[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 68 (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17354-17356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-8678]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket No. 001215353-3068-03]
RIN 0660-ZA14


PEACESAT Closing Date

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

ACTION: Notice of closing date for solicitation of PEACESAT 
applications.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

[[Page 17355]]

deadline for receipt of television applications for the Public 
Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP), which is also funded from 
this account, was November 19, 2002. The PTFP deadline was published in 
the Federal Register on October 17, 2002 (67 FR 64297). NTIA also 
published in the March 5, 2003 Federal Register (68 FR 10610) that the 
deadline for receipt of radio and nonbroadcast applications for the 
PTFP, which are also funded from this account, will be April 4, 2003.

DATE: Applications for the PEACESAT Program grant must be received on 
or before 5 p.m. EDT on May 9, 2003. 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 carrier error, when the carrier 
accepted the package with a guarantee for delivery by the closing date, 
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 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 
108-7, ``The Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003,'' 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 108-7 appropriated $43.5 million for this account to be 
awarded for Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) grants 
and for PEACESAT Program grants. Solicitation notices for the PTFP 
Program were published in the Federal Register on October 17, 2002 (67 
FR 64297) for television applications and on March 5, 2003 (68 FR 
10610) for radio and nonbroadcast applications. Applications submitted 
in response to this solicitation for PEACESAT applications are not 
subject to the requirements of the October 17, 2002 or March 5, 2003 
Notices and are exempt from the PTFP regulations at 15 CFR part 2301. 
NTIA anticipates making a single award for approximately $500,000 for 
the PEACESAT Program in FY2003.
    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.
    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 October 17, 2002 or March 5, 2003 
Notices regarding the PTFP Program.

II. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

    11.550 Public Telecommunications Facilities Program.

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

    Public Law Number 108-7 was enacted February 20, 2003. Public Law 
No. 108-7 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 http://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 May 9, 2003. NTIA anticipates making the 
grant award by September 30, 2003. NTIA shall not be liable for any 
proposal preparation costs.

IV. Project Period

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

V. Other Requirements

    The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification of Requirements 
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements

[[Page 17356]]

contained in the Federal Register notice of October 1, 2001 (66 FR 
49917), as amended by the Federal Register notice published on October 
30, 2002 (67 FR 66109), is applicable to this solicitation.
    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.

VI. Executive Order 12866

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

VII. 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.

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    Because notice and comment are not required under 5 U.S.C. 553, or 
any other law, for this notice related to public property, loans, 
grants, benefits or contracts, 5 U.S.C. 553(a), a Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis is not required and has not been prepared for this 
notice. 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.

    Authority: Pub. L. 108-7, ``The Consolidated Appropriations 
Resolution, 2003,'' and Public Law 106-113, ``The Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2000.''

Dr. Bernadette McGuire-Rivera,
Associate Administrator, Office of Telecommunications and Information 
Applications.
[FR Doc. 03-8678 Filed 4-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P