[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15328-15330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-7127]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-00650; FRL-6499-6]


Notice of Availability of Regional Environmental Stewardship 
Program Grants

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of approximately $498 
thousand in fiscal year 2000 grant/cooperative agreement funds under 
section 20 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA) as amended, (the Act), for grants to States and federally 
recognized Native

[[Page 15329]]

American Tribes for research, public education, training, monitoring, 
demonstrations, and studies. For convenience, the term ``State'' in 
this notice refers to all eligible applicants.

DATES: In order to be considered for funding during the FY 00 award 
cycle, all applications must be received by the appropriate EPA 
regional office on or before May 22, 2000. EPA will make its award 
decisions by June 30, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Your EPA Regional Pesticide 
Environmental Stewardship Program Coordinator. Contact names for the 
coordinators are listed under Unit V of this document.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

Does this Action Apply to Me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may, 
however, be of interest to eligible applicants for purposes of funding 
under this grant program to 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 Native American tribes. For further information 
contact the Regional PESP coordinator listed under Unit V.

II. Availability of FY'00 Funds

    With this publication, EPA is announcing the availability of 
approximately $498 thousand in grant/cooperative agreement funds for 
FY'00. The Agency has delegated grant making authority to the EPA 
Regional Offices. Regional offices are responsible for the solicitation 
of interest, the screening of proposals, and the selection of projects. 
Grant guidance will be provided to all applicants along with any 
supplementary information the Regions may wish to provide. All 
applicants must address the criteria listed under Unit IV B. of this 
document. In addition, applicants may be required to meet any 
supplemental Regional criteria. Interested applicants should contact 
their Regional PESP coordinator listed under Unit V of this document 
for more information.

III. Eligible Applicants

    In accordance with the Act ``. . . Federal agencies, universities, 
or others as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the act, . . 
.'' are eligible to receive a grant; however, because of restrictions 
associated with the funds appropriated for this program, the eligible 
applicants are limited. 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 Native American Tribes. For convenience, the term 
``State'' in this notice refers to all eligible applicants. Local 
governments, private universities, private nonprofit entities, private 
businesses, and individuals are not eligible. The organizations 
excluded from applying directly are encouraged to work with eligible 
applicants in developing proposals that include them as participants in 
the projects. Contact your EPA Regional PESP coordinator for assistance 
in identifying and contacting eligible applicants. EPA strongly 
encourages this type of cooperative arrangement.

IV. Activities and Criteria

A. General

    The goal of PESP is to reduce the risks associated with pesticide 
use in agricultural and non-agricultural settings in the United States. 
The purpose of the grant program is to support the establishment and 
expansion of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as a tool to be used to 
accomplish the goals of PESP. Projects that address the risk reduction 
goals of the PESP, pesticide pollution prevention, Integrated Pest 
Management (IPM), IPM in Schools, children's health issues related to 
pesticides, or those research methods for documenting the trends toward 
the adoption of IPM or the reduction of risks associated with pesticide 
use will receive priority consideration. Other projects will be 
considered as they complement these goals through public education, 
training monitoring, demonstrations and studies and other activities. 
EPA specifically seeks to build State and local IPM capacities or to 
evaluate the economic feasibility of new IPM approaches at the state 
level (i.e., innovative approaches and methodologies that use 
application or other strategies to reduce the risks associated with 
pesticide use). Funds awarded under the grant program should be sued to 
support the goal of reducing the risk/use of pesticides. State projects 
might focus on, for example:
     Researching the effectiveness of multimedia communication 
activities for, including but not limited to: promoting local IPM 
activities, providing technical assistance to pesticide users; 
collecting and analyzing data to target outreach and technical 
assistance opportunities; developing measures to determine and document 
progress in pollution prevention; and identifying regulatory and non-
regulatory barriers or incentives to pollution prevention.
     Researching methods for establishing IPM as an 
environmental management priority, establishing prevention goals, 
developing strategies to meet those goals, and integrating the ethic 
within both governmental and non-governmental institutions of the State 
or region.
     Initiating research or other projects that test and 
support: innovative techniques for reducing pesticide risk or using 
pesticides in a way to reduce risk, innovative application techniques 
to reduce worker and environmental exposure, various approaches and 
methodologies to measure progress towards meeting the goal of 75% 
implementation of IPM by the year 2000.
    A list of projects funded in FY'99 may be obtained from the 
internet at URL http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/PESP/grants.htm or from the 
Regional PESP coordinator listed under Unit V. of this document.

B. Criteria

    Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
    1. Qualifications and experience of the applicant relative to the 
proposed project.
     Does the applicant demonstrate experience in the field of 
the proposed activity?
     Does the applicant have the properly trained staff, 
facilities, or infrastructure in place to conduct the project?
    2. Consistency of applicant's proposed project with the risk 
reduction goals of the PESP.
    3. Provision for a quantitative or qualitative evaluation of the 
project's success at achieving the stated goals.
     Is the project designed in such a way that it is possible 
to measure and document the results quantitatively and qualitatively?
     Does the applicant identify the method that will be used 
to measure and document the project's results quantitatively and 
qualitatively?
     Will the project assess or suggest a means for measuring 
progress in reducing risk/use of pesticides in the United States?
    4. Likelihood the project can be replicated to benefit other 
communities or the product may have broad utility to a widespread 
audience. Can this project, taking into account typical staff and 
financial restraints, be replicated by

[[Page 15330]]

similar organizations in different locations to address the same or 
similar problem?

C. Program Management

    Awards of FY'00 funds will be managed through the EPA Regional 
Offices.

D. Contacts

    A generic request for proposal may be available on EPA's PESP web 
site on or before March 22, 2000, at http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/PESP/grants.htm. Interested applicants must also contact the appropriate EPA 
Regional PESP coordinator listed under Unit V of this document to 
obtain specific instructions, regional criteria, and guidance for 
submitting proposals.

V. Regional Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Contacts

    Region I: (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode 
Island, Vermont), Robert Koethe, (CPT), 1 Congress St., Boston, MA 
02203, Telephone: (617) 918-1535, [email protected].
    Region II: (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands), 
Audrey Moore, (MS-500), 2890 Woodbridge Ave., Edison, NJ 08837, 
Telephone: (732) 906-6809, [email protected].
    Region III: (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West 
Virginia, District of Columbia), Racine Davis, (3WC32), 1650 Arch St., 
Philadelphia, PA 19103, Telephone: (215) 814-5797, 
[email protected].
    Region IV: (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee), Lora Lee Schroeder, 12th Floor, 
Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth St., SW., Atlanta, GA 30303-3104, 
Telephone: (404) 562-9015, [email protected].
    Region V: (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, 
Wisconsin), David Macarus, (DT-8J), 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 
60604, Telephone: (312) 353-5814, [email protected].
    Region VI: (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas), 
Jerry Collins, (6PD-P), 1445 Ross Ave., Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75202, 
Telephone: (214) 665-7562, [email protected].
    Region VII: (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska), Jamie Green, 901 N. 
5th St., Kansas City, KS 66101, Telephone: (913) 551-7139, 
[email protected].
    Region VIII: (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, 
Wyoming), Debbie Kovacs, (8P2-TX), 999 18th St., Suite 500, Denver, CO 
80202-2466, Telephone: (303) 312-6417, [email protected].
    Region IX: (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, 
Guam), Roccena Lawatch, (CMD4-3), 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 
94105, Telephone: (415) 744-1068, [email protected].
    Region X: (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington), Karl Arne, Sandy 
Halstead (ECO-084), 1200 Sixth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101, Telephone: 
(206) 553-2576, [email protected] [email protected].

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection.

    Dated: March 16, 2000.
Phillip Hutton,
Acting Director, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, 
Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 00-7127 Filed 3-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F