[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 202 (Thursday, October 19, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61724-61727]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17535]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 050317077-6264-03; I.D. 101306D]


Environmental Literacy Grants for Free-Choice Learning

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 of funding availability.

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SUMMARY: NOAA's Office of Education (OED) is requesting applications 
for environmental literacy projects in support of free-choice learning. 
The proposed projects should support NOAA's vision which is: an 
informed society that uses a comprehensive understanding of the role of 
the ocean, coasts, and atmosphere in the global ecosystem to make the 
best social and economic decisions. Successful projects should reach 
significant segments of the U.S. population at a State, multi-state or 
national level. The environmental literacy messages should clearly 
convey how the Earth system influences a project's target audience, how 
the target audience is influencing the Earth system and how an 
environmentally literate public can make informed decisions. The goal 
of these projects should be to provide adequate information to move the 
audience's knowledge beyond basic awareness while reaching audiences 
sufficient in size with a message that promotes such a change. Funded 
projects will last between one and five years in duration and will 
create new, or capitalize on existing, networks of institutions, 
agencies and/or organizations to provide common messages about key 
concepts in Earth System Science, for example the Ocean Literacy 
Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts (http://www.coexploration.org/oceanliteracy/documents/OceanLitConcepts_10.11.05.pdf). Applications for exhibits involving construction of part 
or all of a building are not eligible for funding under this 
announcement. Formal education projects and projects whose main focus 
is on development of new data visualizations and platforms will not be 
considered for funding through this announcement. Please visit http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html for information on additional 
funding opportunities in those areas. This funding opportunity meets 
NOAA's Mission Goal to protect, restore and manage the use of coastal 
and ocean resources through ecosystems-based management.

DATES: The deadline for preliminary proposals is 5 p.m., e.s.t., 
November 29, 2006. The deadline for full applications is 5 p.m., e.s.t. 
on March 21, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Pre-proposals may be submitted through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov), or if an applicant does not have Internet access, 
three copies must be mailed to Attn: ELG Competition Manager, DOC/NOAA, 
Office of Education, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 6863, 
Washington, DC 20230. Please note that hard copies submitted via the 
U.S. Postal Service can take up to 4 weeks to reach this office, 
therefore applicants are recommended to send hard copies via expedited 
shipping methods (e.g, Airborne Express, DHL, Fed Ex, UPS).
    Full applications may be submitted through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov), or if an applicant does not have Internet access, one 
hard copy should be sent to Attn: ELG Competition Manager, 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 704-370-3528 or Alyssa Gundersen 
at [email protected], telephone 202-482-3739.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA's Office of Education (OED) is 
requesting applications for environmental literacy projects in support 
of free-choice learning. The proposed projects should support NOAA's 
vision which is: an informed society that uses a comprehensive 
understanding of the role of the ocean, coasts, and atmosphere in the 
global ecosystem to make the best social and economic decisions. 
Successful projects should reach significant segments of the U.S.

[[Page 61725]]

population at a State, multi-state or national level. The environmental 
literacy messages should clearly convey how the Earth system influences 
a project's target audience, how the target audience is influencing the 
Earth system and how an environmentally literate public can make 
informed decisions.
    The goal of these projects should be to provide adequate 
information to move the audience's knowledge beyond basic awareness 
while reaching audiences sufficient in size with a message that 
promotes such a change. The proposed mechanisms for delivery of these 
messages may include, but are not limited to, public literacy 
campaigns, kiosks or traveling exhibits, and/or the revision of 
existing programs that would be made available at multiple venues. 
Funded projects will last between one and five years in duration and 
will create new, or capitalize on existing, networks of institutions, 
agencies and/or organizations to provide common messages about key 
concepts in Earth System Science, for example the Ocean Literacy 
Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts.
(http://www.coexploration.org/oceanliteracy/documents/OceanLitConcepts_10.11.05.pdf).
    Applications for exhibits involving construction of part or all of 
a building are not eligible for funding under this announcement. Formal 
education projects and projects whose main focus is on development of 
new data visualizations and platforms will not be considered for 
funding through this announcement. Please visit http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html for information on additional 
funding opportunities in those areas. All projects shall employ the 
relevant strategies articulated in the NOAA Education Plan (http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/NOAA_Ed_Plan.pdf). All projects should be 
implemented at a State, multi-state or national level and have 
evaluations that fully assess the strengths and weaknesses of the 
proposed project. It is anticipated that final recommendations for 
funding under this announcement will be made by June 30, 2007, and that 
projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no 
earlier than September 15, 2007. This funding opportunity meets NOAA's 
Mission Goal to protect restore and manage the use of coastal and ocean 
resources through ecosystems-based management.
    A detailed description of the program requirements may be found 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 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.

    CFDA: 11.469, Congressionally Identified Awards and Projects.

Funding Availability

    NOAA announces the availability, contingent upon FY 2007 
appropriations, of approximately $1,500,000 of Federal financial 
assistance in FY 2007 for free-choice learning projects. Approximately 
2 to 5 awards in the form of grants or cooperative agreements will be 
made through this project solicitation. NOAA will only consider 
projects that have a duration of 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 $750,000. The 
minimum Federal amount that must be requested from NOAA for all years 
for the direct and indirect costs is $200,000. Applications requesting 
Federal support from NOAA of less than $200,000 total or more than 
$750,000 total will not be considered for funding.
    Publication of this notice does not oblige the Department of 
Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (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 institutions of higher education, other 
nonprofits, and State, local and Indian tribal governments in the 
United States. Among those eligible applicants are K through 12 public 
and independent schools and school systems, and science centers and 
museums. For profit organizations, foreign institutions, foreign 
organizations and foreign government agencies are not eligible to 
apply. Federal agencies are not eligible to receive Federal assistance 
under this announcement, but may be project partners. 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. OED encourages 
applications that involve any of the above institutions. An individual 
may serve as a principal investigator (PI) in only one application for 
this funding opportunity, however individuals may serve as co-PIs or 
key personnel in an unlimited number of applications. Institutions may 
serve as a PI or co-PI in an unlimited number of applications.

Cost Sharing Requirements

    There are no cost-sharing requirements.

Preliminary Proposals and Full Application Requirements

    Applicants must submit pre-proposals for review to prevent the 
expenditure of effort on proposals that may not be successful. All 
applicants will receive a response to their pre-proposal via e-mail or 
letter indicating whether they are authorized to submit a full 
application. Only those who submit pre-proposals are eligible to submit 
a full application. The provisions for pre-proposal and full 
application preparation are mandatory. Additional guidance, including 
frequently asked questions (FAQ), is available online at http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html.

Evaluation and Selection Procedures

    The general evaluation criteria and selection factors that apply to 
both pre-proposals and full applications to this funding opportunity 
are summarized below. The evaluation criteria for pre-proposals and 
full applications will have different weights and details. Further 
information about the evaluation criteria and selection factors can be 
found in the full funding opportunity announcement.

Evaluation Criteria for Projects

    1. Importance and/or relevance and applicability of proposed 
project to the program goals: This ascertains whether there is 
intrinsic value in the proposed

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work and/or relevance to NOAA, Federal, regional, State, or local 
activities.
    2. Technical/scientific merit: This assesses whether the approach 
is technically sound and/or innovative, if the methods are appropriate, 
and whether there are clear project goals and objectives.
    3. Overall qualifications of applicants: This ascertains whether 
the applicant possesses the necessary education, experience, training, 
facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project.
    4. Project costs: The Budget is evaluated to determine if it is 
realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time-frame.
    5. Outreach and education: NOAA assesses whether this project 
provides a focused and effective education and outreach strategy 
regarding NOAA's mission to protect the Nation's natural resources.

Review and Selection Process

Pre-Proposal

    Pre-proposals meeting the requirements listed in FFO will be 
evaluated by government and/or non-government representatives, each 
having relevant expertise. The individual reviewers' ratings shall be 
averaged for each application to establish rank order for the Office of 
Education (OED) Program Officer. The review panel will provide no 
consensus advice. Decisions on whether to authorize or not authorize a 
full application will be based on the rank order of the pre-proposals, 
unless choosing out of rank order is justified by the selection factors 
below. The Office of Education anticipates asking up to 30 applicants 
to submit full applications. Full applications from applicants who were 
not asked to submit them will not be reviewed or considered for 
funding.

Full Application

    Upon receipt of a full application by NOAA, an initial 
administrative review will be conducted to determine compliance with 
requirements and completeness of the application. All applications that 
meet the minimum eligibility requirements and that are ascertained to 
be complete will be evaluated and scored by independent reviewers. The 
reviews will be conducted by a panel of individuals, who may be 
government or non-government representatives, each having relevant 
expertise. The individual reviewers' ratings will be averaged for each 
application to establish rank order. No consensus advice will be given 
by the review panel. The Program Officer will neither vote nor score 
applications as part of the review panel nor participate in discussion 
of the merits of any proposal.
    The Program Officer will make his/her recommendations for funding 
based on rank order and the selection factors listed below to the 
Selecting Official for the final funding decision.

Selection Factors for Projects

    The panel review ratings shall establish the rank order that the 
Selecting Official will use for final recommendation to the NOAA Grants 
Officer. The Selecting Official shall award in the rank order unless 
the proposal is justified to be selected out of rank order based upon 
one or more of the following factors:
    1. Availability of funding.
    2. Balance/distribution of funds:
    a. Geographically.
    b. By type of institutions.
    c. By type of partners.
    d. By research areas.
    e. By project types.
    3. Whether this project duplicates other projects funded or 
considered for funding by NOAA or other Federal agencies.
    4. Program priorities and policy factors.
    5. Applicant's prior award performance.
    6. Partnerships and/or Participation of targeted groups.
    7. Adequacy of information necessary for NOAA staff to make a NEPA 
determination and draft necessary documentation before recommendations 
for funding are made to the Grants Officer.

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/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.

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    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.

Helen Hurcombe,
Director, NOAA Acquisitions and Grants, U.S. Department of Commerce.
 [FR Doc. E6-17535 Filed 10-18-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-12-P