[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 204 (Monday, October 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61516-61517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21214]



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Part III





Department of Commerce





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Availability of Grants Funds for Fiscal Year 2006; Reopening of 
Application Deadline; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 204 / Monday, October 24, 2005 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No.030602141-5265-28]


Availability of Grants Funds for Fiscal Year 2006; Reopening of 
Application Deadline

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: NOAA publishes this notice to reopen the solicitation period 
on the ``NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration Announcement of Opportunity, 
FY 2006,'' which was originally announced in the Federal Register on 
June 30, 2005. This notice applies to only those applicants who have 
already submitted preproposals. The solicitation period is being 
extended from October 3, 2005 to October 28, 2005 to provide 
preproposal applicants more time to submit proposals.

DATES: Applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. e.s.t. on 
October 28, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Applications should be submitted electronically to http://www.grants.gov/ and to the Office's Frequently Asked Questions address: 
[email protected]. Electronic submission is strongly encouraged. 
Applicants without Internet access may send applications to Proposal 
Manager, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, 1315 East-West Highway, 
SSMC3, 10th Floor, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910; these applications 
must be received by the Office of Ocean Exploration no later than 5 
p.m. e.s.t. on October 28, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicolas Alvarado by telephone at 301-
713-9444, ext. 130 or by e-mail at [email protected] or Jeremy 
Potter by telephone at 301-713-9444, ext.136 or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA publishes this notice to reopen the 
solicitation period on the following initiative originally announced in 
the Federal Register on June 30, 2005 (70 FR 37766). NOAA reopens the 
solicitation period for the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration 
Announcement of Opportunity, FY 2006 from October 3, 2005 to October 
28, 2005 to provide those applicants who have already submitted 
preproposals more time to submit their final proposals. This reopening 
does not alter the intent of the Office of Ocean Exploration's letters 
of encouragement and discouragement previously sent to preproposal 
applicants. Final proposals that were received between October 3 and 
October 28, 2005 will be considered timely and be given full 
consideration. All other requirements for this solicitation remain the 
same.

Limitation of Liability

    Funding for programs listed in this notice is contingent upon the 
availability of Fiscal Year 2006 appropriations. Applicants are hereby 
given notice that funds have not yet been appropriated for the programs 
listed in this notice. 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.

Universal Identifier

    Applicants should be aware that they are required to provide a Dun 
and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number during the 
application process. See the October 30, 2002 Federal Register, Vol. 
67, No. 210, pp. 66177B66178, for additional information. Organizations 
can receive a DUNS number at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free 
DUNS Number request line at 1-866-705-5711 or via the Internet (http://www.dunandbradstreet.com).

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 feasible measures to 
reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts of their 
proposal. The failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting 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 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 document 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 has been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the respective 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.

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

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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.) are inapplicable. 
Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not been prepared.

    Dated: October 18, 2005.
Mark Brown,
Chief Financial Officer, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-21214 Filed 10-21-05; 8:45 am]
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