[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 133 (Tuesday, July 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42080-42084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15764]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Discretionary Cooperative Agreement Program To Support Project To 
Increase Hispanic Safety Belt Use

AGENCY: DOT, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

ACTION: Notice; Announcement of a discretionary cooperative 
agreement(s) to support an occupant protection campaign to increase 
Hispanic safety belt use.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
announces a discretionary cooperative agreement opportunity to solicit 
support from organizations that serve the Hispanic community to 
implement a demonstration program to increase safety belt use and 
reduce fatalities and injuries among the Hispanic population. NHTSA 
anticipates funding an organization for a period of two years to 
administer a demonstration project in approximately two sites in a 
county or metropolitan area with a large concentration of Hispanic or 
Spanish-speaking new immigrants. The sites will be determined jointly 
by NHTSA and the successful applicant. This Notice solicits applicable 
State agencies (e.g., highway safety offices, motor vehicle 
administrations, law enforcement agencies, and others) non-profit, for-
profit or not-for-profit organizations, or a consortium of agencies/
organizations for funds to be available in fiscal year (FY) 2004. 
Interested applicants must submit an application package meeting the 
requirements set forth in the application section of this Notice. NHTSA 
will evaluate the applications to determine which proposal will receive 
funding under this announcement.

DATES: Applications must be received no later than August 12, 2004, at 
1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

ADDRESSES: Application must be submitted to the U.S. Department of 
Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office 
of Contracts and Procurements (NPO-220), ATTN: April L. Jennings, 400 
7th Street SW., Room 5301, Washington, DC 20590. All applicants must 
include reference to NHTSA Cooperative Agreement Number DTNH22-04-H-
05137.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be directed to Ms. April 
L. Jennings, Office of Contracts and Procurement, NPO-220, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., 20590 by e-mail (preferred method) at 
[email protected] or by phone at (202) 366-9571 no later 
than August 9, 2004. Interested parties are advised that no separate 
application packages exist beyond the contents of this announcement.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the 
Federal agency assigned to implement the National Initiative for 
Increasing Seat Belt Use Nationwide, being carried out under the Buckle 
Up America Campaign. Safety belts have proven to be the most effective 
occupant protection device in saving lives and preventing injuries in 
motor vehicle crashes.
    The use of safety belts in motor vehicles is less common in 
minority and low-income populations than in the general population. 
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics from 
ages 1-34 years old. A recent medical study showed that Hispanic 
drivers have a lower safety belt use than non-Hispanic whites, with 
correspondingly higher fatality rates in traffic crashes. These factors 
necessitate programs to increase safety belt use in this group.
    Hispanics currently make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and 
are projected to make up 24 percent by the year 2050. As the percentage 
of Hispanics increases, it is anticipated that a greater proportion of 
future crash injuries and fatalities will come from the Hispanic 
community.
    NHTSA's mission is to ensure that everyone is buckled up, and to 
develop and implement national activities that will generate positive 
change in safety belt and child safety seat use. NHTSA programs are 
tailored to meet the unique needs of communities, are evidence-based 
and use proven strategies, and rely on close collaborations and 
partnerships with community-based service providers.
    As part of this on-going effort to define strategies that work best 
to increase safety belt use in Hispanics communities, NHTSA announces 
this demonstration program to explore ways to reduce injuries and 
fatalities among this group. Through this Cooperative Agreement, NHTSA 
anticipates increasing safety belt use in communities with large 
Hispanic populations and identifying effective strategies that can be 
replicated in other Hispanic communities across the Nation.

Objective

    The objective of this demonstration program is to increase safety 
belt use among Hispanics. This will be accomplished through the 
selection of an organization to develop, oversee and evaluate new, 
culturally appropriate, occupant protection programs to raise safety 
belt and child restraint use within Hispanic communities. The program 
will be based in communities with large concentrations of Hispanics and 
will be developed to affect long-term behavioral changes. At the 
conclusion of this demonstration program, a detailed report outlining 
the strategies, successes, and challenges of the program will be 
compiled. The report

[[Page 42081]]

will describe model strategies and provide guidance on how to raise 
safety belt and child restraint use in Hispanic communities.

Strategies

    To assist the demonstration sites in determining the most 
appropriate and effective strategies to increase safety belt use in 
Hispanic populations, the successful applicant will have the ability to 
assess a variety of education and enforcement models. The proposed 
strategies must include peer-to-peer (immigrant to immigrant) education 
and high-visibility enforcement. Other approaches might include media 
messages, faith-based programs, or other programs proposed by the 
successful applicant. The applicant may consider a variety of program 
designs, however, the high visibility enforcement and the peer-to-peer 
education component must constitute part of the applicant's planned 
activities at the majority of sites funded under this Cooperative 
Agreement.

Program Oversight

    Under this Cooperative Agreement, the successful applicant will be 
responsible for managing the demonstration projects in cities with a 
large Hispanic population. NHTSA will work closely with the successful 
applicant to provide necessary technical assistance.

Evaluation of Programs

    The successful applicant will be responsible for collecting 
information about program activities, resources, and outcomes. At a 
minimum, the successful applicant will conduct a process evaluation to 
document activities, materials, education activity, enforcement 
activity, and media activities accomplished under the program. The 
ultimate goal is to increase safety belt use among the Hispanic 
population. To determine success of this goal, outcome measures must 
include pre and post safety belt observation surveys to measure changes 
in safety belt usage rates as a result of the program. NHTSA also will 
require public perception surveys to assess public knowledge and 
awareness of the program.
    NHTSA will select an independent evaluator to coordinate an impact 
evaluation that will document changes in safety belt use among 
Hispanics resulting from program activity. The successful applicant 
must be willing to work with NHTSA evaluators, who will work with the 
State to identify the most appropriate and effective data collection 
sources and evaluation methods. Measuring public awareness will track 
the extent to which the successful applicant used education and media 
and other activities to increase awareness of the intended audience.

Availability of Funds and Period of Support

    Contingent on the availability of funds, the Cooperative Agreement 
awarded under this notice will be for a performance period not to 
exceed 24 months (two-years), with 20 months of planning and 
implementation, and four months for evaluation and preparation of the 
final report. A total of $600,000 is currently available to support 
this demonstration effort. Applicants should submit projects and 
associated budgets for the two-year performance period. To effectively 
implement the model programs, the grantee should allocate at least 85% 
of the available funds for the selected community projects and should 
also allocate 15% of the available funds for evaluation. The award for 
this initiative is estimated to occur no later than September 2004.

NHTSA Involvement

    NHTSA will be involved in all activities undertaken as part of the 
cooperative agreement program and will:
    1. Provide a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) 
to participate in the planning and management of the Cooperative 
Agreement and to coordinate activities between the Grantee(s) and NHTSA 
during the period of performance, and to serve as a liaison between 
NHTSA Headquarters, NHTSA Regional offices and the Grantee.
    2. Provide information and technical assistance from other 
government sources and available resources as determined appropriate by 
the COTR.

Successful Applicant Responsibilities

    NHTSA intends to replicate successful strategies and activities 
conducted pursuant to this Cooperative Agreement elsewhere throughout 
the Nation. Therefore, this project will be closely monitored and its 
results shared with other programs and constituencies. NHTSA will work 
with the successful applicant to assure that the necessary components 
of the project are in place to fulfill this goal. Successful applicant 
responsibilities include:

1. Briefing

    Participate with key NHTSA resource staff in the initial briefing 
meeting, which will take place after the Cooperative Agreement is 
awarded. The purpose of the meeting will be to review the project's 
objectives, planned course of action, successful applicant 
responsibilities, milestones and deliverables, and to resolve any 
differences between the Government's technical approach and the 
successful applicant's approach. The successful applicant shall first 
conduct a short briefing (20 to 30 minutes) describing the 
organization's planned approach. The successful applicant shall provide 
attendees with appropriate briefing materials. After the prepared 
briefing, the successful applicant and NHTSA personnel will discuss 
specific details of the project.

2. Personnel and Equipment

    Provide necessary skilled personnel and equipment needed for 
performing the work under this agreement. Assign a principal manager as 
the point of contact for NHTSA's Contracting Officer's Technical 
Representative (COTR) for the purpose of ongoing coordination and 
review of work under this agreement.

3. Site Selection

    Identify, jointly with NHTSA, the two to four communities/sites 
where the successful applicant will administer demonstration projects, 
based on NHTSA's preliminary identification of locations with large 
Hispanic populations. The Hispanic population shall reside in a county 
or metropolitan area that has a high percentage of Hispanics.

4. Strategy Identification

    Identify the behavior change strategies, including high-visibility 
enforcement, peer-to-peer education, and other strategies, to be 
implemented in the various sites as approved by NHTSA.

5. Program Oversight

    The successful applicant will provide ongoing oversight and 
coordination over demonstration project personnel at the site(s) to 
ensure the quality of the programs.

6. Team Approach

    Establish and maintain a highly credible internal and external team 
approach to prepare for any potential challenges presented by this 
demonstration project.

7. Evaluation

    Work closely with an independent evaluator, selected by NHTSA, to 
coordinate the design and implementation of the project. The successful 
applicant will be responsible for collecting information about project

[[Page 42082]]

activities, resources and outcomes. In partnership with NHTSA, the 
successful applicant will carryout a data collection and evaluation 
plan, as well as conduct a process evaluation to document the 
materials, the marketing, media and education activities, as well as 
applicable enforcement activities expanded on the project.

8. Report and Written Deliverables

    Provide quarterly reports, annual summary reports, and a final 
report to the NHTSA COTR. Maintain accurate records of all internal and 
management discussions on planning, performance/implementation and 
evaluation activities related to this project. Accurate project records 
will assist in the replication of the successful approaches and 
processes identified as a result of this Cooperative Agreement.

Allowable Uses of Federal Funds

    Allowable uses of Federal funds shall be governed by the relevant 
allowable cost section and cost principles referenced in 49 CFR Part 
18--Department of Transportation Uniform Administrative Requirements 
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to Community and Local 
Governments. Funds provided under this grant program shall be used to 
carry out the activities described in the project plan for which the 
grant is awarded.

Application Procedures

    Each applicant must submit one original and three copies of the 
application package to: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
Office of Contracts and Procurement (NPO-220), Attn: April L. Jennings, 
400 Seventh Street, SW., Room 5301, Washington, DC 20590. An additional 
three copies will facilitate the review process, but are not required. 
The application may be single spaced, must be typed on one side of the 
page only, and must include a reference to NHTSA Cooperative Agreement 
Number DTNH22-04-H-05137. Unnecessarily elaborate applications beyond 
what is sufficient to present a complete and effective response to this 
invitation are not desired.
    Only complete application packages received no later than July 30, 
2004 at 1 pm Eastern Standard Time will be considered.

Application Contents

1. Cost Information

    The application package must be submitted with OMB Standard Form 
424, (Rev 9-2003, including SF 424-A and 424-B). (See Appendix A.) 
Application for Federal Assistance, with the required information 
filled in and the certifications required by 49 CFR Part 20 and by 49 
CFR Part 29 and assurances signed. OMB forms are available for 
downloading and printing on the Internet at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/grants/index.html site. While the SF 424-A addresses budget 
information, and Section B identifies budget categories, the available 
space does not permit a level of detail that is sufficient to provide 
for a meaningful evaluation of the proposed costs. A supplemental 
budget sheet shall be provided which presents a detailed breakdown of 
the proposed costs, as well as any costs, which the applicant indicates 
will be contributed locally as matching funds. The total project effort 
including evaluation and reporting, (direct labor, including labor 
categories, level of effort, and rate; direct materials, including 
itemized equipment; travel and transportation, including projected 
trips and number of people traveling; and overhead) and any cost that 
the applicant proposes to contribute or obtain from any other sources 
in support of this effort.
    2. Technical Proposal. In addition to the documents listed above, 
the applicant must include a project narrative statement, which 
provides the following information in separately labeled section with 
its submission:
     A technical proposal not to exceed 20 pages providing:
     A brief general description of the proposed demonstration 
sites' geographic and demographic population distribution, including 
the population estimates for Hispanics in these sites, any unique 
characteristics relevant to the State's Highway Safety Plan to increase 
safety belt use and any available information on Hispanics motor 
vehicle injuries and fatalities in the State, as well as Hispanics 
safety belt use rates and, awareness and attitudes toward safety belt 
use;
     A brief description of the principal goals and objectives 
of the proposed plan that articulates the potential to increase safety 
belt use rates within the population, with supporting rationale. This 
section must identify any proposed partnerships and include letters of 
support or intent to partner from the organization. Documentation of 
existing public and/or political support must also be included (e.g. 
endorsement of the Mayor, Community Police or Patrol, Association of 
Chief of Police, Community Medical Society, etc.);
     A detailed description of the activities to be implemented 
in the plan, including: the key strategies to be employed, the key 
features (e.g. participants, design, methodology); and a project plan 
that includes a listing of milestones in chronological order, to show 
the schedule of expected accomplishments and their target dates.
     Timeline/schedule of activities that demonstrates that the 
successful applicant will comply with NHTSA requests and Cooperative 
Agreement requirements in a timely manner;
     Documentation of the applicant's record keeping strategy, 
specifically, how information from the organization and demonstration 
sites will be organized, maintained and disseminated. This section 
shall describe how the project will be evaluated and what measures will 
be used to determine the outcomes of the activities in the project 
plan.
     A brief biography of each proposed staff person and sub-
contractor, if known, and their respective responsibilities on the 
Demonstration Project and/or projects at individual sites; and;
     Work samples that demonstrate the required knowledge and 
skills necessary to implement this Demonstration Project. The applicant 
should provide example of experience working with the Hispanic 
community. The applicant should also provide evidence of experience 
with peer-to-peer education.
     Coordination/support letter from applicable state Highway 
Safety Office(s). All primary applicants and/or sub-grantees that will 
be conducting activity within a given State or Tribal community must 
include a letter of support from the applicable State Highway Safety 
Office with their application. In addition to the State Governor's 
Highway Safety Representative, Tribal applicants must also provide a 
letter from Indian Nation Governor's Highway Safety Representative, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Highway Safety Program.
    3. Past Performance and Financial Responsibility. To evaluate this 
information adequately, the Applicant shall provide the following 
information:
    (i). Identify at least three references who can attest to the past 
performance history and quality of work provided by the Applicant on 
previous assistance agreements and/or contracts. In doing so, the 
Applicant shall provide the following information for each reference:
    (a) Assistance Agreement/Contract Number;
    (b) Title and brief description of Assistance Agreement/Contract;
    (c) Name of organization, name of point of contact, telephone 
number, and E-mail address of point of contact at the organization with 
which the Applicant

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entered into an Assistance Agreement/Contract;
    (d) Dollar value of Assistance Agreement/Contract;
    (e) Any additional information, which the Applicant may provide to 
address the issue of past performance and financial responsibility.
    (ii). The Applicant shall indicate if it has ever filed for 
bankruptcy, or has had any financial problems, which may affect, 
negatively, its ability to perform under this Assistance Agreement.

Review Procedures, Criteria and Evaluation Factors

    Upon receipt of the application package, each package will be 
reviewed initially to ensure eligibility and that the applicant 
contains all of the items specified in the Application Contents Section 
of this announcement. An Evaluation Committee using the following 
evaluation criteria will then review applications (listed in descending 
order of importance).

Factor 1. Past Performance and Financial Responsibility (25 Percent)

    The extent to which the proposed Grantee has fulfilled its 
performance and financial obligations on previous Assistance Agreements 
and/or Contracts will be evaluated. This evaluation will include:
    (1) The proposed Grantee's record of complying with milestone and 
performance schedules applicable to previous Assistance Agreements and/
or Contracts;
    (2) The proposed Grantee's record of cooperation with the awarding 
agency under previous Assistance Agreements and/or Contracts;
    (3) The degree to which the proposed Grantee efficiently and 
effectively utilized Assistance Agreement and/or Contract funding;
    (4) The degree to which the proposed Grantee complied with the 
terms and conditions of previous Assistance Agreements and/or 
Contracts;
    (5) The degree to which the proposed Grantee complied with 
applicable Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars and/or the 
Federal Acquisition Regulation, on previous Assistance Agreements and/
or Contracts;
    (6) The level of financial stability possessed by the proposed 
Grantee.

Factor 2. Technical Plan (25 Percent)

    The reasonableness, completeness, clarity, and feasibility of the 
offeror's approach to achieving the objectives of the project.
    (1) The applicant must demonstrate an understanding of key issues 
and potential problems related to successful completion of the project, 
and have a plan for addressing potential problems.
    (2)The applicant must demonstrate an understanding of information 
collection and evaluation techniques appropriate to this project, and 
specify how proposed information and data gathering techniques will be 
applied to attain quality results that meet the objectives of this 
project and how well the proposal incorporates work with NHTSA's 
evaluation team.
    (3) The applicant must demonstrate the ability to organize, manage 
and or have contacts in the selected sites on the Hispanic community.
    (4) The applicant must demonstrate ability to generate resources 
from the community to apply to the program.
    (5) The applicant must create supporting rationale for the proposed 
budget demonstrating a reasonable use of resources.

Factor 3. Experience Implementing and Developing Safety Programs 
Directed to the Hispanic Community (25 Percent)

    (1) The applicant must be part of, or have knowledge of, the 
Hispanic culture.
    (2) The applicant must be able to provide peer-to-peer (immigrant 
to immigrant) education.
    (3) The applicant must have and demonstrate extensive knowledge and 
experience working with the Hispanic community, or Hispanic 
organizations that can provide services to the Spanish-speaking 
community, taking into consideration variations in the Spanish language 
(familiarity with different Spanish dialects and regional slang), 
cultural differences, level of education and economic differences among 
Hispanics groups and other factors to successfully administer up to 
four community demonstration projects to raise safety belt use within 
the Hispanic community.
    (4) The applicant must include working with communities where the 
Hispanic population is expanding rapidly or already has large new 
Hispanic immigrant population.

Factor 4. Project Staff Qualifications (15 Percent)

    (1) The applicant shall provide the educational level, experience 
and availability of key project personal and the qualification of 
proposed staff.
    (2) The applicant's staffing plan should be adequate to manage and 
implement the project.
    (3) The applicant must demonstrate that they have the appropriate 
staff and the resources to implement an effective program.

Factor 5. Law Enforcement and Other Groups (10 Percent)

    (1) The applicant must demonstrate the capability of working with 
law enforcement groups to promote safety belt use within the Hispanic 
community. This capability must include strategies on developing trust 
between law enforcement and Hispanic communities.
    (2) The applicant must describe the degree to which they will 
engage and coordinate activities with the law enforcement community and 
how they will achieve law enforcement support and participation.
    (3) The applicant should demonstrate wide-ranging support for its 
technical proposal from other state and community groups.

Terms and Conditions of the Award

    1. Prior to award, each Grantee must comply with the certification 
requirements of 49 CFR Part 20, Department of Transportation New 
Restrictions on Lobbying, and 49 CFR Part 29, Department of 
Transportation Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Non 
procurement) and Government wide Requirements for Drug Free Workplace 
(Grants).
    2. Reporting Requirements and Deliverables:
    a. Quarterly Progress Reports: Should include a summary of the 
previous quarter's activities and accomplishments, significant problems 
encountered or anticipated, an itemization of expenditures made during 
the quarter, and proposed activities for the upcoming quarter. Any 
decisions and actions required in the upcoming quarter should be 
included in the report. The Grantee(s) shall provide a progress report 
to the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) every 
ninety (90) days following date of award, except when a final report is 
due.
    b. Annual Summary Report: At the completion of each year of the 
Cooperative Agreement, the successful applicant will submit an annual 
summary report. The reports shall include a list of partners, materials 
developed and disseminated, and feedback from the field, as well as 
document and review the notable accomplishments of the year, evaluation 
results and recommendations for the future years' efforts.
    c. Draft Final Report: The Grantee(s) shall prepare a Draft Final 
Report that includes a description of the projects conducted, including 
partners, overall program implementation, evaluation methodology and 
findings from the

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program evaluation. In terms of information transfer, it is important 
to know what worked and what did not work, under what circumstances, 
and what can be done to avoid potential problems in future projects. 
The Grantee(s) shall submit the Draft Final Report to the COTR 90 days 
prior to the end of the performance period. The COTR will review the 
draft report and provide comments to the Grantee(s) within 30 days of 
receipt of the document.
    d. Final Report: The Grantee(s) shall revise the Draft Final Report 
to reflect the COTR's comments. The revised Draft Final Report shall be 
delivered to the COTR one (1) month before the end of the performance 
period. The comprehensive report shall detail the major activities, 
events, data collection, methodology, and best practices/strategies 
that can be replicated in other Hispanic communities. The successful 
applicant shall supply the COTR with:

--Four hard copies of the final document;
--A disk (or CD-ROM) of the report in Microsoft Word Format; and
--A redlined version of the Final Report reflecting changes made in 
response to the COTR's comments.

    e. Briefings and Presentations: The Grantee(s) shall conduct a 
briefing with NHTSA officials and other invited parties in Washington, 
DC upon the completion of the project. An initial briefing and an 
interim briefing, approximately midway through the period of 
performance, may be required. The Grantee(s) shall prepare an article 
and submit it for publication in a professional journal. All articles 
and briefings will be submitted to NHTSA initially in draft format for 
review and comment. The Grantee(s) shall submit drafts to the COTR 30 
days before the event date or publication submission date.
    3. During the effective performance period of cooperative 
agreements awarded as a result of this announcement, the agreement 
shall be subject to the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration's General Provisions for Assistance Agreements dated 
July 1995.

Marilena Amoni,
Associate Administrator, Program Development and Delivery.
[FR Doc. 04-15764 Filed 7-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P