[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 224 (Friday, November 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64459-64463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30957]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No. 981113285-8285-01]
RIN 0693-ZA28


Announcement of Availability of Funds for a Competition--Advanced 
Technology Program (ATP)

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technology 
Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Technology Administration's National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST) announces that it will hold a single 
fiscal year 1999 Advanced Technology Program (ATP) competition. This 
single competition will continue ATP's practice of being open to all 
technology areas, while also capturing the advantage and momentum of 
focused program planning. Through this single competition strategy, ATP 
encourages proposals from the many technical terms that have identified 
synergy between industry needs and ATP funding opportunities, 
accelerating the pursuit of critical elements of research which were 
identified in focused program plans. All fiscal year 1999 proposals 
received will be distributed to technology-specific source evaluation 
boards in areas such as advanced materials, biotechnology, electronics, 
information technology, etc. This notice provides general information 
regarding ATP competitions.

DATES: The proposal due date and other competition-specific 
instructions will be published in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) at 
the time the competition is announced. Dates, times, and locations of 
Proposers' Conferences held for interested parties considering applying 
for funding will also be announced in the CBD.

ADDRESSES: Information on the ATP may be obtained from the following 
address: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Advanced 
Technology Program, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4701, Administration 
Building 101, Room A407, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-4701.
    Additionally, information on the ATP is available on the Internet 
through the World Wide Web (WWW) at http://www.atp.nist.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for ATP information, application materials, and/or to have 
your name added to the ATP mailing list for future mailings may also be 
made by:
    (a) Calling the ATP toll-free ``hotline'' number at 1-800-ATP-FUND 
or 1-800-287-3863. You will have the option of hearing recorded 
messages regarding the status of the ATP or speaking to one of our 
customer representatives who will take your name and address. If our 
representatives are all busy when you call, leave a message after the 
tone. To ensure that the information is entered correctly, please speak 
distinctly and slowly and spell the words that might cause confusion. 
Leave your phone number as well as your name and address;
    (b) Sending a facsimile (fax) to 301-926-9524 or 301-590-3053; or
    (c) Sending electronic mail to [email protected]. Include your name, 
full mailing address, and phone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The statutory authority for the ATP is Section 5131 of the Omnibus 
Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-418, 15 U.S.C. 
278n), as modified by Pub. L. 102-245. The ATP implementing regulations 
are published at 15 CFR Part 295, as amended. The Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number and program title for the ATP are 
11.612, Advanced Technology Program (ATP).
    The ATP is a rigorously competitive cost-sharing program designed 
for the Federal government to work in partnership with industry to 
foster the development and broad dissemination of challenging, high-
risk technologies that offer the potential for significant, broad-based 
economic benefits for the

[[Page 64460]]

nation. Such a unique government-industry research partnership fosters 
the acceleration not only of dramatic gains in existing industries, but 
also acceleration of the development of emerging or enabling 
technologies leading to revolutionary new products, industrial 
processes and services for the world's markets and work to spawn 
industries of the 21st century. The ATP provides multi-year funding to 
single companies and to industry-led joint ventures. The ATP 
accelerates technologies that, because they are risky, are unlikely to 
be developed in time to compete in rapidly changing world markets 
without such a partnership between industry and the Federal government. 
The ATP challenges industry to take on higher risk (but commensurately 
higher potential payoff to the nation) projects than they would 
otherwise. Proposers must provide credible arguments as to the project 
feasibility.
    The funding instrument used in ATP awards is a ``cooperative 
agreement.'' Through the use of the cooperative agreement, the ATP is 
designed to foster a government-industry partnership to accomplish a 
public purpose of support or stimulation. NIST plays a substantial role 
in providing technical assistance and monitoring the technical work and 
business progress.

Funding Availability

    A total estimated $66 million in first year funding expected to 
become available from Congressional appropriation, will be used for new 
awards for the fiscal year 1999 single ATP competition to be announced 
in the CBD. The actual number of proposals funded under this 
competition will depend on the quality of the proposals received and 
the amount of funding requested in the highest ranked proposals. 
Outyear funding beyond the first year is contingent on the approval of 
future Congressional appropriations and satisfactory project 
performance.

Eligibility Requirements, Selection Criteria, and Proposal Review 
Process

    The eligibility requirements, selection criteria, and the proposal 
review process are discussed in detail in the ATP implementing 
regulations published at 15 CFR Part 295, as amended, and the ATP 
Proposal Preparation Kit dated November 1998.

Funding Amounts, Award Period and Cost Sharing (Matching) 
Requirements

    (a) Single company recipients can receive up to $2 million for R&D 
activities for up to 3 years. ATP funds may only be used to pay for 
direct costs for single company recipients. Single company recipients 
are responsible for funding all of their overhead/indirect costs. Small 
and medium size companies applying as single company proposers are not 
required to provide cost-sharing of direct costs, however, they may pay 
a portion of the direct costs in addition to all indirect costs if they 
wish. Large companies applying as single company proposers, however, 
must cost-share at least 60 percent of the yearly total project costs 
(direct plus indirect costs). A large company is defined as any 
business, including any parent company plus related subsidiaries, 
having annual revenues in excess of $2.721 billion. (Note that this 
number will likely change for future competitions and, if so, will be 
noted in future annual announcements of availability of funds and ATP 
Proposal Preparation Kits.)
    (b) Joint ventures can receive funds for R&D activities for up to 5 
years with no funding limitation other than the announced availability 
of funds. However, ATP funding must be for a minority share of the 
yearly total project costs. Joint ventures must cost-share (matching 
funds) more than 50 percent of the yearly total project costs (direct 
plus indirect costs). Matching funds (cost-sharing) are defined in 15 
CFR Part 295.2(l).
    (c) Funds derived from Federal sources may not be used to meet the 
cost-share requirement. Additionally, subcontractors may not contribute 
towards the cost-share requirement.

Application Forms and Proposal Preparation Kit

    A new November 1998 version of the ATP Proposal Preparation Kit is 
available upon request from the ATP at the address and phone numbers 
noted in this notice. The Kit is also available on the Internet through 
the World Wide Web under the heading Publications on the ATP home page 
http://www.atp.nist.gov. Note that the ATP is mailing the Kit to all 
those individuals whose names are currently on the ATP mailing list. 
Those individuals need not contact the ATP to request a copy. The Kit 
contains proposal cover sheets, other required forms, background 
material, and instructions for preparing ATP pre-proposals and full 
proposals. All proposals must be prepared in accordance with the 
instructions in the Kit.

Submission of Revised Proposals

    A proposer may submit a full proposal that is a revised version of 
a full proposal submitted to a previous ATP competition. NIST will 
examine such proposals to determine whether substantial revisions have 
been made. Where the revisions are determined not to be substantial, 
NIST reserves the right to score and rank, or where appropriate, to 
reject, such proposals based on reviews of the previous submitted 
proposal.

Other Requirements

    (a) Federal Policies and Procedures. Recipients and subrecipients 
are subject to all Federal laws and Federal and Department of Commerce 
policies, regulations, and procedures applicable to Federal financial 
assistance awards as identified in the cooperative agreement award.
    (b) Past Performance. Unsatisfactory performance under prior 
Federal awards may result in a proposal not being considered for 
funding.
    (c) Pre-award Activities. Pre-award costs may not be incurred by 
any proposer and are not reimbursable under an ATP award.
    (d) No Obligation for Future Funding. If a proposal is selected for 
funding, NIST has no obligation to provide any additional future 
funding in connection with that award. Renewal of an award to increase 
funding or extend the period of performance is at the total discretion 
of NIST.
    (e) Delinquent Federal Debts. No award of Federal funds shall be 
made to a proposer or recipient who has an outstanding delinquent 
Federal debt until either the delinquent account is paid in full, a 
negotiated repayment schedule is established and at least one payment 
is received, or other arrangements satisfactory to NIST are made.
    (f) Name Check Review. All for-profit and non-profit proposers are 
subject to a name check review process. Name checks are intended to 
reveal if any key individuals associated with the proposer have been 
convicted of or are presently facing criminal charges such as fraud, 
theft, perjury, or other matters which significantly reflect on the 
proposer's management, honesty, or financial integrity.
    (g) Primary Applicant Certification. All primary proposers 
(including all joint venture participants) must submit a completed form 
CD-511, ``Certifications Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and Other 
Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free Workplace Requirements and 
Lobbying,'' and the following explanation is hereby provided:
    (1) Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension. Prospective 
participants, as defined at 15 CFR part 26, section 105

[[Page 64461]]

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 605) 
are subject to 15 CFR 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, 
``Limitations 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 proposer 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.
    (h) Lower Tier Certification. Recipients shall require proposers/
bidders for subgrants, contracts, subcontracts, or other 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 Form SF-LLL, ``Disclosure 
of Lobbying Activities.'' Although the CD-512 is intended for the use 
of primary recipients and should not be transmitted to NIST, the SF-LLL 
submitted by any tier recipient or subrecipient should be forwarded in 
accordance with the instructions contained in the award document.
    (i) False Statements. A false statement on any application for 
funding under ATP may be 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.
    (j) Intergovernmental Review. The ATP does not involve the 
mandatory payment of any matching funds from state or local government 
and does not affect directly any state or local government. 
Accordingly, the Department of Commerce has determined that Executive 
Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs'' is not 
applicable to this program.
    (k) American-Made Equipment and Products. Proposers are hereby 
notified that they are encouraged, to the greatest extend practicable, 
to purchase American-made equipment and products with the funding 
provided under this program in accordance with Congressional intent.
    (l) Paperwork Reduction Act. This notice contains collection of 
information requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 
which have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB 
Control Nos. 0693-0009 and 0348-0046). Notwithstanding any other 
provision of the 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 PRA, 
unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB 
Control No.
    (m) If a proposer's proposal is judged to be of high enough quality 
to be invited in for an oral review, ATP reserves the right to submit a 
list of questions to the proposer that must be addressed at the oral 
review.
    (n) There are certain types of projects that ATP will not fund 
because they are inconsistent with the ATP mission. These include:
    (1) Straightforward improvements of existing products or product 
development.
    (2) Projects that are predominately basic research.
    (3) Pre-commercial scale demonstration projects where the emphasis 
is on demonstration that some technology works on a large scale or is 
economically sound rather than on R&D.
    (4) Projects involving military weapons R&D or R&D that is of 
interest only to some mission agency rather than to the commercial 
marketplace.
    (5) Projects that ATP believes would likely be completed without 
ATP funds in the same time frame or nearly the same time frame.
    (o) Certain costs that may be allowed in Federal financial 
assistance programs are not eligible for funding under ATP awards. 
Section G of the Proposal Preparation Kit lists these costs.
    (p) For joint ventures, no costs shall be incurred under an ATP 
project by the joint venture members until such time as a joint venture 
agreement has been executed by all of the joint venture members and 
approved by NIST. NIST will withhold approval until it determines that 
a sufficient number of members have signed the joint venture agreement. 
Costs will only be allowed after the execution of the joint venture 
agreement and approval by NIST.
    (q) Research under an ATP project involving vertebrate animals must 
be in compliance with the National Research Council's ``Guide for the 
Care and Use of Laboratory Animals'' which can be obtained from 
National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 
20055. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) 
associated with the proposing organization(s) must approve all research 
involving vertebrate animals before Grants Officer review and release 
of funds.
    (r) Research under an ATP project involving human subjects or human 
tissue must be in compliance with Department of Commerce regulations 
entitled ``Protection of Human Subjects'', 15 CFR Part 27, which 
require that recipients whose research involves human subjects maintain 
appropriate policies and procedures for the protection of human 
subjects. Currently, NIST does not approve human subjects research that 
takes place in a foreign country as part of an ATP project. In 
addition, NIST does not accept foreign sources of human tissue or data, 
even if the tissue or data may qualify for an exemption under the rule.
    Additional Presidential policies, statutes, regulations, and 
guidelines have been issued concerning types of research activities 
involving human subjects. NIST may not be directly named in these 
statutes and regulations; however, in order to assure that research 
funded by NIST involving human subjects is consistent with national 
policy, NIST hereby declares that it will fully adhere to these 
requirements. Therefore, research projects involving the protected 
classes of human subjects must adhere to the National Institutes of 
Health (NIH) regulations found at 45 CFR Part 46, Subparts B, C, and D. 
Protected classes include pregnant women, human in vitro fertilization, 
fetuses, prisoners, and children. Research projects involving the 
transplantation of fetal tissue into human subjects must adhere to 
Section 111 of the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. 289g-1. In 
addition, the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. 289g-2 contains 
a criminal statute prohibiting all purchases of fetal tissue for 
valuable consideration whether or not NIH or NIH funding is involved. 
Fetal research must adhere to Section 498(b) of the Public Health 
Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 289g. Embryo research must adhere to Section 513 
of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of

[[Page 64462]]

1998, Public Law 105-78, 111 Stat. 1467. Research involving 
xenotransplantation into human subjects must adhere to the FDA 
guidelines published at 61 FR 49919 (September 23, 1996). All research 
projects will adhere to the Presidential Directive, 33 Weekly Comp. 
Pres. Doc. 281 (March 10, 1997), prohibiting the federal conduct and 
funding of research involving human cloning.

Special Requirements

    Research projects involving protected classes of human subjects as 
defined in 45 CFR Part 46, Subparts B, C, and D (including pregnant 
women, human in vitro fertilization, fetuses, prisoners, and children) 
MUST be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) 
that possesses a current assurance which has been approved by the 
Office of Protection from Research Risk (OPRR), National Institutes of 
Health (NIH), for federal-wide use, and appropriate for the research in 
question. No award involving protected classes as defined under 45 CFR 
Part 46, Subpart B, will be issued until the proposer has certified 
that an appropriate IRB has made the determinations required under 
Subpart B, and all other NIST approvals have been completed.
    (s) In any invention resulting from work performed under an ATP 
project in which an ATP recipient has acquired title, NIST has the 
right, in accordance with 15 CFR 295.8(a)(2) and any supplemental 
regulations of NIST, to require the recipient, an assignee, or an 
exclusive licensee of a subject invention to grant a nonexclusive, 
partially exclusive, or exclusive license in any field of use to a 
responsible applicant or applicants, upon terms that are resealable 
under the circumstances. If the recipient, assignee, or exclusive 
licensee refuses such a request, NIST has the right to grant such a 
license itself if NIST determines that:
    (1) Such action is necessary because the recipient or assignee has 
not taken, or is not expected to take within a reasonable time, 
effective steps to achieve practical application of the subject 
invention in such field of use;
    (2) Such action is necessary to alleviate health or safety needs 
which are not reasonably satisfied by the recipient, assignee, or 
licensees;
    (3) Such action is necessary to meet requirements for public use 
specified by Federal regulations and such requirements are not 
reasonably satisfied by the recipient, assignee, or licensees; or
    (4) Such action is necessary because of the requirement that the 
recipient grant licenses to potential licensees that would be likely to 
manufacture substantially in the United States or that, under the 
circumstances, domestic manufacture is not commercially feasible, is 
not adhered to, or because a licensee of the exclusive right to use or 
sell any subject invention in the United States is in breach of the 
aforementioned requirement.
    The preceding information describes NIST's legal rights with 
regards to patents. However, potential proposers should not interpret 
these rights as indicating that NIST intends to manage an awardee's 
intellectual property. Quite the contrary. First of all, these rights 
only apply to patents resulting from the ATP project itself, and not 
from work done before or after the ATP project, or other R&D performed 
by the company in the same time frame that is not part of the ATP-
funded tasks. More importantly, the provisions above would ONLY be 
invoked under very unique circumstances. For example, if an ATP project 
developed a cure for cancer, but for some strange reason the company 
chose not to commercialize the technology, the ATP might, only after 
verifying that the company had no intention of using the technology, 
invoke provision 2. above and try to find another company willing to 
take a license and bring the new development to market. In the over 300 
projects funded to date, NIST has never had to exercise the rights 
noted above.
    (t) Proposers shall provide sufficient funds in the project multi-
year budget for a project audit, including each joint venture 
participant. Subcontractors/subawardees, including universities, who 
receive total funding under an ATP project totaling more than $300,000 
each are also subject to the audit requirement. A subcontractor/
subawardee is defined as an organization which receives a portion of 
the financial assistance from the recipient/awardee and assists the ATP 
recipient/awardee in meeting the project goals but does not include 
procurement of goods and services. It is the responsibility of the 
recipient to ensure that audits are performed in a timely fashion. Most 
routine audits can be performed by the recipient's external CPA. 
However, the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General (DoC/
OIG) and General Accounting Office (GAO) reserve the right to carry out 
audits as deemed necessary and appropriate. ATP recipients must be 
willing to submit to audits (e.g., audits of cost-accounting systems, 
direct-cost expenditures, indirect cost rates, or other periodic 
reviews) by the DoC/OIG or cognizant Federal agency Inspectors General 
or GAO. Periodic project audits shall be performed as follows:
    (1) For awards less than 24 months, an audit is required at the end 
of the project.
    (2) For 2-, 3-, or 4-year awards, an audit is required after the 
first year and at the end of the project.
    (3) For 5-year awards, an audit is required after the first year, 
third year, and at the end of the project.
    Budgeting for an audit shall be as follows:
    (1) Proposers should allocate funds in their proposal budgets under 
the ``Other'' direct cost category for the project audit. For joint 
ventures, this must be included in each participant's budget as each 
participant is responsible for the performance of their own project 
audit.
    (2) If an organization's indirect cost pool includes audit costs, 
this is acceptable. In these cases, an explanation must be provided in 
the budget narrative and no audit costs reflected under ``Other'' 
costs.
    (3) If a cognizant Federal agency auditor is resident within the 
company, the cognizant Federal agency auditor may perform the audit. In 
these cases, an explanation must be provided in the budget narrative 
and no audit costs reflected under ``Other'' costs or ``Indirect 
Costs.''
    Audits of all recipients shall be conducted in accordance with 
Government Auditing Standards (GAS), issued by the Comptroller General 
of the United States (the Yellow Book). If an ATP recipient is required 
to have an audit performed in accordance with OMB Circular A-133, 
Audits of States, Local Government, and Non-Profit Organizations, the 
annual Circular A-133 audit is deemed to meet the ATP audit 
requirement.
    If an ATP recipient does not have an annual Circular A-133 audit 
performed, the recipient should follow the following project audit 
requirements:
    (1) Audits for single company recipients shall be conducted using 
the NIST Program-Specific Audit Guidelines for Advanced Technology 
Program (ATP) Cooperative Agreements with Single Companies.
    (2) Audits for joint venture recipients shall be conducted using 
the NIST Program-Specific Audit Guidelines for Advanced Technology 
Program (ATP) Cooperative Agreements with Joint Ventures.
    (u) Indirect cost charged to ATP cooperative agreements or used as 
cost-sharing must be calculated in accordance with an approved indirect 
cost proposal. If a recipient has established an indirect cost rate 
with its

[[Page 64463]]

cognizant Federal agency (the Federal agency providing the greatest 
dollars), the recipient must submit a copy of the negotiated agreement 
to the DoC/OIG for verification. Acceptance of indirect cost rates in 
excess of 100 percent of direct costs is subject to approval by NIST 
and the DoC/OIG. If an indirect cost rate(s) has not been negotiated 
prior to receiving the award, then an indirect cost rate proposal must 
be submitted to the recipient's cognizant Federal agency within 90 days 
from the date of the award. Provisional rates provided by the joint 
venture participant in the indirect cost proposal may be used until 
approval is obtained or indirect cost rates are negotiated.
    (v) All ATP recipients must agree to adhere to the U.S. Export 
Administration laws and regulations and shall not export or re-export, 
directly or indirectly, any technical data created with Government 
funding under an award to any country for which the United States 
Government or any agency thereof, at the time of such export or re-
export requires an export license or other Governmental approval 
without first obtaining such licenses or approval and the written 
clearance of the NIST Grants Officer. The Bureau of Export 
Administration (BXA) shall conduct an annual review for any relevant 
information about a proposer and/or Recipient. NIST reserves the right 
to not issue any award or suspend or terminate an existing award in the 
event that significant adverse information about a proposer or 
Recipient is disclosed by BXA to the NIST Grants Officer.

    Dated: November 16, 1998.
Robert E. Hebner,
Acting Deputy Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
[FR Doc. 98-30957 Filed 11-17-98; 2:55 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-M