[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 71 (Thursday, April 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18929-18931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9059]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPP-00713; FRL-6779-3]


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 $497 
thousand in fiscal year 2001 grant/cooperative agreement funds under 
section 20 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA) as amended, for grants to States and federally recognized 
Native American Tribes for research, public education, training, 
monitoring, demonstrations, and studies.

DATES: Applications must be received by the appropriate EPA Regional 
Office on or before June 11, 2001. EPA will make its award decisions by 
July 2, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Your EPA Regional Pesticide 
Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) Coordinator listed under Unit 
V. of this notice.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. 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.

II. Availability of FY'01 Funds

    With this publication, EPA is announcing the availability of 
approximately $497 thousand in grant/cooperative agreement funds for 
fiscal year 2001. The Agency has delegated grant making authority to 
the EPA Regional Offices.

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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, 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 used 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.
    A list of projects funded in fiscal year 2000 may be obtained at 
http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/PESP/regional_grants.htm or from your 
Regional PESP Coordinator.

B. Criteria

    EPA Regional Offices are responsible for the solicitation of 
interest, screening of proposals, and selection of projects. A generic 
request for proposal will be available on EPA's PESP web site on or 
before April 19, 2001, at http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/PESP/regional_grants.htm. Interested applicants must contact the appropriate 
EPA Regional PESP Coordinator to obtain specific instructions, Regional 
criteria, guidance, and format for submitting proposals.
    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. Does the project provide 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?
    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 similar organizations in 
different locations to address the same or similar problem?

C. Program Management

    Awards of fiscal year 2001 funds will be managed through the EPA 
Regional Offices.

V. Regional Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Contacts

    Region I: (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode 
Island, Vermont), Robert Koethe, (CPT), 1 Congress St., Suite 1100, 
Boston, MA 02114-2023; telephone: (617) 918-1535; e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Region II: (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands), 
Audrey Moore, (MS-500), Raritan Depot, 2890 Woodbridge Ave., Edison, NJ 
08837-3679; telephone: (732) 906-6809; e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Region III: (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West 
Virginia, District of Columbia), Racine Davis, (3WC32), 1650 Arch St., 
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029; telephone: (215) 814-5797; e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Region IV: (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee), Lora Schroeder, 61 Forsyth St., 
SW, Atlanta, GA 30303-8960; telephone: (404) 562-9015; e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Region V: (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, 
Wisconsin), Heather McDonald, (DT-8J), 77 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 
60604-3507; telephone: (312) 886-3572; e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Region VI: (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas), 
Jerry Collins, (6PD-P), 1445 Ross Ave., Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75202-
2733; telephone: (214) 665-7562; e-mail address: [email protected].
    Region VII: (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska), John Tice, (WWPD-
PEST), 901 N 5th St., Kansas City, KS 66101; telephone: (402) 437-5080; 
e-mail address: [email protected].

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    Region VIII: (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, 
Wyoming), Debbie Kovacs, (8P2-TX), 999 18th St., Suite 300 Denver, CO 
80202-2466; telephone: (303) 312-6417; e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Region IX: (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, 
Guam), Karen Heisler, (CMD-4-3), 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 
94105; telephone: (415) 744-1100; e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Region X: (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington), Karl Arne, (ECO-
084), 1200 6th Ave., Seattle, WA 98101; telephone: (206) 553-2576; e-
mail address: [email protected].

VI. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    Under the Agency's current interpretation of the definition of a 
``rule,'' grant solicitations such as this which are competitively 
awarded on the basis of selection criteria, are considered rules for 
the purpose of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA, 5 U.S.C. 
801 et seq., as added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), generally provides that before a rule 
may take effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule 
report, which includes a copy of the rule, to each House of the 
Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. EPA will 
submit a report containing this rule and other required information to 
the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller 
General of the United States prior to publication of the rule in the 
Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 
U.S.C. 804(2).

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection.

    Dated: March 28, 2001.
Phil Hutton,
Acting Director, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, 
Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 01-9059 Filed 4-11-01; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S