[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 112 (Friday, June 11, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33268-33269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14115]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket Number: 100407180-0225-02]


Technology Innovation Program (TIP) Notice of Availability of 
Funds; Amendment

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds; amendment.

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SUMMARY: On April 19, 2010, the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing 
the solicitation of proposals for the fiscal year 2010 Technology 
Innovation Program (TIP) competition. NIST is issuing this notice to 
correct the award start date, to correct the description of a 
nonresponsive proposal listed under Element 3 of the Manufacturing Area 
of Critical National Need addressed in the notice, and to clarify the 
function of the white paper referenced in the notice.

DATES: The due date for submission of proposals for the fiscal year 
2010 TIP competition is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, July 15, 
2010.

ADDRESSES: Proposals must be submitted to TIP as follows:
    Paper submission: Send to National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, Technology Innovation Program, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4750, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-4750.
    Electronic submission: http://www.grants.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Wiggins via e-mail at 
[email protected] or telephone 301-975-5416.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 19, 2010, NIST published a notice 
announcing the solicitation of proposals for the fiscal year 2010 TIP 
competition (75 FR 20326-34). NIST is issuing this notice to make two 
corrections and one clarification to that notice. NIST corrects the 
start date for funding projects. In the April 19, 2010 notice, NIST 
erroneously indicated in the section entitled Funding Availability that 
the anticipated start date is January 1, 2010. The correct anticipated 
start date for funding of proposals under this solicitation is January 
1, 2011. The revised Funding Availability section is stated below in 
its entirety for the public's convenience.
    Funding Availability: Fiscal year 2010 appropriations include funds 
in the amount of approximately $25 million for new TIP awards. The 
anticipated start date is January 1, 2011. The period of performance 
depends on the R&D activity proposed. A single company can receive up 
to a total of $3 million with a project period of performance of up to 
3 years. A joint venture can receive up to total of $9 million with a 
project period of performance of up to 5 years. Continuation of funding 
after the initial award is based on satisfactory performance, 
availability of funds, continued relevance to program objectives, and 
is at the sole discretion of NIST.
    In addition, NIST revises the April 19, 2010 notice to correct an 
example of a nonresponsive proposal listed under Element 3 of the 
Manufacturing Area of Critical National Need. Due to a drafting error, 
NIST incorrectly indicated that projects with a primary focus on device 
development are considered nonresponsive projects. NIST's intent was to 
indicate that projects without a primary focus on addressing specific 
process bottlenecks are considered nonresponsive. This error is 
corrected by replacing the last bullet under the examples of proposals 
addressing critical process advances that will be considered 
nonresponsive. The language ``Projects with a primary focus (people, 
equipment, time and/or funds) on device development.'' is replaced with 
``Projects that do not have a primary focus (people, equipment, time 
and/or funds) on addressing specific process bottlenecks.'' The entire 
revised bulleted list under the examples of proposals addressing 
critical process advances that will be considered nonresponsive is 
restated below for the public's convenience.
    Examples of proposals addressing critical process advances that 
will be considered nonresponsive are:
     Any manufacturing process that offers only incremental 
improvement over existing processes;
     Processes that are intended primarily for military/
weaponry applications (e.g. warhead manufacture, chemical/biological 
warfare materials production);
     Manufacturing processes that cannot be performed in the 
U.S. due to existing laws or regulations;

[[Page 33269]]

     Projects primarily focused on production of non-engineered 
cells or tissues as therapeutics;
     Projects involving straightforward scale-up of 
biopharmaceuticals with incremental improvements in the manufacturing 
processes;
     Projects that involve incremental improvements in 
traditional processes for biomolecule production (e.g. vaccine 
production in chicken eggs, hormones such as insulin extracted from pig 
tissue);
     Biomanufacturing projects that primarily focus on 
processes for production of non-biopharmaceutical products (e.g. 
production of biofuels or small molecule drugs);
     Projects that primarily focus on drug discovery or design 
of new biomaterials;
     Projects that primarily focus on discovery of new 
production cell systems;
     Projects that use living genetically modified vertebrate 
animals, invertebrate animals, or plants as bioreactors for 
biopharmaceutical production;
     Production or scale up of scaffolds or biomaterials used 
in scaffold design that are not a part of the manufacturing of 
engineered tissues; and
     Projects that do not have a primary focus (people, 
equipment, time and/or funds) on addressing specific process 
bottlenecks.
    Finally, NIST is clarifying that the white paper ``Manufacturing 
and Biomanufacturing: Materials Advances and Critical Processes'' 
referenced in the description of Area of Critical National Need: 
Manufacturing (75 FR 20327) only provides background information 
related to the selection of this Critical National Need and the 
associated societal challenges; it does not specifically describe the 
scope of the Notice of Availability of Funds.
    Administrative Procedure Act and Regulatory Flexibility Act: Prior 
notice and comment are not required under 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other 
law, for rules relating to public property, loans, grants, benefits or 
contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)). Because prior notice and an opportunity 
for public 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 is not required and has not been prepared.
    E.O. 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review): This notice has been 
determined to be not significant under Executive Order 12866.

    Dated: June 7, 2010.
Katharine B. Gebbie,
Director, Physics Laboratory.
[FR Doc. 2010-14115 Filed 6-10-10; 8:45 am]
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