[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26078-26080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8714]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 070419090-7090-01; I.D. 050107B ]


Program for Technology-based Experiential Learning in Science for 
Grades 4-9 Students and Teachers

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NOAA's Office of Education (OED) is requesting applications 
for a technology-based science experiential learning program to impact 
4th through 9th grade students and teachers. One award will be made for 
a project five years in duration. The successful project will draw 
heavily on NOAA marine scientific resources as well as an existing set 
of vetted educational products. The project should feature print 
materials for students and teachers, multimedia products, out-of-the 
classroom activities and incorporate on-line elements such as live 
chat, podcasts or computer simulations to provide students with access 
to scientists and promote inquiry-based learning. A successful 
applicant will have extensive partnerships with NOAA, as well as other 
Federal, local, and private organizations. 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.

DATES: The deadline for applications is 5 p.m., EDT June 7, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Full applications must be submitted either through 
Grants.gov or as a paper application to: ATTN: Grants Competition 
Manager, NOAA Office of Education, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Ave, NW., HCHB Room 6863, Washington, DC 20230. Please 
note: Hard copies submitted via the U.S. Postal Service can take up to 
4 weeks to reach this office; applicants are recommended to send hard 
copies via expedited shipping methods (e.g., Airborne Express, DHL, Fed 
Ex, UPS).

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 a technology-based science experiential 
learning program, with interdisciplinary connections to math and other 
disciplines, for 4th through 9th grade students and teachers. The 
successful project will draw heavily on NOAA scientific research, 
personnel, facilities and educational resources to reach classroom 
students and their teachers in the United States. The project should 
feature print materials for students and teachers, multimedia products, 
out-of-the classroom activities and incorporate on-line elements such 
as live chat, podcasts or computer simulations to provide students with 
access to scientists and promote inquiry-based learning. The project 
should provide an online platform that allows teachers to create 
customized lesson plans based on the proposed curriculum, to develop 
assessments aligned to their local standards, to create reports on the 
use and impact of each program element. Additionally, the project will 
allow teachers both onsite and online to earn graduate-level credit-
hours from an accredited university in the United States. All projects 
shall employ the strategies articulated in the NOAA Education Plan 
(http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/NOAA_Ed_Plan.pdf).
    A successful applicant will have extensive partnerships with NOAA, 
as well as other Federal, local, and private organizations. The 
applicant or project partners should be highly experienced in 
developing and employing telepresence technology and delivering 
programming to the scientific and educational communities as well as 
the general public.
    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.

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 anticipates the availability, contingent upon appropriations, 
of approximately $2,000,000 of Federal financial assistance in FY 2007 
for a technology-based experiential learning program for 4th through 
9th grade students and teachers. One award in the form of a grant will 
be made. NOAA will only consider projects that have a duration of 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 $12,500,000 for 5 years. Applications requesting 
Federal support from NOAA of less than $1,000,000 total or more than 
$12,500,000 total will not be considered for funding through this 
announcement.
    The amount of funding available through this announcement will be 
dependent upon the final appropriations for FY 2007 through FY 2011. 
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 
their own risk of such costs not being included under the award. The 
exact amount of funds that may be awarded will be determined in pre-
award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA representatives.

Eligibility

    Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, other 
nonprofits, and state, local and Indian tribal governments in the 
United States. For-profit organizations, individuals not affiliated 
with an eligible organization, 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.
    The Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (DOC/NOAA) is

[[Page 26079]]

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.
    Institutions may submit only one application to this funding 
opportunity.

Cost Sharing Requirements

    There are no cost-sharing requirements.

Evaluation and Selection Procedures

    The general evaluation criteria and selection factors that apply to 
full applications to this funding opportunity are summarized below. The 
evaluation criteria for 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 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

    Upon receipt of an 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 
reviewers will score each proposal using the evaluation criteria and 
relative weights provided above. 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 obligate 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.

[[Page 26080]]

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.
    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.

    Dated: May 2, 2007.
Daniel L. Clever,
Deputy Director, NOAA Acquisitions and Grants, U.S. Department of 
Commerce.
[FR Doc. E7-8714 Filed 5-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-12-P