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mThe two-year status report required in RCW 36.70A.720 (1) (j) is due on Aug. 30, 2023.
All work groups, county staff, conservation district staff, and other staff responsible for VSP implementation should review Policy Advisory 05-18 to ensure they understand the two-year status report and deadline. Each county has recurring reporting requirements.
All VSP counties have the same deadline for submitting the report. According to statute, the two-year report is due to both the county and to SCC within sixty days after the end of each biennium. Therefore, no later than Aug. 30.
The two-year status report provides the county and work group with a forum for updating the public on the VSP implementation progress made during each biennium. These status reports should provide a snapshot of what has been done during each two-year period and should answer the questions:
- How far along are we with our planned implementation? (status of plans)
- What have we done? (accomplishments)
Monitoring results are not required to be reported unless a county wants to share those as part of demonstration of progress. The report will be posted on the Commission’s VSP County Directory.
Submittal and confirmation email:
- The submittal form is through Smartsheet. This should allow you to upload up to 250MB. Reports have traditionally been much smaller. Please contact Sarah Wilcox if you have trouble uploading.
- To receive a confirmation email please check "send me a copy of my responses" before submitting.
- Please double check that you've correctly entered your email address.
- And please don't forget to send a copy of the report to your county.
Project funding is open!
SCC received an additional $3 million in capital funds for the 2023-35 biennium. SCC encourages counties and CDs to input projects into CPDS so that they are ready to go for review.
This capital funding provides an opportunity for on-the-ground conservation projects that protect the five critical areas (including salmon habitat) while maintaining agricultural viability.
Projects awarded with this funding must be completed by June 30, 2025.
Proposals must:
- Meet a VSP county work plan goal or benchmark
- Be in a VSP watershed
- Seek to address salmon habitat resource needs/impacts
- Use Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) standards and specifications
- Be approved prior to submittal by the county VSP work group.
Complete details are available in the VSP Guidelines and tips for successful VSP project proposals - Oct. 2022.
About the process:
- Proposals will be considered monthly on the first Tuesday of the month (note: August 2023 will be the second Tuesday).
- Notice of successful funding awards can take up to 3-5 business days (or more during heavy fiscal times like end-of-year close-out) to reach project applicants.
- At the SCC May commission meeting, the commission supported an increase in the landowner cost-share cap in the 2023-25 biennium from $50,000 to $100,000. Details in updated SCC Grant and Contract Policy and Procedure Manual.
- For CPDS assistance, please contact Brian Cochrane.
- Please make sure the correct contact person and email is listed in CPDS for the project and that the contact person is someone at either the county or the conservation district, and not the landowner.
Examples of projects
Examples of funded proposals have included projects such as: waste transfer, pumping plants, fencing, heavy-use areas, waste storage facilities, riparian forest buffers, trails and walkways, roof runoff structures, sprinkler systems, access control, irrigation system/micro irrigation, livestock pipelines, tree/shrub site preparation, wetland enhancements, livestock water facilities, drainage ditch coverings, and more.
Successful landowner stewardship plans often utilize multiple funding sources to get accomplished. SCC staff are working to more easily share what funds are open and accepting applications through the Funding Availability and Review Timeline available on the SCC Grants and Contracts webpage.
SCC grant programs open in August:
- Livestock Technical Assistance (LTA) - applications due Aug. 11
- Riparian Plant Propagation Program (RPPP) - applications due Aug. 14
- Forest Health and Community Wildfire Resiliency (CWR) - applications due Aug. 22
And don't forget about ongoing grant programs like Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), Irrigation Efficiencies Grant Program (IEGP), and Farmland Preservation and Land Access (FPLA).
At the May 18, 2023, commission meeting, commissioners approved the proposed changes to the SCC Grant and Contract Policy and Procedure Manual (Manual).
Changes that went into effect on July 1:
- The following stand-alone policies will sunset and be rolled into the Manual as our financial policy and guidance document:
- 13-05 Cost Share Policy
- 13-25 CD Category 3
- 15-01 Cash Advance Payment Policy
- Another change includes an increase in the cost share limit from $50,000 per landowner per fiscal year to $100,000 per landowner per fiscal year (across all SCC programs).
- There is also an entire chapter added about District Implemented Projects (DIPs).
In the 2023-25 biennial budget, the Legislature funded VSP at the same level of operating budget as before, but also included additional operating and capital funding. SCC leadership and staff are developing the budget allocation for the 2023-25 biennium.
Implementation funding
SCC has allocated $240,000 to each county for the 2023-25 biennium to be used for VSP implementation, an increase of $5,000 from the last biennium. Funding for counties to continue VSP implementation remains available as we transition from one biennium to the next.
SCC-County contracts
SCC sent the 2023-25 contract and cover letter by email only on June 9, 2023, to each person listed as the responsible individual for last year’s SCC-county VSP contract. SCC also sent the contract and cover letter by email to technical service providers (TSP) that implement VSP on behalf of the county.
If you are responsible for VSP implementation in your county, and you or your county did not receive the email, please email Nicole Boyes immediately (564-669-3149) to remain eligible to be reimbursed for VSP expenses.
Monitoring funding available
A portion of the additional funds the Legislature made available for VSP are designated for monitoring efforts. The allocation for each county for the entire biennium comes to $47,000.
During May and June 2023, SCC sought feedback and input from VSP counties, TSPs, and conservation districts (CDs) as to what monitoring-related activities those funds could be used for. After reviewing feedback, SCC has created Monitoring Expenses Guidelines (Guidelines) that set parameters for the use of monitoring funds. The process to access those funds will be as follows:
- Monitoring equipment: If a county or TSP wants to purchase monitoring equipment, and if the purchase is over $2,000, they must use the VSP Equipment Purchase Request Form. See form for additional requirements. The form has been modified so that the county (or TSP) must assert that, if they are purchasing monitoring equipment, it meets the definition set forth in the Monitoring Expenses Guidelines and that the purchase is directly related to the monitoring activities and/or monitoring plan of the VSP work group.
- Other monitoring activities: If a county or TSP wants to undertake any of the following other monitoring activities, there is no additional form to fill out, however see reimbursement process below.
- Creating a monitoring plan, conducting monitoring, and analyzing and reporting on monitoring, either by the county or the county’s TSP.
- Monitoring training.
- Hiring a consultant to create a monitoring plan, conduct monitoring, or to analyze and report on monitoring.
- Reimbursement process for other monitoring activities:
- SCC will send a contract amendment to each of the 27 VSP counties requiring the use of the $47,000 for monitoring purposes.
- Counties or TSPs will need to review the guidelines to ensure compliance before vouchering for eligible expenses and make sure that SCC has their VSP implementation budget on file with the $47,000 line item in it to voucher for monitoring expenses out of that $47,000.
- Counties or TSPs will voucher monitoring expenses under the VSP Contract Outcome number in their contract amendment.
- Eligible monitoring expenses and ineligible costs are set out in the guidelines. SCC financial staff will review vouchers for eligible expenses. Ineligible expenses on vouchers will be denied.
For questions, please contact Nicole Boyes (564-669-3149) or Bill Eller (509-385-7512).
If you are interested in the specific funding status of a particular VSP county, please contact that county directly. County VSP contacts can be found by clicking on the appropriate county on the map here.
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