[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 48 (Monday, March 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13407-13410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6108]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 940961-4261]
RIN 0648-ZA11


NOAA Seasonal-to-Interannual Climate Prediction Program Research 
Centers, Program Announcement

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: NOAA invites interested institutions to submit letters of 
intent indicating interest in establishing a cooperative agreement with 
NOAA to participate in a multinational network of Research Centers 
within the proposed Seasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction Program 
(SCPP).
    The proposal to establish an end-to-end, multinational SCPP is 
based on the evolution of existing program efforts to observe, 
understand, predict, and assess the ocean and the atmosphere. The 
programmatic strength of these efforts has been derived from the 
support of individual federal agencies working together within the 
context of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP). These 
interrelated efforts provide the foundation which has enabled the 
research community to provide useful predictions of climate variability 
on seasonal to interannual time scales and are each a component of a 
comprehensive Program.
    The U.S. proposes to initiate a multinational planning process 
intended to lead to the establishment of the multinational 
infrastructure needed to generate and transfer useful climate 
information and forecasts. This Announcement of Opportunity is intended 
to result in the establishment of NOAA-designated Research Centers to 
pursue the development of ENSO forecast techniques in anticipation of 
the full multinational structure which will evolve for SCPP. NOAA 
intends to ask one or a group of such Centers selected through this 
announcement to assume specific responsibilities for establishing a 
center to prepare and disseminate regularly an experimental forecast to 
all interested countries. Recognizing the value of El Nino-Southern 
Oscillation (ENSO) forecasting to countries throughout the world, this 
center is referred to as the International Research Institute (IRI) in 
the U.S. proposal to establish a Seasonal-to-Interannual Climate 
Prediction Program. This action on the part of U.S. will represent the 
first step in the process of initializing the participation of all 
interested countries, and therefore NOAA wishes to emphasize that 
extensive multinational consultation will be an integral part of the 
process leading to a U.S. site for an International Research Institute 
for SCPP.
    Funding for activities supported under this announcement will be 
provided through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA) Climate and Global Change Program administered by the NOAA 
Office of Global Programs.

DATES: Letters of intent should be submitted to J. Michael Hall, 
Director, NOAA Office of Global Programs no later than April 12, 1995. 
Response letters will be issued from NOAA by April 26, 1995. Those 
institutions which are encouraged to submit full proposals should do so 
by June 16, 1995. Designation of U.S. Research Centers for SCPP will be 
completed by July 14, 1995, with appropriate funding action initiated 
at that time. Selection of the institution(s) which the U.S. will offer 
as a host site for the Institute is planned to be completed by 
September 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Letters of Intent and Proposals should be submitted to: 
Office of Global Programs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1225, Silver Spring, MD 20910-
5063, Attn.: Dr. J. Michael Hall.
    An Applications Kit can be obtained from: Grants Management 
Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1325 East 
West Highway, Room 5426, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Attn: Michael Nelson.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Kenneth Mooney, NOAA/Office of Global Programs, 1100 Wayne Avenue, 
Suite 1225, Silver Spring, MD 20910-5603; 301-427-2089, Internet: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Funding Availability

    A total of $5.0 million is available for first-year awards under 
this announcement. Of this amount, $4.0 million is envisioned to 
establish an International Research institute for SCPP and $1.0 million 
is to support work at designed SCPP Research Centers.
    This Program Announcement is for projects to be conducted over a 
three-year period. NOAA believes that the SCPP will benefit 
significantly from a strong partnership with outside investigators. The 
funding instrument will be a cooperative agreement based on need for 
substantial NOAA involvement in the implementation of the project for 
which an award is to be made. Funding for non-U.S. institutions and 
contractual arrangements for services and products for delivery to NOAA 
are not available under this announcement.

Program Authority

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 1463; 33 U.S.C. 883d and 883e; 15 U.S.C. 
2907; 15 U.S.C. 2931

(CFDA No. 11.431)--Climate and Atmospheric Research

Program Objectives

    The multinational network of research, application and operational 
centers is designed to catalyze the international scientific community 
in a coordinated research effort to produce the best possible climate 
forecasts a season to a year to two in advance and to provide forecasts 
guidance products which are socially and economically useful to 
countries of the world vulnerable to the impacts of climate 
variability. The network's Research Centers will promote research 
efforts designed to continually develop coupled models of the global 
atmosphere, ocean, and land surface to serve as a basis for improved 
climate prediction one season or one year or more in advance. Research 
Centers will transfer model improvements to the International Research 
Institute for SCPP and to national operational centers.
    The International Research Institute will have the responsibility 
of producing, assessing, and distributing experimental climate forecast 
guidance products on an international basis and will seek funding from 
non-U.S. sources as well as from the U.S. The Institute will generate 
and disseminate experimental forecast guidance and analyses to Regional 
Application Centers, located around the world, which will refine the 
forecast based on analyses of local and regional conditions and 
distribute products of social and economic benefit to users. The U.S. 
will assist as appropriate in the establishment of Application Centers 
through a separate process. All of the NOAA-designated Research Centers 
will work closely with interested national and international 
operational centers, such as NOAA's National Meteorological Center, 
which have responsibilities for routine delivery of climate 
products. [[Page 13408]] 

Program Priorities

    All proposals should provide detailed three-year plans for modeling 
research, education and training which build upon the existing program 
outlined in the letter of intent. Proposals from institutions also 
interested in hosting the IRI for SCPP should also include detailed 
information describing the unique qualifications of the institution(s) 
which will enable it (them) to combine the research and operational 
activities required to effectively coordinate the program. The 
following areas should be addressed in the proposal: Creation and 
maintenance of a climate data base; proposed mechanisms for the 
development and implementation of model improvements; strategy for 
generating experimental forecasts guidance products; evidence of 
capacity for assessing and distributing forecast guidance and 
supporting analyses to Application Centers and national operational 
weather prediction centers; support for the preparation for new 
forecast guidance products based on Application Center needs; and 
commitment to providing education and training for scientists and 
potential users of climate information.

Eligibility

    Extramural eligibility is limited to U.S. institutions. Non-
academic proposers are urged to seek collaboration with academic 
institutions. Universities, non-profit organizations, for-profit 
organizations, State and local governments, and Indian Tribes, are 
included among entities eligible for funding under this announcement.

Award Period

    Proposal for SCPP Research Centers are expected to be of three-year 
duration.

Evaluation Criteria

    Consideration for financial assistance will be given to those 
proposals which address the Program Priorities listed above and meet 
the following evaluation criteria. Equal weight is assigned to each of 
the criteria.
    (1) Scientific Merit: Intrinsic scientific value of the proposed 
research program.
    (2) Relevance: Importance and relevance to the goal of the SCPP.
    (3) Methodology: Focused scientific objective and strategy, 
including modeling research, education and training considerations; 
project milestones; and final products.
    (4) Readiness: Quality of the larger research and education 
environment; relevant history and status of existing work; level of 
planning, including existence of supporting documents; strength of 
proposed scientific and management team; past performance record of 
proposers.
    (5) Linkages: Connections to existing or planned national and 
international programs; partnerships with other agency or NOAA 
participants, and inclination towards ability to function within a 
network of institutions with an international perspective.
    (6) Costs: Adequacy of proposed resources; appropriate share of 
total available resources; prospects for joint funding; identification 
of long-term commitments. Matching funding is encouraged, but is not 
required.

Selection Procedures

    Upon completing the evaluation of the letters of intent, 
institutions will be either discouraged or encouraged to submit full 
proposals for designation as a SCPP Research Center or as a SCPP 
Research Center/and proposed U.S. host for the International Research 
Institute for SCPP. All proposals will be evaluated and ranked using 
the above evaluation criteria by a NOAA review panel which may include 
NOAA and non-NOAA experts in the field. Their recommendations and 
evaluations are considered by the Program Manager in final selections. 
Those ranked by the panel and rated by the Program Manager as not 
recommended for funding are not given further consideration and are 
notified of non-selection. For the proposals rated either Excellent, 
Very Good or Good, the Program Manager will: (a) Ascertain which 
proposals meet the objectives, fit the criteria posted, and do not 
substantially duplicate other projects that are currently funded by 
NOAA or are approved for funding by other federal agencies, (b) select 
the proposals to be funded, (c) determine the total duration of funding 
for each proposal, and (d) determine the amount of funds available for 
each proposal.
    Unsatisfactory performance by a recipient under prior Federal 
awards may result in an application not being considered for funding.

Proposal Submission

    The guidelines for proposal preparation provided below are 
mandatory. Failure to heed these guidelines may result in proposals 
being returned without review.
    (a) Letters of Intent: (1) Letters of Intent are required prior to 
submission of a full proposal. (2) Letters of Intent should be no more 
than ten pages in length and include the name(s) and institution(s) of 
principal investigator(s); detailed description of the resources and 
unique capabilities that the institution would bring to the network, 
specifically scientific expertise, specialized facilities, ongoing 
research activities, educational and training programs, and university 
faculty positions. Explicitly identify existing resource levels for 
TOGA and other relevant research projects supported by NOAA and other 
agencies. Letters of intent from institutions interested in designation 
as a SCPP Research Center which would then, individually or in concert, 
provide host facilities for the Institute should indicate in addition 
specific interest in and capability for serving as the host site for a 
center which will take on the responsibility for systematic production, 
assessment and distribution of experimental climate forecast guidance 
products (the International Research Institute). (3) An original, 
signed letter of intent is required by the deadline date. Facsimile and 
electronic mail submission of letters of intent will not be accepted. 
(4) Evaluation will be by program management, according to the 
selection criteria for full proposals described above. (5) Projects 
deemed unsuitable during program review should not be submitted as full 
proposals.
    (a) Full Proposals: (1) Applicants are not required to submit more 
than an original and two copies of applications. (2) Proposals must be 
limited to 30 pages (numbered), including budget, investigators vitae, 
and all appendices, and should be limited to funding requests for 
three-year duration. Required government standard forms are not 
included in the page limit. (3) An original, signed proposal is 
required by the deadline date. Facsimile transmissions and electronic 
mail submission of full proposals will not be accepted.
    (b) Required Elements: All proposals should include the following 
elements:
    (1) Signed title page: The title page should be signed by the 
Principal Investigator (PI) and the institutional representative and 
should clearly indicate which project area is being addressed. The PI 
and institutional representative should be identified by full name, 
title, organization, telephone number and address. The total amount of 
Federal funds being requested should be listed for each budget period.
    (2) Abstract: An abstract must be included and should contain an 
introduction, rationale and a brief summary of work to be completed. 
The abstract should appear on a separate page, headed with the proposal 
title, institution(s) investigators(s), total proposed cost and budget 
period. [[Page 13409]] 
    (3) Statement of work: The proposed project must be completely 
described, including identification of the problem, scientific 
objectives, proposed methodology, relevance to the goal of the SCPP, 
and the program priorities listed above. Benefits of proposed project 
to the general public and the scientific community should be discussed. 
Results from related projects supported by NOAA and other agencies 
should be included. The statement of work, excluding figures and other 
visual materials, must not exceed 15 pages of text. Appended 
information may not be used to circumvent the page length limit. 
Investigators wishing to submit group proposals that may exceed the 15 
page limit should discuss this possibility with the Program Manager 
prior to submission. In general, proposals from 3 or more investigators 
may include a statement of work containing up to 10 pages of overall 
project description plus up to 5 pages per person of individual project 
descriptions.
    (4) Budget: Applicants must submit a detailed budget using the 
Standard Form 424a(4-92), Budget Information--Non-Construction 
Programs. The form is included in the standard NOAA application kit. 
Unless otherwise directed by the Program Manager, proposals should 
indicate a target start date of September 1, 1995.
    (5) Vitae: Abbreviated Curriculum vitae are sought with each 
proposal. Reference lists should be limited to all publications in the 
last three years with up to five other relevant papers.
    (6) Current and pending support: For each investigator, submit a 
list that includes project title, supporting agency with grant number, 
investigator months, dollar value and duration. Requested values should 
be listed for pending support.
    (c) Other requirements:
    Primary applicant Certification--All primary applicants must submit 
a completed Form CD-511, ``Certification Regarding Debarment, 
Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free Workplace 
Requirements and Lobbying.'' Applicants are also hereby notified of the 
following:
    (1) Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension--Prospective 
participants (as defined at 15 CFR Part 26, section 105) are subject to 
15 CFR Part 26, ``Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension,'' and the 
related section of the certification form prescribed above applies;
    (2) Drug Free Workplace--Grantees (as defined at 15 CFR part 26, 
section 605) are subject to 15 CFR Part 26, Subpart F, ``Governmentwide 
Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)'' and the related section 
of the certification form prescribed above applies;
    (3) Anti-Lobbying--Persons (as defined at 15 CFR Part 28, section 
105) are subject to the lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352, 
``Limitation on use of appropriated funds to influence certain Federal 
contracting and financial transactions,'' and the lobbying section of 
the certification form prescribed above applies to applications/bids 
for grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts for more than 
$100,000, and loans and loan guarantees for more than $150,000, or the 
single family maximum mortgage limit for affected programs, whichever 
is greater; and
    (4) Anti-Lobbying Disclosures--Any applicant that has paid or will 
pay for lobbying using any funds must submit an SF-LLL, ``Disclosure of 
Lobbying Activities,'' as required under 15 CFR part 28, appendix B.
    Lower Tier Certifications--Recipients must require applicants/
bidders for subgrants, contracts, subcontracts, or lower tier covered 
transactions at any tier under the award to submit, if applicable, a 
completed Form CD-512, ``Certifications Regarding Debarment, 
Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion-Lower Tier Covered 
Transactions and Lobbying'' and disclosure form SF-LLL, ``Disclosure of 
Lobbying Activities.'' Form CD-512 is intended for the use of 
recipients and should not be transmitted to DOC. SF-LLL submitted by 
any tier recipient or subrecipient should be submitted to DOC in 
accordance with the instructions contained in the award document.
    (5) Recipients and subrecipients are subject to all applicable 
Federal laws and Federal and Department of Commerce policies, 
regulations, and procedures applicable to Federal financial assistance 
awards.
    (6) Preaward Activities--If applicants incur any costs prior to an 
award being made, they do so solely at their own risk of not being 
reimbursed by the Government. Notwithstanding any verbal assurance that 
may have been received, there is no obligation to the applicant on the 
part of Department of Commerce to cover pre-award costs.
    (7) Applications under this program are not subject to Executive 
Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''
    (8) All non-profit and for-profit applicants are subject to a name 
check review process. Name checks are intended to reveal if any key 
individuals associated with the applicant have been convicted of, or 
are presently facing criminal charges such as fraud, theft, perjury, or 
other matters which significantly reflect on the applicant's 
management, honesty, or financial integrity.
    (9) A false statement on an application is grounds for denial or 
termination of funds and grounds for possible punishment by a fine or 
imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.
    (10) No award of Federal funds shall be made to an applicant who 
has an outstanding delinquent Federal debt until either:
    (i) The delinquent account is paid in full,
    (ii) A negotiated repayment schedule is established and at least 
one payment is received, or
    (iii) Other arrangements satisfactory to the Department of Commerce 
are made.
    (11) Buy American-Made Equipment or Products--Applicants are hereby 
notified that they are encouraged to the extent feasible, to purchase 
American-made equipment or products with funding provided under this 
program in accordance with Congressional intent as set forth in the 
resolution contained in Public Law 103-317, Section 607 (a) and (b).
    (12) The total dollar amount of the indirect costs proposed in an 
application under this program must not exceed the indirect cost rate 
negotiated and approved by a cognizant Federal agency prior to the 
proposed effective date of the award or 100 percent of the total 
proposed direct cost dollar amount in the application, whichever is 
less.
    (d) If an application is selected for funding, the Department of 
Commerce has no obligation to provide any additional future funding in 
connection with the award. Renewal of an award to increase funding or 
extend the period of performance is at the total discretion of the 
Department of Commerce.
    (e) In accordance with Federal statutes and regulations, no person 
on grounds of race, color, age, sex, national origin or disability 
shall be excluded from participation in, denied benefits of, or be 
subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving 
financial assistance from the NOAA Climate and Global Change Program. 
The NOAA Climate and Global Change Program does not have direct TDD 
(Telephone Device for the Deaf) capabilities, but can be reached 
through the State of Maryland supplied TDD contact number, 800-735-
2258, between the hours of 8:00 am-4:30 pm.
    Classification: This notice has been determined to be not 
significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866. The standard forms 
have been approved by [[Page 13410]] the Office of Management and 
Budget pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act under OMB approval 
number 0348-0043, 0348-0044, and 0348-0046.

    Dated: January 9, 1995.
J. Michael Hall,
Director, Office of Global Programs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 95-6108 Filed 3-10-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-12-M