[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 189 (Friday, September 30, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57476-57477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19644]



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Part VI





Department of Commerce





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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration



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The Argo Project: Global Ocean Observations for Understanding and 
Prediction of Climate Variability; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 189 / Friday, September 30, 2005 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 001027300-5242-02]


The Argo Project: Global Ocean Observations for Understanding and 
Prediction of Climate Variability

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

ACTION: Notice of request for proposals.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that the 
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), on behalf of the 
National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP), is entertaining preliminary 
proposals (Letters of Intent) and subsequently full proposals for 
sustaining (e.g., deployment, data management, technology infusion) the 
U.S. contribution to the global Argo array of profiling floats and 
develop the technology, principles and protocols to transition Argo to 
pre-operational status. It is expected that approximately $9,200,000 
annually will be available for the project.

DATES: October 31, 2005, 5 p.m. (ET)--Letter of Intent in electronic, 
facsimile, or hard copy form due. Letters of Intent are used for 
assessment purposes only and are not a requirement for proposal 
submission.
    December 16, 2005, 5 p.m. (ET)--Proposal due.
    Proposals submitted through http://www.grants.gov will be 
accompanied by a data 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. Electronic or hard copies of proposals received after the 
deadline will not be considered and hard copy applications will be 
returned to the sender.

ADDRESSES: Letters of Intent should be sent electronically to: 
[email protected]. For those applicants without internet 
access, hard copies may be mailed to Ocean.US, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., 
Suite 1350, Arlington, VA 22201; Attn: Stephen R. Piotrowicz. Faxes may 
be sent to: Ocean.US, Attn: Stephen R. Piotrowicz at (703) 588-0872. 
Proposals should be submitted through Grants.gov. For those applicants 
without Internet access, hard copies may be sent to Ocean.US, 2300 
Clarendon Blvd., Suite 1350, Arlington, VA 22201; Attn: Dr. Stephen R. 
Piotrowicz.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Stephen R. Piotrowicz, telephone: 
(703) 588-0850; facsimile: (703) 588-0872; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Program Authority

    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.

Electronic Access

    The full text of the full funding opportunity announcement for this 
program can be accessed via the Grants.gov FIND Web site. This 
announcement will also be available at the NOAA Web site: http://www.ofa.noaa.gov/%7Eamd/SOLINDEX.HTML or by contacting the program 
officials identified under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. This 
Federal Register notice is available through the NOAA home page at: 
http://www.noaa.gov.

Background

    The NOPP was established by 10 U.S.C. 7902 et seq. to (1) promote 
the national goals of assuring national security, advancing economic 
development, protecting quality of life, and strengthening science 
education and communication through improved knowledge of the ocean; 
and (2) coordinate and strengthen oceanographic efforts in support of 
those goals by identifying and carrying out partnerships among Federal 
agencies, academia, industry, and other members of the oceanographic 
scientific community in the areas of data, resources, education, and 
communication. In 1999, Argo was identified as a key NOPP program and 
selected for implementation. Beginning in FY 2006 NOAA intends to 
complete the development and deployment of the initial phase of Argo 
and begin to demonstrate the sustained operation of Argo. Contingent on 
the availability of appropriated funds, this phase of Argo is expected 
to continue for five years. The level of funding available each year 
will be dependent on appropriations.

Funding Availability

    The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), on behalf of 
the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP), is entertaining letters 
of Intent and subsequently full proposals for implementing the next 
phase of the U.S. contribution to the global Argo array of profiling 
floats. Beginning in FY 2006 NOAA intends to complete the development 
and deployment of the initial phase of Argo and begin to demonstrate 
the sustained operation of Argo. Contingent on the availability of 
appropriated funds, this phase of Argo is expected to continue for five 
years. The level of funding available each year will be dependent on 
appropriations. It is expected that approximately $9,200,000 annually 
will be available for the project. It is expected that one, multi-
investigator award will be made.

Eligibility

    Extramural eligibility is not limited. Eligible applicants include 
institutions of higher education, other non-profits, commercial 
organizations, international organizations, state, local and Indian 
tribal governments. Applications from non-Federal and Federal 
applicants will be competed against each other. Please Note: Before 
non-NOAA Federal applicants may be funded, they must demonstrate that 
they have legal authority to receive funds from another Federal agency 
in excess of their appropriation. The only exception to this is 
governmental research facilities for awards issued under the authority 
of 49 U.S.C. 44720. Because this announcement is not proposing to 
procure goods or services from applicants, the Economy Act (31 U.S.C. 
1535) is not an appropriate legal basis for receipt of Federal funds.

Cost Sharing

    Cost sharing or matching is not required; however, resource sharing 
amongst partners within NOPP programs is encouraged.

Letter of Intent

    To prevent the expenditure of effort that may not be successful, 
proposers are encouraged to first submit Letters of Intent. Letters of 
Intent are used for assessment purposes only and are not a requirement 
for proposal submission. Letters of Intent must be single or double-
spaced, typewritten in at least a 10-point font, and printed on metric 
A4 (210 mm x 297 mm) or 8\1/2\'' x 11'' paper. The following 
information should be included:
    (a) Title page: The title page should clearly identify the project 
area being addressed by starting the project title with ``The Argo 
Project: Global ocean observations for understanding and prediction of 
climate variability.'' Principal Investigators and collaborators should 
be identified by affiliation and contact information. The total amount 
of Federal funds and matching funds being

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requested should be listed for each budget period.
    (b) A concise (2-page limit) description of the project. Proposers 
may wish to use the Evaluation Criteria for additional guidance in 
preparing the Letter of Intent.
    (c) Resumes (1-page limit) of the Principal Investigators.

Evaluation and Selection Procedures

    NOAA published its agency-wide solicitation entitled ``Omnibus 
Notice Announcing the Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 
2006'' for projects for Fiscal Year 2006 in the Federal Register on 
June 30, 2005 (70 FR 37766). The evaluation criteria and selection 
procedures for projects contained in that omnibus notice are applicable 
to this solicitation. Copies of this notice are available on the 
Internet at http://www.ofa.noaa.gov/%7Eamd/SOLINDEX.HTML. Further 
details on evaluation and selection criteria can be found in the full 
funding opportunity announcement.

Preaward Activities

    If applicants incur any costs prior to an award being made, they do 
so solely at their own risk of not being reimbursed by the Government. 
Notwithstanding any verbal assurance that may have been received, there 
is no obligation to the applicant on the part of Department of Commerce 
to cover pre-award costs.

Limitation of Liability

    Funding for this project is contingent upon the availability of FY 
2006-2010 appropriations. Publication of this announcement does not 
obligate the Department of Commerce to award any funds if the program 
fails to receive funding or is cancelled because of other agency 
priorities. Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the 
period of performance is at the discretion of the Department of 
Commerce.

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. In some 
cases if additional information is required after an application is 
selected, funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer under a special 
award condition requiring the recipient to submit additional 
environmental compliance information sufficient to enable NOAA to make 
an assessment on any impacts that a project may have on the 
environment.

The Department of Commerce Preaward 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 December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389), are applicable to this 
solicitation.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This notice contains collection of information requirements subject 
to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The use of Standard Forms 424, 
424A, 424B, SF-LLL and CD-346 have been approved by OMB under the 
respective control numbers 0348-0040 and 0348-0043. Notwithstanding any 
other provision of the 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, 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

    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 
rule 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 Regularity Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. section 601 et seq.) are 
inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not been 
prepared.

    Dated: September 27, 2005.
Louisa Koch,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-19644 Filed 9-29-05; 8:45 am]
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