Grant Progress Report - final

NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve
Cooperative Agreement Performance Progress Report Guidelines
Updated November 2024
Introduction
This document provides guidance for the content and submission of NERR award progress
performance reports. These reports are required on a semi-annual basis and provide information
to the Office for Coastal Management (OCM) and the Grants Management Division (GMD) to
determine if NERR programs are adhering to the terms of financial assistance awards, making
appropriate progress toward award tasks, supporting the goals and objectives of the management
plan, and addressing CZMA Section 312 Evaluation necessary actions.

Reporting Requirements
Award recipients are responsible for upholding the standard terms and conditions for all NOAA
awards, including timely submission of semi-annual progress reports, financial reports, and post
award action requests. Performance progress reports should be submitted every six months from
the start of the award via the eRA Commons grants management system. Reports must be
submitted no later than 30 days after the end of the performance period. For example, if the
award starts July 1, the reporting period is July 1 through December 31 and the progress report is
due by January 30. Final reports are not comprehensive; they cover only the last six month
period of the award and are due within 90 days after the end of the award period. All financial
and progress report requirements should be met during this period so that the award can be
closed out in a timely manner. Please note that post award action requests will not be processed
if progress and financial reports are not up to date. NOAA’s Grants Management Division will
suspend payment on awards if reports are late.

Progress Report Contents
All recipients should follow the format below for consistency in providing valuable, comparable
information across the system. Each semi-annual report should include:
A. Report Heading
Reserve name
Report contact name, email and phone number
Grant or cooperative agreement number
Reporting period
Date of submission
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B. Progress and Status of Award Tasks
The status of each task should be described following the CAMMP format of the award for the
six month reporting period only. The reports should describe the activities that have taken place
to achieve the outcomes outlined within each task of the grant. Outcomes, the results and/or
products from conducting activities, should be described when appropriate. Given that outcomes
are written for each award based on a 12 month scope of work, some outcomes may not be fully
realized until the end of the award. While most awards are 18 months long, most tasks should be
completed and reported on within the 12 month time frame. If anticipated milestones are not
being met, the challenges or obstacles should be explained. Post award action request approvals
will be made based on this information.
This section should provide a summary of progress on each task. Each entry should include the
task title, description of activities, status of milestones (not started, in progress/on schedule, not
on schedule, completed) and challenges related to meeting milestones if appropriate, and
outcomes from the tasks, when appropriate. Where tasks have supported the collection or
creation of environmental data and information, report entries should describe how the data have
been made available and accessible to the public, per the data management plan that was
submitted with the original award application.
C. Section 312 Evaluation Progress
This Section describes status and progress in meeting any ‘necessary actions,’ ‘program
suggestions’ or ‘recommendations’ identified in the most recent Section 312 Evaluation
Findings. The current evaluation metrics guidance (Reporting Guidance Coastal Zone
Management Act, Section 312 Evaluation Metrics and Recommendations) is attached as a
reference.
1. Recommendation Report Format
Recommendation type (“Necessary Action” or “Recommendation.”) and full text of
recommendation.
Short Summary
• Description of key activities and results that address the recommendation during the
reporting period. Most descriptions should be 1-5 sentences.
• If the status of the recommendations is either “not started” or “not on schedule,” include
a short explanation and describe any plans to address the recommendation.
Deadline(s) established by the evaluation recommendation, if applicable.
Status (“Completed” + completion date, “In-progress,” “Not on Schedule,” or “Not
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Started”)
2. Closing out a Recommendation
If a program has fully addressed a recommendation during a reporting period, it should
mark the status as completed in its performance progress report. For this submittal, a brief
paragraph summary of how the recommendation was addressed over multiple reporting
periods should be included. A recommendation that is not a necessary action may also be
marked as complete if a program explores pursuing the recommendation but determines it
is not in the best interest of the program. A brief paragraph summary describing how the
conclusion was reached should be included.

.

After a recommendation is reported as complete in the performance progress report, and
the site liaison concurs through approval of the performance progress report, no future
reporting is necessary. If you have questions about whether a recommendation should be
closed out, please consult with your site liaison. Please note that not all recommendations
are written as tasks with end points, and in some cases programs will need to continue to
report on recommendations until the next evaluation.
3. Reporting on 312 Evaluation Metrics
Please note that each reserve will report its progress through the existing NERRS
performance measurement databases. No separate reporting will be required in the
annual progress report.
D. Performance Measures

The activity of collecting performance measures falls in an operations and management task. All
performance measures should be reported in the applicable performance measure databases, as
described in the table below. All measures should be reported on for the first two six-month
periods of each operations award, except the two research measures which are reported only at
the twelve-month report period. Reserve personnel may use the NERRS Performance Measures
Database throughout the reporting period to keep draft reports before submitting their semiannual reports.

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Research Measures

Volunteer

CTP Activities

Requirem
ent

REQUIRED

REQUIRED

REQUIRED

REQUIRED

Reporting
Frequency

coincide with the
one-year progress
report.

Volunteers - every
six months
Research -

Every six months.
Minimum of five
projects (training,
technical assistance,
and/or convening)
per fiscal year.

Every six months

Where do
I report?

NERRS Research
Monitoring
Database

NERRS
Performance
Measure Database

NERRS
Performance
Measure Database

Knack Database

https://coast.noaa.go
v/nerrsresearch/

https://coast.noaa.g
ov/nerrspm/Login.a
spx

Research and
monitoring
projects; products
(i.e., publications,
presentations)

Number of
volunteers and
volunteer hours,

Services provided,
method of
evaluation, event
type and duration,
number of Coastal
Decision Makers
reached.

Educators, Students
Public Outreach,
Visitors, Volunteers,
TOTE Outcomes
(educators that intend
to/have integrated),
success stories.
OPTIONAL:
TOTE outcomes,
Stewardship Education
Activities

What do I
report?

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NERRS Performance Progress Report Guidance
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Education Output
Indicators

https://noaaedeval.knac
khq.com/unified-datahttps://coast.noaa.go call#nerrs/
v/nerrspm/Login.as
px

Reporting Projects and
Instruction products associated
s
with time frame of
operations award
should be entered
into the Research
section of the
NERRS Database
to coincide with the
one-year progress
report.

Volunteer hours
will be entered in
two places for each
6-month reporting
period. Education
related volunteer
hours should be
reported in the
Education
(KNACK)
database. All other
volunteer hours
should be reported
in the NERRS
Database.

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NERRS Performance Progress Report Guidance
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Report in the online Report in Knack
performance
database. Reminder measuring database do NOT report on
education measures in
the NERRS
Performance Measure
Database.
TOTE: just report once
under TOTE events.
Success stories: report
in Knack
(see instructions
NERRS Education
Performance
Monitoring Guidance
Manual page 5)

Performance Measure Reporting Summary Table
Managers are expected to ensure that all required elements are submitted for a given time period.
Please fill out and include the table below as part of your semi-annual progress report, as
verification that the Reserve has completed Performance Measure reporting. Note: This table
replaces the ‘Manager Summary Report’ that was generated from the NERRS Performance
Measure database and the NERRS Education Knack Database; NOAA is no longer requiring
that Manager Summary Report or the Knack screenshot to be attached to each semi-annual
report.
Type of Measures

Date Measures
Submitted for First
Progress Reporting
Period.

Date Measures
Submitted for 2nd
Progress Reporting
Period.

Volunteer Measures
Research Measures
(submitted over the
course of the year or
to coincide with the
one-year progress
report).

N/A

CTP Activities
(Minimum 5 projects
per year)
Education Output
Indicators (Knack
Database)
312 Metrics (Existing
indicators, reported
through existing
databases)

N/A

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Notes from Reserve

E. Reporting on Equipment and Real Property
Equipment or supplies purchased at a cost of $5,000 ($10,000 for funds received after October 1,
2024) or greater (per unit value for equipment, in total aggregate for supplies) must be
inventoried in the final progress report by completing standard form SF-428. Any equipment
(unit) or unused supplies (in total aggregate) with a fair market value exceeding $5,000 ($10,000
for funds received after October 1, 2024) with which the recipient expects to continue use for
project purposes an additional disposition request form SF-428C must also be provided or a
proportion of the fair market value must be returned prior to submittal of the Final Federal
Financial Report. Recipients who requested funds for real property (common to construction
grants) or land acquisition must complete standard form SF-429. Recipients must report on
equipment, supplies, and real property at a cost of $5,000 ($10,000 for funds received after
October 1, 2024) or greater purchased by any subrecipients or if equipment was obtained from a
federal agency. More guidance on property definitions and forms is posted under:
http://coast.noaa.gov/funding/forms.html.
Reserves also must briefly address any significant equipment issues including how the
equipment will be used after the project ends.

F. Data Sharing Plan
Reserves should ensure that environmental data and information collected and/or created via this
award is being shared according to the data management plan submitted with the initial award
application. Specifically, environmental data should be made visible, accessible and
independently understandable to users, free of charge or at minimal cost, in a timely manner
(typically no later than two (2) years after the data are collected or created), except where limited
by law, regulation, policy or by security requirements. For tasks that create and/or collect
environmental data and information, other than core SWMP data (i.e., weather, water quality,
and nutrients), please note in the progress report when the resulting data have been made
publicly available or archived at CDMO. If the data are not available by the end of the award
period, the final progress report should include information about when and where the non-core
SWMP data will be made publicly available.
The environmental data and information produced under this award and which are made public
must be accompanied by the following statement: These environmental data and related items of
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NERRS Performance Progress Report Guidance
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information have not been formally disseminated by NOAA and do not represent and should not
be construed to represent any agency determination, view, or policy.
Failing to share environmental data and information in accordance with the submitted
Data/Information Sharing Plan may lead to disallowed costs and be considered by NOAA when
making future award decisions.
G. Optional Addendum
We understand that it often takes more than the NOAA federal and state cost share to operate a
reserve. We encourage reserves to describe the activities that are relevant to the mission of the
reserve, but may be outside the scope of the operations grant. This information will enable OCM
to capitalize on opportunities within and outside of NOAA and share this information with
NOAA partners and leadership about innovative projects and challenges at the reserve. It would
be advantageous to describe the partners and leveraged funds that support this work.
Annual reports
Annual comprehensive reports are not required per the award reporting guidelines. For those
sites that produce an “annual report”, please make them available to the NERR community.

H. Links and Additional Resources
NOAA’s Acquisition and Grants Home Page
http://www.ago.noaa.gov/
The grantee link includes information and links to policies, manuals, Grants.Gov, Grants Online,
training, federal forms and the ASAP (Automated Standard Application Program). The
Department of Treasury Financial Management Services ASAP allows grantee organizations
receiving federal funds to draw from accounts pre-authorized by NOAA and other federal
agencies.
NERRS Intranet
All guidance documents and reporting tools can be found on the intranet under the Grants and
Performance Measurement tab within the ‘NERRS Guidance, Policy and Planning Documents’
section.
NEW NERRS Performance Measure Database
https://nsdesk.servicenowservices.com/login.do

Reserves will submit all volunteer, CTP, and Research performance measures through the
NERRS Performance Measures Database. Reports should be submitted in accordance with the
Grants Online reporting timeline: reports are due thirty days after the reporting period
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NERRS Performance Progress Report Guidance
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ends. Reserve personnel can use the NERRS Performance Measures Database throughout the
reporting period to before submitting performance measures reports to OCM.
NERRS Education Knack Database
https://noaaedeval.knack.com/unified-data-call#nerrs/
Reserves will submit all education performance measures through the Knack education database.
Reports should be submitted in accordance with the eRA reporting timeline: reports are due
thirty days after the reporting period ends. Reserve personnel can use the Knack Database at any
time to post their data throughout the reporting period; access a pie-chart summarizing their data;
and access/print a report.

Appendices
1. NERRS Education Sector Performance Monitoring Guidance Manual
2. NERRS Coastal Training Program Performance Monitoring Manual
3. Final Reporting Guidance for Recommendations and Evaluation Metrics
4. 2022-2027 NERRS Guidance 5-Year Eval Metrics Final

OMB Control #0648-0121 Expires 12/31/2024. The Office for Coastal Management requires this
information to report progress in relation to projected work schedules and stated objectives. The data
will be used to assure compliance. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated
to average 10 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of
information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Joelle Gore, Chief, Stewardship Division,
NOAA Office for Coastal Management, 1305 East-West Hwy., 10th Floor, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910.
This report is required under and is authorized under 25 CFR 200.328. Information submitted will be
treated as public records. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is required to
respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with collection information
subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection displays a currently
valid OMB Control Number.

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NERRS Performance Progress Report Guidance
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