[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42994-42997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21102]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Mining 
Occupational Safety and Health Research Grants; Notice of Availability 
of Funds for Fiscal Year 1998

[Announcement Number 807]

Introduction

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), announces that 
grant applications are being accepted for research projects relating to 
occupational safety and health concerns associated with mining.

[[Page 42995]]

    CDC is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease 
prevention objectives of ``Healthy People 2000,'' a national activity 
to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve the quality of life. This 
announcement is related to the priority area of Occupational Safety and 
Health. (For ordering a copy of ``Healthy People 2000,'' see the 
section Where To Obtain Additional Information.)

Authority

    This program is authorized under the Public Health Service Act, as 
amended, Section 301 (42 U.S.C. 241) and the Federal Mine Safety and 
Health Act of 1977, Section 501 (30 U.S.C. 951). The applicable program 
regulations are in 42 CFR part 52.

Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants include domestic and foreign non-profit and 
for-profit organizations, universities, colleges, research 
institutions, and other public and private organizations, including 
State and local governments and small, minority and/or woman-owned 
businesses.

    Note: Effective January 1, 1996, Public Law 104-65 states that 
an organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 which engages in lobbying activities shall not 
be eligible to receive Federal funds constituting an award, grant 
(cooperative agreement), contract, loan, or any other form.

Smoke-Free Workplace

    CDC strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-
free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products, and 
Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in 
certain facilities that receive Federal funds in which education, 
library, day care, health care, and early childhood development 
services are provided to children.

Availability of Funds

    About $500,000 is expected to be available in fiscal year (FY) 1998 
to fund approximately 4 to 8 research project grants. The amount of 
funding available may vary and is subject to change. Awards will range 
from $50,000 to $200,000 in total costs (direct and indirect) per year. 
Awards are expected to begin on or about July 1, 1998. Awards will be 
made for a 12-month budget period within a project period not to exceed 
3 years. Continuation awards within the project period will be made on 
the basis of satisfactory progress and availability of funds.

Background

    Under provisions of the FY 1996 Appropriations legislation, the 
U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) was closed and certain functions were 
maintained and reassigned to other agencies. These actions resulted in 
the transfer of the health and safety research programs of the Bureau 
of Mines to NIOSH in the Department of Health and Human Services. NIOSH 
intends to maintain an extramural research program as part of the 
research responsibilities transferred from the former USBM.
    The Mine Safety and Health Research Program has been fully 
coordinated with the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) plans 
and recommendations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             NORA category                    Priority research area    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disease and Injury.....................  Allergic and Irritant          
                                          Dermatitis                    
                                         Asthma and Chronic Obstructive 
                                          Pulmonary Disease             
                                         Fertility and Pregnancy        
                                          Abnormalities                 
                                         Hearing Loss                   
                                         Infectious Diseases            
                                         Low-Back Disorders             
                                         Musculoskeletal Disorders of   
                                          the Upper Extremities         
                                         Traumatic Injuries             
Work Environment and Work Force........  Emerging Technologies          
                                         Indoor Environment             
                                         Mixed Exposures                
                                         Organization of Work           
                                         Special Populations at Risk    
Research Tools and Approaches            Cancer Research Methods        
                                         Control Technology and Personal
                                          Protective Equipment          
                                         Exposure Assessment Methods    
                                         Health Services Research       
                                         Intervention Effectiveness     
                                          Research                      
                                         Risk Assessment Methods        
                                         Social and Economic            
                                          Consequences of Workplace     
                                          Illness and Injury            
                                         Surveillance Research Methods  
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Purpose

    The purpose of this grant program is to develop knowledge that can 
be used to prevent occupational diseases and injuries to miners. NIOSH 
will support hypothesis-testing research projects to identify and 
quantify occupational health and safety hazards to miners, develop 
methods and technologies to measure and control these hazards, and 
translate research findings so that they can be applied to solve health 
and safety problems in mines.

Programmatic Interest

    Emphasis will be given to the priority research areas identified by 
NORA listed above. The focus of grants should emphasize research in the 
following topical areas which are in priority order:

(1) Hearing Loss Prevention

    Conduct laboratory and field research on noise-induced hearing loss 
in miners; Conduct field dosimetric and audiometric surveys to assess 
the extent and severity of the problem and to identify those mining 
segments in greatest need of attention and to objectively track 
progress in meeting loss prevention goals; Conduct field and laboratory 
research to identify noise generation sources and to identify those 
areas most amenable to intervention activities; Develop, test, and 
demonstrate new control technologies for noise reduction; Develop 
strategies and methods to improve the effectiveness of hearing 
protectors for miners; Assess the effect of using hearing protectors on 
miner safety; Evaluate technical and economic feasibility of controls; 
Develop, evaluate, and recommend implementation strategies to promote 
the adoption and use of noise reduction technology.

(2) Mining Injury Prevention

    Conduct laboratory, field, and computer modeling research to focus 
on human physiological capabilities and limitations and their 
interactions with mining jobs, tasks, equipment and the mine work 
environment; Research on causes and prevention of low back disorders in 
miners; Study effects of human behavior on mining injuries; Design and 
conduct epidemiological research studies to identify and classify risk 
factors that are causing or may be causing traumatic injuries to 
miners; Evaluate and recommend implementation strategies for injury 
prevention and control technologies.

(3) Dust and Toxic Substance Control

    Research to develop or improve personal and area direct reading 
instruments for measuring mining contaminants, including but not 
limited to respirable dust, silica, diesel engine emissions, and other 
toxic substances and mixtures; Conduct field tests, experiments, and 
demonstrations of new technology for monitoring and assessing mine air 
quality; Conduct laboratory and field research to develop airborne 
hazard reduction control technologies; Carry out field surveys in

[[Page 42996]]

mines to identify work organization strategies that could result in 
reduced dust or toxic substance exposure; Evaluate the performance, 
economics, and technical feasibility of engineering control strategies, 
novel approaches, and the application of new or emerging technologies 
for underground and surface mine dust and toxic substance control 
systems; Develop and evaluate implementation strategies for using newly 
developed monitors and control technology for exposure reduction or 
prevention.

(4) Social and Economic Consequences of Mining Illness and Injury

    Analyze all effects of mining illness and injury on miners, their 
families, communities and States; Assess the effectiveness of health 
services provided to miners for prevention and care of occupational 
illness and injury; Assess the economic burden of mining illnesses and 
injuries and potential economic benefits of their prevention.

(5) Surveillance

    Develop and evaluate new surveillance methods for mining-related 
illnesses and fatal and nonfatal injuries to improve collection and 
analysis of health and safety data; Collect demographic information on 
miners to analyze health and safety data; Develop improved methods to 
describe trends in incidence of mining-related fatalities, morbidity, 
and traumatic injury; Develop and evaluate methods to conduct 
surveillance on the use of new and emerging technologies, the use of 
engineering controls, and the use of protective equipment in the mining 
sector; Analyze the effectiveness of prevention and control 
interventions in mining; Conduct mining-relevant risk analyses.

Reporting Requirements

    Progress reports are required annually as part of the continuation 
application (75 days prior to the start of the next budget period). The 
annual progress reports must contain information on accomplishments 
during the previous budget period and plans for each remaining year of 
the project. Financial status reports (FSR) are required no later than 
90 days after the end of the budget period. The final performance and 
FSRs are required 90 days after the end of the project period. The 
final performance report should include, at a minimum, a statement of 
original objectives, a summary of research methodology, a summary of 
positive and negative findings, and a list of publications resulting 
from the project. Research papers, project reports, or theses are 
acceptable items to include in the final report. The final report 
should stand alone rather than citing the original application. Three 
copies of reprints of publications prepared under the grant should 
accompany the report.

Evaluation Criteria

    Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed by CDC for completeness 
and responsiveness. Applications determined to be incomplete or 
unresponsive to this announcement will be returned to the applicant 
without further consideration. If the proposed project involves 
organizations or persons other than those affiliated with the applicant 
organization, letters of support and/or cooperation must be included.
    Applications that are complete and responsive to the announcement 
will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by appropriate 
peer reviewers in accordance with the review criteria stated below. As 
part of the initial merit review, a process may be used by the peer 
reviewers in which applications will be determined to be competitive or 
non-competitive using the evaluation criteria below to determine their 
scientific merit relative to other applications received in response to 
this announcement. Applications judged to be competitive will be 
discussed and assigned a priority score. Applications determined to be 
non-competitive will be withdrawn from further consideration and the 
principal investigator/program director and the official signing for 
the applicant organization will be promptly notified.
    Review criteria for technical merit are as follows:
    1. Technical significance and originality of proposed project.
    2. Appropriateness and adequacy of the study design and methodology 
proposed to carry out the project.
    3. Qualifications and research experience of the Principal 
Investigator and staff, particularly but not exclusively in the area of 
the proposed project.
    4. Availability of resources necessary to perform the project.
    5. Documentation of cooperation from industry, unions, or other 
participants in the project, where applicable.
    6. Adequacy of plans to include both sexes and minorities and their 
subgroups as appropriate for the scientific goals of the project (Plans 
for the recruitment and retention of subjects will also be evaluated.).
    7. Appropriateness of budget and period of support.
    8. Human Subjects--Procedures adequate for the protection of human 
subjects must be documented. Recommendations on the adequacy of 
protections include: (1) Protections appear adequate and there are no 
comments to make or concerns to raise, (2) protections appear adequate, 
but there are comments regarding the protocol, (3) protections appear 
inadequate and the Objective Review Group (ORG) has concerns related to 
human subjects, or (4) disapproval of the application is recommended 
because the research risks are sufficiently serious and protection 
against the risks are inadequate as to make the entire application 
unacceptable.
    Review criteria for programmatic importance are as follows:
    1. Relevance to mine safety and health, by contributing to 
achievement of research objectives specified in Section 501 of the 
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.
    2. Magnitude of the problem in terms of numbers of miners affected.
    3. Severity of the disease or injury in the mining population.
    4. Usefulness to applied technical knowledge in the identification, 
evaluation, or control of occupational safety and health hazards in 
mines on a national or regional basis.
    The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
    1. Merit of the proposed project as determined by the initial peer 
review.
    2. Programmatic importance of the project as determined by 
secondary review.
    3. Availability of funds.
    4. Program balance among priority areas of the announcement.

Executive Order 12372 Review

    Applications are not subject to the review requirements of 
Executive Order 12372, entitled Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs.

Public Health System Reporting Requirement

    This program is not subject to the Public Health System Reporting 
Requirements.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.262.

Other Requirements

Human Subjects

    The applicant must comply with the Department of Health and Human 
Services Regulations (45 CFR part 46) regarding the protection of human 
subjects. Assurances must be provided to demonstrate that the project 
will be

[[Page 42997]]

subject to initial and continuing review by an appropriate 
institutional review committee. The applicant will be responsible for 
providing assurance in accordance with the appropriate guidelines 
provided in the application kit.

Animal Subjects

    If the proposed project involves research on animal subjects, the 
applicant must comply with the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of 
Laboratory Animals by Awardee Institutions. An applicant organization 
proposing to use vertebrate animals in CDC-supported activities must 
file an Animal Welfare Assurance with the Office for Protection from 
Research Risks at the National Institutes of Health.

Women and Racial and Ethnic Minorities

    It is the policy of the CDC to ensure that women and racial and 
ethnic groups will be included in CDC supported research projects 
involving human subjects, whenever feasible and appropriate. Racial and 
ethnic groups are those defined in OMB Directive No. 15 and include 
American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, Black and 
Hispanic. Applicants shall ensure that women and racial and ethnic 
minority populations are appropriately represented in applications for 
research involving human subjects. Where clear and compelling rationale 
exist that inclusion is not feasible, this situation must be explained 
as part of the application. In conducting the review of applications 
for scientific merit, review groups will evaluate proposed plans for 
inclusion of minorities and both sexes as part of the scientific 
assessment and assigned score. This policy does not apply to research 
studies when the investigator cannot control the race, ethnicity and/or 
sex of subjects. Further guidance to this policy is contained in the 
Federal Register, Vol. 60, No. 179, Friday, September 15, 1995, pages 
47947-47951.

Application Submission and Deadlines

1. Preapplication Letter of Intent

    Although not a prerequisite of application, a non-binding letter of 
intent-to-apply is requested from potential applicants. The letter 
should be submitted to the Grants Management Officer (whose address is 
reflected in section 2., ``Applications''). It should be postmarked no 
later than September 11, 1997. The letter should identify the 
announcement number, name of principal investigator, and specify the 
priority area to be addressed by the proposed project. The letter of 
intent does not influence review or funding decisions, but it will 
enable CDC to plan the review more efficiently, and will ensure that 
each applicant receives timely and relevant information prior to 
application submission.

2. Applications

    Applicants should use Form PHS-398 (OMB Number 0925-0001) and 
adhere to the ERRATA Instruction Sheet for Form PHS-398 contained in 
the Grant Application Kit. Please submit an original and five copies on 
or before November 11, 1997 to: Ron Van Duyne, Grants Management 
Officer, ATTN: Joanne Wojcik, Grants Management Branch, Procurement and 
Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 255 
East Paces Ferry Road, NE., Room 300, MS E-13, Atlanta, GA 30305.

3. Deadlines

    a. Applications shall be considered as meeting a deadline if they 
are either:

(1) Received at the above address on or before the deadline date, or
(2) Sent on or before the deadline date to the above address, and 
received in time for the review process. Applicants should request a 
legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain a legibly dated 
receipt from a commercial carrier or the U.S. Postal Service. Private 
metered postmarks shall not be accepted as proof of timely mailings.

    b. Applications which do not meet the criteria above are considered 
late applications and will be returned to the applicant.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

    To receive additional written information call (404) 332-4561. You 
will be asked to leave your name, address, and telephone number and 
will need to refer to announcement 807. You will receive a complete 
program description, information on application procedures, and 
application.
    If you have questions after reviewing the contents of all the 
documents, business management information may be obtained from Joanne 
Wojcik, Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management Branch, 
Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), 255 East Paces Ferry Road, NE., MS E-13, Atlanta, GA 
30305, telephone (404) 842-6535; fax: (404) 842-6513; Internet: 
[email protected].
    Programmatic technical assistance may be obtained from Roy M. 
Fleming, Sc.D., Associate Director for Grants, National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), 1600 Clifton Road, NE., Building 1, Room 3053, MS D-
30, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone: 404-639-3343; fax: 404-639-4616; 
Internet: [email protected].
    Please refer to announcement number 807 when requesting information 
and submitting an application.
    This and other CDC Announcements can be found on the CDC home page 
(http://www.cdc.gov) under the Funding section.
    CDC will not send application kits by facsimile or express mail.
    Potential applicants may obtain a copy of ``Healthy People 2000'' 
(Full Report, Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or ``Healthy People 2000'' 
(Summary Report, Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent 
of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325, 
telephone (202) 512-1800.

    Dated: August 5, 1997.
Diane D. Porter,
Acting Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 97-21102 Filed 8-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P