and non-DOE federally funded research and development centers may participate as subrecipients but not as prime recipients, subject to applicable authorization requirements. Federal agencies and instrumentalities other than DOE may participate as subrecipients but not recipients. Foreign entities generally are not eligible, although DOE may approve participation through a waiver. Debarred or otherwise excluded entities, specified sanctioned entities, certain lobbying 501(c)(4) organizations, and prohibited Entities of Concern are ineligible. Each application must address a single concept and specifically identify the Eastern, Midwestern, Southern, or Western region for which the applicant is applying. Applicants may submit up to four applications, with one application for each topic area. Required materials identified in the NOFO include the SF-424, Statement of Project Objectives, Project Management Plan or Project Narrative, budget information, Budget Justification Workbook, applicable subrecipient budget justification, required Covered Individual biosketches and current and pending support disclosures, Transparency of Foreign Connections, Potentially Duplicative Funding Notice, Locations of Work, lobbying documentation, one-page Summary for Public Release, and one-page Summary Slide. Additional FFRDC, foreign entity, foreign work, and impacted Indian Tribe documentation is required when applicable. The Project Management Plan is limited to 20 pages and addresses management and organization, project objectives, and risk analysis and mitigation. DOE evaluates eligible applications for Expertise at 50 percent, Key Personnel at 30 percent, and Conformance to the Statement of Objectives at 20 percent. Expertise includes knowledge of State government operations, radioactive materials transportation, Federal policy, relevant past performance, budgeting, financial management, and cooperative agreement administration. Key Personnel review considers qualifications, staffing, experience with DOE and State governments, communication, meeting and project execution, and the quality and feasibility of the proposed approach and workplan. Conformance considers the appropriateness, rationale, completeness, performance risk, and program value of the proposed response. DOE may also apply program policy selection factors. Questions about the NOFO should be sent to Regional_State_Tribal_Groups@id.doe.gov. The NOFO was issued August 31, 2026. The controlling Key Facts and cover information identify September 30, 2026 as the application deadline, while a later submission section contains an inconsistent July 2, 2026 date. Because September 30, 2026 appears in the NOFO cover and current Key Facts, that date is used for data entry, with the discrepancy flagged for verification. The cover states 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Applications are submitted to Regional_State_Tribal_Groups@id.doe.gov. DOE anticipates selection notification on October 22, 2026 and an award date of November 1, 2026. The estimated period of performance is November 1, 2026 through September 30, 2031. The announcement is identified as an original announcement accepting new applications, and no recurring annual or other regular application cycle is stated.

Align the application directly with the weighted review criteria: Expertise 50 percent, Key Personnel 30 percent, and Conformance to the Statement of Objectives 20 percent. Demonstrate knowledge of State government operations and sensitivities in the selected region, technical radioactive materials transportation expertise, relevant Federal policy experience, successful past project management, cooperative agreement and financial management competency, adequate staffing, and experience working with State governments. Clearly identify the region being proposed and provide a complete, practical, low-risk response to its Statement of Objectives. Make task descriptions clear, detailed, timely, and reasonable, and distinguish staff work from consultant or subcontractor work. Submit every required document and verify the September 30, 2026 deadline discrepancy with DOE before submission.