[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 29 (Monday, February 13, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7539-7541]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2007]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket No. 001215353-6012-06]


Pan-Pacific Education and Communications Experiments by Satellite 
(PEACESAT): Closing Date

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce, 
announces the solicitation of applications for a grant for the Pan-
Pacific Education and Communications Experiments by Satellite 
(PEACESAT) Program. Projects funded pursuant to this Notice are 
intended to support the PEACESAT Program's acquisition of satellite 
communications to service Pacific Basin communities and to manage the 
operations of this network. Applications for the PEACESAT Program grant 
will compete for funds from the Public Broadcasting, Facilities, 
Planning and Construction Funds account.

DATES: Applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time, March 15, 2006. Applications submitted by facsimile or 
electronic means are not acceptable. If an application is received 
after the Closing Date due to (1) carrier error, when the carrier 
accepted the package with a guarantee for delivery by the Closing Date 
and Time, or (2) significant weather delays or natural disasters, NTIA 
will, upon receipt of proper documentation, consider the application as 
having been received by the deadline. NTIA will not accept applications 
posted on the Closing Date or later and received after the deadline.

ADDRESSES: To obtain a printed application package, submit completed 
applications, or send any other correspondence, write to: NTIA/PTFP, 
Room H-4096, U.S. Department of

[[Page 7540]]

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Cooperman, Director, Public 
Broadcasting Division, telephone: (202) 482-5802; fax: (202) 482-2156.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    The full funding opportunity announcement for the PEACESAT Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2006 grant cycle is available through http://www.Grants.gov 
or by contacting the PTFP office at the address noted above. 
Application materials may be obtained electronically via the Internet 
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/peacesat.html).

Funding Availability

    Funding for the PEACESAT Program is provided pursuant to the 
Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations 
Act, 2006, Public Law 109-108 and Public Law 106-113, ``The 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2000.'' Public Law 106-113 
provides ``That, hereafter, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the Pan-Pacific Education and Communications Experiments by Satellite 
(PEACESAT) Program is eligible to compete for Public Broadcasting 
Facilities, Planning and Construction funds.''
    The Congress has appropriated $20 million for FY 2006 Public 
Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) and PEACESAT awards. Of 
this amount, NTIA anticipates making a single award for approximately 
$500,000 for the PEACESAT Program in FY 2006. For FY 2005, NTIA issued 
one award for the PEACESAT project in the amount of $499,415.

Statutory and Regulatory Authority

    The PEACESAT Program was authorized under Public Law 100-584 (102 
Stat. 2970) and also Public Law 101-555 (104 Stat. 2758) to acquire 
satellite communications services to provide educational, medical, and 
cultural needs of Pacific Basin communities. The PEACESAT Program has 
been operational since 1971 and has received funding from NTIA for 
support of the project since 1988.
    Applications submitted in response to this solicitation for 
PEACESAT applications are exempt from the PTFP regulations at 15 CFR 
part 2301.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: N/A.

Eligibility

    Eligible applicants will include any for-profit or non-profit 
organization, public or private entity, other than an agency or 
division of the Federal government. Individuals are not eligible to 
apply for the PEACESAT Program funds.

Evaluation and Selection Process

    Each eligible application is evaluated by three outside reviewers 
who have demonstrated expertise in the programmatic and technological 
aspects of the application. The reviewers will evaluate applications 
according to the criteria in the following section and provide 
individual written ratings of each application.
    State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) offices, per Executive Order 
12372, may provide recommendations on applications under consideration.
    The Public Broadcasting Division (PBD) administers the PEACESAT 
Program and places a summary of applications received on the Internet. 
Listing an application merely acknowledges receipt of an application to 
compete for funding with other applications. Listing does not preclude 
subsequent return of the application or disapproval of the application, 
nor does it assure that the application will be funded. The listing 
will also include a request for comments on the applications from any 
interested party.
    The reviewer's ratings are provided to the PBD staff and a rank 
order is prepared according to score. The PBD program staff prepares 
summary recommendations for the Director of the Public Broadcasting 
Division. These recommendations incorporate the outside reviewers' 
ratings and incorporate analysis based on the degree to which a 
proposed project meets the PEACESAT Program purposes and cost 
eligibility. Staff recommendations also consider (1) project impact, 
(2) the cost/benefit of a project, and (3) whether the reviewers 
consistently applied the evaluation criteria. The analysis by program 
staff is provided to the Director of the Public Broadcasting Division 
in writing.
    The Director considers the summary recommendations prepared by 
program staff in accord with the funding priorities and selection 
factors referenced in the next section and recommends the funding order 
of the applications for the PEACESAT Programs in three categories: 
``Recommended for Funding,'' ``Recommended for Funding If Funds Are 
Available,'' and ``Not Recommended for Funding.'' The Director presents 
recommendations to the Associate Administrator, Office of 
Telecommunications and Information Applications (OTIA), for review and 
approval.
    Upon review and approval based on the funding priorities and 
selection factors referenced in the next section by the Associate 
Administrator of the Office of Telecommunications and Information 
Applications (OTIA), the Associate Administrator's and the Director's 
recommendations are presented to the Selecting Official, the Assistant 
Secretary for Communications and Information, who is the NTIA 
Administrator. The NTIA Administrator selects the applications to be 
negotiated for possible grant award, taking into consideration the 
outside reviewers' ratings, the Director's recommendations, and the 
degree to which the slate of applications, taken as a whole, satisfies 
the PEACESAT Programs' stated purposes.
    The selected applications are negotiated between NTIA staff and the 
applicant. The negotiations are intended to resolve whatever 
differences might exist between the applicant's original request and 
what NTIA is considering funding. Negotiation does not ensure that an 
award will be made. When the negotiations are completed, the Director 
recommends final selections to the NTIA Administrator, applying the 
same selection factors described above. The Administrator then makes 
the final award selections from the negotiated applications taking into 
consideration the Director's recommendations and the degree to which 
the slate of applications, taken as a whole, satisfies the stated 
purposes for the PEACESAT Program.

Funding Priorities and Selection Factors

    The PBD Director will consider the summary evaluations prepared by 
program staff, rank the applications, and present recommendations to 
the OTIA Associate Administrator for review and approval. The 
Director's recommendations and the OTIA Associate Administrator's 
review and approval will take into account the following selection 
factors:
    (1) The program staff evaluations, including the outside reviewers.
    (2) Whether the applicant has any current NTIA grants.
    (3) The geographic distribution of the proposed grant awards.
    (4) The availability of funds.
    Upon approval by the OTIA Associate Administrator, the Director's 
recommendations will then be presented to the Selecting Official, the 
NTIA Administrator.
    The Administrator makes final award selections taking into 
consideration the

[[Page 7541]]

Director's recommendations and the degree to which the slate of 
applications, taken as a whole, satisfies the program's stated 
purposes.
    No grant will be awarded until confirmation has been received from 
the FCC that any necessary authorization will be issued.
    After final award selections have been made, the Agency will notify 
the applicant of one of the following actions:
    (1) Selection of the application for funding, in whole or in part;
    (2) Deferral of the application for subsequent consideration;
    (3) Rejection of the application with an explanation and the 
reason, if an applicant is not eligible or if the proposed project does 
not fall within the purposes of the PEACESAT program.

Evaluation Criteria

    Each eligible application that is timely received, is materially 
complete, and proposes an eligible project will be considered under the 
evaluation criteria described here. The first three criteria--1. 
Meeting the Purposes of the PEACESAT Program, 2. Extent of Need for the 
Project, and 3. Plan of Operation for the Project--are each worth 25 
points. Criterion 4, Budget and Cost Effectiveness, is worth 20 points. 
Criterion 5, Quality of Key Personnel, is worth 5 points.
    Criterion 1. Meeting the Purposes of the PEACESAT Program, 
including (i) how well the proposal meets the objectives of the 
PEACESAT Program and (ii) how the objectives of the proposal further 
the purposes of the PEACESAT Program.
    Criterion 2. Extent of Need for the Project. The extent to which 
the project meets the needs of the PEACESAT Program, including 
consideration of: (i) The needs addressed by the project; (ii) how the 
applicant identifies those needs; (iii) how those needs will be met by 
the project; and (iv) the benefits to be gained by meeting those needs.
    Criterion 3. Plan of Operation for the Project, including (i) the 
quality of the design of the project; (ii) the extent to which the plan 
of management is effective and ensures proper and efficient 
administration of the project; (iii) how well the objectives of the 
project relate to the purposes of the PEACESAT Program; (iv) the 
quality of the applicant's plan to use its resources and personnel to 
achieve each objective; and (v) how the applicant will ensure that 
project participants who are otherwise eligible to participate are 
selected without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, 
or handicapped condition.
    Criterion 4. Budget and Cost Effectiveness. The extent to which (i) 
the budget is adequate to support the project; and (ii) costs are 
reasonable in relation to the objectives of the project.
    Criterion 5. Quality of Key Personnel the applicant plans to use on 
the project, including (i) the qualifications of the project director 
if one is to be used; (ii) the qualifications of each of the other key 
personnel to be used in the project; (iii) the time that each person 
will commit to the project; and (iv) how the applicant, as part of its 
nondiscriminatory employment practices, will ensure that its personnel 
are selected for employment without regard to race, color, national 
origin, gender, age, or handicapped condition. In this section, 
``qualifications'' refers to experience and training in fields related 
to the objectives of the project, and any other qualifications that 
pertain to the quality of the project.

Cost Sharing Requirements

    Grant recipients under this program will not be required to provide 
matching funds toward the total project cost.
    The costs allowable under this Notice are not subject to the 
limitation on costs contained in the December 13, 2005 Notice regarding 
the PTFP Program.

Intergovernmental Review

    PEACESAT applications are subject to Executive Order 12372, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs,'' if the state in which 
the applicant organization is located participates in the process. 
Usually submission to the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) needs to 
be only the first two pages of the Application Form, but applicants 
should contact their own SPOC offices to find out about and comply with 
its requirements. The names and addresses of the SPOC offices are 
listed on the PTFP web site and at the Office of Management and 
Budget's home page at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html.

Universal Identifier

    All applicants (nonprofit, state, local government, universities, 
and tribal organizations) will be required to provide a Dun and 
Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number during the 
application process. See the October 30, 2002 (67 FR 66177) and April 
8, 2003 (68 FR 17000 Federal Register notices for additional 
information. Organizations can receive a DUNS number at no cost by 
calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number request line 1-866-705-5711 
or via the Internet (http://www.dunandbradstreet.com).

The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements

    The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification of Requirements 
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register 
notice of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389) is applicable to this 
solicitation.

Limitation of Liability

    In no event will the Department of Commerce be responsible for 
proposal preparation costs if this program fails to receive funding or 
is cancelled because of other agency priorities. Publication of this 
announcement does not oblige the agency to award any specific project 
or to obligate any available funds.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    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 (PRA), unless that 
collection displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) control number. The PEACESAT application form has been approved 
under OMB Control Nos. 0348-0040, 0348-0043, and 0348-0034.

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.

Administrative Procedure Act/ Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Prior notice and opportunity for public comment are not required by 
the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for rules concerning 
grants, benefits, and contracts (5 U.S.C. 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 Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a 
regulatory flexibility analysis has not been prepared.

Bernadette McGuire-Rivera,
Associate Administrator, Office of Telecommunications and Information 
Applications.
 [FR Doc. E6-2007 Filed 2-10-06; 8:45 am]
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