[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47189-47190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22177]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

[Docket No. 0906261096-91224-02]
RIN 0648-ZC08


Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization; Amendment

AGENCY:  National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce; National Science 
Foundation (NSF).

ACTION:  Notice of funding availability; amended solicitation.

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SUMMARY:  NOAA and NSF publish this notice to amend the Federal Funding 
Opportunity (NOAA-NMFS-FHQ-2009-2001734) entitled ``Comparative 
Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO)'' which was 
originally announced in the Federal Register on July 7, 2009. This 
notice announces changes to the program priorities.

DATES: Full proposals must be received and validated by Grants.gov, 
postmarked, or provided to a delivery service on or before 11:59 p.m. 
ET, October 5, 2009. Please note: Validation or rejection of your 
application by Grants.gov may take up to 2 business days after 
submission. Please consider this process in developing your submission 
timeline. Applications received after the deadline will be rejected/
returned to the sender without further consideration. Use of U.S. mail 
or another delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No 
facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted.

ADDRESSES: Electronic application packages are strongly encouraged and 
are available at: http://www.grants.gov/. If the applicant's only mode 
of submitting a proposal is via paper application, or if the applicant 
has difficulty accessing Grants.gov or downloading the required forms, 
they should contact: Lora Clarke, CAMEO, NOAA Fisheries, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Room 14505, Silver Spring, MD, 20910 or by phone at (301) 713 
2239, or via internet at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Ford, CAMEO Program Manager, 
NOAA/NMFS, (301) 713 2239, [email protected]; Lora Clarke, 
Associate Program Manager, NOAA/NMFS, (301) 713 2239, 
[email protected]; Cynthia Suchman, Associate Program Director, 
Biological Oceanography, OCE/GEO/NSF, (703) 292 8582, [email protected]; 
David Garrison, Program Director, Biological Oceanography, OCE/GEO/NSF, 
(703) 292 8582, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA and NSF publish this notice to inform 
the public of an amendment to the solicitation ``Comparative Analysis 
of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO)'' announced in the Federal 
Register on July 7, 2009 (74 FR 32112). Due to an error, only four of 
the five program priorities were announced in the original 
solicitation. The Full Funding Opportunity is amended to read:

Program Priorities

    This funding opportunity will implement CAMEO research by 
supporting the development of research tools and strategic approaches. 
The following types of proposals are encouraged:
    1. Development of strategies and methodologies for comparative 
analyses that can be applied consistently across spatial and temporal 
scales and ecosystems, and that facilitate the design of decision 
support tools for marine populations, ecosystems and habitats.
    2. Development of models that address key scientific questions by 
comparing ecosystems and ecosystem processes. Models that are 
geographically and temporally portable, and that incorporate assessment 
of modeling skill, are particularly encouraged.
    3. Retrospective studies that analyze, re-analyze or synthesize 
existing information (historic, time-series, ongoing program, etc.) 
using a comparative approach.
    4. Studies that integrate the human dimension within ecosystem 
dynamics. The CAMEO program seeks to promote interdisciplinary research 
using comparative approaches to link marine ecosystem research with the 
social and behavioral sciences in new and vital ways.
    5. Empirical or retrospective projects that evaluate and compare 
the effectiveness and design of Marine Protected Areas or other 
spatially-explicit management strategies.
    All information and requirements published in the Federal Register 
on July 7, 2009 apply to applications submitted pursuant to this 
notice. Under this amended solicitation, NOAA and NSF allow for 
modifications to applications already received under the initial 
announcement. Any proposal that has been submitted to the initial 
solicitation prior to September 15, 2009 may be resubmitted to reflect 
this change in program priorities. Applicants may revise proposals to 
address this change; however, any revisions to such proposals must be 
submitted by the original deadline.
    The following sections of that Federal Funding Opportunity have 
been amended to reflect the changes announced in this notice: ``Program 
Priorities''.

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

    Authority for CAMEO is provided by the following: 33 U.S.C. 1442 
for the National Marine Fisheries Service and 42 U.S.C. 1861 75 for the 
National Science Foundation.
    CFDA: 11.472, Unallied Science Program

Limitation of Liability

    In no event will NOAA, the Department of Commerce or the National 
Science Foundation be responsible for proposal preparation

[[Page 47190]]

costs if these programs fail to receive funding or are cancelled 
because of other agency priorities. Publication of this announcement 
does not oblige NOAA or NSF 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 the 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.

    Dated: September 9, 2009.
Steven A. Murawski,
NOAA Fisheries, Chief Scientific Advisor, Director of Scientific 
Programs.

    Dated: September 8, 2009.
Phillip R. Taylor,
Section Head, Ocean Section, Division of Ocean Sciences, National 
Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. E9-22177 Filed 9-14-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S