Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 25 - CULTURAL RESOURCES › Part IX - Office of State Parks › Chapter 9 - Division of Outdoor Recreation Administration › Section IX-921 - Land WCF Application Preparation, Review and Selection Process

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Applications for
				Land WCF funds must be submitted to the DOR through an online application
				available on the Louisiana State Parks website. Applications must be submitted
				by April 1 (annually). Receipt of an application initiates an extensive and
				highly competitive process involving DOR preparation of the federal application
				package, securing clearinghouse approval, evaluation and rating. Project
				applications will be ranked by score from the open project selection process
				(OPSP) and forwarded to the National Park Service for federal approval.
				Assistance is available from the DOR staff for completion of the online
				application at any time throughout the year.
1. Initial Evaluation. DOR staff initially
				review all application submittals on the first business day following April 1
				annually. Identification of all required documents is completed. Applications
				with substantial missing required documentation are not eligible for further
				consideration. Sponsors of projects found to have existing compliance issues
				are also ineligible to apply until actions are completed to meet National Park
				Service standards. Sponsors of existing active projects are also not eligible
				to apply until formal federal closeout procedures by the National Park Service
				are finalized upon completion of the scope of work for the active project. All
				project sponsors of applications deemed ineligible are notified in writing in
				regards to the eligibility to participate. Proposed project sites are visited
				for initial inspection and evaluation by DOR staff.
2. Review and Preparation of Application.
				Eligible applicants with complete documentation are evaluated through the OPSP
				and ranked in priority order. The OPSP is developed in accordance with the most
				recent publication of the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan and
				approved by the National Park Service (NPS). This determination of suitability
				results in a priority order of projects for consideration. Projects are
				presented to the State Parks and Recreation Commission (SPARC) for review. Upon
				determination of eligible federal Land WCF monies, all eligible projects are
				forwarded to the NPS regional office within the limits of funding.
3. Development projects must be a single
				scope of work. Initial applications for projects that require additional phases
				should indicate the master plan for the entire development. Supporting
				documents submitted for the first of a series of phases should indicate the
				entire master development plan for the facility. To receive funding assistance
				for subsequent phases of development, the active project must be completed and
				a new application submitted identifying the elements that will be addressed in
				the current phase. Supporting documents from the original application can be
				used to minimize duplication. Approval of the initial project does not imply
				guarantee of assistance in subsequent phases.
4. Subsequent phases to achieve elements of a
				master plan in an existing LandWCF project are prioritized in accordance with
				the open project selection process. This objective scoring system prioritizes
				all applications in accordance with LandWCF regulations, which are then funded
				to the full extent of available federal funds. The prioritization is validated
				by the SPARC prior to submission to the National Park Service for federal
				review and approval.
5. Submission.
				The approved application is placed in final form and officially submitted as an
				application of the state of Louisiana to the NPS Southeast Regional Office. At
				this point, the application is dependent on federal action for its further
				progress.
6. Recommendation. As
				funds become available, priority projects are recommended in their established
				order through the SPARC to the SLO. If all LandWCF monies have been obligated
				at the time, the project will be held in a standby basis pending release of
				additional monies. As funds do become available, the application (already
				qualified) is then recommended in its turn to NPS for obligation of funds.
				Applications will be recommended for obligation only in an appropriate number
				to utilize efficiently those funds available at that specific time.
7. Once the desired amount of funds is
				"obligated" to the subject project by NPS, a project agreement will be executed
				for this purpose between the NPS and the state, and a state agreement will be
				executed between the state and the local government sponsor. If found not
				acceptable for some reason, the application will be rejected by NPS and
				returned to the applicant, via the state, with reasons for such
				rejection.
8. Termination. The
				qualified application, with funds obligated to its subject project, is ready
				for funding and implementation. This is the final step in the preprocessing
				procedure, and the application will then be terminated in one of two ways: by
				successful completion of the project or by deactivating, if for some reason the
				project cannot be successfully completed. Post processing of applications for
				successfully completed projects will include progress reports and billings for
				work performed and accounting for funds expended. The process is concluded with
				formal notification by NPS of final settlement.