[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52328-52329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20926]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 080626787-81157-03]
RIN 0648-ZB97


Availability of Grants Funds for Fiscal Year 2009

AGENCY: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice

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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National 
Ocean Service, publishes this notice on the Modeling the Causes of 
Hypoxia component of the Northern Gulf of Mexico program to provide 
clarification regarding funding availability.

DATES:  The deadline for the receipt of proposals is 3 p.m. EST, 
October 20, 2008, 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 attention of, Center for 
Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (N/SCI2), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East-West Highway, SSMC4, 8th Floor 
Station 8240, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact: 
Libby Jewett, ([email protected], 301-713-3338 x 121).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This program was originally solicited in the 
Federal Register on July 11, 2008, as part of the July 2008 NOAA 
Omnibus solicitation. NOAA is publishing this notice to provide 
clarification regarding funding availability for the Modeling the 
Causes of Hypoxia component of the Northern Gulf of Mexico program. 
Please note that funds for Modeling the Causes of Hypoxia component of 
the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Hypoxia Assessment program 
will not exceed $1,000,000.00 per project per year. It is anticipated 
that only one project will be awarded for this program with project 
durations of 3 to 5 years. All other requirements for this solicitation 
remain the same.

Award Notices

    The notice of award is signed by the NOAA Grants Officer and is the 
authorizing document. It is provided by postal mail or electronically 
through the Grants Online system to the appropriate business office of 
the recipient organization.

Administrative and National Policy Requirements

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 February 11, 2008 (73 FR 7696), are applicable to this 
solicitation.
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 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

[[Page 52329]]

and implementing 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 conformance with the Uniform Administrative Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements (15 CFR 14.36), any data collected in 
projects supported by NCCOS/CSCOR should be delivered to a National 
Data Center (NDC), such as the National Oceanographic Data Center 
(NODC), in a format to bedetermined by the institution, the NDC, and 
the Program Officer. Information on NOAA NDCs can be found at http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/datainfo.html. It is the responsibility of the 
institution for the delivery of these data; the DOC will not provide 
additional support for delivery beyond the award. Additionally, all 
biological cultures established, molecular probes developed, genetic 
sequences identified, mathematical models constructed, or other 
resulting information products established through support provided by 
NCCOS/CSCOR are encouraged to be made available to the general research 
community at no or modest handling charge (to be determined by the 
institution, Program Officer, and DOC).

Reporting

    All performance (i.e. technical progress) reports shall be 
submitted electronically through the Grants Online system unless the 
recipient does not have internet access. In that case, performance 
reports are to be submitted to the NOAA program manager. All financial 
reports shall be submitted in the same manner.

Agency Contacts

    Technical Information: Libby Jewett, Program Manager, 301-713-3338/
ext 121, Internet: [email protected].
    Business Management Information: Laurie Golden, NCCOS/CSCOR Grants 
Administrator, 301-713-3338/ext 151, Internet: [email protected].

Other Information

Administrative Procedure Act

    Notice and comment are not required under the Administrative 
Procedure Act, (5 U.S.C. 553), or any other law, for notices relating 
to public property, loans, grants, benefits or contracts (5 U.S.C. 
553(a)). Because notice and comment is not required, a Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis is not required and has not been prepared for this 
notice, (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required 
to respond to, nor shall any person is subject to a penalty for failure 
to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number. 
This notification involves collection-of-information requirements 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The use of Standard Forms 424, 
424A, 424B, and SF-LLL has been approved by the OMB under control 
numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040 and 0348-0046, respectively.

    Dated: September 2, 2008.
John Potts,
Chief Financial Officer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, National Ocean Service.
[FR Doc. E8-20926 Filed 9-8-08; 8:45 am]
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