[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11102-11104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-5857]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket No. 000410097-2041-05]
RIN 0660-ZA-11


Public Telecommunications Facilities Program: Closing Date

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Funds.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce, announces the solicitation of 
applications for a grant for the Pan-Pacific Education and 
Communications Experiments by Satellite (PEACESAT) Program. Projects 
funded pursuant to this Notice are intended to support the PEACESAT 
Program's acquisition of satellite communications to service Pacific 
Basin communities and to manage the operations of this network. 
Applications for the PEACESAT Program grant will compete for funds from 
the Public Broadcasting, Facilities, Planning and Construction Funds 
account. The deadline for receipt of applications for the Public 
Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP), which is also funded from 
this account, was February 5, 2002. The PTFP deadline was published in 
the Federal Register on November 20, 2001 (66 FR 58302).

DATES: Applications for the PEACESAT Program grant must be received on 
or before 5:00 p.m. on April 11, 2002. Applicants sending applications 
by the United States Postal Service or commercial delivery services 
must ensure that the carrier will be able to guarantee delivery of the 
application by the Closing Date and Time. NTIA will not accept mail 
delivery of applications posted on the Closing Date or later and 
received after the above deadline. However, if an application is 
received after the Closing Date due to (1) carrier error, when the 
carrier accepted the package with a guarantee for delivery by the 
Closing Date, or (2) significant weather delays or natural disasters, 
NTIA will, upon receipt of proper documentation, consider the 
application as having been received by the deadline.

ADDRESSES: To submit completed applications, or send any other 
correspondence, write to: NTIA/PTFP, Room H-4625, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230. 
Applicants submitting applications by

[[Page 11103]]

hand delivery are notified that, due to security procedures in the 
Department of Commerce, all packages must be cleared by the 
Department's security office. The security office is located in Room 
1874, located at Entrance No. 10 on the 15th St. NW side of the 
building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Cooperman, Director, Public 
Broadcasting Division, telephone: (202) 482-5802; fax: (202) 482-2156.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Application Forms and Requirements

    Funding for the PEACESAT Program is provided pursuant to Public Law 
107-77, the ``Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the 
Judiciary and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002'' and Public 
Law 106-113, ``The Consolidated Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2000.'' 
Public Law 106-113 provides ``That, hereafter, notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the Pan-Pacific Education and Communications 
Experiments by Satellite (PEACESAT) Program is eligible to compete for 
Public Broadcasting Facilities, Planning and Construction funds.'' The 
PEACESAT Program was authorized under Pub. L. 100-584 (102 Stat. 2970) 
and also Pub. L. 101-555 (104 Stat. 2758) to acquire satellite 
communications services to provide educational, medical, and cultural 
needs of Pacific Basin communities. The PEACESAT Program has been 
operational since 1971 and has received funding from NTIA for support 
of the project since 1988.
    Public Law 107-77 appropriated $43.5 million for this account to be 
awarded for Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) grants 
and for PEACESAT Program grants. The solicitation notice for the PTFP 
Program was published in the Federal Register on November 20, 2001 (66 
FR 58302). Applications submitted in response to this solicitation for 
PEACESAT applications are not subject to the requirements of the 
November 20, 2001 Notice and are exempt from the PTFP regulations at 15 
CFR part 2301. NTIA anticipates making a single award for approximately 
$475,000 for the PEACESAT Program in FY2002.
    NTIA requests that each applicant for a PEACESAT Program grant 
supply one (1) original signed application and five (5) copies, unless 
doing so would present a financial hardship, in which case the 
applicant may submit one(1) original and two (2) copies of the 
application. The application form consists of the Standard Form 424, 
Application for Federal Assistance; Standard Form 424A, Budget 
Information-Non-Construction Programs; Standard Form 424 B, Assurances; 
Standard Form CD-511, Certification; and Standard Form LLL, Disclosure 
of Lobbying Activities (if applicable). These requirements are subject 
to the Paperwork Reduction Act and have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget under control numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-
0040 and 0348-0046.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required 
to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure 
to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), unless that collection displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.
    Eligible applicants will include any for-profit or non-profit 
organization, public or private entity, other than an agency or 
division of the Federal government. Individuals are not eligible to 
apply for the PEACESAT Program funds.
    Grant recipients under this program will not be required to provide 
matching funds toward the total project cost.
    The costs allowable under this Notice are not subject to the 
limitation on costs contained in the November 20, 2001 Notice regarding 
the PTFP Program.

II. Administrative Requirements; Scope of Project and Eligible 
Costs; Evaluation and Selection Process.

    Public Law Number 107-77 was enacted November 28, 2001. Public Law 
107-77 appropriated funds to the Public Broadcasting, Facilities, 
Planning and Construction Funds account. Pursuant to Public Law 106-113 
the Pan-Pacific Education and Communications Experiments by Satellite 
(PEACESAT) Program can compete for funds from the Public Broadcasting, 
Facilities, Planning and Construction Funds account. Funds appropriated 
to the Public Broadcasting, Facilities, Planning and Construction Funds 
account do not carry fiscal year limitations. A notice published on 
March 16, 1999 set forth the scope of the project and eligible costs, 
and a description of the evaluation and selection process for 
applications for the PEACESAT Program. Since funds for the Public 
Broadcasting, Facilities, Planning and Construction Funds account are 
available without fiscal year limitations, the administrative 
requirements; scope of project and eligible costs criteria; and 
evaluation and selection process criteria set forth in the March 16, 
1999 notice apply to the 1999 PEACESAT program and to all subsequent 
years. A copy of the March 16,1999 Notice is available to potential 
applicants from NTIA at the address listed in the Address section and 
is also available on the Internet at www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/peacesat.html. If, in the future, NTIA changes the administrative 
requirements; the scope of project and eligible costs criteria; or the 
evaluation and selection process criteria, a new notice will be 
published containing the new criteria and requirements. Unsuccessful 
applications will be destroyed.
    Applicants for grants for the PEACESAT Program must file their 
applications on or before April 11, 2002. NTIA anticipates making the 
grant award by September 30, 2002. NTIA shall not be liable for any 
proposal preparation costs.

III. Project Period

    Any project awarded pursuant to this notice will be for a one-year 
period.

IV. Other Requirements

    The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register 
notice of October 1, 2001 (66 FR 49917), are applicable to this 
solicitation, unless stated otherwise in this notice. However, please 
note that the Department of Commerce will not implement the 
requirements of Executive Order 13202 (66 FR 49921), pursuant to 
guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget in light of a 
court opinion which found that the Executive Order was not legally 
authorized. See Building and Construction Trades Department v. 
Allbaugh, 172 F. Supp.2d 138 (D.D.C. 2001). This decision is currently 
on appeal. When the case has been finally resolved, the Department will 
provide further information on implementation of Executive Order 13202.

V. Executive Order 12866

    It has been determined that this notice is ``not significant'' for 
the purpose of Executive Order 12866.

VI. Executive Order 13132

    It has been determined that this notice does not contain policies 
with Federalism implications as that term is defined in EO 13132.

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    Because notice and comment are not required under 5 USC 553, or any 
other law, for this notice related to public property, loans, grants, 
benefits or contracts, 5 USC 553(a), a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
is not required and

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has not been prepared for this notice. 5 USC 601 et seq.

    Authority: Pub. L. 107-77 the ``Departments of Commerce, 
Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2002'' and Pub. L. 106-113, ``The Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2000.''

Bernadette McGuire-Rivera,
Associate Administrator, Office of Telecommunications and Information 
Applications.
[FR Doc. 02-5857 Filed 3-11-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P