New NOAA Cooperative Institutes (CIs): (1) Alaska and Related Arctic Regions Environmental Research and (2) Earth System Modeling for Climate Applications, 60317-60321 [E7-20973]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 24, 2007 / Notices
Dated: October 11, 2007.
Kate Worthington,
Deputy Director, Office of Advisory
Committees, U.S. Department of Commerce.
[FR Doc. E7–20915 Filed 10–23–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DR–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XD49
Pacific Whiting; Advisory Panel
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NMFS solicits nominations
for the Advisory Panel (AP) on Pacific
Whiting called for in the Agreement
Between the Government of the United
States of America and Canada on Pacific
Hake/Whiting. Nominations are being
sought for at least 6, but not more than
12 individuals to serve as United States
representatives on the AP.
DATES: Nominations must be received
on or before November 23, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit
nominations or comments, identified by
0648–XD49, by any of the following
methods:
• E-mail: WhitingAP.nwr@noaa.gov:
Include 0648–XD49 in the subject line
of the message.
• Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Frank
Lockhart
• Mail: D. Robert Lohn,
Administrator, Northwest Region,
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE,
Seattle, WA 98115–0070, Attn: Frank
Lockhart.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Frank Lockhart at (206) 526–6142.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title VI of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA,)
entitled ‘‘The Pacific Whiting Act of
2006,’’ implements the 2003
‘‘Agreement Between the Government of
the Government of the United States of
America and Canada on Pacific Hake/
Whiting.’’ Among other provisions, the
Whiting Act provides for the
establishment of an AP to advise the
Joint U.S.-Canada Management
Committee on bilateral whiting
management issues. Nominations are
being sought to fill at least 6 but no
more than 12 positions on the Pacific
whiting AP for terms of 4–years.
The Whiting Act requires that
appointments to the AP be selected from
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among individuals who are ‘‘(A)
knowledgeable or experienced in the
harvesting, processing, marketing,
management, conservation, or research
of the offshore whiting resource; and (B)
not employees of the United States.’’
Nominations are sought for any persons
meeting these requirements.
Nomination packages for appointment
to the AP should include:
1. The name of the applicant or
nominee and a description of his/her
interest in Pacific whiting; and
2. A statement of background and/or
description of how the above
qualifications are met.
The terms of office for the Pacific
Whiting AP members will be for 4 years
(48 months). Members appointed to the
AP will be reimbursed for necessary
travel expenses.
In the initial year of treaty
implementation, NMFS anticipates that
up to 3 meetings of the AP will be
required. In subsequent years, 1–2
meetings of the AP will be held
annually. Meetings of the AP will be
held in the United States or Canada, so
AP members will need a valid U.S.
passport. Meetings of the AP will be
held concurrently with those of the Joint
Management Committee, once per year
for a period not to exceed 5 days in
duration.
The Pacific Whiting Act of 2006 also
states that while performing their
appointed duties as AP members,
members ‘‘shall be considered to be
Federal employees only for purposes of(1) injury compensation under
chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code;
(2) requirements concerning ethics,
conflicts of interest, and corruption as
provided under title 18, United States
Code; and
(3) any other criminal or civil statute
or regulation governing the conduct of
Federal employees.’’
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 18, 2007.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7–20931 Filed 10–23–07; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[Docket No. 071018607–7608–01]
New NOAA Cooperative Institutes
(CIs): (1) Alaska and Related Arctic
Regions Environmental Research and
(2) Earth System Modeling for Climate
Applications
Office of Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Office of Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research (OAR) publishes
this notice to provide the general public
with a consolidated source of program
and application information related to
two competitive cooperative agreement
(CA) award offerings. Both
announcements will also be available
through the Grants.gov Web site.
Cooperative Institute Competitions
NOAA is accepting applications for
two separate competitions to establish:
(1) A CI to study environmental issues
associated with Alaska and related
Arctic regions and (2) a CI focused on
the development and use of Earth
System Modeling applied to climate
applications with timescales of decadal
or longer. The application and award
processes for each CI will be covered in
this announcement. Both CIs are
expected to provide the necessary
capabilities to complement NOAA’s
current and planned activities in
support of the 5-year Research Plan and
the 20-year Research Vision.
NOAA’s Climate Mission Goal in the
Arctic requires knowledge of
atmospheric circulation throughout the
entire region; inflow and fate of Pacific
and Atlantic water masses throughout
the central Arctic Basin and peripheral
seas; sea ice dynamics in all ice covered
waters of the Arctic; and state of land
cover, permafrost, glaciers and ice
sheets throughout the Arctic region.
NOAA’s Ecosystem Mission Goal
proposes documentation of population
trends in exploited and protected
species wherever they live in order to
assess and manage these species.
NOAA’s Weather and Water Mission
Goal proposes research to understand
the coastal hazards, storms, and
tsunamis that affect Alaska’s
population, ecosystems and coast. To
achieve its mission in the Arctic, NOAA
will need to engage many international
partners. The regional Alaska CI will be
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a very useful organization for promoting
and facilitating international
collaboration of all types. Political
boundaries are not the primary
determinant of the geographic scope of
this regional CI focused on Alaska and
neighboring Arctic issues; rather
boundaries are established by the
science problem being addressed.
The proposed CI for Earth System
modeling will be focused on climate
applications for decadal or longer
timescales and will contribute to
research leading to operational Earth
System Models that will have many
benefits for NOAA. These would
include improved forecasting of
ecosystem conditions; new analytical
and predictive capabilities for water
resources, hydrology, climate and
oceans; and improved understanding
the links between climate and regional
impacts, including drought, hurricanes,
fires, and weather extremes.
Both CIs will facilitate a long-term
collaborative environment between
NOAA and the recipients within which
broad-based research, modeling, and
education and outreach capabilities that
focus on the NOAA priorities identified
above can be developed and sustained.
Because of the breadth of the
capabilities needed for these CIs, it may
be difficult for some applicants to
provide all of the capabilities required
to support NOAA’s needs. Given this,
NOAA will also consider applications
from a consortium of research
institutions working together as one CI.
Any proposals involving a consortium
will require a rationale for that
configuration.
Proposals must be received by
the OAR no later than 5 p.m., E.T.,
Monday, December 24, 2007. Proposals
submitted after that date will not be
considered.
DATES:
Applicants are strongly
encouraged to apply online through the
Grants.gov Web site (https://
www.grants.gov) but paper submissions
are acceptable if internet access is not
available. If a hard copy application is
submitted, the original and two
unbound copies of the proposal should
be included. Paper submissions should
be sent to: NOAA, OAR, 1315 East West
Highway, Room 11326, Silver Spring,
Maryland 20910, Attn: Dr. John
Cortinas. No e-mail or facsimile
proposal submissions will be accepted.
The complete federal funding
opportunity announcements associated
with this notice can be found at the
Grants.gov Web site, https://
www.grants.gov, and the NOAA Web
site at https://www.nrc.noaa.gov/ci.
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ADDRESSES:
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For
a copy of the federal funding
opportunity announcement and/or
application kit for each of these
Cooperative Institutes, please go to
https://www.Grants.gov, via NOAA’s
Web site, or contact Dr. John Cortinas,
1315 East West Highway, Room 11326,
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910;
Telephone: (301) 734–1090; facsimile:
(301) 713–3515; e-mail:
John.Cortinas@noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
All
applicants must comply with all
requirements contained in the federal
funding opportunity announcements for
each of these CIs.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
A CI is a NOAA-supported, nonfederal organization that has established
an outstanding research program in one
or more areas that are relevant to the
NOAA mission. CIs are established at
research institutions that also have a
strong education program with
established graduate degree programs in
NOAA-related sciences. The CI provides
significant coordination of resources
among all non-government partners and
promotes the involvement of students
and postdoctoral scientists in NOAAfunded research. The CI provides
mutual benefits with value provided by
all parties.
For both the Alaska CI and the Earth
System Modeling CI, NOAA has
identified the need to establish a CI to
focus on scientific research associated
in support of NOAA’s Strategic Plan,
NOAA’s 5-year Research Plan, and
NOAA’s 20-year Research Vision. (All
documents are available at https://
www.spo.noaa.gov/.)
Alaska and Related Arctic Regions
Environmental Research CI
The proposed Alaska CI should
possess outstanding capabilities to
provide research under three themes: (1)
Ecosystem studies and forecasting, (2)
coastal hazards, and (3) climate change
and variability. To conduct research
under these themes, the proposed CI
should possess the flexibility needed to
work on multi-disciplinary research in
collaboration with NOAA’s Climate
Program Office, the Alaska Fisheries
Science Center, the NWS Alaska and
Pacific regions, the National Centers for
Coastal Ocean Science, the Alaska
Center for Climate Assessment and
Policy at the University of Alaska—
Fairbanks, a NOAA-funded Regional
Integrated Sciences and Assessments
Center. In addition, the CI should
collaborate with other NOAA partners
including other CIs and Alaska Sea
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Grant. NOAA requires substantial
flexibility from the CI to provide both
scientific depth to existing programs
and to add new capabilities when
NOAA is faced with new drivers (e.g.,
need to advance climate impacts science
or climate information services for the
region or develop hazard resilient
coastal communities).
The CI should have resident or
affiliated faculty with broad expertise in
conducting research in all three themes.
Research under these themes will
require expertise in physical
oceanography, sea ice, marine biology,
remote sensing, land surface hydrology,
permafrost, terrestrial biology (including
vegetative land cover), atmospheric
chemistry (including trace substances
and fluxes between atmosphere and
ocean and atmosphere and land),
glaciology, meteorology, cloud physics,
space physics (including aurora
research), regional climate modeling
(including linkages between physical
processes and ecological processes), and
technology and engineering for in-situ
observing systems. Staff of the CI should
have experience in field operations in
cold environments with a permanent or
seasonal cryosphere, including shipbased operations, terrestrial camps and
permanent stations, and ice camps. The
CI should have staff experience in
managing and implementing large-scale,
multi-investigator Arctic science
programs involving both domestic and
foreign sponsors and scientists. The CI
must have the capability to conduct
research related to improving the
detection of tsunamigenic earthquakes
using a digital broadband seismic
network.
The CI is expected to have or have
access to ice breaking research vessels
necessary to research ice-covered areas
of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering/
Chukchi/Beaufort Seas, as well as access
to supercomputing facilities needed to
run complex tsunami and climate
models. The CI should also have the
ability and desire to provide rapidresponse products to address Arctic
science issues of immediate importance,
for example by working with NOAA
scientists to test applicability of
research results in an operational
environment using a test bed model.
This CI will play an important role in
helping NOAA keep its operational and
information services at the state of the
art in science and technology by
providing research that is needed for the
5- to 20-year time frame and working
with NOAA to identify promising
research that can be transitioned to
operations 2 to 5 years prior to
implementation.
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The CI should have doctoral-level
education programs in fields relevant to
NOAA’s high latitude missions. The CI
is expected to promote student and
postdoctoral involvement in research
projects in ways to train the next
generation of scientists and NOAA
employees. The CI should provide
support for graduate and undergraduate
students and post-doctoral scientists
that will provide a ‘‘hands-on’’
opportunity for the development of a
wide range of expertise. NOAA can
capitalize on this expertise, as CI
employees and students will work with
NOAA to conduct research that
complements NOAA’s mission needs.
The CI should also have the capability
to share research results conducted at
the CI with the stakeholders and
decision makers.
Earth System Modeling for Climate
Applications CI
NOAA has established itself as the
premier Federal provider of climate
information. Its expertise in long term
climate was recently showcased in the
International Panel on Climate Change’s
(IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report on
Climate Change. It is clear, however,
that current state-of-the-art physical
coupled climate models, particularly
those that are used to forecast climate
conditions on decadal and longer time
scales, lack important features that are
crucial for understanding how a
warming world will affect the world’s
terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems and
biogeochemical cycles, and importantly,
how ecosystems can affect climate
change. This understanding can be
achieved in part by a vigorous climate
observing program, and by a world class
Earth System modeling capability. The
proposed Earth System Modeling CI will
address these needs by providing
capabilities in Earth System Modeling
research and Analysis to develop and
improve climate models that simulate
and predict chemical, physical, and
ecosystem changes in the whole Earth
system. The proposed Alaska CI should
possess outstanding capabilities to
provide research under three themes: (1)
Earth system modeling and analysis, (2)
data assimilation, and (3) earth system
modeling applications. The CI should
have capabilities and conduct research
in data assimilation to develop and
improve techniques to assimilate
environmental observations, including
aerial, terrestrial, oceanic, and biological
observations, to produce the best
estimate of the environmental state at
the time of the observations for use in
analysis, modeling, and prediction
activities associated with climate
predications. The CI should also have
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capabilities to conduct research on
model applications including focus on
the use of Earth System Models to study
physical processes associated with longterm (decadal or longer) climate change
and its impacts, including abrupt
change, coastal processes, carbon
management, sea-level rise, drought, the
frequency of hurricanes and other
extreme events, and climate
predictability, as well as attributing
climate change to natural and
anthropogenic forces.
The proposed CI must strongly
support ‘‘a strategic approach that
attracts and maintains a competent and
diverse workforce and creates an
environment that develops, encourages,
and sustains employees as they work to
accomplish NOAA’s strategic goals,’’ as
described in NOAA’s latest Strategic
Plan. The CI must also have a strong
education program with established
graduate degree programs in NOAArelated sciences. These programs must
provide outstanding opportunities to
train the next generation of scientists
and NOAA employees by giving
undergraduate, graduate students, and
post-doctoral scientists a ‘‘hands on’’
opportunity to participate in NOAA
research activities. To strengthen the
collaborations between NOAA and the
CI, most of these students and postdocs
should be located close enough to allow
them to work with GFDL scientists in
Princeton, New Jersey at least weekly.
This training is extremely important for
NOAA as it strives to attract and
maintain a competent and diverse
scientific workforce.
Electronic Access: Applicants can
access, download, and submit electronic
grant applications, including the full
funding opportunity announcement, for
NOAA programs at the Grants.gov Web
site: https://www.grants.gov. The closing
date will be the same as for the paper
submissions noted in this
announcement. For applicants filing
through Grants.gov, NOAA strongly
recommends that you do not wait until
the application deadline date to begin
the application process through
Grants.gov. Registration may take up to
10 business days. More details on how
to apply are provided in the NOAA June
30, 2005 Federal Register Notice on
‘‘Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal
Year 2006,’’ which can be found at:
https://www.Grants.gov or https://
www.ago.noaa.gov/grants/
funding.shtml.
Proposals must include elements
requested in the full Federal Funding
Opportunity announcement on the
grants.gov portal. If a hard copy
application is submitted, NOAA
requests that the original and two
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unbound copies of the proposal be
included. Proposals, electronic or paper,
should be no more than 75 pages
(numbered) in length, excluding budget,
investigators, vitae, and all appendices.
Federally mandated forms are not
included within the page count.
Facsimile transmissions and electronic
mail submission of full proposals will
not be accepted.
Funding Availability: For the
proposed Alaska CI, NOAA expects that
approximately $2–3M will be available
for the CI in the first year of the award.
For the proposed Earth System
Modeling CI, NOAA expects that
approximately $3M will be available in
the first year of the award. For each
proposed CI the annual Task I budget
should not exceed $300,000. The final
amount of funding available for Task I
will be determined during the
negotiation phase of the award based on
availability of funding and any NOAA
policies on Task I funding. Funding for
subsequent years is expected to be
constant throughout the period,
depending on the quality of the
research, the satisfactory progress in
achieving the stated goals described in
the proposal, continued relevance to
program objectives, and the availability
of funding.
Authorities: 15 U.S.C. 313, 15 U.S.C. 1540;
15 U.S.C. 2901 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 753a, 33
U.S.C. 883d, 33 U.S.C. 1442, 49 U.S.C.
44720(b).
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance:
11.432, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research (OAR) Joint and Cooperative
Institutes.)
Eligibility: Eligibility is limited to
non-federal public and private nonprofit universities, colleges and research
institutions that offer accredited
graduate level degree-granting programs
in NOAA-related sciences.
Cost Sharing Requirements: To stress
the collaborative nature and investment
of a CI by both NOAA and the research
institution, cost sharing is required.
There is no minimum cost sharing
requirement; however, the amount of
cost sharing will be considered when
determining the level of CI commitment
under NOAA’s standard evaluation
criteria for overall qualification of
applicants. Acceptable cost-sharing
proposals include, but are not limited
to, offering a reduced indirect cost rate
against activities in one or more Tasks,
waiver of indirect costs assessed against
base funds and/or Task I activities,
waiver or reduction of any costs
associated with the use of facilities at
the CI, and full or partial salary funding
for the CI director, administrative staff,
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graduate students, visiting scientists, or
postdoctoral scientists.
Intergovernmental Review:
Applications under this program are not
subject to Executive Order 12372,
‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs.’’
Evaluation Criteria and Review and
Selection Procedures: NOAA’s standard
evaluation criteria and the review and
selection procedures contained in
NOAA’s June 30, 2005, omnibus notice
are applicable to this solicitation and
are as follows:
A. Evaluation Criteria for Projects
Proposals will be evaluated using the
standard NOAA evaluation criteria.
Various questions under each criterion
are provided to ensure that the
applicant includes information that
NOAA will consider important during
the evaluation, in addition to any other
information provided by the applicant.
Note that information on how the
proposal addresses issues related to the
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) will not be needed in this
submission but will be required when
individual projects are proposed.
1. Importance and/or relevance and
applicability of proposed project to the
program goals (25 percent): This
criterion ascertains whether there is
intrinsic value in the proposed work
and/or relevance to NOAA, Federal,
regional, State, or local activities.
• Does the proposal include research
goals and projects that address the
critical issues identified in NOAA’s 5year Research Plan, NOAA’s Strategic
Plan, and the priorities described in the
federal funding opportunity
announcement published at https://
www.grants.gov?
• Is there a demonstrated
commitment (in terms of resources and
facilities) to enhance existing NOAA
and CI resources to foster a long-term
collaborative research environment/
culture?
• Is there a strong education program
with established graduate degree
programs in NOAA-related sciences that
also encourages student participation in
NOAA-related research studies?
• (For the Earth System Modeling CI
only) Will most of the staff at the CI be
located near a NOAA facility,
particularly the Geophysical Fluid
Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, New
Jersey, to enhance collaborations with
NOAA?
2. Technical/scientific merit (30
percent): This criterion assesses whether
the approach is technically sound and/
or innovative, if the methods are
appropriate, and whether there are clear
project goals and objectives.
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• Does the project description include
a summary of clearly stated goals to be
achieved during the five-year period
that reflect NOAA’s strategic plan and
goals?
• Does the CI involve partnerships
with other universities or research
institutions, including Minority Serving
Institutions and universities with strong
departments that can contribute to the
proposed activities of the CI?
3. Overall qualifications of applicants
(30 percent): This criterion ascertains
whether the applicant possesses the
necessary education, experience,
training, facilities, and administrative
resources to accomplish the project.
• If the institution(s) and/or principal
investigators have received current or
recent NOAA funding, is there a
demonstrated record of outstanding
performance working with NOAA
scientists on research projects?
• Is there internationally recognized
expertise within the appropriate
disciplines needed to conduct the
collaborative/interdisciplinary research
described in the proposal?
• Is there a well-developed business
plan that includes fiscal and human
resource management as well as
strategic planning and accountability?
• Are there any unique capabilities in
a mission-critical area of research for
NOAA?
• Has the applicant shown a
substantial investment to the NOAA
partnership, as demonstrated by the
amount of the cost sharing contribution?
4. Project costs (5 percent): The
budget is evaluated to determine if it is
realistic and commensurate with the
project needs and time-frame.
5. Outreach and education (10
percent): NOAA assesses whether this
project provides a focused and effective
education and outreach strategy
regarding NOAA’s mission to protect
the Nation’s natural resources.
B. Review and Selection Process
An initial administrative review/
screening is conducted to determine
compliance with requirements/
completeness. All proposals will be
evaluated and individually ranked in
accordance with the assigned weights of
the above evaluation criteria by an
independent peer panel review. At least
three experts, who may be Federal or
non-Federal, will be used in this
process. If non-Federal experts
participate in the review process, each
expert will submit an individual review
and there will be no consensus opinion.
The merit reviewers’ ratings are used to
produce a rank order of the proposals.
The Selecting Official selects proposals
after considering the peer panel reviews
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and selection factors listed below. In
making the final selections, the
Selecting Official will award in rank
order unless the proposal is justified to
be selected out of rank order based upon
one or more of the selection factors.
C. Selection Factors
The merit review ratings shall provide
a rank order to the Selecting Official for
final funding recommendations. The
Selecting Official shall award in the
rank order unless the proposal is
justified to be selected out of rank order
based upon one or more of the following
factors:
1. Availability of funding.
2. Balance/distribution of funds:
a. Geographically.
b. By type of institutions.
c. By type of partners.
d. By research areas.
e. By project types.
3. Whether this project duplicates
other projects funded or considered for
funding by NOAA or other Federal
agencies.
4. Program priorities and policy
factors.
5. Applicant’s prior award
performance.
6. Partnerships and/or participation of
targeted groups.
7. Adequacy of information necessary
for NOAA staff to make a NEPA
determination and draft necessary
documentation before recommendations
for funding are made to the Grants
Officer.
Applicants must comply with all
requirements contained in the full
funding opportunity announcements for
each project competition in this
announcement.
Universal Identifier: Applicants
should be aware that, they are required
to provide a Dun and Bradstreet Data
Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
number during the application process.
See the October 30, 2002 Federal
Register, Vol. 67, No. 210, pp. 66177–
66178 for additional information.
Organizations can receive a DUNS
number at no cost by calling the
dedicated toll-free DUNS Number
request line at 1 (866) 705–5711 or via
the internet (https://
www.dunandbradstreet.com).
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA): NOAA must analyze the
potential environmental impacts, as
required by the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant
projects or proposals which are seeking
NOAA federal funding opportunities.
Detailed information on NOAA
compliance with NEPA can be found at
NOAA’s NEPA Web site, https://
www.nepa.noaa.gov/, and the Council
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on Environmental Quality
implementation regulations, https://
ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/
toc_ceq.htm.
While not part of this initial
application, upon award and
subsequent submission of projects, the
CI is required to provide detailed
information on the activities to be
conducted, locations, sites, species and
habitat to be affected, possible
construction activities, and any
environmental concerns that may exist
(e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous
or toxic chemicals, introduction of nonindigenous species, impacts to
endangered and threatened species,
aquaculture projects, and impacts to
coral reef systems). In addition to
providing specific information that will
serve as the basis for any required
impact analyses, applicants may also be
requested to assist NOAA in drafting of
an environmental assessment, if such
assessment is required. Applicants will
also be required to cooperate with
NOAA in identifying feasible measures
to reduce or avoid any identified
adverse environmental impacts of their
proposal. The failure to cooperate with
NOAA shall be grounds for not selecting
an application. In some cases if
additional information is required after
an application is selected, funds can be
withheld by the Grants Officer under a
special award condition requiring the
recipient to submit additional
environmental compliance information
sufficient to enable NOAA to make an
assessment on any impacts that a project
may have on the environment.
Pre-Award Notification Requirements
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements
The Department of Commerce PreAward Notification Requirements for
Grants and Cooperative Agreements
contained in the Federal Register notice
of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389) are
applicable to this solicitation.
Limitation of Liability: Funding for
years 2–5 of the Cooperative Institute is
contingent upon the availability of
appropriated funds. In no event will
NOAA or the Department of Commerce
be responsible for application
preparation costs if these programs fail
to receive funding or are cancelled
because of other agency priorities.
Publication of this announcement does
not oblige NOAA to award any specific
project or to obligate any available
funds.
Paperwork Reduction Act: This
notification involves collection of
information requirements subject to the
Paperwork Reduction Act. The use of
Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, and
SF–LLL and CD–346 has been approved
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:33 Oct 23, 2007
Jkt 214001
by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) respectively under
Control Numbers 0348–0043, 0348–
0044, 0348–0040, and 0348–0046 and
0605–0001. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no person is required
to respond to, nor shall any person be
subject to a penalty for failure to comply
with, a collection of information subject
to the requirements of the PRA unless
that collection of information displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
Executive Order 12866: It has been
determined that this notice is not
significant for purposes of Executive
Order 12866.
Executive Order 13132 (Federalism):
It has been determined that this notice
does not contain policies with
Federalism implications as that term is
defined in Executive Order 13132.
Administrative Procedure Act/
Regulatory Flexibility Act: Prior notice
and an opportunity for public comment
are not required by the Administrative
Procedure Act or any other law for rules
concerning public property, grants,
benefits, and contracts (5 U.S.C. 553
(a)(2)).
Because notice and opportunity for
comments are not required pursuant to
5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the
analytical requirements of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601
et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a
regulatory flexibility analysis is not
required and none has been prepared.
Dated: October 18, 2007.
Terry J. Bevels,
Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. E7–20973 Filed 10–23–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–KD–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Science Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting
Office of Oceanic and
Atmospheric Research (OAR), National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), Department of
Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Science Advisory Board
(SAB) was established by a Decision
Memorandum dated September 25,
1997, and is the only Federal Advisory
Committee with responsibility to advise
the Under Secretary of Commerce for
Oceans and Atmosphere on strategies
for research, education, and application
of science to operations and information
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 4703
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60321
services. SAB activities and advice
provide necessary input to ensure that
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) science
programs are of the highest quality and
provide optimal support to resource
management.
Time and Date: The meeting will be
held Monday, November 5, 2007, from
10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday,
November 6, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 3:45
p.m. These times and the agenda topics
described below are subject to change.
Please refer to the Web page https://
www.sab.noaa.gov/Meetings/
meetings.html for the most up-to-date
meeting agenda.
Place: The meeting will be held both
days in the NOAA Nickles Conference
Room 3910 at the National Weather
Center on the campus of the University
of Oklahoma, 120 David L. Boren Blvd.,
Norman, Oklahoma 73072–7303. Please
check the SAB Web site https://
www.sab.noaa.gov for confirmation of
the venue.
Status: The meeting will be open to
public participation with a 30-minute
public comment period on November 6
(check Web site to confirm time). The
SAB expects that public statements
presented at its meetings will not be
repetitive of previously submitted
verbal or written statements. In general,
each individual or group making a
verbal presentation will be limited to a
total time of five (5) minutes. Written
comments should be received in the
SAB Executive Director’s Office by
October 29, 2007 to provide sufficient
time for SAB review. Written comments
received by the SAB Executive Director
after October 29, 2007, will be
distributed to the SAB, but may not be
reviewed prior to the meeting date.
Seats will be available on a first-come,
first-served basis.
Matters To Be Considered: The
meeting will include the following
topics: (1) The final NOAA response to
the Reports from the Hurricane Intensity
Research Working Group (HIRWG); (2)
the final NOAA response to the External
Review of NOAA’s Ecosystem Research
and Science Enterprise; (3) the draft
report from the SAB’s Extension,
Outreach, and Education Working
Group; (4) a presentation on Laboratory
Reviews in the NOAA Office of Oceanic
and Atmospheric Research; (5) tours
and discussions of the University of
Oklahoma and NOAA components of
the National Weather Center; and (6)
Updates from SAB Working Groups on
Fire Weather Research, Social Science,
and Partnerships.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Cynthia Decker, Executive Director,
E:\FR\FM\24OCN1.SGM
24OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60317-60321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20973]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 071018607-7608-01]
New NOAA Cooperative Institutes (CIs): (1) Alaska and Related
Arctic Regions Environmental Research and (2) Earth System Modeling for
Climate Applications
AGENCY: Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) publishes
this notice to provide the general public with a consolidated source of
program and application information related to two competitive
cooperative agreement (CA) award offerings. Both announcements will
also be available through the Grants.gov Web site.
Cooperative Institute Competitions
NOAA is accepting applications for two separate competitions to
establish: (1) A CI to study environmental issues associated with
Alaska and related Arctic regions and (2) a CI focused on the
development and use of Earth System Modeling applied to climate
applications with timescales of decadal or longer. The application and
award processes for each CI will be covered in this announcement. Both
CIs are expected to provide the necessary capabilities to complement
NOAA's current and planned activities in support of the 5-year Research
Plan and the 20-year Research Vision.
NOAA's Climate Mission Goal in the Arctic requires knowledge of
atmospheric circulation throughout the entire region; inflow and fate
of Pacific and Atlantic water masses throughout the central Arctic
Basin and peripheral seas; sea ice dynamics in all ice covered waters
of the Arctic; and state of land cover, permafrost, glaciers and ice
sheets throughout the Arctic region. NOAA's Ecosystem Mission Goal
proposes documentation of population trends in exploited and protected
species wherever they live in order to assess and manage these species.
NOAA's Weather and Water Mission Goal proposes research to understand
the coastal hazards, storms, and tsunamis that affect Alaska's
population, ecosystems and coast. To achieve its mission in the Arctic,
NOAA will need to engage many international partners. The regional
Alaska CI will be
[[Page 60318]]
a very useful organization for promoting and facilitating international
collaboration of all types. Political boundaries are not the primary
determinant of the geographic scope of this regional CI focused on
Alaska and neighboring Arctic issues; rather boundaries are established
by the science problem being addressed.
The proposed CI for Earth System modeling will be focused on
climate applications for decadal or longer timescales and will
contribute to research leading to operational Earth System Models that
will have many benefits for NOAA. These would include improved
forecasting of ecosystem conditions; new analytical and predictive
capabilities for water resources, hydrology, climate and oceans; and
improved understanding the links between climate and regional impacts,
including drought, hurricanes, fires, and weather extremes.
Both CIs will facilitate a long-term collaborative environment
between NOAA and the recipients within which broad-based research,
modeling, and education and outreach capabilities that focus on the
NOAA priorities identified above can be developed and sustained.
Because of the breadth of the capabilities needed for these CIs, it may
be difficult for some applicants to provide all of the capabilities
required to support NOAA's needs. Given this, NOAA will also consider
applications from a consortium of research institutions working
together as one CI. Any proposals involving a consortium will require a
rationale for that configuration.
DATES: Proposals must be received by the OAR no later than 5 p.m.,
E.T., Monday, December 24, 2007. Proposals submitted after that date
will not be considered.
ADDRESSES: Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply online through
the Grants.gov Web site (https://www.grants.gov) but paper submissions
are acceptable if internet access is not available. If a hard copy
application is submitted, the original and two unbound copies of the
proposal should be included. Paper submissions should be sent to: NOAA,
OAR, 1315 East West Highway, Room 11326, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910,
Attn: Dr. John Cortinas. No e-mail or facsimile proposal submissions
will be accepted. The complete federal funding opportunity
announcements associated with this notice can be found at the
Grants.gov Web site, https://www.grants.gov, and the NOAA Web site at
https://www.nrc.noaa.gov/ci.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the federal funding
opportunity announcement and/or application kit for each of these
Cooperative Institutes, please go to https://www.Grants.gov, via NOAA's
Web site, or contact Dr. John Cortinas, 1315 East West Highway, Room
11326, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910; Telephone: (301) 734-1090;
facsimile: (301) 713-3515; e-mail: John.Cortinas@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All applicants must comply with all
requirements contained in the federal funding opportunity announcements
for each of these CIs.
Background
A CI is a NOAA-supported, non-federal organization that has
established an outstanding research program in one or more areas that
are relevant to the NOAA mission. CIs are established at research
institutions that also have a strong education program with established
graduate degree programs in NOAA-related sciences. The CI provides
significant coordination of resources among all non-government partners
and promotes the involvement of students and postdoctoral scientists in
NOAA-funded research. The CI provides mutual benefits with value
provided by all parties.
For both the Alaska CI and the Earth System Modeling CI, NOAA has
identified the need to establish a CI to focus on scientific research
associated in support of NOAA's Strategic Plan, NOAA's 5-year Research
Plan, and NOAA's 20-year Research Vision. (All documents are available
at https://www.spo.noaa.gov/.)
Alaska and Related Arctic Regions Environmental Research CI
The proposed Alaska CI should possess outstanding capabilities to
provide research under three themes: (1) Ecosystem studies and
forecasting, (2) coastal hazards, and (3) climate change and
variability. To conduct research under these themes, the proposed CI
should possess the flexibility needed to work on multi-disciplinary
research in collaboration with NOAA's Climate Program Office, the
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the NWS Alaska and Pacific regions,
the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the Alaska Center for
Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska--Fairbanks, a
NOAA-funded Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center. In
addition, the CI should collaborate with other NOAA partners including
other CIs and Alaska Sea Grant. NOAA requires substantial flexibility
from the CI to provide both scientific depth to existing programs and
to add new capabilities when NOAA is faced with new drivers (e.g., need
to advance climate impacts science or climate information services for
the region or develop hazard resilient coastal communities).
The CI should have resident or affiliated faculty with broad
expertise in conducting research in all three themes. Research under
these themes will require expertise in physical oceanography, sea ice,
marine biology, remote sensing, land surface hydrology, permafrost,
terrestrial biology (including vegetative land cover), atmospheric
chemistry (including trace substances and fluxes between atmosphere and
ocean and atmosphere and land), glaciology, meteorology, cloud physics,
space physics (including aurora research), regional climate modeling
(including linkages between physical processes and ecological
processes), and technology and engineering for in-situ observing
systems. Staff of the CI should have experience in field operations in
cold environments with a permanent or seasonal cryosphere, including
ship-based operations, terrestrial camps and permanent stations, and
ice camps. The CI should have staff experience in managing and
implementing large-scale, multi-investigator Arctic science programs
involving both domestic and foreign sponsors and scientists. The CI
must have the capability to conduct research related to improving the
detection of tsunamigenic earthquakes using a digital broadband seismic
network.
The CI is expected to have or have access to ice breaking research
vessels necessary to research ice-covered areas of the Arctic Ocean and
the Bering/Chukchi/Beaufort Seas, as well as access to supercomputing
facilities needed to run complex tsunami and climate models. The CI
should also have the ability and desire to provide rapid-response
products to address Arctic science issues of immediate importance, for
example by working with NOAA scientists to test applicability of
research results in an operational environment using a test bed model.
This CI will play an important role in helping NOAA keep its
operational and information services at the state of the art in science
and technology by providing research that is needed for the 5- to 20-
year time frame and working with NOAA to identify promising research
that can be transitioned to operations 2 to 5 years prior to
implementation.
[[Page 60319]]
The CI should have doctoral-level education programs in fields
relevant to NOAA's high latitude missions. The CI is expected to
promote student and postdoctoral involvement in research projects in
ways to train the next generation of scientists and NOAA employees. The
CI should provide support for graduate and undergraduate students and
post-doctoral scientists that will provide a ``hands-on'' opportunity
for the development of a wide range of expertise. NOAA can capitalize
on this expertise, as CI employees and students will work with NOAA to
conduct research that complements NOAA's mission needs. The CI should
also have the capability to share research results conducted at the CI
with the stakeholders and decision makers.
Earth System Modeling for Climate Applications CI
NOAA has established itself as the premier Federal provider of
climate information. Its expertise in long term climate was recently
showcased in the International Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fourth
Assessment Report on Climate Change. It is clear, however, that current
state-of-the-art physical coupled climate models, particularly those
that are used to forecast climate conditions on decadal and longer time
scales, lack important features that are crucial for understanding how
a warming world will affect the world's terrestrial and oceanic
ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, and importantly, how ecosystems
can affect climate change. This understanding can be achieved in part
by a vigorous climate observing program, and by a world class Earth
System modeling capability. The proposed Earth System Modeling CI will
address these needs by providing capabilities in Earth System Modeling
research and Analysis to develop and improve climate models that
simulate and predict chemical, physical, and ecosystem changes in the
whole Earth system. The proposed Alaska CI should possess outstanding
capabilities to provide research under three themes: (1) Earth system
modeling and analysis, (2) data assimilation, and (3) earth system
modeling applications. The CI should have capabilities and conduct
research in data assimilation to develop and improve techniques to
assimilate environmental observations, including aerial, terrestrial,
oceanic, and biological observations, to produce the best estimate of
the environmental state at the time of the observations for use in
analysis, modeling, and prediction activities associated with climate
predications. The CI should also have capabilities to conduct research
on model applications including focus on the use of Earth System Models
to study physical processes associated with long-term (decadal or
longer) climate change and its impacts, including abrupt change,
coastal processes, carbon management, sea-level rise, drought, the
frequency of hurricanes and other extreme events, and climate
predictability, as well as attributing climate change to natural and
anthropogenic forces.
The proposed CI must strongly support ``a strategic approach that
attracts and maintains a competent and diverse workforce and creates an
environment that develops, encourages, and sustains employees as they
work to accomplish NOAA's strategic goals,'' as described in NOAA's
latest Strategic Plan. The CI must also have a strong education program
with established graduate degree programs in NOAA-related sciences.
These programs must provide outstanding opportunities to train the next
generation of scientists and NOAA employees by giving undergraduate,
graduate students, and post-doctoral scientists a ``hands on''
opportunity to participate in NOAA research activities. To strengthen
the collaborations between NOAA and the CI, most of these students and
postdocs should be located close enough to allow them to work with GFDL
scientists in Princeton, New Jersey at least weekly. This training is
extremely important for NOAA as it strives to attract and maintain a
competent and diverse scientific workforce.
Electronic Access: Applicants can access, download, and submit
electronic grant applications, including the full funding opportunity
announcement, for NOAA programs at the Grants.gov Web site: https://
www.grants.gov. The closing date will be the same as for the paper
submissions noted in this announcement. For applicants filing through
Grants.gov, NOAA strongly recommends that you do not wait until the
application deadline date to begin the application process through
Grants.gov. Registration may take up to 10 business days. More details
on how to apply are provided in the NOAA June 30, 2005 Federal Register
Notice on ``Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 2006,'' which
can be found at: https://www.Grants.gov or https://www.ago.noaa.gov/
grants/funding.shtml.
Proposals must include elements requested in the full Federal
Funding Opportunity announcement on the grants.gov portal. If a hard
copy application is submitted, NOAA requests that the original and two
unbound copies of the proposal be included. Proposals, electronic or
paper, should be no more than 75 pages (numbered) in length, excluding
budget, investigators, vitae, and all appendices. Federally mandated
forms are not included within the page count. Facsimile transmissions
and electronic mail submission of full proposals will not be accepted.
Funding Availability: For the proposed Alaska CI, NOAA expects that
approximately $2-3M will be available for the CI in the first year of
the award. For the proposed Earth System Modeling CI, NOAA expects that
approximately $3M will be available in the first year of the award. For
each proposed CI the annual Task I budget should not exceed $300,000.
The final amount of funding available for Task I will be determined
during the negotiation phase of the award based on availability of
funding and any NOAA policies on Task I funding. Funding for subsequent
years is expected to be constant throughout the period, depending on
the quality of the research, the satisfactory progress in achieving the
stated goals described in the proposal, continued relevance to program
objectives, and the availability of funding.
Authorities: 15 U.S.C. 313, 15 U.S.C. 1540; 15 U.S.C. 2901 et
seq., 16 U.S.C. 753a, 33 U.S.C. 883d, 33 U.S.C. 1442, 49 U.S.C.
44720(b).
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: 11.432, Office of Oceanic
and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Joint and Cooperative Institutes.)
Eligibility: Eligibility is limited to non-federal public and
private non-profit universities, colleges and research institutions
that offer accredited graduate level degree-granting programs in NOAA-
related sciences.
Cost Sharing Requirements: To stress the collaborative nature and
investment of a CI by both NOAA and the research institution, cost
sharing is required. There is no minimum cost sharing requirement;
however, the amount of cost sharing will be considered when determining
the level of CI commitment under NOAA's standard evaluation criteria
for overall qualification of applicants. Acceptable cost-sharing
proposals include, but are not limited to, offering a reduced indirect
cost rate against activities in one or more Tasks, waiver of indirect
costs assessed against base funds and/or Task I activities, waiver or
reduction of any costs associated with the use of facilities at the CI,
and full or partial salary funding for the CI director, administrative
staff,
[[Page 60320]]
graduate students, visiting scientists, or postdoctoral scientists.
Intergovernmental Review: Applications under this program are not
subject to Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs.''
Evaluation Criteria and Review and Selection Procedures: NOAA's
standard evaluation criteria and the review and selection procedures
contained in NOAA's June 30, 2005, omnibus notice are applicable to
this solicitation and are as follows:
A. Evaluation Criteria for Projects
Proposals will be evaluated using the standard NOAA evaluation
criteria. Various questions under each criterion are provided to ensure
that the applicant includes information that NOAA will consider
important during the evaluation, in addition to any other information
provided by the applicant. Note that information on how the proposal
addresses issues related to the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) will not be needed in this submission but will be required when
individual projects are proposed.
1. Importance and/or relevance and applicability of proposed
project to the program goals (25 percent): This criterion ascertains
whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance
to NOAA, Federal, regional, State, or local activities.
Does the proposal include research goals and projects that
address the critical issues identified in NOAA's 5-year Research Plan,
NOAA's Strategic Plan, and the priorities described in the federal
funding opportunity announcement published at https://www.grants.gov?
Is there a demonstrated commitment (in terms of resources
and facilities) to enhance existing NOAA and CI resources to foster a
long-term collaborative research environment/culture?
Is there a strong education program with established
graduate degree programs in NOAA-related sciences that also encourages
student participation in NOAA-related research studies?
(For the Earth System Modeling CI only) Will most of the
staff at the CI be located near a NOAA facility, particularly the
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey, to
enhance collaborations with NOAA?
2. Technical/scientific merit (30 percent): This criterion assesses
whether the approach is technically sound and/or innovative, if the
methods are appropriate, and whether there are clear project goals and
objectives.
Does the project description include a summary of clearly
stated goals to be achieved during the five-year period that reflect
NOAA's strategic plan and goals?
Does the CI involve partnerships with other universities
or research institutions, including Minority Serving Institutions and
universities with strong departments that can contribute to the
proposed activities of the CI?
3. Overall qualifications of applicants (30 percent): This
criterion ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary
education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative
resources to accomplish the project.
If the institution(s) and/or principal investigators have
received current or recent NOAA funding, is there a demonstrated record
of outstanding performance working with NOAA scientists on research
projects?
Is there internationally recognized expertise within the
appropriate disciplines needed to conduct the collaborative/
interdisciplinary research described in the proposal?
Is there a well-developed business plan that includes
fiscal and human resource management as well as strategic planning and
accountability?
Are there any unique capabilities in a mission-critical
area of research for NOAA?
Has the applicant shown a substantial investment to the
NOAA partnership, as demonstrated by the amount of the cost sharing
contribution?
4. Project costs (5 percent): The budget is evaluated to determine
if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time-
frame.
5. Outreach and education (10 percent): NOAA assesses whether this
project provides a focused and effective education and outreach
strategy regarding NOAA's mission to protect the Nation's natural
resources.
B. Review and Selection Process
An initial administrative review/screening is conducted to
determine compliance with requirements/completeness. All proposals will
be evaluated and individually ranked in accordance with the assigned
weights of the above evaluation criteria by an independent peer panel
review. At least three experts, who may be Federal or non-Federal, will
be used in this process. If non-Federal experts participate in the
review process, each expert will submit an individual review and there
will be no consensus opinion. The merit reviewers' ratings are used to
produce a rank order of the proposals. The Selecting Official selects
proposals after considering the peer panel reviews and selection
factors listed below. In making the final selections, the Selecting
Official will award in rank order unless the proposal is justified to
be selected out of rank order based upon one or more of the selection
factors.
C. Selection Factors
The merit review ratings shall provide a rank order to the
Selecting Official for final funding recommendations. The Selecting
Official shall award in the rank order unless the proposal is justified
to be selected out of rank order based upon one or more of the
following factors:
1. Availability of funding.
2. Balance/distribution of funds:
a. Geographically.
b. By type of institutions.
c. By type of partners.
d. By research areas.
e. By project types.
3. Whether this project duplicates other projects funded or
considered for funding by NOAA or other Federal agencies.
4. Program priorities and policy factors.
5. Applicant's prior award performance.
6. Partnerships and/or participation of targeted groups.
7. Adequacy of information necessary for NOAA staff to make a NEPA
determination and draft necessary documentation before recommendations
for funding are made to the Grants Officer.
Applicants must comply with all requirements contained in the full
funding opportunity announcements for each project competition in this
announcement.
Universal Identifier: Applicants should be aware that, they are
required to provide a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering
System (DUNS) number during the application process. See the October
30, 2002 Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 210, pp. 66177-66178 for
additional information. Organizations can receive a DUNS number at no
cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number request line at 1
(866) 705-5711 or via the internet (https://www.dunandbradstreet.com).
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): NOAA must analyze the
potential environmental impacts, as required by the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals
which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities. Detailed
information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at NOAA's NEPA
Web site, https://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, and the Council
[[Page 60321]]
on Environmental Quality implementation regulations, https://
ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm.
While not part of this initial application, upon award and
subsequent submission of projects, the CI is required to provide
detailed information on the activities to be conducted, locations,
sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible construction
activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist (e.g., the
use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, introduction of non-
indigenous species, impacts to endangered and threatened species,
aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef systems). In addition
to providing specific information that will serve as the basis for any
required impact analyses, applicants may also be requested to assist
NOAA in drafting of an environmental assessment, if such assessment is
required. Applicants will also be required to cooperate with NOAA in
identifying feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse
environmental impacts of their proposal. The failure to cooperate with
NOAA shall be grounds for not selecting an application. In some cases
if additional information is required after an application is selected,
funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer under a special award
condition requiring the recipient to submit additional environmental
compliance information sufficient to enable NOAA to make an assessment
on any impacts that a project may have on the environment.
Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative
Agreements
The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for
Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register
notice of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389) are applicable to this
solicitation.
Limitation of Liability: Funding for years 2-5 of the Cooperative
Institute is contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds. In
no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for
application preparation costs if these programs fail to receive funding
or are cancelled because of other agency priorities. Publication of
this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or
to obligate any available funds.
Paperwork Reduction Act: This notification involves collection of
information requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The
use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, and SF-LLL and CD-346 has been
approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) respectively
under Control Numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040, and 0348-0046
and 0605-0001. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
Executive Order 12866: It has been determined that this notice is
not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13132 (Federalism): It has been determined that
this notice does not contain policies with Federalism implications as
that term is defined in Executive Order 13132.
Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act: Prior
notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required by the
Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for rules concerning
public property, grants, benefits, and contracts (5 U.S.C. 553 (a)(2)).
Because notice and opportunity for comments are not required
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the analytical requirements
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are
inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not
required and none has been prepared.
Dated: October 18, 2007.
Terry J. Bevels,
Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-20973 Filed 10-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-KD-P
