[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 135 (Friday, July 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41046-41047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-13961]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2003-16711]


Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces its intent to enter into a 
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement and seeks inquiries and 
proposals from potential partners. The goal of this agreement will be 
further development of innovative fire suppression/protection systems 
for use on marine vessels and Coast Guard approval procedures for such 
systems.

DATES: Preliminary inquiries must be received by August 4, 2005. The 
deadline for receiving proposals is August 24, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Inquiries and proposals from potential partners must be sent 
to David Beene, Fire and Safety Technologies Project Manager, U.S. 
Coast Guard Research & Development Center, 1082 Shennecossett Road, 
Groton, CT 06340 (email: [email protected]).
    The general public can comment on this notice or on the Coast 
Guard's Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) 
procedures. These comments will be docketed in the Docket Management 
System (DMS). Include the docket number (USCG-2003-16711) of this 
notice, and submit it using the DMS Web site (http://dms.dot.gov) or 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal (http://www.regulations.gov). You can 
also fax comments to 202-493-2251 or mail or hand-deliver them to: 
Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 
Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice 
or the proposed CRADA, contact David Beene, Fire and Safety 
Technologies Project Manager, U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development 
Center, 1082 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT 06340, telephone (860) 441-
2759, email: [email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone (202) 366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 41047]]

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

    Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, or CRADAs, are 
authorized by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-
502, codified at 15 U.S.C. 3710a). A CRADA promotes the transfer of 
technology to the private sector for commercial use as well as 
specified research or development efforts that are consistent with the 
mission of the Federal parties to the CRADA. The Federal party or 
parties agree with one or more non-Federal parties to share research 
resources, but the Federal party does not contribute funding. The 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as an executive agency under 5 
U.S.C. 105, is a Federal agency for purposes of 15 U.S.C. 3710a and may 
enter into a CRADA. DHS delegated its authority to the Commandant of 
the Coast Guard (see DHS Delegation No. 0160.1, section 2(B)(34)), and 
the Commandant has delegated his authority to the Coast Guard Research 
and Development Center.

Goal of Proposed CRADA

    Under the proposed agreement, the Coast Guard's Research & 
Development Center (RDC) would collaborate with industry. Together, the 
RDC and its CRADA partner(s) will examine fire suppression/protection 
systems for protecting marine vessels. Through joint research, they 
will also provide scientific information to support development of test 
protocols for use on merchant vessels.
    The RDC, with its CRADA partner(s), will create a structured and 
collaborative test environment to advance concepts and technologies for 
fire suppression/protection systems. Gaseous agent systems currently 
used on vessels are either banned or being phased out by the 
International Maritime Organization and/or the Environmental Protection 
Agency. The RDC will provide test data on new systems to the Coast 
Guard Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental Protection directorate 
for use in developing approval procedures for such systems to be used 
on merchant vessels.

Party Contributions

    We anticipate that the Coast Guard's contributions under the 
proposed CRADA will include:
    (1) A full-scale test chamber that meets the International Maritime 
Organizations test protocol requirements to test and demonstrate CRADA 
products;
    (2) Personnel and equipment to manage and operate the test chamber;
    (3) An instrumentation system to record real time test data for 
future analysis; and
    (4) Test data to/for CRADA partners for their own analysis.
    We anticipate that industry's contributions under the proposed 
CRADA will include:
    (1) Proposed fire suppression/protection systems for study;
    (2) A proposed test plan, for comment by the RDC, for each fire 
suppression/protection system to be tested;
    (3) Provision and installation of agent distribution systems and 
products. This may include but not be limited to piping, nozzles, 
manifolds, and cylinder connections to allow testing called for in the 
test plan;
    (4) The disassembly and removal of all items installed by CRADA 
partner(s);
    (5) The repair or replacement of any government instrumentation or 
equipment that is damaged or destroyed as a result of these tests; and
    (6) The provision to the Coast Guard of one copy of the draft 
report of test results for review and of two copies of the final report 
upon its completion.

Selection Criteria

    The Coast Guard reserves the right to select for CRADA partners 
all, some, or none of the proposals in response to this notice. The 
Coast Guard will provide no funding for reimbursement of proposal 
development costs. Proposals (or any other material) submitted in 
response to this notice will not be returned. Proposals submitted are 
expected to be unclassified and have no more than 4 single-sided pages 
(excluding cover page and resumes). The Coast Guard will select 
proposals at its sole discretion on the basis of:
    (1) How well they communicate an understanding of, and ability to 
meet, the proposed CRADA's goal; and
    (2) How well they address the following criteria:
    (a) Technical capability to support the non-Federal party 
contributions described;
    (b) Resources available for supporting the non-Federal party 
contributions described; and
    (c) Technical expertise/understanding of marine fire suppression/
protection needs and industry best practices in fire suppression/
protection technologies.
    This is a technology transfer/development effort. So far, the Coast 
Guard has no forecast to procure the technology. Proposals should 
clearly discuss how the concepts and proposed technologies, e.g., for 
fire suppression/protection systems to replace current halon and carbon 
dioxide systems could improve upon systems currently being proposed by 
and reviewed by the International Maritime Organization.
    Special consideration will be given to small business firms/
consortia, and preference will be given to business units located in 
the United States which agree that products embodying inventions made 
under the CRADA or produced through the use of such inventions will be 
manufactured substantially in the United States.

    Dated: June 27, 2005.
F.A. Dutch,
Capt USCG, Commanding Officer, R&D Center.
[FR Doc. 05-13961 Filed 7-14-05; 8:45 am]
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