[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 188 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56891-56892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19501]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 050906238-5243-02; I.D. 090705E]
RIN 0648-ZB68


2006 Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; solicitation for proposals for research activities; 
correction.

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SUMMARY: NMFS corrects the notice, published on September 13, 2005, 
soliciting proposals for research activities to be conducted under the 
2006 Monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program to be consistent with 
the full Federal Funding Opportunity Announcement (FFO). Specifically, 
NMFS is correcting the ``Evaluation Criteria'' contained in the 
September 13, 2005, notice to be consistent with the ``Evaluation 
Criteria'' contained in the FFO. All other requirements remain the 
same.

DATES: Applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. eastern 
standard time on October 13, 2005. Delays may be experienced when 
registering with Grants.gov near the end of a solicitation period. 
Therefore, NOAA strongly recommends that applicants do not wait until 
the deadline date to begin the application process through http://www.grants.gov.

ADDRESSES: Electronic application submissions must be transmitted on-
line through http://www.grants.gov. Applications submitted through 
http://www.grants.gov will be accompanied by a date and time receipt 
indication on them. If an applicant does not have Internet access, hard 
copy proposals will be accepted, and date recorded when they are 
received in the program office. Paper applications must be sent to 
NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930. Electronic or hard copies received after the deadline will not 
be considered, and hard copy applications will be returned to the 
sender.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information may be obtained from Paul 
Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council 
(NEFMC), by phone 978-465-0492, or by fax 978-465-3116; Philip Haring, 
Senior Fishery Analyst, NEFMC, by phone 978-465-0492, or by e-mail at 
[email protected]; or Allison Ferreira, Fishery Policy Analyst, NMFS, 
by phone 978-281-9103, by fax 978-281-9135, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On September 13, 2005, NMFS published a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing the 2006 Monkfish RSA Program (70 FR 54028). This 
program, established through Amendment 2 to the Monkfish Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) to annually set aside 500 monkfish days-at-sea 
(DAS) from the total DAS allocated to limited access monkfish permit 
holders, is to be utilized for monkfish related research activities. 
The September 13, 2005, notice also solicited proposals for monkfish 
research activities to be conducted under this RSA program. However, 
the ``Evaluation Criteria'' listed on pages 54029 and 54030 of the 
Federal Register notice did not include all of the information 
contained in the ``Evaluation Criteria'' listed in the FFO. Therefore, 
in order to make the Federal Register notice announcing the 2006 
Monkfish RSA Program consistent with the FFO for the Monkfish RSA 
Program, NMFS corrects the ``Evaluation Criteria'' contained in the 
September 13, 2005, Federal Register notice to read as follows:
    1. Importance and/or relevance and applicability of the proposed 
project: This criterion ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in 
the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, Federal, regional, state, 
or local activities. For the 2006 Monkfish RSA Program, provide a clear 
definition of the problem, need, issue, or hypothesis to be addressed. 
The proposal should describe its relevance to RSA program priorities 
and

[[Page 56892]]

detail how the data gathered from the research will be used to enhance 
the understanding of the fishery resource or contribute to the body of 
information on which management decisions are made. If not directly 
related to priorities listed in this solicitation, provide 
justification why the proposed project should be considered. (25 
points)
    2. Technical/scientific merit: This criterion assesses whether the 
approach is technically sound and/or innovative, if the methods are 
appropriate, and whether there are clear project goals and objectives. 
Special emphasis will be given to proposals that foster and improve 
cooperative interactions with NMFS. A clear definition of the approach 
to be used including description of field work, theoretical studies, 
and laboratory analysis to support the proposed research, and the 
ability of the applicant to utilize all allocated research DAS during 
the 2006 fishing year in the area and time proposed is important. The 
time frame for utilizing research DAS and conducting the proposed 
research should be clearly specified. Activities that take place over a 
wider versus narrower geographical range, where appropriate, are 
preferred. (25 points)
    3. Overall qualifications of the project: This criterion assesses 
whether the applicant, and team members, posses the necessary 
education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative 
resources to accomplish the project. This includes demonstration of 
support, cooperation and/or collaboration with the fishing industry, 
and qualifications/experience of project participants. Where 
appropriate, combined proposals involving multiple principal 
investigators are preferred versus separate stand-alone proposals on 
related projects. For proposals involving multiple vessels, special 
attention will be given to specification of safeguards to ensure that 
the authorized DAS set-aside will not be exceeded. (15 points)
    4. Project costs: This criterion evaluates the budget to determine 
if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time 
frame. Cost-effectiveness of the project is considered. The anticipated 
revenue from the DAS set-aside should be commensurate with estimated 
project costs, and generally should not exceed 2.5 times the cost of 
the associated research. Economic and budget projections should be 
quantified, to the extent possible. Where appropriate, use of existing 
equipment (fishing gear) is preferred versus acquisition of new 
equipment. (25 points)
    5. Outreach and education: This criterion assesses whether the 
project involves a focused and effective education and outreach 
strategy regarding NOAA's mission to protect the Nation's natural 
resources. This includes identification of anticipated benefits, 
potential users, likelihood of success, and methods of disseminating 
results. Where appropriate, data generated from the research must be 
formatted in a manner consistent with NMFS and Atlantic Coastal 
Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) databases. A copy of this format 
is available from NMFS. (10 points)
    All other requirements for this solicitation remain the same.

Classification

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    This document contains collection-of-information requirements 
subject to the PRA. The use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, SF-LLL, 
269, 272, and CD-346 has been approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under the respective control numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 
0348-0040, 0348-0046, 0348-0039, 0348-0003, 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.

Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required 
by the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for rules 
concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, and contracts (5 
U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). 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.) 
do not apply. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not been 
prepared.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: September 26, 2005.
James W. Balsiger,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-19501 Filed 9-28-05; 8:45 am]
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