[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 195 (Friday, October 8, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 54944-54947] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-26353] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Coast Guard [USCG-1999-6311] National Boating Safety Activities: Funding for National Nonprofit Public Service Organizations AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT. ACTION: Notice of availability. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Coast Guard seeks applications for grants and cooperative [[Page 54945]] agreements from national nongovernmental, nonprofit, public service organizations. These grants and cooperative agreements would be used to fund projects on various subjects promoting boating safety on the national level. This notice provides information about the grant and cooperative agreement application process and some of the subjects of particular interest to the Coast Guard. DATES: Application packages may be obtained on or after October 8, 1999. Proposals for the fiscal year 2000 grant cycle must be received before 4:30 p.m. eastern time, January 17, 2000. ADDRESSES: Application packages may be obtained by calling the Coast Guard Infoline at 800-368-5647. Submit proposals to: Commandant (G-OPB- 1), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Room 3100, Washington, DC 20593-0001. This notice is available from the Coast Guard Infoline and on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov or at the Web Site for the Office of Boating Safety at http://www.uscgboating.org. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Albert Marmo or Ms. Vickie Hartberger, Office of Boating Safety, U.S. Coast Guard (G-OPB-1/room 3100), 2100 Second Street, SW, Washington, DC 20593-0001; 202-267-0950 or 202-267-0974. For questions on viewing, or submitting material to, the docket, contact Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, 202-366-9329. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 26, United States Code, section 9504, establishes the Boat Safety Account of the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund. From this trust fund, the majority of funds are allocated to the States, and up to 5% of these funds may be distributed by the Coast Guard for grants and cooperative agreements to national, nonprofit, public service organizations for national boating safety activities. It is anticipated that $2,950,000 will be available for fiscal year 2000. Thirty-five awards totaling $2,942,080 were made in fiscal year 1999 ranging from $9,000 to $435,000. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as committing the Coast Guard to dividing available funds among qualified applicants or awarding any specified amount. It is anticipated that several awards will be made by the Director of Operations Policy, U.S. Coast Guard. Applicants must be national, nongovernmental, nonprofit, public service organizations and must establish that their activities are, in fact, national in scope. An application package may be obtained by writing or calling the point of contact listed in ADDRESSES on or after October 8, 1999. The application package contains all necessary forms, an explanation of how the grant program is administered, and a checklist for submitting a grant application. Specific information on organization eligibility, proposal requirements, award procedures, and financial administration procedures may be obtained by contacting the person listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Prospective grantees may propose up to a five-year grant with twelve-month (fiscal year) increments. In effect, an award would be made for the first year and thereafter renewal is optional. Each annual increment would not be guaranteed. Under a continuation (multi-year) grant type of award the Coast Guard agrees to support a grant project at a specific level of effort for a specified period of time, with a statement of intention to provide certain additional future support, provided funds become available, the achieved results warrant further support, and are in support of the needs of the government. Award of continuation grants will be made on a strict case by case basis to assist planning certain large scale projects and ensure continuity. Procedures also provide for awarding noncompetitive grants or cooperative agreements on a case by case basis. This authority is judiciously used to fund recurring annual projects or events which can only be carried out by one organization, and projects that present targets of opportunity for timely action on new or emerging program requirements or issues. The following list includes items of specific interest to the Coast Guard, however, potential applicants should not be constrained by the list. We welcome any initiative that can help to reduce recreational boating deaths, injuries or property damage. We have a high interest in initiatives that focus on recreational fishermen, canoeists, kayakers, and/or personal watercraft operators. Some project areas of continuing and particular interest for grant funding include the following. 1. Develop and Conduct a National Annual Safe Boating Campaign The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop and conduct the year 2001 National Annual Safe Boating Campaign that targets specific boater market segments and recreational boating safety topics. This year-round campaign must support the organizational objectives of the Recreational Boating Safety Program to save lives, reduce the number of boating accidents and associated health care costs, as well as support the nationwide grassroots activity of the many volunteer groups who coordinate local media events, education programs, and public awareness activities. Products must include, but are not limited to: situation analysis, post campaign component evaluation processes, measures of effectiveness, marketing strategy, distribution plan, and final report. All print, audio and video material must be designed to emphasize multiple year-round boating safety and accident prevention messages. Highlights of the calendar year 2001 national campaign will be special select materials and activities to support National Safe Boating Week and other selected national boating safety events. The major focus of the campaign will be to affect the behavior of all boaters to increase wearing of Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) [with special emphasis on use by children, paddlers, hunters and anglers, and users of personal watercraft] and the dangers of boating while under the influence (BUI) of alcohol or drugs. The hunters, anglers, paddlers and personal watercraft user components should reflect the statistical risks associated with fishing activities, falls overboard, cold water immersion, and failure to wear a PFD. An established portion of allocated grant funds must support a National Boating Accident Reporting Awareness Program that is designed to reach all boaters with a message on the importance of reporting boating accidents. Efforts will also be coordinated, year-round, with other national transportation safety activities and special media events, in particular those which focus on the prevention of operating a boat under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Point of Contact: Ms. Jo Calkin, 202-267-0994. 2. Develop and Conduct a National Recreational Boating Safety Outreach and Awareness Conference The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to plan, implement, and conduct a National Recreational Boating Safety Outreach and Awareness Conference. This conference must support the organizational objectives of the Recreational Boating Safety Program to save lives, reduce the number of boating accidents, and lower associated health care costs. The overall conference focus should have promotional strategies which address the following specific targeted audiences: paddlers, anglers and hunters, and personal watercraft users. The conference should be scheduled to be conducted during the spring of 2001 and be held concurrent or consecutively with additional major national recreational and/or boating [[Page 54946]] safety and aquatic symposiums. The design of the conference should enhance the awareness and development of paid and volunteer professionals; national, state, and local boating safety program organization leaders; waterway managers and industry specialists. It should provide a unifying link between local or regional programs and those on the national level. The conference should be a collaborative effort of national organizations interested in the betterment of boating and aquatic safety and should include, but not be limited to, plenary sessions, hands-on workshops, and the distribution of a post conference report (publication) describing the activities of the conference. Products should include, but are not limited to, specific program tasks, evaluation processes, measures of effectiveness, marketing strategy, and final report. Point of Contact: Ms. Jo Calkin, 202-267-0994. 3. State/Federal/Boating Organizations Cooperative Partnering Efforts The Coast Guard seeks grantees to provide programs to encourage greater participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts. Applicants would provide a forum to encourage greater uniformity of boating laws and regulations, reciprocity among jurisdictions, and closer cooperation and assistance in developing, administering, and enforcing Federal and State laws and regulations pertaining to boating safety. Point of Contact: Ms. Sandy Brown, 202-267-6010. 4. Voluntary Standards Development Support The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to carry out a program to encourage active participation by members of the public and other qualified persons in the development of technically sound voluntary safety standards for boats and associated equipment. Point of Contact: Mr. Peter Eikenberry, 202-267-6984. 5. Develop and Conduct Boating Accident Seminars The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop, provide instructional material, and conduct training courses nationwide for boating accident investigators, including three courses at the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia. Point of Contact: Mr. Rick Gipe, 202-267-0985. 6. National Estimate of Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) Wear Rate Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop a statistically valid national estimate and evaluation of wear rates of PFDs by recreational boaters. Wear rate should be determined by actual observation of boaters rather than other means such as surveys. Special emphasis should be placed on identifying inland fishermen. Point of Contact: LCDR Rick Sparacino, 202-267-0976. 7. Human Factors and Risk Management in Recreational Boating Applications The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to apply risk analysis and risk management techniques in the recreational boating arena to identify and characterize the human factors and risk involved with the recreational boating experience, including operator controlled factors, boat characteristics, safety equipment, and operator safety awareness. The grantee shall identify operator and/or equipment interventions and develop methodology to eliminate or mitigate risk factors. Point of Contact: Mr. Phil Cappel, 202-267-0988. 8. Redesign of Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Labels The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to redesign the labels affixed to Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs). The final label designs for each of the five (05) types of PFDs would incorporate icons to show the applicability of that type of PFD as well as icons to communicate special uses and/or restrictions. The grantee would be expected to work with various organizations to gather and prioritize the information that needs to be conveyed by the label, develop the label, perform comprehension testing of each label element and design, and prepare a deliverable in the form of a draft standard to be delivered to the Standards Technical Panel for PFDs at Underwriters Laboratories. Point of Contact: Mr. Rick Gipe, 202-267-0985. 9. Sailing Lessons Learned The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to review reports and articles on major offshore sailing incidents over the last several years, review actions taken by various U.S. organizations to date and make recommendations for additional actions to improve sailboat safety in racing and non-racing environments in the United States and aboard U.S. flagged sailboats. Point of Contact: Mr. Carlton Perry, 202-267-0979. 10. Global Maritime Distress and Safety System Education The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop training aids and a training program to educate the recreational boating public on the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). The training program and training aids shall incorporate the history of GMDSS, a summary of its component systems, the definition of GMDSS Sea Areas, as well as the equipment carriage requirements for mandatory (SOLAS-class) vessels. The program should address the discontinuance of certain radio guards on GMDSS compliant vessels, and the potential difficulties non- GMDSS equipped recreational boaters may encounter in trying to establish communications with such vessels in the future. In addition to providing this background, the program should focus on the aspect of GMDSS most likely to be used by recreational boaters in the future, i.e., VHF-FM Digital Selective Calling (DSC). The program should also emphasize the time frame for construction of the U. S. Coast Guard's infrastructure for VHF-FM DSC, currently slated for completion in 2005 as part of the National Distress and Response System Modernization Project (NDRSMP). Point of Contact: LT Robert Schambier, 202-267-6702. 11. Boating Safety Problem-Specific Outreach The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop an informational package dealing with several safety issues, including carbon monoxide dangers, propeller injury prevention, off throttle steering properties and others to be specified. The information would be reproducible in pamphlet form as well as in format for inclusion on a web site and focused elements of the year-round national campaign. Point of Contact: Ms. Diane Schneider, 202-267-1196. 12. Off-Throttle Steering of Jet-pump Propelled Craft The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to identify available and emerging technology/methodology in the area of off-throttle steering of jet-pump propelled craft, and conduct testing on those items/methods that are determined to be most effective. Point of Contact: Mr. Gary Larimer, 202-267-0986. 13. Measures of Effectiveness for State Grants The Coast Guard seeks a grantee to develop common measures of effectiveness (MOEs) that could be used to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Coast Guard grant program for State recreational boating safety programs. The grantee would evaluate existing MOEs used in various States, research best business practices, and develop methodology associated with MOEs. The information would be disseminated [[Page 54947]] to the States to assist their evaluation of the effectiveness of their individual programs. Point of Contact: Mr. Bruce Schmidt, 202-267-0955. Potential grantees should focus on partnership, i.e., exploring other sources, linkages, in-kind contributions, cost sharing, and partnering with other organizations or corporations. You may obtain a more detailed discussion of specific projects of interest to the Coast Guard by contacting the Coast Guard Infoline at 800-368-5647 and requesting a copy of a specific proposal. We also encourage proposals addressing other boating safety concerns. The Boating Safety Financial Assistance Program is listed in section 20.005 of the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. Dated: October 1, 1999. Terry M. Cross, Rear Admiral, U. S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Operations Acting. [FR Doc. 99-26353 Filed 10-7-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-15-U