[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 61 (Thursday, March 30, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16125-16126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3084]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No.: 060313063-6063-01; I.D. 032206B]


Financial Assistance To Administer NOAA's Faculty and Student 
Intern Research Program and Notice of Availability of Funds and 
Solicitation for Proposals for These Funds

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

ACTION: Notice of criteria to administer the NOAA Faculty and Student 
Intern Research; notice of availability of funds; solicitation for 
funding proposals.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this document is to advise the public that 
NOAA's Office of Civil Rights is soliciting proposals from non-profit 
organizations to design and provide administrative services for NOAA-
sponsored internship program aimed at providing training, educational, 
and research opportunities to faculty, as well as graduate and 
undergraduate students pursuing degrees related to NOAA's mission. NOAA 
is seeking applicants with the capacity to design and implement a 
program that will improve NOAA's outreach and recruitment efforts of 
underrepresented individuals in the scientific mission-related 
occupational fields, i.e., fishery biology, environmental law, 
meteorology, cartography, oceanography, hydrology, computer science, 
ecology, environmental economics, and engineering. When implemented, 
the program will provide both student and faculty member participants 
with stipends, housing assistance, and limited travel expenses. 
Applicants to design and implement the program must demonstrate a 
focused and effective outreach and recruitment strategy targeting 
minority serving institutions and others. It is expected that 
approximately $250,000 to $300,000 annually will be available for the 
project.

DATES: Proposals are due to NOAA by 5 p.m., EST, 15 days after date of 
publication of this document in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: It is strongly encouraged that applications submitted in 
response to this announcement are submitted through the Grants.gov Web 
site. Electronic access to the Full Funding Opportunity Announcement 
for this program is available via the Grants.gov Web site: http://www.grants.gov. Applicants must comply with all requirements contained 
in the Full Funding Opportunity Announcement. Paper applications (a 
signed original and two copies) may also be submitted to the following 
address: NOAA Civil Rights Office/OFA51,1305 East West Highway, Room 
12222, Silver Spring, MD 20910. No facsimile or electronic mail 
applications will be accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria G. Dancy, (301) 713-0500, 
ext. 136.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA is committed to recruiting and 
retaining individuals from underrepresented communities as part of its 
workforce. With such a limited pool of potential minority employees 
trained in NOAA-related sciences, it is important that NOAA seek new 
ways to make students aware of the mission of the agency and to support 
activities that increase opportunities to attract highly qualified 
faculty members and college students pursuing degrees or who have 
obtained degrees in NOAA-related sciences.
    Since approximately 40 percent of minority students receive their 
undergraduate degrees at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), targeted 
recruitment efforts at MSIs are an effective way to increase the number 
of students from underrepresented communities trained and graduated in 
NOAA related sciences. For the purposes of this announcement, MSIs are 
defined as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic 
Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native 
and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions as defined by the Department 
of Education 2004 list http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/minorityinst2004.pdf.
    The NOAA Faculty and Student Intern Research Program will be a 
competitive program designed to provide opportunities to participate in 
hands-on research, education, and training activities in NOAA-related 
sciences. The program must be designed to improve NOAA's outreach and 
recruitment efforts toward underrepresented individuals in the 
scientific mission-related occupational fields, i.e., fishery biology, 
environmental law, meteorology, cartography, oceanography, hydrology, 
computer science, ecology, environmental economics, and engineering. 
The program will aim to introduce or reintroduce these NOAA-related 
sciences to the universities and colleges and integrate them into 
campus-based instruction and research programs. Program activities 
include summer and academic year internships at NOAA facilities. 
Faculty stipends will be based on faculty members' regular university 
salaries. NOAA scientists will be assigned as mentors to participants 
during the internship period. Participants in the program, both 
students and faculty members, must be U.S. citizens. Faculty 
participants must be full-time faculty employed at a U.S. college or 
university and must hold a degree in the life or physical sciences or 
engineering. Faculty participants must have research interests in areas 
related to NOAA's mission. Undergraduate and graduate participants in 
the program must be enrolled in a U.S. college or university and be 
pursuing a degree in a science or engineering discipline related to 
NOAA's mission.

Electronic Access

    Applicants can access, download and submit electronic grant 
applications, including the Full Funding Opportunity Announcement, for 
NOAA programs at the Grants.gov Web site: http://www.grants.gov or by 
contacting the program official identified above. The closing date will 
be the same as for paper submissions noted in this announcement. NOAA 
strongly recommends that Applicants do not wait until the application 
deadline date to begin the application process through Grants.gov. If 
Internet access is unavailable, hard copies of proposals will also be 
accepted--a signed original and two copies at time of submission. This 
includes color or high-resolution graphics, unusually sized materials, 
or otherwise unusual materials submitted as part of the proposal. For 
color graphics, submit either color originals or

[[Page 16126]]

color copies. Facsimile transmissions and electronic mail submission of 
proposals will not be accepted.

Funding Availability

    The Office of Civil Rights anticipates that funding will be 
available at $250,000 to $300,000 a year for a 3-year period. The 
proposal is limited to a total of $900,000 for a maximum of 3 years and 
one proposal will be funded. Up to 25 percent of $300,000 is allowed 
for administrative overhead and at least 75 percent of $300,000 is 
allocated for student support. It is anticipated that the funding 
instrument will be a cooperative agreement since NOAA will be 
substantially involved in identifying NOAA facilities to place students 
each year during the three-year period of internships, and with 
collaboration, participation, or intervention in project performance.


    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1540.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: 11.481.

    Eligibility: Proposals will only be accepted from not-for-profit 
organizations.
    Cost Sharing Requirements: None.
    Intergovernmental Review: Applications under this program are not 
subject to Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs.''

Evaluation Criteria 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.

Pre-Award 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

    In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce accept 
responsibility 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. Recipients and 
sub-recipients are subject to all Federal laws and agency policies, 
regulations and procedures applicable to Federal financial assistance 
awards.

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 NEAP, (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 the denial of an 
application. In some cases if additional information is required after 
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.

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 (PRA)

    This notification involves collection-of-information requirements 
subjects to the Paperwork Reduction Act. 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 control numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 
0348-0040 and 0348-0046 and 0605-0001, respectively. 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

    It has been determined that this notice is 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.

Executive Order Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment re 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 27, 2006.
Alfred A. Corea,
Director, Civil Rights Office, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 06-3084 Filed 3-29-06; 8:45 am]
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