Assistance to Small Shipyards Grant Program; Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 20.814, 24082-24084 [2011-10511]

Agencies

• Maritime Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 83 (Friday, April 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24082-24084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10511]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration


Assistance to Small Shipyards Grant Program; Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance Number: 20.814

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation, Office 
of Shipyards and Marine Engineering.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: There is currently $9,800,000 available for grants for capital 
and related improvements for qualified small shipyard facilities that 
will be effective in fostering efficiency, competitive operations, and 
quality ship construction, repair, and reconfiguration.

DATES: Key Dates: The period for submitting grant applications, as 
mandated by statute, commenced on April 15, 2011 and will terminate on 
June 14, 2011. The applications must be received by the Maritime 
Administration by 5 p.m. EDT on June 14, 2011. Applications received 
later than this time will not be considered. The Maritime 
Administration intends to award grants no later than August 15, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Shipyards and Marine 
Engineering, Maritime Administration, Room W21-318, 1200 New Jersey 
Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590; phone: (202) 366-5737; or fax: (202) 
366-6988.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Funding Opportunity: Section 54101 of Title 46, United States Code, 
and the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations 
Act, 2011, 2011 Public Law 112-10 provide that the Maritime 
Administration shall establish an assistance program for small 
shipyards. Under this program, there is currently $9,800,000 available 
for grants for capital and related improvements for qualified small 
shipyard facilities that will be effective in fostering efficiency, 
competitive operations, and quality ship construction, repair, and 
reconfiguration. ($200,000 of the $10,000,000 appropriated for the 
program is reserved for program administration.) Such grants may not be 
used to construct buildings or other physical facilities or to acquire 
land unless such use is specifically approved by the Maritime 
Administration as being consistent with and supplemental to capital and 
related infrastructure improvements. Grant funds may also be used for 
maritime training programs to foster technical skills and operational 
productivity in communities whose economies are related to or dependent 
upon the maritime industry. Grants for such training programs may only 
be awarded to ``Eligible Applicants'' as described below, but training 
programs can be established through vendors to such applicants.
    Award Information: The Maritime Administration intends to award the 
full amount of the available funding through grants to the extent that 
there are worthy applications. No more than 25 percent of the funds 
available will be awarded to any small shipyard facility in one 
geographic location that has more than 600 production employees. The 
Maritime Administration will seek to obtain the maximum benefit from 
the available funding by awarding grants for as many of the most worthy 
projects as possible. The Maritime Administration may partially fund 
applications by selecting parts of a total project. The start date and 
period of performance for each award will depend on the specific 
project and must be agreed to by the Maritime Administration.
    Eligibility Information: 1. Eligible Applicants--the statutes 
referenced in ``Funding Opportunity'' above provide that shipyards can 
apply for grants. The small shipyard facility for which a grant is 
sought is defined as a shipyard facility in a single geographical 
location, located in or near a maritime community, which does not have 
more than 1200 employees. The applicant must be the operating entity of 
the shipyard facility. The shipyard facility must construct, repair, or 
reconfigure vessels 40 ft. in length or greater, for commercial or 
government use. 2. Eligible Projects--capital and related improvement 
projects that will be effective in fostering efficiency, competitive 
operations, and quality ship construction, repair, and reconfiguration; 
and training projects that will be effective in fostering employee 
skills and enhancing productivity. For capital improvement projects, 
all items proposed for funding must be new and to be owned by the 
applicant. For both capital improvement and training projects, all 
project costs, including the recipient's share, must be incurred after 
the date of the grant agreement.
    Matching Requirements: The Federal funds for any eligible project 
will not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of such project. The 
remaining portion of the cost shall be paid in funds from or on behalf 
of the recipient. The applicant is required to submit detailed 
financial statements and supporting documentation demonstrating how and 
when such required matching funds are

[[Page 24083]]

proposed to be provided as described below. The recipient's entire 
matching requirement must be paid prior to payment of any federal funds 
for the project. However, for good cause shown, the Maritime 
Administrator may waive the matching requirement in whole or in part, 
if the Administrator determines that a proposed project merits support 
and cannot be undertaken without a higher percentage of federal 
financial assistance.
    Application: An application must be filed on standard Form SF-424, 
which can be found on the Internet at Marad.dot.gov. Although the form 
is available electronically, the application must be filed in hard copy 
as indicated below due to the amount of information requested. A 
shipyard facility in a single geographic location applying for multiple 
projects must do so in a single application. The application for a 
grant must include all of the following information as an addendum to 
Form SF-424. The information should be organized in sections as 
described below:
    Section 1: A description of the shipyard including (a) location of 
the shipyard; (b) a description of the shipyard facilities; (c) years 
in operation; (d) ownership; (e) customer base; (f) current order book, 
including type of work; (g) vessels delivered (or major projects) over 
last 5 years, and (h) Web site address, if any.
    Section 2: For each project proposed for funding, the following:
    (a) A comprehensive, detailed description of the project including 
a statement of whether the project will replace existing equipment, and 
if so the disposition of the replaced equipment.
    (b) A description of the need for the project in relation to 
shipyard operations and business plan and an explanation of how the 
project will fulfill this need.
    (c) An quantitative analysis demonstrating how the project will be 
effective in fostering efficiency, competitive operations, and quality 
ship construction, repair, or reconfiguration (for capital improvement 
projects), or how the project will be effective in fostering employee 
skills and enhancing productivity (for training projects). The analysis 
should quantify the benefits of the project in terms of man-hours 
saved, dollars saved, percentages, or other meaningful metrics. The 
methodology of the analysis should be explained, with identification of 
and justification for assumptions used.
    (d) A detailed methodology and timeline for implementing the 
project.
    (e) A detailed itemization of the cost of the project, together 
with supporting documentation, including current vendor quotes and 
estimates of installation costs.
    (f) A statement explaining whether any elements of the project 
require action under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 
4321, et seq.) or require any licenses or permits.
    Items 2(a) through 2(f) should be repeated, in order, for each 
separate project included in the application.
    Section 3: A table with a prioritized list of projects, their 
respective total costs, and Government portion (in dollars) for each.
    Section 4: A description of existing programs or arrangements, if 
any, which will be used to supplement or leverage the federal grant 
assistance.
    Section 5: Special economic circumstances and conditions, if any, 
of the maritime community in which the shipyard is located (beyond that 
which is reflected in the unemployment rate of the county in which the 
shipyard is located and whether that county is an economically 
distressed area, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 3161).
    Section 6: Shipyard company officer's certification of each of the 
following items:
    (a) That the shipyard facility for which a grant is sought is 
located in a single geographical location in or near a maritime 
community and (i) the shipyard facility has no more than 600 production 
employees, or (ii) the shipyard facility has more than 600 production 
employees, but fewer than 1200 production employees (the shipyard 
officer must certify to one or the other of (i) or (ii));
    (b) That the applicant has the authority to carry out the proposed 
project; and
    (c) Certification in accordance with the Department of 
Transportation's regulation restricting lobbying, 49 CFR part 20, that 
the applicant has not, and will not, make any prohibited payments out 
of the requested grant.
    Certifications are not required to be notarized.
    Section 7: Unique identifier of shipyard's parent company (when 
applicable): Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS + 4 number) (when 
applicable).
    Section 8: 2009 or 2010 (if available) year-end, audited, reviewed 
or compiled financial statements prepared by a certified public 
accountant, according to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, 
not on an income tax basis. September 30, 2010 financial statements 
prepared by the applicant entity if December 31, 2010 CPA-prepared 
statements are not available. Do not provide tax returns.
    Section 9: Statement regarding the relationship between applicants 
and any parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates, if any such entity is 
going to provide a portion of matching funds.
    Section 10: Evidence documenting applicant's ability to satisfy the 
proposed matching fund requirement (loan agreement, commitment from 
investors, cash on balance sheet, etc.) and in the times outlined in 
2(d) above.
    Section 11: Pro-forma financial statements reflecting (a) September 
30, or December 31, 2010 financial condition; (b) effect on balance 
sheet of grant and matching funds (i.e. a decrease in cash or increase 
in debt, additional equity, or an increase in fixed assets); and (c) 
impact on applicant entity's projected financial condition (balance 
sheet) by completion of proposed project, showing that applicant will 
have sufficient financial resources to remain in business.
    Section 12: Statement whether during the past five years, the 
applicant or any predecessor or related entity has been in bankruptcy 
or in reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, or in any 
insolvency or reorganization proceedings, and whether any substantial 
property of the applicant or any predecessor or related entity has been 
acquired in any such proceeding or has been subject to foreclosure or 
receivership during such period. If so, give details.
    Additional information may be requested as deemed necessary by the 
Maritime Administration in order to facilitate and complete its review 
of the application. If such information is not provided, the Maritime 
Administration may deem the application incomplete and cease processing 
it.
    Where to File Application: Submit an original copy and one 
additional paper copy of the application and two CDs each containing a 
complete electronic version of the paper copy in PDF format to: 
Associate Administrator for Business and Finance Development, Room W21-
318, Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 
20590. Submissions should be sent by express delivery service.
    Evaluation of Applications: The Maritime Administration will 
evaluate the applications on the basis of how well the project for 
which a grant is requested would be effective in fostering efficiency, 
competitive operations, and quality ship construction, repair, and 
reconfiguration (for capital improvement projects) or how well the 
project for which a grant is requested would be effective in fostering 
employee

[[Page 24084]]

skills and enhancing productivity (for training projects), and the 
economic circumstances and conditions of the surrounding community. The 
economic circumstances and conditions description will be based on the 
unemployment rate of the county in which the shipyard is located and 
whether that county is an economically distressed area, supplemented by 
any special economic circumstances and conditions identified by the 
applicant. The Maritime Administration will award grants in its sole 
discretion in such amounts and under such conditions it determines will 
best further the statutory purposes of the small shipyard grant 
program. Projects that may require additional environmental assessments 
such as those including waterside improvements (dredging, bulkheading, 
pier work, pilings, etc.) will not be considered for funding. 
Preference will be given to funding applications: (1) That propose 
matching funds greater than a 25% share of the project; (2) that impact 
existing operations and/or product lines rather than expand the 
capabilities of the shipyard into new product lines or capabilities; 
and (3) that result in a geographic diversity of grant recipients.
    Potential applicants are advised that it is expected, based on past 
experience, that application requests will far exceed the funds 
available and that only a small percentage of applications will be 
funded. It is anticipated that about 10 applications will be selected 
for funding with an average grant amount of about $1 million.
    Conditions Attached to Awards: The grant agreement will set out the 
records to be maintained by the recipient that must be available for 
review and audit by the Maritime Administration, as well as any other 
conditions and requirements.

    Dated: April 26, 2011.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Murray Bloom,
Acting Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-10511 Filed 4-27-11; 4:15 pm]
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