Federal Funding

Van Ness Feldman helps clients navigate the complicated and ever-evolving world of federal funding.  In recent years, the firm has helped clients secure nearly $3 billion in federal funding through agency-led solicitations; Congressional authorizations, appropriations, and member-directed spending; loan guarantees; tax credits; grants; and federal procurement contracts.  We also represent clients who benefit from programs that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in appropriations annually, and billions of dollars in tax benefits from programs that we have helped to develop and advocate.

We have helped secure federal support for energy, infrastructure, and transportation projects, as well as for research and commercialization of advanced energy and environmental technologies.  Our experience enables us to identify and pursue creative solutions to federal funding needs in the face of the recent ban on Congressionally-directed spending and severe budget reductions mandated under the Budget Reform Act of 2011. 

For a link to current federal funding opportunities, visit www.vnf.com/funding. 

OUR SERVICES

Our comprehensive suite of capabilities for clients exploring federal financial assistance includes:

• Aligning our client’s business strategies and corporate interests with federal policy initiatives and opportunities
• Identifying opportunities or creating new programs to support our client’s interests
• Developing and implementing strategies for securing funding from both Congress and the Federal agencies
• Securing federal incentives, completing funding applications, and negotiating funding instruments
• Finalizing award contracts between clients and government agencies and managing ongoing compliance and reporting requirements of such agreements.

New Era of Government Funding

The focus on deficit reduction in Washington politics is forcing a series of changes in the way federal funding has been traditionally made available.  With increased pressure to reduce federal spending and a moratorium on the Congressional practice of earmarks, accessing available federal funds and leveraging those resources requires new and innovative approaches.  Our firm is uniquely positioned to succeed in this new environment.  Our depth of substantive experience and in providing creative solutions to obtaining funding on behalf of our clients, when combined with our deep relationships in both Congress and the federal agencies, enables us to provide results for our clients despite the politically charged atmosphere in Washington.

AGENCY FOCUS

Federal agencies have enormous discretion in allocating federal funding in this new atmosphere.  Our substantive experience with these agencies – including offices and programs of the Departments of Energy, Defense, Interior, Transportation, Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others – coupled with our understanding of complicated agency budget processes and programs yields numerous advantages for our clients.  We can seamlessly identify opportunities, help our clients solicit those opportunities, evaluate and implement strategies to ensure our clients are better positioned among their competitors in a bid for federal funds, and, upon award, negotiate the requisite agency contracts.  Our relationships with these agencies also ensure that agency personnel understand how our client’s interest aligns with agency priorities before the agency process of reviewing applications, allocating resources and making awards. 

CONGRESSIONAL FUNDING

Even with the new focus on federal agencies, Congress holds the power of the purse and is responsible for overseeing Agency allocation of funding.  We provide full support for our clients’ Congressional activities in securing federal resources to support their interests through the authorization and appropriations processes. 

Authorizations
The firm has extensive experience in successfully advocating for new program authorizations, and in defending existing programs targeted for elimination.  Whether playing “offense” or “defense,” we work with clients to develop targeted initiatives, build the public policy rationale for the initiative, pursue legislative opportunities, and engage with Congress in advocating for program authorizations to support our client’s interests. 

Appropriations
Van Ness Feldman has a strong record of success in representing its clients on federal appropriations matters. We identify opportunities, prepare advocacy materials necessary to support an appropriation, assist the client in presenting their case to both the Administration and Members of Congress, understand how to impact the timing of Congressional action on appropriations measures, and ensure that our client receives the appropriation they need.

FEDERAL TAX POLICY

In addition to direct funding sources, Van Ness Feldman has substantive tax expertise and excellent relationships with the Congressional tax-writing committees and the Treasury Department.  Applying our firm’s core expertise in the energy and environment arena, we have expanded the Internal Revenue Code on behalf of our clients to include tax incentives, including bonds, that promote energy project development, tribal and native corporation investment, and environmental compliance.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Examples of our success in securing federal funding for clients include:

Air Products
The firm assisted Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. with its application for funding for a project that will take CO₂ from their hydrogen facility to a refinery in Port Arthur.  Air Products, one of only three companies granted funding in Phase 2 of the Industrial Carbon Capture and Sequestration program from DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy, was awarded $253 million.

Avista Utilities
The firm assisted Avista Utilities in its successful application for a $20 million Smart Grid Investment Grant to implement a distribution management system, intelligent end devices, and a communication network to reduce distribution system loses, enable automatic restoration to customers during outages, and allow for the integration of on-site generating resources.

City of Bellingham/Port of Bellingham Waterfront Restoration Project
Working with and on behalf of the City and Port of Bellingham, Washington, the firm secured $9.8 million of support for the redevelopment of 140 acres of waterfront property formerly occupied by a pulp and paper mill. 

Coal Utilization Research Council (CURC)
The firm manages CURC, a coalition of industry and educational institutions with an interest in promoting the use of coal through advancements in technology.  CURC has been a principal actor in the design and development of several federal programs to competitively advance coal technology development, and since 2005, has secured $15 billion in federal incentives to these programs in the form of grants, tax incentives and loan guarantees. 

Enerkem
Through its engagement with Van Ness Feldman, Enerkem was instrumental in launching an advocacy effort in Washington on behalf of the cellulosic ethanol industry.  As a result of our advocacy efforts, Enerkem was awarded a $50 million biorefinery demonstration grant from DOE and an $80 million loan guarantee through USDA’s Biorefinery Assistance program. 

Itron
The firm assisted Itron in preparing its application for the competitive § 48C advanced energy manufacturing tax credit program.  Itron was successful, receiving a $5.2 million tax credit for automation upgrades at its plant manufacturing advanced smart meters in South Carolina. 

Mountaineer CO₂ Capture and Storage Project
The firm advised the awardees of a successful application for $334 million in DOE Clean Coal Power Initiative funding to support the Mountaineer Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Demonstration Project. The project will use a chilled ammonia process to capture at least 90 percent of the CO₂ in a 235 megawatt flue gas stream at the existing 1,300 megawatt Mountaineer Power Plant in West Virginia. The captured CO₂ will be treated, compressed, and then transported by pipeline to geologic injection sites near the facility.

PECO Energy Company
The firm assisted PECO Energy Company in its successful application for a $200 million Smart Grid Investment Grant to deploy smart meters to all 600,000 customers, upgrade communication infrastructure to support a smart meter network, install 7 "intelligent" substations, and accelerate deployment of more reliable and secure smart grid technologies that will reduce peak energy load and increase cost savings.

Power Plant Development Company
The firm assisted a client in drafting an application for an advanced energy facility tax credit to support the development of an advanced fossil fuel facility.  The Internal Revenue Service awarded the client a tax credit for the entire amount that was sought for the project, which exceeded $100 million. 

Sacramento Municipal Utility District
The firm assisted Sacramento Municipal Utility District in its negotiations with DOE to implement a $127.5 million Smart Grid Investment Grant award to install a comprehensive regional smart grid system from transmission to the customer that includes 600,000 smart meters, dynamic pricing, 100 electric vehicle charging stations and 50,000 demand response controls, including programmable smart thermostats and home energy management systems.

Skyonic
The firm assisted Skyonic in securing a Congressional authorization for a DOE program to develop CO₂ conversion technologies, and secured the appropriations necessary to later fund the competitive DOE program.  The firm also assisted Skyonic in drafting its successful grant applications to demonstrate their technology, and was one of six grant awardees that received $28 million of the total $106 million awarded by DOE under the program.  The firm is also assisting Skyonic in the negotiation of their funding award with DOE.

Snohomish County Public Utilities District #1
The firm assisted Snohomish in its negotiations with DOE to implement a $15.8 million Smart Grid Investment Grant award to install a smart grid framework, including a digital telecommunications network, substation automation and a robust distribution system infrastructure that will enable the implementation of future smart grid technologies.

Sonoma County Water Agency
As part of its representation of the Sonoma County Water Agency, in 1999 the firm was successful in working with policymakers and interested stakeholders to establish the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which funds local projects necessary for conservation of salmon and steelhead populations that are listed as threatened or endangered, or identified by a State as at-risk to be listed.  The fund has secured $1.03 billion in federal funding since FY 2000, which has provided salmon and steelhead recovery dollars to the States of California, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Nevada and their political subdivisions, as well as selected Indian tribes.  The President's proposed FY 2013 budget has requested continued funding for PCSRF for the upcoming fiscal year.

For a link to current federal funding opportunities, visit www.vnf.com/funding.