[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13101-13102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3635]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 030602141-6032-35; I.D. 022706A]


Announcement of Funding Opportunity for the California Bay 
Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program, Adult and Community 
Watershed Education in the Monterey Bay

AGENCY: National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP), the National Ocean 
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The California B-WET Program, Adult and Community Watershed 
Education in the Monterey Bay is accepting proposals that provide 
meaningful watershed education to adults and communities. The Monterey 
Bay is susceptible to impacts from urban, rural, and agricultural 
sources of pollution. Projects funded under this program will be 
outcome-based programs that educate citizens about their role in 
protecting water quality and demonstrate behavioral changes that 
improve water quality and promote environmental stewardship.

DATES: Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. Pacific standard time on 
April 13, 2006. The deadline for applying through Grants.gov is April 
13, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Paper applications, a signed original and 2 copies 
(submission of eight additional hard copies is strongly encouraged to 
expedite the review process, but it is not required) may be submitted 
to Attn: Seaberry Nachbar, B-WET Program Manager, Monterey Bay National 
Marine Sanctuary Office, 299 Foam Street, Monterey, CA 93940. For 
electronic submissions, see Electronic Submission section under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: B-WET Program Manager: Seaberry 
Nachbar, 831-647-4204, via Internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summary Description

    The California B-WET Program, Adult and Community Watershed 
Education, is a competitively based program that supports existing 
environmental education programs, fosters the growth of new programs, 
and encourages the development of partnerships among environmental 
education programs throughout the Monterey Bay watershed. Funded 
projects provide meaningful watershed education to adults and 
communities. The term ``meaningful watershed education'' is defined as 
outcome-based programs that educate citizens about their role in 
protecting water quality and demonstrate behavioral changes that 
improve water quality and promote environmental stewardship.

Funding Availability

    This solicitation announces that approximately $100,000 may be 
available in FY 2006 in award amounts to be determined by the proposals 
and the available funds. The National Marine Sanctuary Program 
anticipates that approximately two to four grants will be awarded with 
these funds. The National Marine Sanctuary Program anticipates that 
typical project awards will range from $10,000 to $50,000.

Electronic Submission

    It is strongly preferred that you submit your application through 
Grants.gov at the internet site: http://www.grants.gov. You may access, 
download, and submit an electronic grant application through 
Grants.gov. The full funding announcement is available via the 
Grants.gov web site: http://www.grants.gov. The announcement will also 
be available at the NOAA web site http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/bwet or 
by contacting the program official outlined in this Federal Register 
notice. Applicants must comply with all requirements contained in the 
full funding opportunity announcement. NOAA strongly recommends that 
you do not wait until the application deadline date to begin the 
application process through Grants.gov.
Statutory Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1440, 15 U.S.C. 1540
CFDA: 11.429, Marine Sanctuary Program

Eligibility

    Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, state or local government agencies, and Indian tribal 
governments. The Department of Commerce/ National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to 
broadening the participation of historically black colleges and 
universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and 
universities, and institutions that service undeserved areas.

Cost Sharing Requirements

    No cost sharing is required under this program; however, the 
National Marine

[[Page 13102]]

Sanctuary Program strongly encourages applicants to share as much of 
the costs of the award as possible. Funds from other Federal awards may 
not be considered matching funds. The nature of the contribution (cash 
versus in-kind) and the amount of matching funds will be taken into 
consideration in the review process.

Intergovernmental Review

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

Proposal Review and Selection Process for Projects

    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 and selection criteria and 
procedures for projects contained in that omnibus notice are applicable 
to this notice. 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 and procedures applicable to this 
notice can be found in the full funding opportunity announcement. 
Applicants must comply with all requirements contained in the full 
funding opportunity announcement.

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 that are seeking NOAA Federal funding opportunities. 
Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the 
following NOAA NEPA website: 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 the 
description of his or her program activities, an applicant is 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 the 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 impact 
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 impact that a project may have 
on the environment.

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.

Limitation of Liability

    Funding for the program listed in this notice is contingent upon 
the availability of Fiscal Year 2007 appropriations. In no event will 
NOAA 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 NOAA to 
award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

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 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 comments 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: March 7, 2006.
Mitchell A. Luxenberg,
Acting Chief Financial Officer, National Ocean Service,National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-3635 Filed 3-13-06; 8:45 am]
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