[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 234 (Monday, December 7, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67465-67466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32457]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Federal Energy Technology Center; Notice of Restricted 
Eligibility Support of Advanced Fossil Resource Utilization Research by 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority 
Institutions

AGENCY: Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC), U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of Restricted Eligibility.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces that it intends to conduct 
a competitive Program Solicitation and award financial assistance 
(grants) to U.S. Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other 
Minority Institutions in support of innovative research and development 
of advanced concepts pertinent to fossil resource conversion and 
utilization. Applications will be subjected to a review by a DOE 
technical panel, and awards will be made to a limited number of 
applicants on the basis of the scientific merit of the application, 
application of relevant program policy factors, and the availability of 
funds. Collaboration with private industry is encouraged.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John R. Columbia, U.S. Department 
of Energy, Federal Energy Technology Center, Acquisition and Assistance 
Division, P.O. Box 10940, MS 921-143, Pittsburgh PA 15236-0940, 
Telephone: (412) 892-6219, FAX: (412) 892-6216, E-mail: 
[email protected]. The solicitation (available in both Word Perfect 
6.1 for Windows and Portable Document Format (PDF)) will be released on 
DOE's FETC World Wide Web Server Internet System (http://
www.fetc.doe.gov/business/solicit) on or about November 30, 1998. If 
applicants do not have Internet capability, a 3.5'' double sided/high 
density diskette copy of the solicitation will be available, upon 
receipt of a written request submitted via facsimile (fax) at (412) 
892-6216 or e-mail at [email protected]. No telephone requests will 
be honored for request of diskettes.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title of Solicitation

    ``Support of Advanced Fossil Resource Utilization Research by 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority 
Institutions.''

Objectives

    Through Program Solicitation No. DE-PS26-99FT40192, the Department 
of Energy seeks applications from Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities (HBCU) and Other Minority Institutions (OMI) and HBCU/OMI-
affiliated research institutes for innovative research and development 
of advanced concepts pertinent to fossil resource conversion and 
utilization. The resultant grants are intended to maintain and upgrade 
educational, training, and research capabilities of our HBCU/OMI in the 
fields of science and technology related to fossil energy resources; to 
foster private sector participation, collaboration, and interaction 
with HBCU/OMI; and to provide for the exchange of technical information 
and to raise the overall level of HBCU/OMI competitiveness with other 
institutions in the field of fossil energy research and development. 
Thus, the establishment of linkages between the HBCU/OMI and the 
private sector fossil energy community is critical to the success of 
this program, and consistent with the Nation's goal of ensuring a 
future supply of fossil fuel scientists and engineers from an 
previously under-utilized resource.

Eligibility

    Eligibility for participation in this Program Solicitation is 
restricted to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and 
Other Minority Institutions (OMI) recognized by the Office for Civil 
Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of Education, and identified on the OCR's 
United States Department of Education list of U.S. Accredited 
Postsecondary Minority Institutions list in effect on the closing date 
of the program solicitation. Applications submitted by any institution 
not on OCR's aforementioned list are ineligible for technical 
evaluation and award. For information regarding the qualification 
criteria and process of becoming recognized by the Education 
Department's Office for Civil Rights as a ``Minority Institution'', 
institutions should contact the Education Department directly at the 
following

[[Page 67466]]

address: Mr. Peter A. McCabe, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department 
of Education, Washington, DC 20202, Telephone (202) 205-9567. Note: The 
Education Department should only be contacted on matters related to 
Institutional status; questions regarding the Program Solicitation 
should be directed to Mr. Columbia at DOE by telefacsimilie on (412) 
892-6216.
    Applications from HBCU/OMI-affiliated research institutes must be 
submitted through the college or university with which they are 
affiliated. The university (not the university-affiliated research 
institute) will be the recipient of any resultant DOE grant award. 
Applications submitted in response to the solicitation must meet the 
following two criteria: the Principal Investigator or a Co-Principal 
Investigator must be a teaching professor at the submitting university 
listed in the application; and a minimum of 30% of personnel time 
invoiced under the grant is to pay for student assistance for each year 
of the grant. Although it is not required as an application 
qualification criterion, collaboration with the private sector is 
encouraged, and applications proposing private sector collaboration may 
be evaluated more favorably. The solicitation will contain a complete 
description of the technical evaluation factors and relative importance 
of each factor. Collaboration by the private sector with the HBCU/OMI 
may be in the form of cash cost sharing, consultation, HBCU/OMI access 
to industrial facilities or equipment, experimental data and/or 
equipment not available at the university, or as a subgrantee/
subcontractor to the HBCU/OMI.

Areas of Interest

    In order to develop and sustain a national program of HBCU/OMI 
research in advanced and fundamental fossil fuel studies, the 
Department is interested in innovative research and development of 
advanced concepts pertinent to fossil fuel conversion and utilization 
limited to the following seven (7) technical topics:

Topic 1--Advanced Environmental Control Technologies for Coal
Topic 2--Advanced Coal Utilization
Topic 3--Coal Liquefaction Technology
Topic 4--Heavy Oil Upgrading and Processing
Topic 5--Advanced Recovery, Completion/Stimulation, and Geoscience 
Technologies for Oil
Topic 6--Natural Gas Supply, Storage, and Processing
Topic 7--Faculty/Student Exploratory Research Training Grants

    Note: Technical Topic No. 7, Faculty/Student Exploratory 
Research Training Grants, is the only topic under this Program 
Solicitation wherein the inclusion or exclusion of private sector 
collaboration will not affect the technical evaluation of the 
application.

Awards

    DOE anticipates issuing financial assistance (grants) for each 
project selected. DOE reserves the right to support or not support, 
with or without discussions, any or all applications received in whole 
or in part, and to determine how many awards may be made through the 
solicitation subject to funds available in this fiscal year. The 
limitation on the maximum DOE funding for each selected grant to be 
awarded under this Program Solicitation is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Topics 1-6                         Maximum  award
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To 12 months grant duration.............................      $85,000.00
13-24 months grant duration.............................      150,000.00
25-36 months grant duration.............................      200,000.00
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                         Topic 7                          Maximum  award
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To 12 months grant duration.............................      $20,000.00
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    Approximately $850,000 is planned for this solicitation. The total 
should provide support for four to eight R&D application selections 
(Topics 1-6), and approximately two to twelve faculty/ student 
exploratory research training application selections (Topic 7).

Solicitation Release Date

    The Program Solicitation is expected to be ready for release on or 
about November 30, 1998. Applications must be prepared and submitted in 
accordance with the instructions and forms contained in the Program 
Solicitation. To be eligible, applications must be Received by the 
designated DOE office by the closing time and date specified in the 
Program Solicitation (anticipated to be on or about January 20, 1999, 
at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time).
Dale A. Siciliano,
Contracting Officer, Acquisition and Assistance Division.
[FR Doc. 98-32457 Filed 12-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P