[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 236 (Friday, December 9, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73206-73208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7101]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 050317077-5319-02]


Environmental Literacy Grants

AGENCY: Office of Education (OEd), Office of the Undersecretary of 
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (USEC), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for proposals.

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SUMMARY: The NOAA Office of Education (OEd) is issuing a request for 
applications for environmental literacy projects. Projects selected for 
funding will have a duration between one and five years and will (1) 
further the use and incorporation of the Ocean Literacy Essential 
Principles and Fundamental Concepts in formal and informal education 
and/or measure ocean literacy among the public; or (2) strengthen the 
capacity to develop a workforce knowledgeable in weather and climate. 
All projects shall employ the strategies articulated in the NOAA 
Education Plan and involve NOAA entities as partners. It is anticipated 
that final recommendations for funding under this announcement will be 
made by June 30, 2006, and that projects funded under this announcement 
will have a start date no earlier than September 1, 2006.

DATES: Letters of Interest are required for all applications and must 
be received by 5 p.m., e.s.t., January 25, 2006. The deadline for full 
applications is 5 p.m., e.s.t. on March 1, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Letters of Interest should be submitted to Sarah Schoedinger 
at [email protected]. If an

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applicant does not have Internet access, a hard copy of the letter of 
interest may be mailed to Sarah Schoedinger, DOC/NOAA, Office of 
Education, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 6863, Washington, DC 
20230. Please note: Hard copies submitted via the U.S. Postal Service 
can take up to 4 weeks to reach this office; applicants are recommended 
to send hard copies via expedited shipping methods (e.g., Airborne 
Express, DHL, Fed Ex, UPS).
    Full applications should be submitted through Grants.gov APPLY 
(http://www.grants.gov). If an applicant does not have Internet access, 
one hard copy should be sent to Sarah Schoedinger, DOC/NOAA, Office of 
Education, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 6863, Washington, DC 
20230. If submitting a hard copy, applicants are requested to provide a 
CD--ROM of the application, including scanned signed forms or forms 
with electronic signatures. This announcement will also be available 
at: http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html or by contacting the 
program official identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Schoedinger at 
[email protected], telephone 202-482-2893.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NOAA Office of Education (OEd) is 
issuing a request for applications for environmental literacy projects. 
Projects selected for funding will have a duration between one and five 
years and will (1) further the use and incorporation of the Ocean 
Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts (http://www.coexploration.org/oceanliteracy/documents/OceanLitConcepts_10.11.05.pdf) in formal and informal education and/or measure ocean 
literacy among the public; or (2) strengthen the capacity to develop a 
workforce knowledgeable in weather and climate. All projects shall 
employ the strategies articulated in the NOAA Education Plan (http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/NOAA_Ed_Plan.pdf) and involve NOAA entities as 
partners. It is anticipated that final recommendations for funding 
under this announcement will be made by June 30, 2006, and that 
projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no 
earlier than September 1, 2006. A detailed description for each program 
priority is in the full funding opportunity announcement that can be 
accessed via the Grants.gov Web site, the NOAA Web site at http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html, or by contacting the program 
official identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Electronic Access

    The full text of the full funding opportunity announcement for this 
OEd program can be accessed via the Grants.gov FIND Web site. That 
announcement will also be available at the NOAA Web site: http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html or by contacting the program 
officials identified under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Applicants 
must comply with all requirements contained in the full funding 
opportunity announcement. This Federal Register notice is available 
through the NOAA Home page at: http://www.noaa.gov/.

    Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1540; P.L. 109-108, Department of 
Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006.

    CFDA: 11.469, Congressionally Identified Awards and Projects

Funding Availability

    NOAA announces the availability of approximately $3,000,000 of 
Federal financial assistance in FY 2006 for Environmental Literacy 
projects. Approximately 5 to 10 awards in the form of grants or 
cooperative agreements will be made. NOAA will only consider projects 
that have a duration between 1 to 5 years. The total Federal amount for 
all years that may be requested from NOAA for the direct and indirect 
costs of the proposed project shall not exceed $600,000. The minimum 
Federal amount that must be requested from NOAA for all years for the 
direct and indirect costs is $100,000. Applications requesting Federal 
support from NOAA of less than $100,000 total or more than $600,000 
total will not be considered for funding.
    Publication of this notice does not oblige DOC/NOAA to award any 
specific project or to obligate any available funds. If an applicant 
incurs any costs prior to receiving an award agreement signed by an 
authorized NOAA Grants Officer, the applicant would do so solely at 
one's own risk of such costs not being included under the award.

Eligibility

    Eligible applicants are accredited institutions of higher 
education, other nonprofits, commercial organizations, and state, local 
and Indian tribal governments. Federal agencies are not eligible to 
receive Federal assistance under this announcement, but may be project 
partners. Among those eligible applicants are K through 12 public and 
independent schools and school systems, and science centers and 
museums. The Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to increasing the 
participation of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), i.e., 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving 
institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, Alaskan Native and 
Native Hawaiian institutions, and institutions that work in underserved 
communities. Applications are encouraged that involve any of the above 
institutions.

Cost Sharing Requirements

    There are no cost-sharing requirements.

Evaluation and Selection Procedures

    NOAA published its agency-wide solicitation entitled ``Omnibus 
Notice Announcing the Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 
2005'' for projects for Fiscal Year 2005 in the Federal Register on 
June 30, 2004 (69 FR 39417). The evaluation criteria and selection 
procedures for projects contained in that omnibus notice are applicable 
to this solicitation. Copies of the notice are available on the 
Internet at: http://www.ago.noaa.gov/grants/funding.shtml. Further 
details on evaluation and selection criteria can be found in the full 
funding opportunity announcement.

Intergovernmental Review

    Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order 
12372, ''Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

Limitation of Liability

    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.

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/

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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

    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, and 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, nor shall a 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 for the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not 
been prepared.

    Dated: December 5, 2005.
Helen Hurcombe,
Director, NOAA Acquisitions and Grants, U.S. Department of Commerce.
 [FR Doc. E5-7101 Filed 12-8-05; 8:45 am]
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