[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15689-15694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6892]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Science Foundation
[Docket 000127019-0323-02; I.D. 111500D]
RIN: 0648-ZA77
Announcement of Funding Opportunity to Submit Proposals for the
Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics Project
AGENCIES: Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research/Coastal Ocean
Program (CSCOR/COP), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC); and
the National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Geosciences,
Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE).
ACTION: Announcement of Funding Opportunity for financial assistance
for project grants and cooperative agreements.
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SUMMARY: The purpose of this document is to advise the public that
CSCOR/COP and NSF are soliciting up to 4-year proposals for the GLOBEC-
01 program as part of a Federal research partnership. Funding is
contingent upon the availability of Federal Fiscal Year 2002
appropriations. It is anticipated that final recommendations for awards
will be made in early FY 2002.
DATES: The deadline for receipt of proposals in the COP office is 3
p.m. local time July 10, 2001. Note that late-arriving applications
provided to a delivery service, on or before, July 9, 2001, with
delivery guaranteed before 3 p.m., EST, on July 10, 2001, will be
accepted for review if the applicant can document that the application
was provided to the delivery service with delivery to the address
listed below guaranteed prior to the specified closing date and time;
and in any event, the proposals are received in the COP office by 3
p.m. EST, no later than two business days following the closing date.
ADDRESSES: Submit the original and 19 copies of your proposal to
Coastal Ocean Program Office (GLOBEC-01), SSMC4, 8th Floor,
Station 8243, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. NOAA and
COP Standard Form Applications with instructions are accessible on the
COP Internet site (http://www.cop.noaa.gov) under the COP Grants
Support Section, Part D, Application Forms for Initial Proposal
Submission. Forms may be viewed, and in most cases, filled in by
computer. All forms must be printed, completed, and mailed to CSCOR/COP
with original signatures. Blue ink for original signatures is
recommended but not required. If you are unable to access this
information, you may call CSCOR/COP at 301-713-3338 to leave a mailing
request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Technical Information: Elizabeth
Turner, GLOBEC Program Manager, COP Office, 603-862-4680, Internet:
Elizabeth.Turner@noaa.gov; or Dr. Phillip Taylor, NSF Division of Ocean
Sciences, 703-292-8582, Internet: prtaylor@nsf.gov
Business Management Information: Leslie McDonald, COP Grants
Administrator, Internet: Leslie.McDonald@noaa.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
Data collected under the U.S. GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic/Georges
Bank Program and associated documentation is available to all
researchers at http://globec.whoi.edu/globec-dir/globec.doc.html under
protocols established under the U.S. GLOBEC Data Policy.
The U.S. GLOBEC Report 10 is available at: http://www.usglobec.org/
reports/datapol/datapol.contents.html). For a list of funded projects
during phases I-III of the Georges Bank Study, consult http://
globec.whoi.edu/globec-dir/list-of-all-projects.html.
Publications resulting from U.S. GLOBEC studies are catalogued at:
[[Page 15690]]
http://www.usglobec.org/misc/funded.contributions.html
The U.S. GLOBEC Report No 6 is available at: http://
www.usglobec.org/reports/reports.home.html6.
For information concerning the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision
Analysis Series report, see: http://www.cop.noaa.gov/pubs/das.html.
For information concerning the NSF form 1239, see: http://
www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?99form1239.
Background
Program Description
For complete Program Description and Other Requirements for the
COP, see the General Grant Administration Terms and Conditions of the
Coastal Ocean Program published in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706,
October 19, 2000) and at the COP home page.
Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (U.S. GLOBEC) is a component of
the U.S. Global Change Research Program, with the goals of
understanding and ultimately predicting how populations of marine
animal species (holozooplankton, fish and benthic invertebrates)
respond to natural and anthropogenic changes in global climate. U.S.
GLOBEC is also the U.S. component of the GLOBEC International program,
a core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, with
co-sponsorship from the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and
the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. This notice is under
the auspices of the U.S. GLOBEC program within NSF/OCE and the regional
ecosystem studies and U.S. GLOBEC initiatives of NOAA's COP.
The GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic study of Georges Bank and environs
has thus far consisted of a three-phase study of the continental margin
and shelf in the context of the larger oceanic boundary region and the
processes and phenomena that affect the ecosystem of the Bank. The
first three phases of this cooperative, inter-agency research program
have supported integrated, multi-investigator, inter-disciplinary
programs of modeling, retrospective analysis, and monitoring and
process field studies. This coordinated effort has the overall goal of
understanding of the potential impacts of climate variability and
change on the ecosystem dynamics of Georges Bank with the aim of
improving predictability and management of U.S. marine resources.
This request for proposals constitutes the initiation of the fourth
and final phase of the U.S. GLOBEC/Northwest Atlantic Program. Its
principal objective is to foster integration and synthesis of data
collected during the field phases of the program and other relevant
data and knowledge, through group interactions and modeling activities;
no new field work will be supported. The Phase IV initiative is
absolutely open to the participation of scientists without past
involvement in U.S. GLOBEC as well as current U.S. GLOBEC
investigators. The organization of principal investigators and
proposals with emphasis on the integration of observations and models,
and the close coordination of research groups with one another, will be
vital to the success of the Phase IV synthesis effort.
Research Program Goals
Within the overall goal outlined above, this Northwest Atlantic/
Georges Bank Program continues to have three specific goals:
(1) To determine the processes that control the Georges Bank
circulation and transport of biological and chemical materials in a
strongly tidal and wind-driven system, and to determine how physical
and biological processes control the population dynamics of the target
organisms (early life stages of cod and haddock and the copepods
Calanus finmarchicus and Pseudocalanus spp.) in the Northwest Atlantic/
Georges Bank area; and
(2) To embody this understanding in conceptual and quantitative
models capable of elucidating ecosystem dynamics and responses on a
broad range of space and time scales; and
(3) To understand the effects of climate variability and climate
change on the distribution, abundance and production of the target
organisms.
The specific objectives and scientific questions related to these
goals are described in greater detail in U.S. GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic
Implementation Plan (Report No. 6) referenced earlier in this document.
This report should be consulted in responding to this announcement. An
online version is available under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
of this document.
Research Approach
Phase IV of the U.S. GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic/Georges Bank Program
will emphasize a number of topic areas. Examples of appropriate topics
to be considered are described here. The intent is for coordinated
activities that collectively address the program goals. It is
anticipated that proposed work may address more than one of these topic
areas.
(1) Synthesis of Data Sets
Integration of broad-scale, process, and vital-rate study
components of the program, and of observational, retrospective and
modeling analyses are critical in the development of the synthesis
research efforts. Investigators who have not been involved in the first
three phases of the program, but who have new ideas about how to
analyze or model currently available data sets are strongly encouraged
to participate. Investigators involved in the first three field phases
of the program are encouraged to collaborate in the integration of
their data sets with other data sets to facilitate multi-disciplinary
approaches to understanding factors affecting the dynamics of the
target organisms. Topics under this initiative include, but are not
limited to:
(a) Occurrence, abundance, and distribution of target species:
Broad-scale studies include integration and synthesis of data collected
during Phases I-III from shipboard surveys, moorings, and satellites.
The emphasis is on the determination of the distribution and abundance
of the target organisms in relation to their physical environment
during the pelagic period of cod and haddock early life history stages.
Creation of integrated data sets that can be used for inter-annual
comparisons of population processes and their coupling to the physical
structure and variability of the environment to answer the key
questions posed in Phases I-III is of fundamental importance.
(b) Processes that regulate the occurrence, abundance and
distribution of target species: Synthesis of process and vital-rate
studies will include the integration of field and laboratory data
designed to investigate specific biological and physical processes
associated with vertical mixing and stratification with regional
exchanges of water and organisms on and off Georges Bank, and with the
mechanisms and dynamics of cross-frontal exchanges of water and
organisms to understand critical forcing mechanisms. Examples include:
synthesis of the experimental measurements of vital rates of target
species to determine if the vertical distribution and vital rates of
target species are correlated with mixing processes; examination of
physical exchanges of water across the boundary of the Bank to
determine how they influence population abundance and how exchange of
the biota is affected by vertical migration behavior; and examination
of how plankton patchiness, predator-prey interactions,
[[Page 15691]]
and vital rates are influenced by turbulence on all scales.
(2) Physical/biological Modeling
The development and use of conceptual and quantitative models to
investigate physical and coupled physical/biological processes in the
Georges Bank ecosystem have been emphasized throughout the U.S. GLOBEC
Northwest Atlantic/Georges Bank program. Three-dimensional circulation
models have been used to study the influence of seasonal stratification
and wind forcing on flow to and over the Bank, using both idealized and
realistic regional bathymetry and forcing. The role of advection,
turbulent mixing, nutrient supply, insolation, predation, and other
factors on the early population development of the target species has
been examined using both continuous and individual-based models. These
studies have involved both diagnostic and predictive models, and more
recently included data assimilation to improve model accuracy and
understanding of key processes. In Phase IV, these and other model
approaches will be encouraged, with the following multiple aims: (a) To
improve understanding of the key physical and biological processes
which affect the target species on Georges Bank; (b) to help integrate
and synthesize the various physical and biological data collected
during the field program; and (c) to begin coupling the lower and upper
trophic level models of the Georges Bank ecosystem.
Ideally, a product of Phase IV will be quantitative coupled
physical/biological ecosystem models that embody the collective
knowledge learned in the Georges Bank program and that can be used to
investigate the Bank ecosystem response to future climate variability.
(3) Upstream and Broader Scale Effects Influenced by Climate Change
Waters from the Labrador Sea and Gulf of St. Lawrence flow
southwestward along the eastern Canadian slope and shelf and can be
traced downstream to the Middle Atlantic Bight. Thus, the planktonic
populations located off eastern Canada are connected with those of the
Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank region and points south. Results from phases
I to III have shown that these advective fluxes are important
contributors to the target species dynamics in the Gulf of Maine and on
Georges Bank. Hydrographic changes observed in the Georges Bank/Gulf of
Maine region are now known to be part of a larger scale regional change
likely associated with ocean basin scale atmospheric forcings (North
Atlantic Oscillation).
In Phase IV, particular emphasis will be placed on the inter-
regional coupling of target species populations through the larger
scale current systems. This initiative will provide a unique
opportunity for evaluation of large-scale environmental influences. In
this regard, the Atlantic component of Canada GLOBEC investigated the
effect of environment on gadid fish and copepods using field
observations, laboratory experiments, and numerical models. Integration
and collective analysis of these data sets are encouraged. One mutual
question is how much regional variability in zooplankton abundance on
the continental shelf is generated locally as opposed to being
controlled by advective forcing from slope and shelf currents or the
adjoining open ocean? Together with historical data sets, recent
observations made during Phases I-III can be used to evaluate the
affects of environment on zooplankton populations and recruitment of
gadid stocks.
At these scales, it is possible to address the effects of climate
variability as manifest through changes in the shelf and Slope Water
transports and water properties. For example, general circulation model
products could yield insight into the nature and magnitude of historic
or projected change, the historic hydrographic record could be examined
for similar information, and these changes could be imposed on
simulations of the coupled physical/biological shelf system. Studies
that investigate this regional manifestation of climate variability are
encouraged.
(4) Comparative Regional Studies and Climate Change
Ecosystem studies similar to U.S. GLOBEC and Canadian GLOBEC have
been conducted in other regions of the North Atlantic Ocean. For
example, the ICES Cod and Climate Change program and Trans-Atlantic
Studies of Calanus (TASC) have emphasized studies of the biology of cod
and the copepod Calanus in the northeastern Atlantic and their coupling
to large-scale and meso-scale circulation. There exists an opportunity
for regional comparisons across the North Atlantic. Such studies should
emphasize comparison at a fundamental level specifically addressing
vital rates of the target species (fecundity, feeding, growth as a
function of food levels and temperature), behavior, predation, trophic
interactions, and source populations. In addition, the extent and
timing of zooplankton transport among the regions and the role of banks
and nearby basins as spawning/nursery areas for gadids and their
zooplanktonic prey need to be examined. In phase IV, such basin-scale
studies will be encouraged.
Recent results from these programs show that regional Calanus
finmarchicus fluctuations are linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation
and thus are sensitive to climate variability and change. To understand
the linkage, there is a need for more comprehensive modeling to
integrate basin-scale ocean and atmospheric models with near shore
regional biophysical models in order to identify and separate processes
which are linked to the large scale forcing from those which act more
locally.
(5) Development of Indices to Characterize Environmental and Ecosystem
Status and Change
A more complete understanding of the Georges Bank ecosystem gained
through the U.S. GLOBEC program should allow for the design of better,
more efficient, and more informative, monitoring programs in the
region. Achieving this improvement will involve determining indices for
the physical and lower trophic level system components that best
characterize the status of the ecosystem, particularly in relation to
potential higher trophic level production. An important goal is for the
indices to identify the environmental influence on fish recruitment
variability that can be incorporated into the assessment of the fish
stocks in the region. Indices may be derived from directly measured
parameters or from output of specific configurations of U. S. GLOBEC
biological-physical models.
One form that this type of synthesis may take is a written
documentation of the state of the Georges Bank ecosystem during the
GLOBEC years. Such a document should include an overview of the GLOBEC
NWA program and how it led to the identification of indices, and use of
these variables in summarizing the state of the ecosystem. This could
be published initially as a NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision
Analysis Series report, but could also be updated on a regular basis as
a tool to provide regional managers, such as the New England Fishery
Management Council, with ecosystem information. Information on the
Decision Analysis Series is shown at a web site listed earlier in this
document under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
Part I: Schedule and Proposal Submission
This document requests full proposals only. The provisions for
proposal
[[Page 15692]]
preparation provided here are mandatory. Proposals received after the
published deadline or proposals that deviate from the prescribed format
will be returned to the sender without further consideration.
Information regarding this announcement, additional background
information, and required Federal forms are available on the COP home
page.
Proposals may be submitted by institutions in support of individual
investigators or small groups. Synergistic collaboration among
researchers and collaboration or partnerships with industry or
government laboratories is encouraged when appropriate. Group and
collaborative proposals involving more than one institution must be
submitted as a single administrative package from one of the
institutions involved. Foreign institutions are not eligible for
funding through this announcement.
Full Proposals
Applications submitted in response to this announcement require an
original proposal and 19 proposal copies at time of submission. This
includes color or high-resolution graphics, unusually-sized materials
(not 8.5 x 11" or 21.6 cm x 28 cm), or otherwise unusual
materials submitted as part of the proposal. For color graphics, submit
either color originals or color copies. The stated requirements for the
number of proposal copies provide for a timely review process.
Facsimile transmissions and electronic mail submission of full
proposals will not be accepted.
Required Elements
All recipients are to closely follow the instructions and
guidelines in the preparation of the standard NOAA Application Forms
and Kit requirements listed earlier in this document under the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. Each proposal must also include the
following eight elements:
(1) Signed Summary title page: The title page should be signed by
the Principal Investigator (PI) and the institutional representative.
The Summary Title page identifies the project's title starting with the
acronym GLOBEC-01, a short title (less than 50 characters), and the
PI's name and affiliation, complete address, phone, FAX, and E-mail
information. The requested budget for each fiscal year should be
included on the Summary Title page. Multi-institution proposals must
include signed Summary Title pages from each institution.
(2) One-page abstract/project summary: The Project Summary
(Abstract) Form, which is to be submitted at time of application, shall
include an introduction of the problem, rationale, scientific
objectives and/or hypotheses to be tested, and a brief summary of work
to be completed. The prescribed COP format for the Project Summary Form
can be found on the COP Internet site under the COP Grants Support
section, Part D.
The summary should appear on a separate page, headed with the
proposal title, institution(s), investigator(s), total proposed cost,
and budget period. It should be written in the third person. The
summary is used to help compare proposals quickly and allows the
respondents to summarize these key points in their own words.
(3) Statement of work/project description: The proposed project
must be completely described, including identification of the problem,
scientific objectives, proposed methodology, relevance to the GLOBEC-01
program goals, and its scientific priorities. The project description
section (including relevant results from prior support) should not
exceed 15 pages. Page limits are inclusive of figures and other visual
materials, but exclusive of references and milestone chart.
Project management should be clearly identified with a description
of the functions of each PI within a team. It is important to provide a
full scientific justification for the research; do not simply reiterate
justifications presented in this document. This section should also
include:
(a) The objective for the period of proposed work and its expected
significance;
(b) The relation to the present state of knowledge in the field and
relation to previous work and work in progress by the proposing
principal investigator(s);
(c) A discussion of how the proposed project lends value to the
program goals, and
(d) Potential coordination with other investigators.
(e) References cited: Reference information is required. Each
reference must include the name(s) of all authors in the same sequence
in which they appear in the publications, the article title, volume
number, page numbers, and year of publications. While there is no
established page limitation, this section should include bibliographic
citations only and should not be used to provide parenthetical
information outside of the 15-page project description.
(4) Milestone chart: Provide time lines of major tasks covering the
duration of the proposed project, up to 60 months.
(5) Budget and Application Forms: Both NOAA and COP-specific
application forms may be obtained at the COP Grants website. Forms may
be viewed, and in most cases, filled in by computer. All forms must be
printed, completed, and mailed to CSCOR/COP; original signatures in
blue ink are encouraged. If applicants are unable to access this
information they may call the CSCOR/COP grants administrator listed in
the heading Electronic Access
At time of proposal submission, all applicants shall submit the
Standard Form, SF-424 (Rev 7-97) Application for Federal Assistance, to
indicate the total amount of funding proposed for the whole project
period. Applicants will also submit a COP Summary Proposal Budget Form
for each fiscal year increment. Multi-institution proposals must
include a Summary Proposal Budget Form for each institution. Use of
this budget form will provide for a detailed annual budget and for the
level of detail required by the COP program staff to evaluate the
effort to be invested by investigators and staff on a specific project.
The COP budget form is compatible with forms in use by other agencies
that participate in joint projects with COP and can be found on the COP
home page under COP Grants Support, Part D.
All applicants shall include a budget narrative and a justification
to support all proposed budget categories. The SF-424A, Budget
Information (Non-Construction) Form, shall be requested from only those
recipients subsequently recommended for a NOAA award. Proposals
subsequently selected for NSF funding will be required to comply with
that agency's grants administration forms and paperwork requirements.
(6) Biographical sketch: Abbreviated curriculum vitae, two pages
per investigator, are sought with each proposal. Include a list of up
to five publications most closely related to the proposed project and
up to five other significant publications. A list of all persons
(including their organizational affiliation), in alphabetical order,
who have collaborated on a project, book, article, or paper within the
last 48 months should be included. If there are no collaborators, this
should be so indicated. Students, post-doctoral associates, and
graduate and postgraduate advisors of the PI should also be disclosed.
This information is used to help identify potential conflicts of
interest or bias in the selection of reviewers.
(7) Current and pending support: NSF requires information on
current and pending support of all proposers. Describe all current and
pending support for all PIs, including subsequent funding in the case
of continuing grants.
[[Page 15693]]
A model format is shown at the webside listed in this document under
Supplementary Information. Use of this form is optional; however, the
categories of information included on the NSF Form 1239 must be
provided. All current support from whatever source (e.g., Federal,
State or local government agencies, private foundations, industrial or
other commercial organizations) must be listed.
The proposed project and all other projects or activities requiring
a portion of time of the PI and other senior personnel should be
included, even if they receive no salary support from the project(s).
The total award amount for the entire award period covered (including
indirect costs) should be shown as well as the number of person-months
per year to be devoted to the project, regardless of source of support.
(8) Proposal format and assembly: The original proposal should be
clamped in the upper left-hand corner, but left unbound. The 20
required copies can be stapled in the upper left-hand corner or bound
on the left edge. The page margin must be one inch (2.5 cm) margins at
the top, bottom, left and right, and the type face standard 12 points
size must be clear and easily legible.
Part II: Further Supplementary Information
(1) Program authorities: For a list of all program authorities for
the Coastal Ocean Program, see the General Grant Administration Terms
and Conditions of the Coastal Ocean Program published in the Federal
Register (65 FR 62706, October 19, 2000) and at the COP home page.
Specific Authority cited for this Announcement is U.S.C. 883(d) for the
Coastal Ocean Program and the National Science Foundation Act of 1950,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 1861-75), for the National Science Foundation.
(2) Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.478
Coastal Ocean Program and 47.050 for the Directorate for Geosciences,
National Science Foundation.
(3) Program description: For complete COP program descriptions, see
the General Grant Administration Terms and Conditions of the Coastal
Ocean Program published in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October
19, 2000).
(4) Funding availability: Funding is contingent upon receipt of
fiscal years 2002-2005 Federal appropriations. The anticipated maximum
funding for GLOBEC activities under this announcement is estimated at
$2M per year over 4 years (FY2002-FY2005). Priority consideration will
be given to a set of proposals that provide balanced coverage of the
overall GLOBEC science goals stated in this Document, and avoid
duplication of completed or ongoing work.
If an application is selected for funding, NSF and NOAA have no
obligation to provide any additional prospective funding in connection
with that award in subsequent years. Renewal of an award to increase
funding or extend the period of performance is based on satisfactory
performance and is at the total discretion of the funding agencies. Not
all proposals selected will receive funding for the entire duration of
the program.
Moreover, start dates for some proposals may be delayed, or
proposals may be funded for a portion of the four years only. Proposals
selected for funding by NSF will need to submit additional forms
required by that agency. Publication of this notice does not obligate
any agency to any specific award or to obligate any part of the entire
amount of funds available. Recipients and subrecipients are subject to
all Federal laws and agency policies, regulations, and procedures
applicable to Federal financial assistance awards.
(5) Matching requirements: None.
(6) Type of funding instrument: Project Grants, Interagency
Agreements, or NOAA Financial Operating Plan transfers.
(7) Eligibility criteria: For complete eligibility criteria for the
COP, see COP's General Grant Administration Terms and Conditions annual
document in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October 19, 2000) and
the COP home page. Eligible Applicants are institutions of higher
education, not-for-profit institutions, international organizations,
state, local and Indian tribal governments and Federal agencies. COP
will accept proposals that include foreign researchers as collaborators
with a researcher who is affiliated with a U.S. academic institution,
Federal agency, or other non-profit organization.
Applications from non-Federal and Federal applicants will be
competed against each other. Proposals selected for funding from non-
Federal applicants will be funded through a project grant or
cooperative agreement under the terms of this notice. Proposals
selected for funding from NOAA employees shall be effected by an intra-
agency fund transfer. Proposals selected for funding from a non-NOAA
Federal agency will be funded through an inter-agency transfer. PLEASE
NOTE: Before non-NOAA Federal applicants may be funded, they must
demonstrate that they have legal authority to receive funds from
another Federal agency in excess of their appropriation. Because this
announcement is not proposing to procure goods or services from
applicants, the Economy Act (31 USC 1535) is not an appropriate legal
basis.
(8) Award period: Full Proposals can cover a project period from 1
to 4 years, i.e. from date of award for up to 48 consecutive months.
Multi-year project period funding may be funded incrementally on an
annual basis; but once awarded, multi-year projects will not compete
for funding in subsequent years. For NOAA awards, each annual award
shall require a Statement of Work that can be easily separated into
annual increments of meaningful work which represent solid
accomplishments if prospective funding is not made available, or is
discontinued.
(9) Indirect costs: If Indirect costs are proposed, the following
statement applies: The total dollar amount of the indirect costs
proposed in an application must not exceed the indirect cost rate
negotiated and approved by a cognizant Federal agency prior to the
proposed effective date of the award.
(10) Application forms and kit: For complete information on
application forms for the COP, see COP's General Grant Administration
Terms and Conditions annual Document in the Federal Register (65 FR
62706, October 19, 2000); the COP home page; and the information given
under Required Elements, paragraph (5) Budget.
(11) Project funding priorities: For description of project funding
priorities, see COP's General Grant Administration Terms and Conditions
annual notification in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October 19,
2000) and at the COP home page.
(12) Evaluation criteria: For complete information on evaluation
criteria, see COP's General Grant Administration Terms and Conditions
annual Document in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October 19, 2000)
and at the COP home page.
(13) Selection procedures: For complete information on selection
procedures, see COP's General Grant Administration Terms and Conditions
annual Document in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October 19, 2000)
and at the COP home page. All proposals received under this specific
Document will be evaluated and ranked individually in accordance with
the assigned weights of the above evaluation criteria by independent
peer mail review and panel review.
At conclusion of the review process, the NOAA GLOBEC Program
Manager or the NSF Biological Oceanography Program Director or staff
will notify lead
[[Page 15694]]
proposers for those projects recommended for support, and negotiate
revisions in the proposed work and budget. Final awards will be issued
by the agency responsible for a specific project after receipt and
processing of any specific materials required by the agency.
(14) Other requirements: For a complete description of other
requirements, see COP's General Grant Administration Terms and
Conditions annual Document in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706,
October 19, 2000) and at the COP home page. NOAA has specific
requirements that environmental data be submitted to the National
Oceanographic Data Center.
(15) Pursuant to Executive Orders 12876, 12900 and 13021, the
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to broadening the participation of
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving
Institutions and Tribal Colleges and Universities in its educational
and research programs. The DOC/NOAA vision, mission and goals are to
achieve full participation by Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) in
order to advance the development of human potential, to strengthen the
nation's capacity to provide high-quality education, and to increase
opportunities for MSIs to participate in, and benefit from, Federal
Financial Assistance programs. DOC/NOAA encourages all applicants to
include meaningful participation of MSIs.
(16) Applicants are hereby notified that they are encouraged, to
the greatest practicable extent, to purchase American-made equipment
and products with funding provided under this program.
(17) Intergovernmental review: Applications under this program are
not subject to Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of
Federal Programs.''
(18) This notification involves collection-of-information
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The use of
Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, and SF-LLL have been approved by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under control numbers 0348-0043,
0348-0044, 0348-0040 and 0348-0046.
The following requirements have been approved by OMB under control
number 0648-0384; a Summary Proposal Budget Form (30 minutes per
response), a Project Summary Form (30 minutes per response), a
standardized format for the Annual Performance Report (5 hours per
response), a standardized format for the Final Report (10 hours per
response), and the submission of up to 20 copies of proposals (10
minutes per response). The response estimates include the time for
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate
or any other aspect of this collection of information, including
suggestions for reducing this burden, to Leslie.McDonald@noaa.gov.
Copies of these forms and formats can be found on the COP home page
under Grants Support sections, Parts D and F.
Proposals to NSF must include the NSF Form l239 for Current and
Pending Support. The NSF Form l239 for Current and Pending Support is
also cleared as part of the NSF Grant Proposal Guide and Proposal Forms
Kit under OMB Number 3145-0058 with an expiration date of June 2002.
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 Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
February 9, 2001.
Donald Heinrichs,
Interim Director, Division of Ocean Sciences, National Science
Foundation.
Dated: February 13, 2001.
Ted I. Lillestolen,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, National Ocean Service, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-6892 Filed 3-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S