[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 204 (Monday, October 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53398-53402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-26553]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 000202024-1248-02; I.D. 100401B]
RIN 0648-ZA79
Announcement of Funding Opportunity to Submit Proposals for the
South Florida Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Program (SFP)
AGENCY: Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research/Coastal Ocean
Program (CSCOR/COP), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability for financial assistance for
project grants and cooperative agreements.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that CSCOR/
COP is soliciting 1-year and 2-year proposals to support coastal
ecosystem studies in South Florida including Florida Bay, Florida Keys,
the Florida Keys National
[[Page 53399]]
Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), and adjacent coastal waters. It will provide
support for research and monitoring activities for the South Florida
Ecosystem Restoration Prediction and Modeling Program (SFERPM), the
South Florida Living Marine Resources Program (SFLMR), and the Florida
Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). The overall goal of this
Announcement is to fund high priority research and monitoring needed to
predict the impacts of Everglades restoration on the South Florida
coastal ecosystem. Funding is contingent upon the availability of
Federal appropriations. It is anticipated that projects funded under
this announcement will have a March 1, 2002 start date.
DATES: The deadline for receipt of proposals at the COP office is 3
p.m., e.s.t. November 29, 2001. (Note that late-arriving applications
provided to a delivery service on or before November 28, 2001, with
delivery guaranteed before 3 p.m., e.s.t. on November 29, 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., e.s.t., no later than 2 business days following the closing
date.)
ADDRESSES: Submit the original and 19 copies of your proposal to Center
for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research/Coastal Ocean Program (N/SCI 2),
SSMC#4, 8th Floor, Station 8243, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring,
MD 20910. NOAA and Standard Form Applications with instructions are
accessible on the following 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. Larry Pugh, SFP
2002 Program Manager, CSCOR/COP, 301-713-3338/ext 160, Internet:
larry.pugh@noaa.gov
Business Management Information. Leslie McDonald, COP Grants
Administrator, 301-713-3338/ext 155, Internet: Leslie.McDonald@noaa.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
Background information on the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration
Prediction and Modeling program, including descriptions of presently
funded projects, results, data management, and programmatic
infrastructure (including small boat access and policy) can be found at
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/ocd/sferpm.
Background information on the Florida Bay and Adjacent Marine
Systems Interagency Science Program, including the Program Management
Committee (PMC), Scientific Oversight Panel (SOP), copies of the annual
science conference abstracts, workshop reports, and present Strategic
Science Plan, can be found at http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/flbay.
Background information regarding Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary can be found at http://www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov.
Background information regarding South Florida Ecosystem
Restoration (SFER) in general can be found at http://www.sfrestore.org,
but the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) can be found
at http://www.evergladesplan.org.
Background
Program Description
For complete program description and other requirements criteria
for the Coastal Ocean Program, 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.
This program is one of the Federal and state programs contributing
to the Florida Bay and Adjacent Marine Systems Interagency Science
Program, which is designed to understand the effects of South Florida
ecosystem restoration.
The activities conducted to restore the South Florida ecosystem
occur predominantly upstream of Florida Bay, and restoration impacts
may not be direct or immediate. Through funding of the research
priorities identified here, COP will fund an integrated suite of
activities to better understand the coastal and marine ecosystem
adjacent to the Everglades, comprising Florida Bay and the FKNMS. The
GOAL of the complete effort is to develop a capability to predict the
impacts of proposed Everglades Restoration activities on the coastal
system from the mangroves to the coral reefs.
Research Areas
To address the goal of developing a capability to predict changes
in coastal ecosystems resulting from Restoration activities, this
announcement has five specific areas of interest: nutrient inputs and
dynamics, water quality, circulation and physical oceanography,
fisheries and protected resources, and Florida Keys habitat
characterization and research.
(1) Nutrient Inputs and Dynamics. Proposals are solicited to
quantitatively address the extent, relative contribution, and
distribution of groundwater-derived nutrients into Florida Bay and the
FKNMS at present and under various upstream water management
alternatives. Proposals are also solicited on nutrient cycles within
the water column and between the water column and benthos. A priority
topic for nutrient proposals will be biogeochemical processes
(including the microbial loop) governing the bio-availability of
organic nitrogen.
(2) Water Quality. The health of the coral reef community of the
FKNMS depends upon the quality (temperature, salinity, nutrients,
inorganic particulate load and chemical contaminants) of the waters
that flow over them. With Everglades restoration, water quality
throughout South Florida coastal waters will be changed. Proposals are
now solicited that address the chemical, biological, and optical
characteristics of Bay waters that exit Keys passes and potentially
reach the reef tract and protected areas in the FKNMS. Priority will be
given to projects coordinated with and complementary to physical
oceanographic field studies and to projects addressing timely
dissemination of information to the Interagency SFER science community
and the public.
(3) Circulation and Physical Oceanography. In the area of
Circulation and Physical Oceanography, emphasis is placed on predicting
the impacts of different restoration scenarios both upstream and in the
Keys in the context of integrated natural system variability. Proposals
are solicited to monitor the oceanographic parameters needed in order
to verify and initialize circulation models; quantify flows
intermittently exiting through Keys passages and potentially reaching
the reef tract; determine basin residence and turnover times,
circulation, and flow within the Bay and upstream effects upon the Dry
Tortugas Ecological Reserve; and improve evaporation and sediment
transport estimates.
(4) Fisheries and Protected Resources. Ecosystem changes caused by
SFER
[[Page 53400]]
activities have ultimate impacts on the sustainability of higher
trophic level (HTL) species, including fishery and protected resources,
which have widely recognized importance. Proposals are solicited to
build models and provide information to increase predictive capability
in linking higher trophic levels to ER activities. Proposals should be
directed at the following research priorities: (1) determining human
(e.g., water management, fishing) and natural influences on biological
processes affecting growth, survival, and recruitment of HTL species;
(2) determining the major factors that influence distribution and
abundance patterns and community and trophic structure; (3) identifying
major pathways, mechanisms, and influencing factors in the transport of
pre-settlement stages of offshore-spawning species onto nursery
grounds; or (4) defining and quantifying major ecological processes
that are substantially influenced by HTL species distributions or
community and trophic structure.
(5) Florida Keys Habitat Characterization and Research. Coral
reefs, seagrass beds, and hardbottom communities comprise the
submerged, biogenic habitats of the FKNMS that support diverse species
assemblages. Monitoring the coral reefs, seagrass beds, and hardbottom
communities is necessary to provide a basis for detecting potential
changes associated with Everglades restoration and fully protected
zones.
Over the past several years, there has been a decline in the
abundance of live coral in the FKNMS and shifting patterns of relative
abundance of seagrass species in Florida Bay. Recently, management
issues concerning hardbottom communities could not be addressed because
of a lack of ecological research. Proposals are now solicited to
investigate (a) causes of coral decline with emphasis on cause and
effect; (b) possible associations between water quality and seagrass
distribution; and (c) the functional significance of hardbottom
communities in the FKNMS ecosystem.
The fully protected zones of the FKNMS, including the Tortugas
Ecological Reserve, were created to assist in the protection of
biological diversity and to disperse resource utilization in order to
reduce user conflicts and to lessen the concentrated impact to marine
organisms on heavily used reefs. Proposals are solicited to monitor
commercially important species (e.g., spiny lobster) and key depleted
fishery species (e.g., queen conch) and to create ecosystem models of
reef fish communities to predict the effects of zoning on species
diversity, abundance, and trophic structure.
Part I: Schedule and Proposal Submission
This document requests full proposals only. The provisions for
proposal 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.
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,
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 must follow the instructions in the preparation of
the CSCOR/COP application forms included in this document in Part II:
Further Supplementary Information, (10) Application forms and kit. 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). The Summary Title page identifies the
project's title starting with the acronym SFP 2002 (South Florida
Project), 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 SFP 2002
program goal. 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.
This section should clearly identify project management with a
description of the functions of each PI within a team. It should
provide a full scientific justification for the research, do not simply
reiterate justifications presented in this document. It 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 goal;
(d) Potential coordination with other investigators; and,
(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 the 15-page project
description.
(4) Milestone chart. Provide time lines of major tasks covering the
12- to 24-month duration of the proposed project.
(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 contact the CSCOR/COP grants administrator
previously listed in the
[[Page 53401]]
section FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
At time of proposal submission, all applicants must 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 must 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 applications must
include a budget narrative and a justification to support all proposed
budget categories. The SF-424A, Budget Information (Non-Construction)
Form, will be requested only from those applicants subsequently
recommended for award.
(6) Biographical sketch. With each proposal, the following must be
included: abbreviated curriculum vitae, two pages per investigator; a
list of up to five publications most closely related to the proposed
project and up to five other significant publications; and 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. 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) Proposal format and assembly. The original proposal should be
clamped in the upper left-hand corner, but left unbound. The 19
additional 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 typeface standard 12-points
size must be clear and easily legible. Proposals should be single
spaced.
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 33 U.S.C. 1442.
(2) Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number. The CFDA
number for the Coastal Ocean Program is 11.478.
(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 2002-2003 Federal appropriations. Approximately $2.8
million per year for FY2002 and FY2003 will be available for SFP
activities under this announcement. Up to $2.1 million of these funds
will be provided by COP and up to $0.6 million will be provided by
NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC.
If an application is selected for funding, NOAA has no obligation
to provide any additional prospective funding in connection with that
award in subsequent years. Renewal of an award to increase funding or
to extend the period of performance is based on satisfactory
performance and is at the total discretion of the funding 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 for non-Federal applicants, interagency transfer
agreements, or any other appropriate mechanisms other than project
grants or cooperative agreements for Federal applicants.
(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 any 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 2 years, i.e. from date of award up to 24 consecutive months. Multi-
year project period funding will be funded incrementally on an annual
basis. For NOAA awards, each annual award shall require an
Implementation Plan and statement of work that can be easily divided
into annual increments of meaningful work representing solid
accomplishments (if prospective funding is not made available, or is
discontinued).
(9) Indirect costs. If indirect costs are proposed, 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); at 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.
(l2) 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
[[Page 53402]]
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. No consensus advice will be given by
the independent peer mail review or the review panel.
(14) Other requirements. As participants in the Interagency Science
Program, funded principal investigators will be expected to:
(a) Participate in meetings for planning and coordination of the
Program. This includes attending and contributing to the annual
Interagency Florida Bay Science Program Conference, Research Team
Meetings, and other relevant technical workshops.
(b) Promptly quality control their data and make them readily
available through the Coordinating Office in accordance with the Data
Policy, mentioned earlier in this document.
(c) Assist the Coordinating Office in the synthesis and
interpretation of research results and the development of products of
value to restoration and resource.
(d) Work with the Coordinating Office regarding small boat
requirements (if any) to schedule access to the dedicated research
vessel (description available on the SFERPM website earlier cited). If
your project will have small boat needs that you cannot furnish, please
provide description and schedule requirements in your proposal.
(e) If your project uses or relies on data/information from the
NOAA CMAN SEAKEYS meteorological/oceanographic monitoring network,
please provide description and requirements in your proposal.
Similarly, if your project uses/relies on data/information from
research categories in this Announcement, other than the one you are
proposing to study, please describe.
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.
(f) The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register
(66 FR 49917, October 1, 2001) are applicable to this solicitation.
(15) Intergovernmental review. Applications under this program are
not subject to Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of
Federal Programs.''
(16) This notification involves collection-of-information
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The use of
Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, and SF-LLL has 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.
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.
Dated: October 16, 2001.
Jamison S. Hawkins,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone
Management.
[FR Doc. 01-26553 Filed 10-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JS-S