[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 118 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37982-37984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15372]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 00120]


West Nile Virus Surveillance Notice of Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2000 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program for West Nile Virus Surveillance. This program addresses the 
``Healthy People 2010'' focus area Immunization and Infectious 
Diseases. For a conference copy of ``Healthy People 2010'', visit the 
internet site: http://www.health.gov/healthypeople>
    The purpose of the program is to assist states in developing and 
implementing dead bird and human/equine encephalitis surveillance 
activities focusing on West Nile (WN) Virus.
    The WN fever outbreak in the northeastern United States (U.S.) in 
the summer and fall of 1999, represented the first incursion of this 
exotic arbovirus into the U.S. As of December 9, 1999, 62 confirmed or 
probable human cases of WN virus infection had been identified, 
including seven deaths.
    The basic transmission cycle of WN fever involves mosquitoes 
feeding on birds infected with the WN virus. Infected mosquitoes then 
transmit WN

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virus to humans and animals. This virus outbreak occurred during the 
peak southerly bird migration, and the effect this migration had on the 
spread of the virus beyond the outbreak epicenter is unknown. 
Additional information may be found in 3 MMWR articles (attached in the 
application package).

B. Eligible Applicants

    Assistance will be provided only to state health departments in the 
contiguous 48 states that are not currently receiving or eligible for 
WN funding through other CDC cooperative agreement programs. Thus, the 
following five states are eligible to apply for these funds under this 
announcement:
    Arkansas, Idaho, Nevada, New Hampshire, and North Dakota.
    No other applications are solicited.
    All other state health departments in the contiguous 48 states are 
receiving or are eligible for WN surveillance funding in FY 2000 
through other CDC programs including the Epidemiology and Laboratory 
Capacity (ELC) for Infectious Diseases, the Emerging Infections Program 
(EIP), and the Council for State and Territorial Health Departments 
(CSTE) cooperative agreements.

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

C. Availability of Funds

    Approximately $450,000 is available in FY 2000 to fund five awards. 
It is expected that each approved applicant will receive an award not 
exceeding $90,000 (including direct and indirect costs). It is expected 
that the awards will begin on or about August 1, 2000 and will be made 
for a 12-month budget period within a project period of one year. 
Funding estimates may change.

D. Program Requirements

    In conducting activities to achieve the purpose of this program, 
the recipient will be responsible for the activities under Recipient 
Activities, and CDC will be responsible for conducting activities under 
CDC Activities:

Recipient Activities

    1. Develop or enhance dead bird and human/equine encephalitis 
surveillance activities, focusing on WN virus. Activities should be 
consistent with published CDC guidelines entitled Epidemic/Epizootic 
West Nile Virus in the United States: Guidelines for Surveillance, 
Prevention and Control, March 2000--available via the CDC Web site at: 
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/ arbor/WN_surv_guide_Mar_2000.pdf
    2. Conduct data analysis and interpret and disseminate results.
    3. If proposed activities involve research on human participants, 
ensure appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) review.

CDC Activities

    1. Provide overall multi-site project coordination.
    2. Provide technical support in the design, implementation, and 
evaluation of program activities, if requested.
    3. Assist in data analysis and dissemination of project findings as 
needed.
    4. If during the project period research involving human subjects 
should be conducted and CDC scientists will be co-investigators in that 
research, assist in the development of a research protocol for IRB 
review by all institutions participating in the research project. The 
CDC IRB will review and approve the protocol initially and on at least 
an annual basis until the research project is completed.

E. Application Content

    Use the information in the Program Requirements, Other 
Requirements, and Evaluation Criteria sections to develop the 
application content. Applications will be evaluated on the criteria 
listed in Section G., below, so it is important that narratives clearly 
address the criteria.
    The narratives should be no more than 5 single-spaced pages along 
with a separate line-item budget and justification.
    As indicated in the Availability of Funds section above, the 
maximum award to any single applicant will be $90,000 (including direct 
and indirect costs). Do NOT submit a budget for any more than $90,000 
total. A budget justification is required for all budget items and must 
be submitted with Standard Form 424A, ``Budget Information,'' as part 
of the CDC application Form 0.1246(E). If requesting funds for any 
contractual activities, provide the following information for each 
contract or subaward: (1) Name of proposed contractor, (2) breakdown 
and justification for estimated costs, (3) description and scope of 
activities to be performed by contractor, (4) period of performance, 
(5) method of contractor selection (e.g., sole-source or competitive 
solicitation), and (6) method of accountability.
    All pages of the applications must be single-spaced, printed on one 
side, with one inch margins and a font size of 12 on white 8.5" x 11" 
paper.
    The required original application and two full copies must be 
submitted unstapled and unbound. Do not submit any bound or stapled 
materials (e.g., pamphlets, booklets, etc.) in the appendices. The 
entire application must be able to run through an automatic document 
feed copier.

F. Submission and Deadline

Application

    Submit the original and two copies of CDC 0.1246. Forms are 
available in the application kit. On or before July 12, 2000, submit 
the application to the Grants Management Specialist identified in the 
``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of this 
announcement.
    Deadline: Applications shall be considered as meeting the deadline 
if they are either:
    (a) Received on or before the deadline date; or
    (b) Sent on or before the deadline date and received in time for 
submission to the independent review group. (Applicants must request a 
legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain a legibly dated 
receipt from a commercial carrier or U.S. Postal Service. Private 
metered postmarks shall not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing.)
    Late Applications: Applications which do not meet the criteria in 
(a) or (b) above are considered late applications, will not be 
considered, and will be returned to the applicant.

G. Evaluation Criteria

    Each application will be evaluated individually against the 
following criteria by an independent review group appointed by CDC:
    1. Objectives (40 points): The extent to which the objectives for 
the project are clear and consistent with the purpose and Program 
Requirements of this cooperative agreement announcement.
    2. Operational Plan (60 points): The extent to which the 
operational plan is clear and appropriate to achieve the stated 
objectives, identifies the key personnel and organizations responsible 
for the proposed activities, and identifies a specific timetable for 
activities. If proposed activities involve research on human 
participants, the degree to which the applicant has met the CDC Policy 
requirements regarding the inclusion of women, ethnic, and racial 
groups in the proposed research.

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This includes: (a) The proposed plan for the inclusion of both sexes 
and racial and ethnic minority populations for appropriate 
representation; (b) The proposed justification when representation is 
limited or absent; (c) A statement as to whether the design of the 
study is adequate to measure differences when warranted; (d) A 
statement as to whether the plans for recruitment and outreach for 
study participants include the process of establishing partnerships 
with community(ies) and recognition of mutual benefits.
    3. Budget (not scored): The extent to which the project budget 
includes detailed line-item justification and is appropriate for the 
activities proposed.
    4. Human Subjects (not scored): If proposed activities involve 
research on human participants, does the application adequately address 
the requirements of Title 45 CFR Part 46 for the protection of human 
subjects?

H. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements

    Provide CDC with original plus two copies of
    1. Mid-program period progress report (due 6 months after award 
date);
    2. financial status report, no more than 90 days after the end of 
the budget/project period; and
    3. final performance report, no more than 90 days after the end of 
the budget/project period.
    Send all reports to the Grants Management Specialist identified in 
the ``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of this 
announcement.
    The following additional requirements are applicable to this 
program. For a complete description of each, sees Attachment I in the 
application kit.

AR-1  Human Subjects Requirements
AR-2  Requirements for Inclusion of Women and Racial and Ethnic 
Minorities in Research
AR-7  Executive Order 12372 Review
AR-10  Smoke-Free Workplace Requirements
AR-11  Healthy People 2010
AR-12  Lobbying Restrictions

I. Authority and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

    This program is authorized under the Public Health Service Act 
Sections 301(a)[42 U.S.C. 241(a)] and 317(k)(2)[42 U.S.C. 247b(k)(2)], 
as amended. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 
93.283.

J. Where To Obtain Additional Information

    To obtain additional information, contact: Andrea Wooddall, Grants 
Management Specialist, Grants Management Branch, Procurement and Grants 
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Room 3000, 2920 
Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, Telephone number: (770) 488-
2749, Email address: [email protected].
    For program technical assistance, contact: John T. Roehrig, Ph.D., 
Arbovirus Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious 
Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC), P. O. Box 2087 (Mailstop P02), Fort 
Collins, CO 80522, Telephone number: (970) 221-6465; Fax: (970) 221-
6476, Email: [email protected].
    Attachments (The following articles are included in the mailed 
application kit):

Attachment II: MMWR, Outbreak of West Nile-Like Viral Encephalitis--New 
York, 1999. October 1, 1999/48(38);845-9.
Attachment III: MMWR, Update: West Nile-Like Viral Encephalitis--New 
York, 1999. October 8, 1999/48(39);890-2.
Attachment IV: MMWR, Update: West Nile Virus Encephalitis--New York, 
1999. October 22, 1999/48(41);944-946, 955.

    Dated: June 13, 2000.
John L. Williams,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 00-15372 Filed 6-16-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P