Availability of Draft Guidelines for the Marine Debris Program Grant Program, 14961-14964 [E8-5442]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 55 / Thursday, March 20, 2008 / Notices
redetermination pursuant to Court
remand with the CIT. See Final Remand
Results of Redetermination Pursuant to
Court Remand, Court No. 02–00376,
(January 28, 2008) (‘‘Final Remand
Redetermination’’). On March 5, 2008
the CIT sustained all aspects of the Final
Remand Redetermination. See Crawfish
II.
In its decision in Timken, 893 F.2d at
341, the CAFC held that, pursuant to
section 516A(e) of the Act, the
Department must publish a notice of a
court decision that is not ‘‘in harmony’’
with a Department determination, and
must suspend liquidation of entries
pending a ‘‘conclusive’’ court decision.
As a result of the Department’s
treatment of Fujian and Pacific Coast as
affiliated parties, the CIT’s decision in
this case, on March 5, 2008, constitutes
a final decision of the court that is not
in harmony with the Department’s Final
Results. This notice is published in
fulfillment of the publication
requirements of Timken. Accordingly,
the Department will continue the
suspension of liquidation of the subject
merchandise pending the expiration of
the period of appeal or, if appealed,
pending a final and conclusive court
decision. In the event the CIT’s ruling is
not appealed or, if appealed, upheld by
the CAFC, the Department will instruct
U.S. Customs and Border Protection to
revise the cash deposit rates covering
the subject merchandise.
This notice is issued and published in
accordance with section 516A(c)(1) of
the Act.
Dated: March 14, 2008.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
[FR Doc. E8–5669 Filed 3–19–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[Docket No.: 071213835–7836–01]
RIN: 0648–ZB84
Availability of Draft Guidelines for the
Marine Debris Program Grant Program
National Ocean Service (NOS),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Request for Comments on
Proposed Guidelines for NOAA’s
Marine Debris Program Grant Program.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NOAA’s Office of Response
and Restoration, National Ocean
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:44 Mar 19, 2008
Jkt 214001
Service, is issuing guidelines to
implement the Marine Debris Program
(MDP) grant program. The MDP was
created by the Marine Debris Research,
Prevention, and Reduction Act (33
U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) to coordinate,
strengthen, and enhance the awareness
of marine debris efforts within the
agency and work with external partners
to support research, prevention, and
reduction activities related to the issue
of marine debris. The NOAA MDP
mission is to support a national and
international effort focused on
preventing, identifying and removing
marine debris and to protect and protect
our nation’s natural resources, oceans,
and coastal waterways from the impacts
of marine debris. Within the Act, the
MDP is directed to develop formal
guidelines for the implementation of a
grant program and is seeking comments
on the proposed grant program
guidelines through this document.
DATES: The agency must receive
comments concerning this document on
or before April 21, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Please send your comments
by e-mail to: NOAA.Marine
Debris.FRNcomments@noaa.gov or by
mail to: Sarah E. Morison, NOAA
Marine Debris Program Coordinator,
Office of Response and Restoration,
N/ORR, SSMC4, 10th floor, 1305 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD,
20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sarah E. Morison, Tel: 301–713–2989
x120 or by e-mail at:
Sarah.Morison@NOAA.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA’s
Marine Debris Program (MDP) serves as
a centralized marine debris capability
within NOAA in order to coordinate,
strengthen, and increase the visibility of
marine debris issues and efforts within
the agency, its partners, and the public.
The NOAA MDP mission is to support
a national and international effort
focused on preventing, identifying and
removing marine debris and to protect
and protect our nation’s natural
resources, oceans, and coastal
waterways from the impacts of marine
debris. Additionally, the MDP supports
and works closely with various partners
across the U.S. to fulfill the Program’s
mission. The proposed guidelines
implementing the MDP’s grant program
are set forth below.
Electronic Access
Information on the MDP can be found
on the World Wide Web at: https://
marinedebris.noaa.gov,
The proposed guidelines
implementing the MDP grant program
are set forth below.
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
14961
NOAA MARINE Debris Program Grant
Program Guidelines
Section 1. Goals and Objectives
The Marine Debris Research,
Prevention, and Reduction Act (the Act)
(33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) establishes a
marine debris program within the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) to reduce and
prevent the occurrence and adverse
impacts of marine debris on the marine
environment and navigation, through
activities such as:
• Mapping, identification, impact
assessment, removal, and prevention;
• Reducing and preventing loss of
fishing gear; and
• Outreach.
The Act also directs the Administrator
to provide financial assistance in the
form of grants to accomplish the Act’s
purpose of identifying, determining
sources of, assessing, reducing, and
preventing marine debris and its
adverse impacts on the marine
environment, living marine resources,
and navigation safety.
The Act further directs the
Administrator to issue guidelines for the
implementation of the grant program,
including development of criteria and
priorities for grants, in consultation
with the Interagency Marine Debris
Coordinating Committee; regional
fishery management councils
established under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act; state, regional, and
local governmental entities with marine
debris experience; marine-dependent
industries; and nongovernmental
organizations involved in marine debris
research, prevention, and removal
activities.
The grant program’s objective is to
bring together groups, public and nonprofit organizations, industry, academia,
commercial organizations, corporations
and businesses, youth conservation
corps, students, landowners, and local
governments, and state and Federal
agencies to implement marine debrisrelated projects to support NOAA’s
mission, ‘‘to understand and predict
changes in Earth’s environment and
conserve and manage coastal and
marine resources to meet our Nation’s
economic, social, and environmental
needs.’’ These diverse entities will be
sought at the national, state, and local
level to contribute funding, technical
assistance, workforce support or other
in-kind services to allow citizens to take
responsibility for the improvement of
important, living marine resources, their
habitats and other uses of the ocean that
are impacted by marine debris.
E:\FR\FM\20MRN1.SGM
20MRN1
14962
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 55 / Thursday, March 20, 2008 / Notices
Section 2. Purpose of the Guidelines
These guidelines provide information
for potential applicants to the NOAA
Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) grant
program. In regard to MDP grants that
may be awarded by NOAA through
competitive solicitations, the guidelines
explain the grant program goals and
objectives, and the implementation of
the competitive grant program.
In order to accomplish its
comprehensive mission, the MDP
anticipates using two different
approaches in designing its grant
program. First, the MDP will solicit
recipients who will work directly on
individual projects related to relevant
marine debris issues. Second, the MDP
will solicit diverse entities which will
be funded to engage actively in
establishing partnership arrangements
with other organizations with the
purpose of cooperatively implementing
marine debris-related projects to benefit
NOAA trust resources. The entities
selected to establish these partnerships
will assume the administrative
responsibilities, such as awarding
contracts and managing progress and
financial reports, for making subawards
to accomplish individual projects.
Section 3. Definition of Terms
Act—Marine Debris Research,
Prevention, and Reduction Act (P.L.
109–449,33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.)
Administrator—The Administrator of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
Marine Debris—TBD, currently being
written with USCG.
MDP—Marine Debris Program, within
the NOAA National Ocean Service,
Office of Response and Restoration.
NOAA—The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, within the
U.S. Department of Commerce.
State—Any State of the United States,
American Samoa, Guam, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as
well as any other territory or possession
of the United States, or separate
sovereign in free association with the
United States.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
Section 4. Eligible Participants
In accordance with section 3(c)(4) of
the Act, any state, local or tribal
government whose activities affect
research or regulation of marine debris
and any institution of higher education;
nonprofit organization, Regional Fishery
Management Councils, or commercial
organization, with expertise in a field
related to marine debris, is, eligible to
submit a marine debris proposal under
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:44 Mar 19, 2008
Jkt 214001
this grant program. Individuals may also
apply. Federal agencies are not eligible
to apply for funding through any
opportunity covered by these
guidelines; however, they are
encouraged to work in partnership with
state agencies, municipalities, and
community groups who may apply.
Section 5. Activities To Address Marine
Debris
Generally, the MDP grant program is
interested in funding projects that
address one or more activities specified
in the Act, including:
• Mapping, identification, impact
assessment, removal and prevention of
marine debris;
• Reducing and preventing the loss of
fishing gear;
• Outreach and education; and
• Assisting in maintaining an up-todate Federal marine debris information
clearinghouse.
The MDP anticipates that proposed
projects, either funded directly through
NOAA or through entities selected to
leverage funding through partnership
arrangements with other organizations,
should clearly demonstrate anticipated
benefits to:
• Aquatic habitats, including but not
limited to, salt marshes, seagrass beds,
coral reefs, mangrove forests, or other
sensitive aquatic habitats;
• Species, including marine
mammals, commercial and noncommercial fishery resources;
endangered and threatened marine
species, seabirds, or other NOAA trust
resources;
• Navigation safety; or
• Other aspects of the marine
environment.
Research-focused projects should
explicitly state the hypothesis or
purpose of the research, the methods
that will be used, and how the results
may be used and analyzed to better
understand or decrease the impacts or
amount of marine debris in the
environment. Research projects are not
required to have an outreach
component; however, they should
include a method for sharing project
results with other researchers and
relevant parties.
Prevention-focused projects should
have a component that is able to
measure the success of the activity
within a target audience or debris type.
Reduction-focused projects should
emphasize reduction and prevention
within local, state or regional plans.
Removal of debris should result in
benefits to the species and habitats
listed in this section of these guidelines,
and respond to a local, state or regional
prioritization method. Projects that
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
make debris less harmful while in the
environment are also considered
reduction-focused. Examples of this
type of project are modifications to
fishing gear so that, if lost, there is a
mechanism for trapped animals to
escape or a way to reduce the gear’s
fishing efficiency.
Outreach projects should be focused
enough to achieve results within a target
audience; be able to measure the
attitudes and behaviors of the target
audience before and after the project,
convey the importance of marine debris
issues, and have tangible products.
The Federal marine debris
information clearinghouse, as of early
2008, has not yet been organized. Its
status will be updated and provided in
any funding opportunity announcement
that lists maintaining the clearinghouse
as a priority to focus project proposals.
The MDP anticipates that funding
opportunities will note the priorities in
the selection of applications in the
competitive announcements. Such
priorities may note that applications
would be more likely to be successful if
they demonstrated a clear need for the
proposed action(s), assisted the nation
in gaining a better understanding of, or
addressing, marine debris, and have
clear results within the priorities of the
applicable funding opportunity.
Monitoring or performance evaluation
components to address the long-term
success of the project are also
encouraged. As is warranted, the MDP
may develop other selection priorities
for inclusion in the funding
opportunities.
The MDP anticipates that nonresearch projects requesting funds
predominantly for administration,
salaries, and overhead may be
discouraged in light of the fact that the
majority of funds should be used for
activities that would otherwise not be
undertaken. Actual uses of the funds
would depend on the type and focus of
the project.
Section 6. Cost-Sharing Requirement
Section 3(c)(2)(A) of the Act (33
U.S.C. 1952(c)(2)(A)) states Federal
funds may not exceed 50 percent of the
total cost of a project under this
Program. The competitive funding
opportunities will set out how the
match requirement may be met, such as
through volunteer hours, and will vary
depending on the entities selected for
funding. Section 3(C)(2)(B) provides that
a waiver of the match may be allowed
if the Administrator determines the
project meets the following two
requirements:
E:\FR\FM\20MRN1.SGM
20MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 55 / Thursday, March 20, 2008 / Notices
(1) No reasonable means are available
through which applicants can meet the
matching requirement, and
(2) The probable benefit of such
project outweighs the public interest in
the matching requirement.
Any applicant interested in requesting
a waiver should provide a detailed
justification explaining the need for the
waiver including attempts to obtain
sources of matching funds, how the
benefit of the project outweighs the
public interest in providing match, and
any other extenuating circumstances
preventing the availability of match.
In addition, the Act provides, in
section 3(c)(3)(A), that if authorized by
the Administrator or the Attorney
General, the non-Federal share of the
cost of a project may include money or
the value of any in-kind service
performed under an administrative
order on consent or judicial consent
decree that will remove or prevent
marine debris.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
Section 7. Funding Mechanisms
The MDP grant program may use new
or existing NOAA grant programs as
vehicles to fund projects related to the
purposes of the Act. The MDP
anticipates that competitive funding
opportunities will be announced
entailing marine debris funding and
including funding priorities for the year.
Opportunities will be made public
through a Notice of Funding
Availability (NOFA) published in the
Federal Register and posted on https://
www.grants.gov. The availability of
funding to be awarded through
subgrants from NOAA grant recipients,
including applicable selection priorities,
will be announced through email, Web
sites, and press releases.
Section 8. NOAA Funding Sources and
Dispersal Mechanisms
The MDP grant program envisions
funding projects through cooperative
agreements and grants, as appropriate.
A cooperative agreement is a funding
mechanism reflecting a relationship
between NOAA and a recipient
whenever: (1) The principal purpose of
the relationship is to transfer funds,
services or goods to the recipient for a
public purpose, and (2) substantial
involvement is anticipated between
NOAA and the recipient during
performance of the contemplated
activity.
A grant is similar to a cooperative
agreement, except that in the case of
grants, substantial involvement between
NOAA and the recipient is not
anticipated during the performance of
the contemplated activity. Financial
assistance is the transfer of money,
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:44 Mar 19, 2008
Jkt 214001
property, services or anything of value
to a recipient in order to accomplish a
public purpose of support or
stimulation that is authorized by
Federal statute.
Each year, the NOAA Marine Debris
Program Director will determine the
proportion of Program funds that will be
allocated to direct project funding
through grants and to organizations that
will leverage NOAA dollars through
partnership arrangements. The
proportion of funding to be allocated to
these organizations may depend upon
the amount of funds available from
partnering organizations to leverage
NOAA dollars and the ability of
partners to help NOAA fund a broad
array of projects over a wide geographic
distribution.
Section 9. NOAA Selection Guidelines
NOAA’s Notice of Funding
Availability (NOFA) and accompanying
Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO)
announcement will contain funding
opportunity descriptions, award
information, eligibility information,
application and submission
information, priority funding areas for
the year, application review and
selection criteria, award administration
information, Administrative and
National Environmental Policy Act
requirements, agency contacts, and
other information for potential
applicants. In 2000, NOAA adopted five
standard evaluation criteria for all its
competitive grant programs, as follows:
• Importance and Applicability of
Proposal—This criterion ascertains
whether there is intrinsic value in the
proposed work and/or relevance to
NOAA, Federal, regional, state or local
activities.
• Technical/Scientific Merit—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.
• Overall Qualifications of
Applicants—This criterion ascertains
whether the applicant possesses the
necessary education, experience,
training facilities, and administrative
resources to accomplish the project.
• Project Costs—This criterion
evaluates the budget to determine if it
is realistic and commensurate with the
project needs and time-frame.
• Outreach, Education, and
Community Involvement—NOAA
assesses whether the project provides a
focused and effective education and
outreach strategy regarding NOAA’s
mission.
Information on how these criteria are
specifically applied in the context of the
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
14963
NOAA Marine Debris Program will be
described each year in the NOFAs and
FFOs for NOAA-funded project awards
and for awards to organizations that will
issue subawards to fund projects related
to marine debris issues.
Section 10. Partnerships With Other
Federal Agencies
Should other Federal agencies partner
with NOAA to award funding,
opportunities will be published in
https://www.grants.gov and through such
other vehicles as may be appropriate for
the particular agency making the
solicitation announcement. Examples
would be the Federal Register or the
particular agencies’ Web sites.
Application requirements may vary by
partner agency and will be specified in
the relevant solicitations.
Section 11. Environmental Compliance
and Safety
It is the applicant’s responsibility to
obtain all necessary Federal, state, and
local government permits and approvals
for the proposed work. Applicants are
expected to design their projects so that
they minimize the potential for adverse
impacts to the environment. NOAA
must analyze the potential
environmental impacts, as required by
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), for applications that seek
NOAA funding and which are subject to
NOAA control and discretion. Proposals
should provide enough detail for NOAA
to make a NEPA determination.
Successful applications cannot be
forwarded to the NOAA Grants
Management Division with
recommendations for funding until
NOAA completes necessary NEPA
documentation or determines it does not
apply.
Consequently, as part of an
applicant’s package, and under the
description of proposed activities,
applicants will be required to provide
detailed information on the activities to
be conducted, such as site locations,
species and habitat(s) to be affected,
possible construction activities, and any
environmental concerns that may exist
(e.g., the use of and/or disposal of
hazardous or toxic substances,
introduction of non-indigenous species,
impacts to endangered and threatened
species, impacts to coral reef systems).
For partnerships, where project-specific
details may not be available at the time
an award is made, partners must meet
the same environmental compliance
requirements on subsequent subawards.
In addition to providing specific
information that will serve as the basis
for any required impact analyses,
E:\FR\FM\20MRN1.SGM
20MRN1
14964
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 55 / Thursday, March 20, 2008 / Notices
applicants may also be required to assist
NOAA in the drafting of an
environmental assessment if NOAA
determines an assessment is necessary
and that one does not already exist for
the activities proposed in the
application. Applicants will also be
required to cooperate with NOAA in
identifying and implementing feasible
measures to reduce or avoid any
identified adverse environmental
impacts of their proposal. The selecting
official may decide, at the time of
proposal review, to recommend funding
a project in phases to enable an
applicant to provide information needed
for an environmental assessment,
feasibility analysis or similar activity if
a NEPA determination cannot be made
for all activities in a particular
application. The selecting official may
also impose special award conditions
that limit the use of funds for activities
that have outstanding environmental
compliance requirements. Special
award conditions may also be imposed,
for example, to ensure that grantees
consider and plan for the safety of
volunteers, and provide appropriate
credit for NOAA and other contributors.
Activities that address marine debris,
particularly removal actions, can be
dangerous and may require additional
safety consideration. The applicant may
be requested to submit safety
information for activities being
considered, to ensure full review and
understanding. The selecting official
may also impose special award
conditions that limit the use of funds for
activities that have outstanding safety
issues.
Section 12. Funding Ranges
The funding opportunities, number of
awards, and funding ranges to be made
in future years will depend on the
amount of funds appropriated to the
MDP annually by Congress. Such
information will be published in the
NOFA and FFO for each funding
opportunity.
Statutory Authority
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
Marine Debris Research, Prevention,
and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1951 et
seq.)
Dated: March 7, 2008.
William Corso,
Deputy Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. E8–5442 Filed 3–19–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–JE–M
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:44 Mar 19, 2008
Jkt 214001
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XG45
New England Fishery Management
Council; Public Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; public meeting.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The New England Fishery
Management Council’s (Council) Vessel
Monitoring System (VMS)/Enforcement
Committee will meet to consider actions
affecting New England fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
DATES: The meeting will be held on
Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 9 a.m.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting address: The meeting will be
held at the Starboard Galley Restaurant,
55 Water Street, Newburyport, MA;
(978)462–1326.
Council address: New England
Fishery Management Council, 50 Water
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul
J. Howard, Executive Director, New
England Fishery Management Council;
telephone: (978)465–0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The items
of discussion in the committee’s agenda
are as follows:
Agenda for Thursday, April 3, 2008
1. The VMS/Enforcement Committee
will discuss the running clock;
discussion points include a 24 hour
limit, safety improvements, enforced
with VMS, call-in, Interactive Voice
Response, radioing U.S. Coast Guard,
and others.
2. They will also discuss Sector
monitoring and enforcement; how many
landings there are (proposed and
actual), percentage of vessels checked at
the dock by Office of Law Enforcement/
States (proposed and actual), weighmaster minimum requirements,
enforcement of independent monitoring,
changes required in enforcement
priorities and practices, and others.
Although non-emergency issues not
contained in this agenda may come
before this group for discussion, those
issues may not be the subject of formal
action during this meeting. Action will
be restricted to those issues specifically
identified in this notice and any issues
arising after publication of this notice
that require emergency action under
section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Act, provided the public has been
notified of the Council’s intent to take
final action to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible
to people withdisabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul
J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5
days prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 17, 2008.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8–5633 Filed 3–19–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XE04
New and Revised Conservation and
Management Measures and
Resolutions for Antarctic Marine Living
Resources Under the Auspices of
CCAMLR
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NMFS notifies the public that
the United States has accepted
conservation and management measures
and a resolution pertaining to fishing in
Antarctic waters managed by the
Commission for the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(Commission or CCAMLR). The
Commission adopted these measures at
its twenty-sixth meeting in Hobart,
Tasmania, October 22 to November 2,
2007. The measures have been agreed
upon by the Member countries of
CCAMLR, including the United States,
in accordance with Article IX of the
Convention for the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources (the
Convention). The measures include:
measures previously adopted by the
Commission and remaining in force;
measures adopted for the 2007/2008
fishing season to restrict overall catches,
research catch and bycatch of certain
species of finfish, squid, krill and crabs;
restrict fishing in certain areas; restrict
use of certain fishing gear; specify
implementation and inspection
obligations supporting the Catch
Documentation Scheme of Contracting
Parties; and promote compliance with
E:\FR\FM\20MRN1.SGM
20MRN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 55 (Thursday, March 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14961-14964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5442]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No.: 071213835-7836-01]
RIN: 0648-ZB84
Availability of Draft Guidelines for the Marine Debris Program
Grant Program
AGENCY: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Request for Comments on Proposed Guidelines for NOAA's Marine
Debris Program Grant Program.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean
Service, is issuing guidelines to implement the Marine Debris Program
(MDP) grant program. The MDP was created by the Marine Debris Research,
Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) to coordinate,
strengthen, and enhance the awareness of marine debris efforts within
the agency and work with external partners to support research,
prevention, and reduction activities related to the issue of marine
debris. The NOAA MDP mission is to support a national and international
effort focused on preventing, identifying and removing marine debris
and to protect and protect our nation's natural resources, oceans, and
coastal waterways from the impacts of marine debris. Within the Act,
the MDP is directed to develop formal guidelines for the implementation
of a grant program and is seeking comments on the proposed grant
program guidelines through this document.
DATES: The agency must receive comments concerning this document on or
before April 21, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Please send your comments by e-mail to:
NOAA.MarineDebris.FRNcomments@noaa.gov or by mail to: Sarah E. Morison,
NOAA Marine Debris Program Coordinator, Office of Response and
Restoration, N/ORR, SSMC4, 10th floor, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD, 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah E. Morison, Tel: 301-713-2989
x120 or by e-mail at: Sarah.Morison@NOAA.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA's Marine Debris Program (MDP) serves as
a centralized marine debris capability within NOAA in order to
coordinate, strengthen, and increase the visibility of marine debris
issues and efforts within the agency, its partners, and the public. The
NOAA MDP mission is to support a national and international effort
focused on preventing, identifying and removing marine debris and to
protect and protect our nation's natural resources, oceans, and coastal
waterways from the impacts of marine debris. Additionally, the MDP
supports and works closely with various partners across the U.S. to
fulfill the Program's mission. The proposed guidelines implementing the
MDP's grant program are set forth below.
Electronic Access
Information on the MDP can be found on the World Wide Web at:
https://marinedebris.noaa.gov,
The proposed guidelines implementing the MDP grant program are set
forth below.
NOAA MARINE Debris Program Grant Program Guidelines
Section 1. Goals and Objectives
The Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (the Act)
(33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) establishes a marine debris program within the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to reduce and
prevent the occurrence and adverse impacts of marine debris on the
marine environment and navigation, through activities such as:
Mapping, identification, impact assessment, removal, and
prevention;
Reducing and preventing loss of fishing gear; and
Outreach.
The Act also directs the Administrator to provide financial
assistance in the form of grants to accomplish the Act's purpose of
identifying, determining sources of, assessing, reducing, and
preventing marine debris and its adverse impacts on the marine
environment, living marine resources, and navigation safety.
The Act further directs the Administrator to issue guidelines for
the implementation of the grant program, including development of
criteria and priorities for grants, in consultation with the
Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee; regional fishery
management councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act; state, regional, and local
governmental entities with marine debris experience; marine-dependent
industries; and nongovernmental organizations involved in marine debris
research, prevention, and removal activities.
The grant program's objective is to bring together groups, public
and non-profit organizations, industry, academia, commercial
organizations, corporations and businesses, youth conservation corps,
students, landowners, and local governments, and state and Federal
agencies to implement marine debris-related projects to support NOAA's
mission, ``to understand and predict changes in Earth's environment and
conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's
economic, social, and environmental needs.'' These diverse entities
will be sought at the national, state, and local level to contribute
funding, technical assistance, workforce support or other in-kind
services to allow citizens to take responsibility for the improvement
of important, living marine resources, their habitats and other uses of
the ocean that are impacted by marine debris.
[[Page 14962]]
Section 2. Purpose of the Guidelines
These guidelines provide information for potential applicants to
the NOAA Marine Debris Program's (MDP) grant program. In regard to MDP
grants that may be awarded by NOAA through competitive solicitations,
the guidelines explain the grant program goals and objectives, and the
implementation of the competitive grant program.
In order to accomplish its comprehensive mission, the MDP
anticipates using two different approaches in designing its grant
program. First, the MDP will solicit recipients who will work directly
on individual projects related to relevant marine debris issues.
Second, the MDP will solicit diverse entities which will be funded to
engage actively in establishing partnership arrangements with other
organizations with the purpose of cooperatively implementing marine
debris-related projects to benefit NOAA trust resources. The entities
selected to establish these partnerships will assume the administrative
responsibilities, such as awarding contracts and managing progress and
financial reports, for making subawards to accomplish individual
projects.
Section 3. Definition of Terms
Act--Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (P.L.
109-449,33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.)
Administrator--The Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
Marine Debris--TBD, currently being written with USCG.
MDP--Marine Debris Program, within the NOAA National Ocean Service,
Office of Response and Restoration.
NOAA--The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, within
the U.S. Department of Commerce.
State--Any State of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as any other
territory or possession of the United States, or separate sovereign in
free association with the United States.
Section 4. Eligible Participants
In accordance with section 3(c)(4) of the Act, any state, local or
tribal government whose activities affect research or regulation of
marine debris and any institution of higher education; nonprofit
organization, Regional Fishery Management Councils, or commercial
organization, with expertise in a field related to marine debris, is,
eligible to submit a marine debris proposal under this grant program.
Individuals may also apply. Federal agencies are not eligible to apply
for funding through any opportunity covered by these guidelines;
however, they are encouraged to work in partnership with state
agencies, municipalities, and community groups who may apply.
Section 5. Activities To Address Marine Debris
Generally, the MDP grant program is interested in funding projects
that address one or more activities specified in the Act, including:
Mapping, identification, impact assessment, removal and
prevention of marine debris;
Reducing and preventing the loss of fishing gear;
Outreach and education; and
Assisting in maintaining an up-to-date Federal marine
debris information clearinghouse.
The MDP anticipates that proposed projects, either funded directly
through NOAA or through entities selected to leverage funding through
partnership arrangements with other organizations, should clearly
demonstrate anticipated benefits to:
Aquatic habitats, including but not limited to, salt
marshes, seagrass beds, coral reefs, mangrove forests, or other
sensitive aquatic habitats;
Species, including marine mammals, commercial and non-
commercial fishery resources; endangered and threatened marine species,
seabirds, or other NOAA trust resources;
Navigation safety; or
Other aspects of the marine environment.
Research-focused projects should explicitly state the hypothesis or
purpose of the research, the methods that will be used, and how the
results may be used and analyzed to better understand or decrease the
impacts or amount of marine debris in the environment. Research
projects are not required to have an outreach component; however, they
should include a method for sharing project results with other
researchers and relevant parties.
Prevention-focused projects should have a component that is able to
measure the success of the activity within a target audience or debris
type.
Reduction-focused projects should emphasize reduction and
prevention within local, state or regional plans. Removal of debris
should result in benefits to the species and habitats listed in this
section of these guidelines, and respond to a local, state or regional
prioritization method. Projects that make debris less harmful while in
the environment are also considered reduction-focused. Examples of this
type of project are modifications to fishing gear so that, if lost,
there is a mechanism for trapped animals to escape or a way to reduce
the gear's fishing efficiency.
Outreach projects should be focused enough to achieve results
within a target audience; be able to measure the attitudes and
behaviors of the target audience before and after the project, convey
the importance of marine debris issues, and have tangible products.
The Federal marine debris information clearinghouse, as of early
2008, has not yet been organized. Its status will be updated and
provided in any funding opportunity announcement that lists maintaining
the clearinghouse as a priority to focus project proposals.
The MDP anticipates that funding opportunities will note the
priorities in the selection of applications in the competitive
announcements. Such priorities may note that applications would be more
likely to be successful if they demonstrated a clear need for the
proposed action(s), assisted the nation in gaining a better
understanding of, or addressing, marine debris, and have clear results
within the priorities of the applicable funding opportunity. Monitoring
or performance evaluation components to address the long-term success
of the project are also encouraged. As is warranted, the MDP may
develop other selection priorities for inclusion in the funding
opportunities.
The MDP anticipates that non-research projects requesting funds
predominantly for administration, salaries, and overhead may be
discouraged in light of the fact that the majority of funds should be
used for activities that would otherwise not be undertaken. Actual uses
of the funds would depend on the type and focus of the project.
Section 6. Cost-Sharing Requirement
Section 3(c)(2)(A) of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1952(c)(2)(A)) states
Federal funds may not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of a project
under this Program. The competitive funding opportunities will set out
how the match requirement may be met, such as through volunteer hours,
and will vary depending on the entities selected for funding. Section
3(C)(2)(B) provides that a waiver of the match may be allowed if the
Administrator determines the project meets the following two
requirements:
[[Page 14963]]
(1) No reasonable means are available through which applicants can
meet the matching requirement, and
(2) The probable benefit of such project outweighs the public
interest in the matching requirement.
Any applicant interested in requesting a waiver should provide a
detailed justification explaining the need for the waiver including
attempts to obtain sources of matching funds, how the benefit of the
project outweighs the public interest in providing match, and any other
extenuating circumstances preventing the availability of match.
In addition, the Act provides, in section 3(c)(3)(A), that if
authorized by the Administrator or the Attorney General, the non-
Federal share of the cost of a project may include money or the value
of any in-kind service performed under an administrative order on
consent or judicial consent decree that will remove or prevent marine
debris.
Section 7. Funding Mechanisms
The MDP grant program may use new or existing NOAA grant programs
as vehicles to fund projects related to the purposes of the Act. The
MDP anticipates that competitive funding opportunities will be
announced entailing marine debris funding and including funding
priorities for the year. Opportunities will be made public through a
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published in the Federal Register
and posted on https://www.grants.gov. The availability of funding to be
awarded through subgrants from NOAA grant recipients, including
applicable selection priorities, will be announced through email, Web
sites, and press releases.
Section 8. NOAA Funding Sources and Dispersal Mechanisms
The MDP grant program envisions funding projects through
cooperative agreements and grants, as appropriate.
A cooperative agreement is a funding mechanism reflecting a
relationship between NOAA and a recipient whenever: (1) The principal
purpose of the relationship is to transfer funds, services or goods to
the recipient for a public purpose, and (2) substantial involvement is
anticipated between NOAA and the recipient during performance of the
contemplated activity.
A grant is similar to a cooperative agreement, except that in the
case of grants, substantial involvement between NOAA and the recipient
is not anticipated during the performance of the contemplated activity.
Financial assistance is the transfer of money, property, services or
anything of value to a recipient in order to accomplish a public
purpose of support or stimulation that is authorized by Federal
statute.
Each year, the NOAA Marine Debris Program Director will determine
the proportion of Program funds that will be allocated to direct
project funding through grants and to organizations that will leverage
NOAA dollars through partnership arrangements. The proportion of
funding to be allocated to these organizations may depend upon the
amount of funds available from partnering organizations to leverage
NOAA dollars and the ability of partners to help NOAA fund a broad
array of projects over a wide geographic distribution.
Section 9. NOAA Selection Guidelines
NOAA's Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and accompanying
Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) announcement will contain funding
opportunity descriptions, award information, eligibility information,
application and submission information, priority funding areas for the
year, application review and selection criteria, award administration
information, Administrative and National Environmental Policy Act
requirements, agency contacts, and other information for potential
applicants. In 2000, NOAA adopted five standard evaluation criteria for
all its competitive grant programs, as follows:
Importance and Applicability of Proposal--This criterion
ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or
relevance to NOAA, Federal, regional, state or local activities.
Technical/Scientific Merit--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.
Overall Qualifications of Applicants--This criterion
ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary education,
experience, training facilities, and administrative resources to
accomplish the project.
Project Costs--This criterion evaluates the budget to
determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs
and time-frame.
Outreach, Education, and Community Involvement--NOAA
assesses whether the project provides a focused and effective education
and outreach strategy regarding NOAA's mission.
Information on how these criteria are specifically applied in the
context of the NOAA Marine Debris Program will be described each year
in the NOFAs and FFOs for NOAA-funded project awards and for awards to
organizations that will issue subawards to fund projects related to
marine debris issues.
Section 10. Partnerships With Other Federal Agencies
Should other Federal agencies partner with NOAA to award funding,
opportunities will be published in https://www.grants.gov and through
such other vehicles as may be appropriate for the particular agency
making the solicitation announcement. Examples would be the Federal
Register or the particular agencies' Web sites. Application
requirements may vary by partner agency and will be specified in the
relevant solicitations.
Section 11. Environmental Compliance and Safety
It is the applicant's responsibility to obtain all necessary
Federal, state, and local government permits and approvals for the
proposed work. Applicants are expected to design their projects so that
they minimize the potential for adverse impacts to the environment.
NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applications that
seek NOAA funding and which are subject to NOAA control and discretion.
Proposals should provide enough detail for NOAA to make a NEPA
determination. Successful applications cannot be forwarded to the NOAA
Grants Management Division with recommendations for funding until NOAA
completes necessary NEPA documentation or determines it does not apply.
Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under the
description of proposed activities, applicants will be required to
provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted, such as
site locations, species and habitat(s) to be affected, possible
construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist
(e.g., the use of and/or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances,
introduction of non-indigenous species, impacts to endangered and
threatened species, impacts to coral reef systems). For partnerships,
where project-specific details may not be available at the time an
award is made, partners must meet the same environmental compliance
requirements on subsequent sub-awards.
In addition to providing specific information that will serve as
the basis for any required impact analyses,
[[Page 14964]]
applicants may also be required to assist NOAA in the drafting of an
environmental assessment if NOAA determines an assessment is necessary
and that one does not already exist for the activities proposed in the
application. Applicants will also be required to cooperate with NOAA in
identifying and implementing feasible measures to reduce or avoid any
identified adverse environmental impacts of their proposal. The
selecting official may decide, at the time of proposal review, to
recommend funding a project in phases to enable an applicant to provide
information needed for an environmental assessment, feasibility
analysis or similar activity if a NEPA determination cannot be made for
all activities in a particular application. The selecting official may
also impose special award conditions that limit the use of funds for
activities that have outstanding environmental compliance requirements.
Special award conditions may also be imposed, for example, to ensure
that grantees consider and plan for the safety of volunteers, and
provide appropriate credit for NOAA and other contributors.
Activities that address marine debris, particularly removal
actions, can be dangerous and may require additional safety
consideration. The applicant may be requested to submit safety
information for activities being considered, to ensure full review and
understanding. The selecting official may also impose special award
conditions that limit the use of funds for activities that have
outstanding safety issues.
Section 12. Funding Ranges
The funding opportunities, number of awards, and funding ranges to
be made in future years will depend on the amount of funds appropriated
to the MDP annually by Congress. Such information will be published in
the NOFA and FFO for each funding opportunity.
Statutory Authority
Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C.
1951 et seq.)
Dated: March 7, 2008.
William Corso,
Deputy Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. E8-5442 Filed 3-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JE-M