[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 52 (Monday, March 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12772-12773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4883]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 030602141-7056-49; I.D. 030607G]


Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 2007

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; reopening of competition solicitation.

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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National 
Marine Fisheries Service publishes this notice to reopen the 
competitive solicitation for the Chesapeake Bay Cooperative Science 
Program which was originally published in the Federal Register on 
December 27, 2006. The solicitation period was reopened to provide the 
public more time to submit proposals.

DATES:  The new deadline for the receipt of proposals is 5 p.m. Eastern 
Time on March 26, 2007 for both electronic and paper applications.

ADDRESSES: The address for submitting Proposals electronically is: 
http://www.grants.gov/. (Electronic submission is strongly encouraged). 
Paper submissions should be sent to the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, 410 
Severn Avenue, Suite 107, Annapolis, MD 21403.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Derek Orner, 410-267-5676, 
[email protected]; or Peter Bergstrom, 410-267-5665, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This program was originally solicited in the 
Federal Register on December 27, 2006 (71 FR 77726), as part of the 
December, 2006 NOAA Omnibus
    solicitation. The original deadline for receipt of proposals was 5 
p.m., EST, on March 12, 2007. NOAA reopens the solicitation period to 
provide the public more time to submit proposals as severe weather 
conditions adversely affected the ability of potential applicants to 
submit applications. All applications that are submitted between March 
12, 2007, and March 19, 2007 will be considered timely. All other 
requirements published in the December 27, 2006 solicitation notice are 
applicable and remain the same.

Limitation of Liability

    Funding for programs listed in this notice is contingent upon the 
availability of Fiscal Year 2007 funds. 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.

Universal Identifier

    Applicants should be aware that 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, Vol. 
67, No. 210, pp. 66177-66178, 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 (http://www.dunandbradstreet.com).

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 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 
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 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, 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

[[Page 12773]]

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: March 13, 2007.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-4883 Filed 3-16-07; 8:45 am]
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