[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67330-67332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19650]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 030602141-6297-44]


Availability of Grants Funds for Fiscal Year 2007; Reopening of 
Application Deadline

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: NOAA publishes this notice to reopen the solicitation period 
on the ``Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT) Opportunities for Transfer of 
Research and Technology Into Tropical Cyclone Analysis and Forecast 
Operations,'' which was originally announced in the Federal Register on 
June 12, 2006. This notice is being reopened to permit a wider range of 
applications and revised proposals and to more fully explain the 
application process for federal applicants. The solicitation period is 
reopened from November 21, 2006 to December 6, 2006.

DATES: Proposals must be received by the NOAA no later than 5 p.m., 
Eastern Standard Time, December 6, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Full proposal packages should be submitted through the 
http://grants.gov/Apply Web site. For those without internet access and 
for applications from U.S. Federal agencies, hard copy proposals should 
be addressed to Dorothy Fryar, DOC/NOAA, Office of Weather & Air 
Quality Research, Routing Code R/WA, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 
11445, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Gaynor, DOC/NOAA, Office of 
Weather & Air Quality Research, Routing Code R/WA, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Room 11229, Silver Spring, MD 20910, phone (301) 713-0460 ext. 
117, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA publishes this notice to reopen the 
solicitation period on the ``Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT) 
Opportunities for Transfer of Research and Technology Into Tropical 
Cyclone Analysis and Forecast Operations,'' which was originally 
announced in the Federal Register on June 12, 2006 (71 FR 33897). That 
solicitation called for researchers to submit proposals to test and 
evaluate, and modify if necessary, in a quasi operational environment, 
their own scientific and technological research applications. The 
program priorities for this opportunity support NOAA's mission support 
goal of: Weather and Water--Serve Society's Needs for Weather and Water 
Information.
    This notice is being published to reopen the solicitation period to 
obtain a wider range of full proposal applications and to more fully 
explain the application process for Federal agencies. Revised full 
proposals are permitted. The solicitation period is reopened from 
October 31, 2006 to 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), December 6, 
2006. Full proposals received between October 31, 2006 and November 21, 
2006 will be considered timely and be given full consideration.
    Please note that the June 12, 2006 solicitation provided applicants 
the opportunity to submit a Letter of Intent to obtain feedback from 
NOAA on their full proposals. This opportunity is no longer available. 
NOAA is soliciting only full applications through this reopening 
notice.
    NOAA also desires to clarify that applicants from Federal agencies 
cannot submit their applications on Grants.gov, but must send in their 
applications to the address and according to the instructions below. In 
addition, all applicants must list other current and pending Federal 
funding sources. If there are none, then that must be indicated. For 
Federal applicants, this should be interpreted as other Federal agency 
sources such as through MOUs, other contractual arrangements, or 
competitive awards.
    For all applicants (excluding Federal applicants) who submit 
applications through Grants.gov, a date and time receipt indication is 
included and will be the basis of determining timeliness. Also, 
applications submitted through Grants.gov must include a title page 
with appropriate signatures (see instructions below) scanned and 
electronically submitted. For Federal applicants and those applicants 
without internet access, hard copy proposals will be date and time 
stamped when they are received in the program office. Applications 
received after that time will not be reviewed.
    All other requirements in the June 12, 2006 solicitation for this 
program remain the same.
    For the convenience of applicants, NOAA republishes the application 
and submission process for the Joint Hurricane Testbed Program. This 
information, and other relevant information about the program, is 
currently available in the Federal Funding Opportunity document at 
Grants.gov

[[Page 67331]]

Application and Submission Information

    (a) The proposal must include a title page signed by the PI(s) and 
the appropriate representatives(s) of their home institution(s). Each 
PI and institutional representative should be identified by full name, 
title, organization, telephone number, mailing address, and e-mail 
address.
    (b) A one-page abstract must be included and must contain a brief 
summary of the proposed work to be completed. The abstract must appear 
on a separate page, headed with the proposal title and the name(s) of 
the PI(s) and their home institution(s).
    (c) All proposals must provide a Statement of Work that includes:
    (1) The proposed duration of the project, from one to two years;
    (2) A brief description of the project, with prior research results 
(including references) to demonstrate sufficient maturity and potential 
for a successful transition to operations at TPC/NHC and other 
operational forecast centers (e.g., CPHC, JTWC) and/or, if applicable, 
at a numerical weather prediction center;
    (3) A proposed work plan for the project, including hardware and 
software needs, the testing and evaluation approach, metric(s) for 
success, project deliverables, a timeline with key milestones, real-
time operational data needed as input, and a plan to port necessary 
codes to the operational environment of TPC/NHC and/or NCEP Central 
Operations (NCO). An overview of the JHT and TPC/NHC operational IT 
environments can be obtained from the JHT Web site: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/jht/tpc_JHT_IT_structure_june06.pdf. For 
applicants without Internet access, this information can be obtained by 
contacting: Dr. Jiann-Gwo Jiing, Director, Joint Hurricane Testbed, 
Tropical Prediction Center, 11691 SW. 17th Street, Miami, FL 33165, 
phone (305) 229-4443, or via e-mail at [email protected]. Final 
work plans for approved projects will be reached by agreement between 
the PI and the JHT Director;
    (4) A time line for delivering scientific and technical 
documentation and training materials over the course of the project 
that are sufficient to enable testing and evaluation of the proposed 
techniques. If the proposal is funded, researchers are expected to 
coordinate with the JHT Director to formalize this timeline;
    (5) Schedule and needs for expected travel. PIs are strongly 
encouraged to plan and budget during each year of the project to 
describe their work at the annual Interdepartmental Hurricane 
Conference (IHC), sponsored by the Office of the Federal Coordinator 
for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research. Additionally, 
visits by PIs and/or their support staff to the TPC/NHC, and any other 
operational center(s) as necessary, may be beneficial for training JHT 
staff and the forecaster and technical point(s) of contact in 
preparation for project testing and evaluation; and
    (6) Estimates of JHT staff requirements in terms of on-site (or 
off-site) JHT facilitator efforts, and estimated computational, 
communication, and/or display requirements at the researcher's home 
institution and/or at JHT via remote access and data transfer.
    (d) All applicants must submit a budget that includes PI and 
scientific and technical support staff salaries, JHT facility 
requirements, computing and communications funding, equipment funding 
(provide justification), indirect charges, and travel. Note that 
funding for secretarial support and IT improvements at the PI's home 
institution is not generally available. Non-federal applicants must use 
Standard Form 424A, Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs that 
is contained in the standard NOAA Grants and Cooperative Agreement 
Application Package.
    (e) Non-federal applicants must submit additional forms included in 
the standard NOAA Grants and Cooperative Agreement Application Package 
(see section IV.A above).
    (f) An abbreviated Curriculum Vita for the PI must be included. 
Reference lists should be limited to all publications in the last three 
years with up to five other relevant papers.
    (g) Current and pending Federal support: Each investigator must 
submit a list that includes project title; supporting agency with grant 
number, investigator months, dollar value and duration. Requested 
amounts should be listed for pending Federal support.
    (h) Additional proposal requirements include:
    (1) For applications submitted in hard copy, one signed original 
and two additional hard copies of the complete proposal must be 
submitted. Submission of an electronic copy in PDF format of the 
proposal document via the http://grants.gov/Apply Web site (abstract, 
Statement of Work, and budget) is strongly encouraged to facilitate the 
review process.
    (2) Each proposal must be dated and contain page numbers;
    (3) Items b and c above must be contained within no more than ten 
pages, using a 12-point font and one-inch margins.

Limitation of Liability

    In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible 
for proposal preparation costs if this program 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. Applicants are hereby given notice that funding for the Fiscal 
Year 2007 program is contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year 
2007 appropriations.

Universal Identifier

    Applicants should be aware they are required to provide a Dun and 
Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number during the 
application process. See the October 30, 2002, Federal Register, (67, 
FR 66177) for additional information. Organizations can receive a DUNS 
number at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number 
request line at 1-866-705-5711 or via the Internet at http://www.dunandbradstreet.com.
    Intergovernmental Review: Applications under this program are not 
subject to Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs.''
    Funding Restrictions: None.

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,

[[Page 67332]]

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 Preaward Notification 
Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the 
Federal Register notice of October 1, 2001 (66 FR 49917), as amended by 
the Federal Register notice published on October 30, 2002 (67 FR 
66109), 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, 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 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 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not 
been prepared.

    Dated: November 16, 2006.
Mark E. Brown,
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, Office of 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-19650 Filed 11-20-06; 8:45 am]
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