[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 194 (Monday, October 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58129-58131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-23516]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 0809181225-81227-01]


Scientific Data Stewardship Project Office for 2009

AGENCY: National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service 
Program Office (NESDISPO), National Environmental Satellite Data and 
Information Service (NESDIS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of funding availability.

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SUMMARY: The Scientific Data Stewardship (SDS) Project seeks to support 
the development and stewardship of Climate Data Records (CDRs) for the 
atmosphere, cryosphere, oceans, and land surface. The Project follows 
the National Research Council's 2004 distinction between Fundamental 
and Thematic Climate Data Records, and is initially focused on 
Fundamental CDRs and lower complexity Thematic CDRs. The SDS Project is 
managed by NOAA, but is informed by other government agencies such that 
its results represent a government-wide contribution to climate change 
detection, assessment, understanding, adaptation and/or mitigation.

DATES: Letters of Intent should be received no later than 5 p.m. 
Eastern Time, October 31, 2008. Full proposals must be received no 
later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time, December 15, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Applications are available at http://www.grants.gov. If the 
applicant does Internet it take several weeks, involving multiple 
steps. In order to allow sufficient time for this process, applicants 
should register as soon as possible, even if they are not yet ready to 
submit their proposal. If an applicant has problems downloading the 
application package from Grants.gov, contact Grants.gov Customer 
Support at (800) 518-4726 or [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SDSPO Grants Manager: Linda S. 
Statler, NOAA Scientific Data Stewardship Project Office, 151 Patton 
Ave., Asheville, NC 28801; Phone: 828-271-4657; E-mail: 
Linda.S.Statler-at-noaa.gov. SDSPO Project Manager: Jeff Privette, NOAA 
Scientific Data Stewardship Project Office, 151 Patton Ave., Asheville, 
NC28801; Phone: 828-271-4331; E-mail: Jeff.Privette-at-noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of its climate mandate, the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a responsibility to 
provide the Nation with objective data and tools to help characterize, 
understand, predict, mitigate and coordinate its Climate Data Record 
(CDR) activities with other agencies through the U.S. adapt to climate 
change and variability. To help fulfill that responsibility, NOAA has 
begun Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). The National Research 
Council defines a CDR as ``a time series of measurements of sufficient 
length, consistency, and continuity to determine climate variability 
and change.'' NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) initiated the 
Scientific Data Stewardship (SDS) Project (hereafter referred to as the 
Project) to lead the Agency's CDR activities and to coordinate with the 
partner agencies. Given that early algorithm development is supported 
elsewhere, the Project is focused on the generalization and application 
of mature algorithms to multiple satellites and sensors which together 
span climate-relevant time periods. It also supports development of 
Climate Information Records (CIRs), defined as time series derived from 
CDRs and related long-term measurements that provide specific 
information (e.g., drought area, hurricane trends) about complex 
environmental phenomena in a manner useful to a variety of applications 
and user communities. Together, the various SDS products serve a wide 
range of scientific, commercial, decision support and policy-making 
needs. Various CDRs have been developed in the past, most notably 
through the NOAA-NASA Pathfinder Program in the 1990s. NOAA intends to 
leverage lessons from such efforts into a more systematic, 
comprehensive and sustained program. To help achieve this, the Project 
plans to execute its responsibilities in partnership with the larger 
scientific community through regular NOAA Announcements of Opportunity 
as well as through community reviews and working groups. The Project 
represents one of NOAA's primary contributions to the CCSP's climate 
data goals.
    Electronic Access: The full text of the full funding opportunity 
announcement for this program can be accessed via the Grants.gov Web 
site at http://www.grants.gov. The announcement will also be available 
by contacting the program officials identified under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. Applicants must comply with all requirements 
contained in the full funding opportunity announcement.
    Statutory Authority: 49 U.S.C. 44720(b) and 33 U.S.C. 883d.

[[Page 58130]]

    CFDA: 11.440, Environmental Sciences, Applications, Data, and 
Education.
    Funding Availability: The total anticipated federal funding in FY 
2009 is $2.6M for new awards. The anticipated number of new awards, 
pending adequate proposals of merit, is from 5 to 15. Please be advised 
that actual funding levels will depend upon the final FY 2009 budget 
appropriations. Current plans assume that 100% of the total resources 
provided through the present FY 2009 SDS Announcement will support 
extramural efforts that include the broad academic, non-profit, federal 
and commercial communities. In FY 2007, the first year of SDS grants, 
the Project made eight awards totaling approximately $800K. In FY 2008, 
the Project expanded total funding to nearly $1,000K, which included 
funding for three new starts. Past or current grantees funded under 
this announcement are eligible to apply for a new award, which builds 
on previous activities or areas of research not covered in the previous 
award. Current grantees should not request supplementary funding for 
ongoing research through this announcement. The exact amount of funds 
that may be representatives. Awards are to be up to three years in 
length except where noted otherwise awarded will be determined in pre-
award negotiations between the applicant and NOAA by the Project.
    Eligibility: Eligible applicants are institutions of higher 
education; other nonprofits; for profits; commercial organizations; 
international organizations; state, local and Indian tribal 
governments; and Federal agencies. Applications from non-Federal and 
Federal applicants will be competed against each other. Please Note: 
Before non-NOAA Federal applicants may be funded, they must demonstrate 
that they have legal authority to receive funds from another Federal 
agency in excess of their appropriation. The only exception to this is 
governmental research facilities for awards issued under the authority 
of 49 U.S.C. 44720(b). Because this announcement is not proposing to 
procure goods or services from applicants, the Economy Act (31 U.S.C. 
1535) is not an appropriate legal basis.
    Cost Sharing Requirements: This competition does not have Cost 
Sharing requirements. However, applicants are welcome to describe 
applicable cost-sharing when relevant.
    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 (40%). This 
ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or 
relevance to NOAA, Federal, regional, Project, NOAA and CCSP CDR goals, 
and if the work is applicable to the FY 2009 Priority State, or local 
activities. For the SDS competition, this includes relevance to the SDS 
CDRs or activities. 2. Technical/Scientific Merit (40%). 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 (10%). This 
ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary education, 
experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to 
accomplish the project. 4. Project Costs (10%). The budget is evaluated 
to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs 
and time-frame. 5. Outreach and Education (0%). 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. For the SDS competition, this criterion is not scored.
    Review and Selection Process: Once a full application has been 
received by SDSPO, an initial administrative review is conducted to 
determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the 
application. Independent peer mail reviewers, and/or independent peer 
panel reviewers consisting of Federal, or a combination of both Federal 
and non-Federal experts, will evaluate full proposals in accordance 
with the evaluation criteria. If peer mail review and peer panel review 
are both conducted, the mail reviews will be provided to the panel for 
use in its deliberations prior to providing its ratings. If only a peer 
mail review is conducted, the Project Manager will use the rank 
numerical order of the mail reviews to determine funding 
recommendations. If only a peer panel review or both a peer panel 
review and a peer mail review are conducted, the Project Manager will 
use the numerical rank order of the peer review panel to determine 
funding recommendations. Occasionally a reviewer may, due to lack of 
familiarity in a particular area, choose not to score a particular 
proposal. The scores from remaining peer panel reviewers for that 
proposal will be averaged to produce a single numerical score for the 
proposal. The average score for each proposal will be used to determine 
rank of proposals. The Project Manager will recommend proposals to the 
Selecting Official in numerical rank order unless the proposal is 
justified to be selected out of rank order based upon additional 
documented requirements of any selection factor listed in section C. 
below. The Project Manager will review the amounts requested for each 
selected proposal (including costs for computing and networking 
services) and recommend the total duration and the amount of funding, 
which may be less than the proposal and budget requested. The Selecting 
Official will review the recommendations.
    Selection Factors for Projects: The Selecting Official shall award 
in rank order unless a proposal is justified to be selected out of rank 
order based upon any 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 area e. By 
project types 3. Duplication of other projects funded or considered for 
funding by NOAA/federal agencies 4. SDS Project priorities and policy 
factors 5. Applicant's prior award performance 6. Partnerships with/
participation of targeted group 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. The Selecting Official makes final recommendations for award 
to the Grants Officer who is authorized to obligate the funds.
    Intergovernmental Review: Applications under the SDS Project 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

[[Page 58131]]

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 February 11, 2008 (73 FR 
7696), 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. 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.

Mary E. Kicza,
Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services.
 [FR Doc. E8-23516 Filed 10-3-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P