[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 110 (Wednesday, June 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33307-33309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-14059]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2011-N-0012]


Strengthen and Promote the Role of Local Health Departments in 
Retail Food Safety Regulation (U-50)

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the 
availability of grant funds for the support of a cooperative agreement 
between the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and 
the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). 
The goal of the cooperative agreement for CFSAN is to have NACCHO 
conduct work that will strengthen the role of local health departments 
and help FDA/CFSAN

[[Page 33308]]

promote effective city and county regulatory programs responsible for 
retail food protection in the United States.

DATES: 1. The application due date is June 15, 2011.
    2. The anticipated start date is August 2011.
    3. The opening date is June 8, 2011.
    4. The expiration date is June 16, 2011.
    For Further Information and Additional Requirements Contact:
    Scientific/Programmatic Contact: Peter A. Salsbury, Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition (HFS-320), Food and Drug Administration, 
5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740, 301-436-1655.
    Grants Management Contact: Gladys Melendez-Bohler, Office of 
Acquisition and Grant Services (OAGS) (HFA-500), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1078, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-
827-7175. [email protected].
    For more information on this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) 
and to obtain detailed requirements, please refer to the full FOA 
located at http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/default.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-FY-FD-020.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 93.103.

A. Background

    The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public heath. 
The public health focus of the FDA Foods Program integrates a 
comprehensive, preventative, and risk-based approach to safeguard the 
American food supply. The goal is to identify potential threats to the 
food supply and to counteract them before they harm American consumers. 
CFSAN administers the FDA Foods Program with the assistance of the 
Office of Regulatory Affairs' (ORA) field offices nationwide.
    CFSAN regulates $417 billion worth of domestic food, $49 billion 
worth of imported foods, and over $60 billion worth of cosmetics sold 
across state lines. This regulation takes place from the products' 
point of the United States (U.S.) entry or processing to their point of 
sale. There are over 377,000 registered food facilities (including 
approximately 154,000 domestic facilities and 223,000 foreign 
facilities) that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food consumed by 
humans or animals in the United States and several thousand cosmetic 
firms. These figures do not include restaurants, institutional food 
service establishments, or supermarkets, grocery stores, and other food 
outlets regulated by almost 3,000 States, and local and tribal agencies 
that have primary responsibility to regulate the retail food and food 
service industries in the United States. These state and local agencies 
are responsible for the inspection and oversight of over 1 million food 
establishments, restaurants and grocery stores, as well as vending 
machines, cafeterias, and other outlets in health-care facilities, 
schools, and correctional facilities. FDA strives to promote the 
application of science-based food safety principles in retail and food 
service settings to minimize the incidence of foodborne illness. FDA 
assists regulatory agencies and the industries they regulate by 
providing a model Food Code, scientifically-based guidance, training, 
program evaluation, and technical assistance.

B. Research/Cooperative Investigations and Assessments Objectives

    CFSAN's Office of Food Safety (OFS)/Retail Food and Cooperative 
Programs Coordination Staff (RFCPCS) as part of FDA's National Retail 
Food Team, works to promote the sharing of best practices, including 
those regulatory and industry interventions that are targeted at 
improving the management of food safety practices in the retail 
setting. CFSAN/OFS desires to work cooperatively with NACCHO to 
increase partnerships and collaboration with our regulatory partners at 
local and state health and agriculture departments that represent city 
and county health departments, to identify best practices and 
innovative approaches used to implement the FDA Food Code and Voluntary 
National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program 
Standards) and begin to examine the impact they have on the reduction 
of foodborne illness risk factors. NACCHO has the expertise needed to 
provide expert advice and recommendations to FDA that can be shared and 
used by multiple local and state health and agriculture departments to 
help improve public heath in retail and food service settings.
    The Cooperative Agreement with NACCHO will also help FDA examine 
how the Retail Program Standards can most effectively be integrated 
with broadening efforts to establish accreditation for health 
departments as guided by the Public Health Accreditation Board.
    Other possible areas for collaboration with NACCHO include working 
to identify how to improve prevention, performance, and response at the 
local government level; establishing peer mentoring opportunities that 
pair up experienced local health department officials who have 
experience implementing the Retail Program Standards with those who 
have struggled or are just beginning the process; and doing a 
comprehensive study to assess the effectiveness of food inspection 
grading and scoring systems used by local health departments.

C. Eligibility Information

    NACCHO is the only national organization representing local health 
departments, to include county, city, district, metro, and tribal 
agencies. Membership in NACCHO is limited to the executive officer of 
the department of health of any local health department. NACCHO 
supports efforts that protect and improve the health of all people and 
all communities by promoting national policy, developing resources and 
programs, seeking health equity, and supporting effective local public 
health practice and systems.
    In performing an internet search for national organizations whose 
members are local governmental health officials, and whose mission 
includes efforts to support and work with local health departments to 
improve food safety and prevent foodborne illness, no other 
organizations were discovered. There are organizations that represent 
local boards of health, but no other organization whose membership is 
comprised of local governmental health officials. NACCHO has been in 
existence since 1994 and has always been exclusively associated with 
local health officials.
    NACCHO values guide staff and leadership in work to achieve optimal 
health for all through an effective local governmental presence for 
public health. NACCHO believes that by incorporating these values with 
a focus on and commitment to their mission and vision, NACCHO will 
effectively influence improvements in health status around the country. 
Another unique aspect of NACCHO is its membership. As governmental 
health officials, NACCHO is able to join forces with other governmental 
health officials to improve the effectiveness of public health at the 
local and state level.

II. Award Information/Funds Available

A. Award Amount

    The estimated amount of this cooperative agreement award with 
NACCHO in fiscal year 2011 will be for up to $400,000 (direct plus 
indirect costs).

[[Page 33309]]

B. Length of Support

    This Cooperative Agreement established with NACCHO has the 
possibility of 4 additional years of support for up to $400,000 per 
year, subject to the availability of funds. Future year amounts will 
depend on annual appropriations and successful performance.

III. Paper Application, Registration, and Submission Information

    To submit a paper application in response to this FOA, applicants 
should first review the full announcement located at http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/default.htm. (FDA has verified the Web site 
addresses throughout this document, but FDA is not responsible for any 
subsequent changes to the Web sites after this document publishes in 
the Federal Register.) Persons interested in applying for a grant may 
obtain an application at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm, for 
all paper application submissions, the following steps are required:
     Step 1: Obtain a Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) Number.
     Step 2: Register With Central Contractor Registration.
     Step 3: Register With Electronic Research Administration 
(eRA) Commons.
    Steps 1 and 2, in detail, can be found at http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/organization_registration.jsp. Step 3, in detail, can be 
found at https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/registration/registrationInstructions.jsp.
    After you have followed these steps, submit paper applications to 
the following. Please note that the application should not be submitted 
through Grants.gov or eRA Commons: Gladys Melendez-Bohler, Office of 
Acquisition and Grant Services (OAGS) (HFA-500), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1078, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-
827-7175, [email protected].

    Dated: June 2, 2011.
Leslie Kux,
Acting Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2011-14059 Filed 6-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-P