[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5393-5396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-2840]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPPTS-00208; FRL-5582-5]


Notice of Availability of FY 1997 Grant Funds for the 
Establishment of a Pollution Prevention Information Network

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: EPA is soliciting grant proposals to establish a national 
network of pollution prevention information centers. EPA anticipates 
that between $750,000 and $1 million will be available. The purpose of 
this request for proposals is threefold: (1) To create new centers for 
the collection, synthesis and dissemination of pollution prevention 
information for States not currently served by a pollution prevention 
regional center, (2) to support existing regional pollution prevention 
information centers and (3) to coordinate work among new and existing 
centers in order to: minimize duplication of effort in information 
collection and synthesis, and training for the promotion of pollution 
prevention technologies, and establish information standards and peer 
review that will facilitate information exchange among centers. Grants/
cooperative agreements will be awarded under the authority of the 
Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.

DATES: Applications must be postmarked by April 28, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain copies of the grant guidance 
and application package or to obtain more information regarding this 
program, please contact Beth Anderson at (202) 260-2602. You may also 
forward your requests and questions via the Internet to: 
[email protected] or mail your request to Beth Anderson at 
the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Mail Code 7409, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scope and Purpose of this Grant Competition

    1. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. This solicitation is made 
under the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (the Act) (Pub. L. 101-508), 
which established as national policy that pollution should be prevented 
or reduced at the source whenever feasible. Section 6603 of the Act 
defines source reduction as any practice that:
    (1) Reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or 
contaminant entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the 
environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, 
treatment, or disposal; and
    (2) Reduces the hazards to public health and the environment 
associated with the release of such substances, pollutants, or 
contaminants.
    EPA further defines pollution prevention (P2) as the use of other 
practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants through: 
increased efficiency in the use of raw materials, energy, water or 
other resources, or protection of natural resources, or protection of 
natural resources by conservation.
    Section 6605 of the Act authorizes EPA to make matching grants to 
States to promote the use of source reduction techniques by businesses. 
In evaluating grant applications, the Act directs EPA to consider 
whether the proposed State program will:
    (1) Make technical assistance available to businesses seeking 
information about source reduction opportunities, including funding for 
experts to provide on-site technical advice and to assist in the 
development of source reduction plans.
    (2) Target assistance to businesses for whom lack of information is 
an impediment to source reduction.
    (3) Provide training in source reduction techniques.
    Section 6606 of the Act authorizes EPA to establish a source 
reduction clearinghouse to compile information on management, technical 
and operational approaches to source reduction. The Act States that EPA 
should use the clearinghouse to:
    (1) Serve as a center for source reduction technology transfer.
    (2) Mount active outreach and education programs by the States to 
further the adoption of source reduction technologies.
    (3) Collect and compile information reported by States receiving 
grants under section 6605 on the operation and successes of State 
source reduction programs.
    2. Purpose of national pollution prevention information network. 
Currently there are few limited mechanisms or systems to coordinate the 
development, review, and dissemination of pollution prevention 
information among Federal, State, local agencies, and universities 
involved in promoting source reduction technologies. Access to 
pollution prevention (P2) information and assistance varies across the 
United States. In addition, not all programs providing assistance to 
small businesses have access to pollution prevention information that 
may be useful and relevant to their clientele. As a result, the purpose 
of this request for proposals is three fold: (1) To create new centers 
for the collection, synthesis and dissemination of pollution prevention 
information for States not currently served by a pollution prevention 
regional center, (2) to support existing regional pollution prevention 
information centers, and (3) to coordinate work among new and existing 
centers in order to: minimize duplication of effort in information 
collection and synthesis, and training for the promotion of pollution 
prevention technologies, and establish information standards and peer 
review that will facilitate information exchange among centers.
    The development of a P2 information network of centers would allow 
State P2 information needs to be addressed on a regional basis and 
allow for improved information exchange. A coordinated network would 
facilitate information exchange and decrease duplicative research that 
might be conducted in each State by standardizing formats for P2 
information (such as case studies or vendors) and developing systems 
to: coordinate information needs, determine types of P2 information 
that need to be developed, coordinate the production of relevant P2 
information, disseminate this information among small business 
assistance providers, and evaluate the effectiveness of the

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information being disseminated in changing business practices to 
incorporate pollution prevention.
    EPA believes that investing in coordinating and standardizing P2 
information collection, synthesis, and publication will benefit State 
P2 technical assistance providers as well as other small business 
assistance programs, such as the Small Business Development Centers and 
the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
Manufacturing Extension Partnerships. Regional P2 information centers 
could benefit a variety of small business assistance programs by 
allowing for specialization in expertise, where this expertise can be 
shared nationally. Regional centers could be more responsive to the 
common information needs of the States being served and allow States to 
focus resources on issues unique to each State. EPA wants this 
competitive grant process to:
    (1) Improve access to P2 information for all State business 
assistance programs.
    (2) Increase the availability of P2 technical assistance to all 
States, by sharing the research, synthesis, and training in current P2 
information nationally.
    (3) Increase and improve partnerships among State entities serving 
small businesses by providing a forum for defining and meeting common 
program objectives.
    EPA believes that some of the benefits of a coordinated P2 
information network would be: uniform access to high quality 
information across all industrial sectors and localities, minimized 
duplication of effort in developing P2 materials, improved leveraging 
of existing resources, and improved quality and focus of P2 information 
available through the use of standard formats and peer review.
    3. EPA's prior efforts to promote P2 information sharing. On August 
20 and 21, 1992, EPA sponsored a subcommittee meeting of the ``National 
Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, State and 
Local Programs Committee.'' At this meeting, the delivery of P2 
technical information to State and local technical assistance programs 
was discussed in the context of the national data base, Pollution 
Prevention Information Exchange System (PIES) and the Pollution 
Prevention Information Clearinghouse (PPIC) that EPA was operating. 
This initial meeting raised issues of information quality, roles for a 
national clearinghouse, and priority information needs or functions for 
P2 technical assistance programs.
    In October 1993, EPA funded a proposal from the National Roundtable 
of State Pollution Prevention Programs (now called the National 
Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR)) to ``develop a design and 
management plan for a national network of pollution prevention 
information providers.'' In February 1995, NPPR submitted its final 
report. In this report, based on the results of survey and telephone 
interviews, the functions of an information network that would best 
support pollution prevention technical assistance programs were:
      Make information readily accessible and easy to search.
      Collect and update technical information.
      Identify experts or other sources of information.
      Provide technical information in a synthesized format 
(which might include case studies, process information, bibliography, 
vendor information, etc.).
    In October 1994, EPA funded a 3-year pilot proposal to establish a 
model program for interstate cooperation on pollution prevention 
information sharing. Three organizations agreed to participate in the 
pilot to coordinate information collection, synthesis, peer review, and 
dissemination: Northeast Waste Management Officials Association 
(NEWMOA), the Illinois Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center 
(now called the Illinois Waste Management and Research Center (WMRC)), 
and the Wisconsin Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center (SHWEC). 
Under this pilot program, State focus groups were formed to determine 
pollution prevention information needs. In September 1995, the States 
in the Northeast approved a 5-year plan to aid in the collection, 
organization, and distribution of pollution prevention technical 
information in the Northeast. The Great Lakes States developed a 
management plan for the Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Information 
Clearinghouse and set up a listserve system (P2TECH) to assist 
pollution prevention technical assistance programs (P2TAPs) nationwide 
in finding answers to technical assistance problems. Four pollution 
prevention technical information packets will be written and peer-
reviewed to summarize P2 technical solutions for the subject industry 
or process topic. In addition, these three programs have collaborated 
on three different data bases: vendor, bibliographic, and case study, 
data bases.
    4. Existing P2 Information Centers. There are several existing 
centers (in addition to the three listed above: WMRC, NEWMOA, and 
SHWEC) that serve clients outside their State boundaries, although the 
kinds of services or information offered varies with each center. The 
Waste Reduction Resource Center in Raleigh, North Carolina receives 
some funds from EPA's Regions 3 and 4 and serves States in those two 
regions with P2 information, site visits, and training. The Pacific 
Northwest Pollution Prevention Research Center (Seattle, WA) receives 
funds from EPA's region 10 and provides a data base on P2 research that 
is available nationally. The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing 
Sciences (Cincinnati, OH) also provides a nationally available data 
base for pollution prevention and cost effective technologies relevant 
in the metal finishing, metal painting and printing operations. Other 
States may be at a disadvantage because of the lack of a regional P2 
information center. Such a regional center could coordinate State P2 
information needs and training, rather than requiring each State to 
develop its own P2 materials and training.

II. Eligibility

    1. Applicants. In accordance with the Pollution Prevention Act of 
1990, eligible applicants for purposes of funding under this grant 
program include the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the U.S. 
Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or 
possession of the United States, any agency or instrumentality of a 
State including State universities and all Federally recognized Indian 
tribes. For convenience, the term ``State'' in this notice refers to 
all eligible applicants. Local governments, private universities, 
private non-profit entities, private businesses, and individuals are 
not eligible. These organizations excluded from applying directly are 
encouraged to work with eligible applicants in developing proposals 
that include them as participants in the projects. EPA strongly 
encourages this type of cooperative arrangement.
    2. Availability of FY 97 funds. With this publication, EPA is 
announcing the availability of between $750,000 and $1 million in 
grant/cooperative agreement funds for FY 1997. These awards will be 
made through a competitive process for amounts not to exceed $350,000. 
Projects may last up to 3 years.
    3. Matching requirements. Under the Pollution Prevention Act of 
1990, the Federal Government will provide up to half of the total 
allowable costs of the project, and the State will provide the 
remainder. For example, a project

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costing $200,000 could be funded by a grant for up to $100,000 from the 
Federal government. The State is responsible for providing the 
remainder. State contributions may include cash, in-kind goods and 
services, and third party contributions.

III. Types of Proposals Being Solicited

    1. General. Funds awarded under the Act must be used to support 
pollution prevention programs that address the transfer of potentially 
harmful pollutants across all environmental media: air, water, and 
land. Programs should reflect comprehensive and coordinated pollution 
prevention implementation efforts region-wide. Proposed projects should 
serve the needs of the State programs they support and should focus on 
one or more of the following areas: compiling information that can be 
shared among States or regions of the country; providing a means of 
sharing P2 expertise, resources, or training; information collection, 
synthesis and peer review of new P2 documents; and information 
dissemination (electronic or hard copy).
    2. Types of proposals. EPA is soliciting two different types of 
grant proposals. The first type of proposal (type 1) would describe 
activities designed to coordinate work among new and existing centers 
in order to: minimize duplication of effort in information collection 
and synthesis, and training for the promotion of pollution prevention 
technologies, and establish information standards and peer review that 
will facilitate information exchange among centers. The second type of 
proposal (type 2) would: (1) create new centers for the collection, 
synthesis, and dissemination of pollution prevention information for 
States not currently served by a pollution prevention regional center, 
or (2) support existing regional pollution prevention information 
centers.
    Only one grant will be awarded for purpose of coordinating work 
among P2 information centers (type 1). Since this type of proposal will 
involve working with existing P2 information centers, letters of 
support for the proposal should be included from at least three centers 
currently providing P2 information to a number of States. The remaining 
awards will be made to new or existing centers (type 2). One proposal 
may combine both types of proposals (type 1 and type 2). For instance: 
an existing P2 information center can request funding to provide for 
oversight and coordination of other P2 information centers as well as 
funding to support P2 information collection, synthesis, and 
dissemination. In this case, the proposal should contain both letters 
of support from other P2 information centers as well as from the States 
being served by the center.
    1. Type 1 Proposals. There are various actions that could be taken 
to achieve the purposes of a type 1 proposal. Coordination and 
oversight of P2 information collection and dissemination encompasses 
all centers, existing centers or new centers. This coordination 
function would contribute to P2 information exchange and dissemination 
by developing standard formats for commonly used information such as 
case studies or vendor information. A standard format would specify the 
key information that should be captured, in a case study for instance, 
to ensure content is useful for technical assistance providers. 
Dissemination of P2 information would be served if there were one 
central point for collection and dissemination of information. For 
example, case studies from each State could be submitted to one entity, 
key information put into a uniform case study format and then 
disseminated. Currently, State grant funds may be used to collect case 
study information or create P2 manuals for businesses in each State 
without knowledge of similar efforts in other States. Coordination 
would also serve to decrease duplication of effort where States or 
regions develop training for State personnel or businesses. Such 
training materials and expertise could be shared among regions. 
Coordination of P2 centers could also enhance the possibility of a 
local program being able to focus resources on one or two specific 
industries because they could rely on other centers to provide P2 
information on industries not within their focus.
    The first type of proposal, addressing the coordination and 
oversight of the P2 information network, should include letters from at 
least three P2 information centers which serve more than 3 States, 
supporting the proposal, since cooperation among these centers will be 
essential to the success of such a proposal. The goals and objectives 
must be clearly identified and the proposal should describe the 
strategy for the following activities:
    (1) Standardization of P2 information format and procedures used to 
compile and share P2 information.
    (2) Establishment of a procedure for peer review that ensures 
quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of center P2 publications.
    (3) Coordination of P2 technical information and training being 
developed by various centers to avoid duplication of effort and build 
on existing information resources.
    2. Type 2 Proposals. The second type of proposal describes 
activities that provide a P2 information center, which would serve at 
least 3 or more States, to coordinate P2 information collection, 
synthesis, dissemination, and training. This could allow States to 
utilize existing information and training materials for promoting P2 
without each State developing their own materials. These regional 
centers (not necessarily corresponding to EPA Regions) could act as a 
hub for receiving and disseminating P2 information for their local 
State clients. Some of the advantages of such a center are: regional 
environmental issues which cross State boundaries could be addressed; 
programs and innovations could be shared among neighboring States; and 
the center could be held accountable and be evaluated by those States. 
This type 2 proposal, addressing the need for States to share 
information and training expertise, should include letters from the 
States supporting the existence or creation of a P2 information center.
    3. Activities in both types of proposals. The goals and objectives 
for both types of proposals must be clearly identified and the proposal 
should describe a strategy for:
    (1) Convening an advisory group, including State or local agencies 
and businesses, that will identify P2 information and training needs 
and evaluate the usefulness of center services.
    (2) Collecting, synthesizing, writing, peer reviewing, and 
distributing new P2 technical material to promote the use of P2 in 
industries and other sectors (agriculture, service, etc.) where such P2 
information is lacking.
    (3) Sharing P2 expertise, training materials, and P2 information 
with other small business assistance centers in order to minimize 
duplication of effort and promote the availability of P2 technologies 
and solutions to small businesses.

IV. Process for Evaluation of Proposals

    Proposals accepted under this program must qualify as pollution 
prevention projects and must address pollution in all media: air, land, 
and water. The proposal should contain Standard Form 424 Application 
for Federal Assistance and Standard Form 424A with information on the 
proposed budget and match. A one-page cover sheet that summarizes the 
type of proposal being submitted, the objectives of the proposal, and 
support for the proposal from other states or P2

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information centers should be included to assist reviewers.
    A national panel, comprised of EPA representatives from both 
Headquarters and the Regions, will evaluate each proposal. Acceptable 
proposals, meeting the eligibility requirements in Unit II. of this 
document, will be reviewed according to the following criteria:
    (1) Feasibility of the activities being proposed, taking into 
account the commitments from other States or programs that will be 
participating in the proposal.
    (2) Qualifications and experience of the project manager and staff 
committed to working on the proposal.
    (3) Appropriateness and/or adequacy of the proposed budget and time 
line for the activities being conducted in the proposal.
    (4) Adequacy of the provisions for ensuring responsiveness to the 
P2 information needs of the States.

    Dated: January 29, 1997.
William H. Sanders III,
Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

[FR Doc. 97-2840 Filed 2-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F