As outlined in the Marine Debris Act, eligible applicants from the United States, its territories, or Freely Associated States include:• State, local, Tribal, and territory governments whose activities affect research or regulation of marine debris• Federally and non-federally recognized Tribes and Native or Indigenous organizations• Institutes of higher education• Nonprofit organizations• Commercial (for-profit) organizations with expertise in marine debris removalsApplications from federal agencies or employees of federal agencies will NOT be considered. Interested federal agencies may collaborate with eligible applicants but may not receive funds through this competition. Foreign organizations and foreign public entities (see 2 CFR 200.1) from outside of the freely associated states are not eligible to apply. NOAA is strongly committed to broadening the participation of veterans, minority-serving institutions, Tribes, and entities that work in communities facing environmental/climate and socioeconomic burdens. The NOAA MDP encourages applicants of all backgrounds, circumstances, perspectives, and ways of thinking to apply. To be eligible to apply or receive an award, applicant organizations must complete and maintain three registrations; SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. The complete registration process for all three systems can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants must begin this activity as soon as possible and well before the proposal due date.Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicant organizations must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov, if needed (refer to Section IV. Applications and Submission Information, Section C). Organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.For more information on how to meet these registration and application submission requirements without errors, we advise all to carefully review relevant Applicant and Grantee Training modules: https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training. Additionally, we advise that all carefully read the ‘Full Proposal Requirements’ section below. Other criteria that may affect eligibility include:• Applicants proposing applications to renew or supplement previously-awarded NOAA projects are allowed; however such proposals will be subject to the competitive process and will not receive preferential treatment.• This funding opportunity is not intended for removal efforts in non-coastal states or inland areas outside the Great Lakes watershed.• Project activities must benefit NOAA trust resources and take place within the United States, its territories, or Freely Associated States. Projects proposing removals in international waters, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, are not eligible. • Applications that target large debris removals that will simultaneously collect smaller scale debris are eligible, but the focus of the proposed work and benefits should be on the large scale marine debris removals.• Applications addressing microplastics or microfibers are not priorities for this solicitation and will be withdrawn from the review, as will research and development proposals.• Funding for the development of new marine debris databases will not be awarded through this competition. • Activities that are eligible for removal and reimbursement under a Federal Disaster Declaration will not be considered for use of federal dollars under project awards in this competition.