[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 58 (Thursday, March 25, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15298-15300]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6722]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No.: 000616180-4095-08]
RIN 0648-ZA91


NOAA Climate and Global Change Program, FY 2005 Program 
Announcement

AGENCY: Office of Global Programs, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department 
of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Climate and Global Change Program represents a National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) contribution to

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evolving national and international programs designed to improve our 
ability to observe, understand, predict, and respond to changes in the 
global environment. This program builds on NOAA's mission requirements 
and long-standing capabilities in global change research and 
prediction. The NOAA Program is a key contributing element of the U.S. 
Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which is coordinated by the 
interagency Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources. NOAA's 
program is designed to complement other agencies' contributions to that 
national effort.

DATES: Letters of Intent should be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time 
April 14, 2004. Full proposals must be received at the Office of Global 
Programs no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time May 24, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Full Proposals must be submitted to: Grants Manager, Office 
of Global Programs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1210, Silver Spring, MD 20910-5603. Letters of 
Intent should be submitted by e-mail to noaa.gov">ogpgrants@noaa.gov or may be 
mailed to the address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane S. Brown, Grants Manager (see 
ADDRESSES), phone at 301-427-2089, ext. 107, fax to 301-427-2082, or e-
mail at noaa.gov">ogpgrants@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic Access: Applicants should read 
the full text of the full funding opportunity announcement which can be 
accessed at the OGP Web site: http://www.ogp.noaa.gov or the central 
NOAA site: www.ofa.noaa.gov/amd/SOLINDEX.HTML. This announcement will 
also be available through Grants.gov at http://www.Grants.gov. The 
standard NOAA application kit is available on the OGP Web site at: 
http://www.opg.noaa.gov/grants/appkit.htm.
    Evaluation and Selection Procedures: NOAA published its first 
omnibus notice announcing the availability of grant funds for both 
projects and fellowships/scholarship/internships for Fiscal Year 2004 
in the Federal Register on June 30, 2003 (68 FR 38678). The evaluation 
criteria and selection procedures contained in the June 30, 2003 
omnibus notice are applicable to this solicitation. For a copy of the 
June 30, 2003 omnibus notice please go to: http://www/ofa.noaa.gov/amd/
SOLINDEX.HTML.
    Funding Availability: Please be advised that actual funding levels 
will depend upon the final FY 2005 budget appropriations. In FY 2003, 
$8.2M in first year funding was available for 63 new awards; similar 
funds and number of awards are anticipated in FY 2004 and FY 2005. We 
anticipate that the annual cost of most funded projects will fall 
between $50,000 and $200,000 per year. Current plans assume that 100% 
of the total resources provided through this announcement will support 
extramural efforts, particularly those involving the broad academic 
community. Past or current grantees funded under this announcement are 
eligible to apply for a new award which builds on previous activities 
or areas of research not covered in the previous award. Current 
grantees should not request supplementary funding for ongoing research 
through this announcement. This program will not cover tuition 
remission for graduate students above $2,500/year or computing and 
networking services above $1,000/year per grant.

    Statutory Authority: 49 U.S.C. 44720 (b); 33 U.S.C. 883d; 15 
U.S.C. 2904; 15 U.S.C. 2931-2934.

    CFDA: No. 11.431, Climate and Atmospheric Research.
    Eligibility: Eligible applicants are institutions of higher 
education, other nonprofits, commercial organizations, international 
organizations, state, local and Indian tribal governments. Federal 
agencies or institutions are not eligible to receive Federal assistance 
under this notice.
    Cost Sharing Requirements: Cost Sharing is not required.
    Letters of Intent: The purpose of the LOI process is to provide 
information to potential applicants on the relevance of their proposed 
project to the Climate and Global Change Program and the likelihood of 
it being funded in advance of preparing a full proposal. While it is in 
the best interest of the applicants and their institutions to submit an 
LOI explaining the work they propose to carry out and how much it will 
cost, it is not a requirement; applicants who do not submit an LOI are 
allowed to submit a full proposal. A panel of program managers will 
review each LOI to determine its responsiveness to the program goals as 
advertised in this notice and will provide an e-mail or letter 
response.
    Limitation of Liability: Funding for the programs listed in this 
notice are contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year 2005 
appropriations. In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be 
responsible for proposal preparation costs if these programs fail to 
receive funding or are cancelled because of other agency priorities. 
Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any 
specific project or to obligate any available funds.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

    NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required 
by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects 
or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities. 
Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the 
following NOAA NEPA Web site: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our 
NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216-6-TOC.pdf, and the Council on Environmental Quality 
implementation regulations, http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm. Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under 
their description of their program activities, applicants are required 
to provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted, 
locations, sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible 
construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist 
(e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, 
introduction of non-indigenous species, impacts to endangered and 
threatened species, aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef 
systems). In addition to providing specific information that will serve 
as the basis for any required impact analyses, applicants may also be 
requested to assist NOAA in drafting of an environmental assessment, if 
NOAA determines an assessment is required. Applicants will also be 
required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying and implementing 
feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse 
environmental impacts of their proposal. The failure to do so shall be 
grounds for the denial of an application.
    The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements: The Department of Commerce Pre-Award 
Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements 
contained in the Federal Register notice of October 1, 2001 (67 FR 
49917), as amended by the Federal Register notice published on October 
30, 2002 (67 FR 66109), are applicable to this solicitation.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This document contains collection-of-information requirements 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The use of Standard Forms 
424 and 424A, 424B, SF-LLL, and CD-346 have been approved by OMB under 
the respective

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control numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-
0001. 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 PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

Executive Order 12866

    This notice has been determined to be not significant for purposes 
of Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

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

Intergovernmental Review

    Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order 
12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of federal programs.''

Administrative Procedure Act/ Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Prior notice and an opportunity for public comments are not 
required by the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for this 
notice concerning grants, benefits, and contracts (5 U.S.C. section 
553(a). Because notice and opportunity for comment are not required 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the analytical requirements 
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq) are 
inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not been 
prepared.

    Dated: March 22, 2004.
Louisa Koch,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, OAR, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-6722 Filed 3-24-04; 8:45 am]
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