Resources & Recordings
Issue #1: The Floodplains by Design (FbD) pre-application process requires significant time and capacity by applicants and Ecology (ECY) that may no longer be needed at this stage.
Goal: Reduce the time required in the pre-application process without compromising local processes or critical requirements, such as Tribal notification, that lead to the high-quality projects the FbD program is known for. Changes to the pre-application and process are described in the proposal below. We hope to hear from local experts regarding additional ideas and reflections to help ensure changes will be beneficial.
Issue #2: The process of applying to and receiving grant funds from the FbD Program can span approximately two years, which we understand presents various challenges: Not just for applicants and potential grantees, but also for evaluators and Ecology’s (ECY) Project and Financial Management staff. While the overall parameters of the timeline itself cannot be modified, we would like to explore whether there are shifts to the timing of key application steps, and/or different sequencing of steps, that might align better with the needs of key parties; recognizing that every process change will likely have tradeoffs (e.g., giving more time to grant applicants to submit presentations might mean that evaluators have less time to complete their task.)
Goal: Obtain Advisory Group input on whether changing the timeline and/or sequence of certain aspects of the FbD grant program would deliver meaningful benefits with minimal costs/adverse impacts to other key program components.
Issue #3: Applicants invest significant time and capacity in gathering information and crafting responses to questions. Similarly, Ecology (ECY) staff and evaluators commit significant time and effort to reviewing applications. Applicants have noted that the application is redundant in places and evaluators note it can be difficult to find information pertinent to each question. These issues could potentially be ameliorated through a focused effort to provide applicants with an option to answer questions in a more integrated manner, paired with a clearer scoring rubric for evaluators. (Scoring criteria will be discussed in more detail at the June advisory group meeting.)
Goal: Reduce the time required in the application writing and review process, as well as adjust application questions to allow for more integration and less redundancy without compromising the integrity of the Floodplains by Design (FbD) program. And, to the extent possible, be mindful of how these changes could benefit future grant agreement negotiations and amendments.
Issue #4: The Floodplains by Design (FbD) grant program scoring includes several components under review during this update cycle: guidance to applicants on scoring criteria (Funding Guidelines), guidance to evaluators (evaluator scorecard), and the point allocation. The FbD grant program has been functioning well for more than 10 years and through seven application cycles; however, a review and tightening up of the scoring components for clarity and consistency was flagged as a need during the 2023-25 round. Some areas of scoring seemed to overlap, while others appeared they could benefit from additional detail. A few changes were made for the 2025-27 round, though applicants and evaluators expressed that there was still some confusion.
Goal: Improve the clarity and relevance of program scoring criteria to better guide applicants and evaluators.
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