[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 186 (Thursday, September 25, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50295-50299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25437]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 9707-14173-7173-01]
RIN 0648-ZA31
Coastal Services Center Broad Area Announcement
AGENCY: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Federal assistance.
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SUMMARY: The Coastal Services Center announces the availability of
Federal assistance for fiscal year 1998 in the following program areas:
Landscape Characterization and Restoration; the Coastal Change Analysis
Program; Coastal Remote Sensing; Integration and Development; the
administration of the Coastal Management Fellowship program; training
and meeting facilitation; and Special Projects. This announcement
provides general descriptions of the categories of projects for which
federal assistance may be available. Detailed guidelines for each of
the program areas are available from the technical points of contact.
These guidelines will include details for the technical program,
evaluation criteria, selection procedures, and the standard NOAA Grants
Application forms. Funding will be contingent upon availability of
funds.
DATES: Specific guidelines, and NOAA application forms,for each of
these program areas will be available and distributed to respondents to
these announcements throughout fiscal quarters 1 and 2 for awards
throughout FY98.
ADDRESSES: Send requests for general information about the CSC or the
assistance programs to Coastal Services Center, Attn: Ms. Violet
Legette, NOAA Coastal Service Center, 2234 South Hobson Avenue,
Charleston, South Carolina, 29405-2413.
For specific guidelines and information regarding the Landscape
Characterization and Restoration Program, please contact: Pace Wilber
at (803) 974-6235 or pwilber@csc.noaa.gov.
For specific guidelines and information regarding the Coastal
[[Page 50296]]
Change Analysis Program, please contact: Dorsey Worthy at (803) 974-
6234 or dworthy@csc.noaa.gov.
For specific guidelines and information regarding the Coastal
Remote Sensing program, please contact: John Brock at (803) 974-6239 or
jbrock@csc.noaa.gov.
For specific guidelines and information regarding the Integration
and Development program, please contact: Miki Schmidt at (803) 974-6237
or mschmidt@csc.noaa.gov.
For specific guidelines and information regarding the Coastal
Management Fellowship program, please contact: Paul M. Scholz at (803)
974-6208 or pscholz@csc.noaa.gov.
For specific guidelines and information regarding the Coastal
Training Institute program, please contact: Jennet Robinson Alterman at
(803) 974-6210 or jralterman@csc.noaa.gov.
For specific guidelines and information regarding the Special
Projects program, please contact: Paul M. Scholz at (803) 974-6208 or
pscholz@csc.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Violet Legette, Resource
Management Services, at (803) 974-6222 or vlegette@csc.noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: Statutory authority for these awards is provided
under 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1456.c (Technical Assistance); 15 U.S.C. Sec.
1540 (Cooperative Agreements); 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1442 [Research program
respecting possible long-range effects of pollution, overfishing,
and man-induced changes of ocean ecosystems]; 33 U.S.C. Sec. 883a et
seq [Surveys and other activities]; and, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1441
(Monitoring and research programs).
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). The CSC Program
is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance under Number
11.473.
Program Description
The goal of the Coastal Services Center is to build capabilities
throughout the nation which simultaneously address pressing issues of
coastal health and change by conserving coastal environments including
coastal wetlands, riparian forested wetlands, maritime forests,
fisheries/shell fisheries, and other living marine resources and by
promoting efficient and sustainable industry, farming, commercial and
residential development, urban redevelopment, and tourism. Each of the
following programs is available to provide federal assistance for
projects in the areas described below. For specific information about
any of the programs, or for instructions on completing an application,
please contact the technical points of contact listed for each program.
Landscape Characterization and Restoration Program
The goal of the Landscape Characterization and Restoration Program
is to help coastal managers include ecosystem processes in their
resource management, regulatory, and land use planning decisions. The
Program works towards this goal by examining interrelationships between
ecology, land use, human demographic, and socioeconomic trends on
ecosystem/watershed scales and by developing tools needed to integrate
those relationships into management processes. The Program's projects
generally include development of habitat, wetland function,
demographic, and land use maps; information syntheses; natural resource
databases; and environmental models; and a customized geographic
information system (GIS) or similar software to forecast results of
management alternatives. While the Program routinely uses Unix-based
systems, premiums are placed on tools used in a PC environment. Total
program budget for FY98 will in the range of $250,000 to $400,000. On a
per project basis, the range for funding available for FY98 is $30,000
to $200,000.
During FY98, the Program anticipates pursuing projects along the
following lines:
(1) Ecological and socioeconomic characterizations of special
management areas (e.g., National Marine Sanctuaries of Estuarine
Research Reserves), small- to medium-size watersheds that represent
special management issues (e.g., Kachemak Bay, AK, Great Bay, NH, Casco
Bay, ME, Savannah River Estuary, GA).
(2) Ecological and socioeconomic characterizations of specific
coastal management issues over broad geographic ranges (e.g., shellfish
in the Gulf of Mexico, water delivery to estuaries in the southeastern
U.S., invasions by non-native species to Pacific ports).
(3) Reviews and development of GIS-based tools for siting habitat
restoration projects and forecasting success (e.g., identification of
filled marshes from aerial photography, using wind and wave models to
forecast the erosion potential of marsh and seagrass restoration
sites).
For more information, please contact Pace Wilber at (803) 974-6235
or pwilber@csc.noaa.gov.
Coastal Change Analysis Program
The Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) is a nationwide effort
by the NOAA Coastal Services Center, U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC),
to produce standardized land cover and benthic habitat maps and change
data for all coastal areas of the United States. This work is
accomplished in close cooperation with state and local resource
management agencies. The objectives of the program are to produce
nationally consistent baseline and change data, and to determine the
impacts these changes have on living marine resources for informed
coastal decision making as well as for identifying and protecting
essential fish habitat. For these C-CAP projects, consideration for
funding will be limited to public resource management agencies in the
following states: Alaska, California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts,
New York, Oregon, and Washington.
C-CAP anticipates initiating projects in three general areas in
FY98:
(1) New Terrestrail land Cover Change Analysis Projects will be
initiated to derive Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)-based terrestrial
wetland sand uplands land cover characterizations and change for state
or regional scale studies. These projects are part of the continuing C-
CAP effort to establish a baseline change assessment for all coastal
areas of the United States. Anticipated funding for FY98 will range
from $10,000 to $300,000.
(2) New Seagrass and Other Submerged-Benthic Mapping Projects will
be initiated to derive location and change maps of seagrass and other
nearshore benthic resources as part of the continuing C-CAP effort to
establish a baseline change assessment for all coastal areas of the
United States. Anticipated funding for FY98 will range form $10,000 to
100,000.
(3) State and Local Land Cover and Benthic Change Applications
Projects will be initiated to foster local (county or township level)
use of C-CAP land cover and benthic resource maps for coastal land use
planning and management. Anticipated funding for FY98 will range from
$10,000 to $30,000.
For more information, please contact Dorsey Worthy at 803-974-6234
or dwothy@csc.noaa.gov.
Coastal Remote Sensing Program
The Coastal Remote Sensing (CRS) Program seeks to provide coastal
resource managers with practical high-technology data products based on
new developments in remote sensing CRS
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identifies promising new remote sensing technologies, and works to
bridge science and management by prototyping remote sensing data
products that aid coastal decision makers. Current CRS projects involve
the creation of advanced coastal resource mangement tools through both
satellite and aircraft-based remote sensing. In support of this goal,
CRS is currently conducing several closely related field-sampling and
satellite ocean color remote sensing projects, in addition to several
aircraft remote sensing projects. Any possible funding for assistance
in FY98 may range in amount between $1,000 and $200,000.
During FY98, the Coastal Remote Sensing Program anticipates
pursuing the following project activities:
(1) CRS is pursuing the multi-regional collection of in situ bio-
optical data in diverse US Case 2 and Case 1 coastal waters. CRS is
analyzing this high quality bio-optical data to yield a full suite of
geographically widespread measurements appropriate for the evaluation,
intercomparison and regional enhancement of the NASDA and NASA in-water
bio-optical algorithms for ADEOS/OCTS and SeaWiFS data products.
(2) The CRS coastal US data archive of advanced multiple-season,
in-situ bio-optical measurements from disparate US coastal, plus all
collected historical B/O/WQ data, is being made publicly available via
a World Wide Web-accessible Coastal Bio-optical data Analysis and
Storage System (CoBASS). Documentation in the form of cruise reports
will be provided for these advanced bio-optical data sets collected by
the CRS Program.
(3) CRS will undertake the evaluation, intercomparison, and further
refinement of standard algorithms for the generation of ocean color
products for diverse coastal US bio-optical provinces. We will seek to
explain the performance of standard OCTS and SeasWiFS in-water
algorithms in the context of inter-regional and inter-seasonal
variation in inherent optical properties arising through planktonic
ecosystem functioning and structure, and variability in the
biochemistry and sedimentology of major terrestial inputs, such as
river plumes.
(4) CRS will undertake the adaption of NASA software to create a
software package tailored to support the high scientific quality
processing of coastal US satellite ocean color observations acquired by
either ADEOS/OCTS and SeaWiFS, to support the creation of data products
for coastal resource management and applied research.
(5) CRS will pursue the development of high scientific-quality,
full resolution retrospective time series of satellite data products.
CRS will create and make available via the WWW near-real time data
products based on the fusion of satellite and in situ data with model
forecasts; these products will provide timely information on issues of
relevance to coastal resource managers.
(6) CRS will undertake the development of aircraft remote sensing
techniques for high spatial resolution sensing of biological water
quality within inshore coastal areas at costs that are low enough to
allow repetitive surveys. These project activities are intended to: (1)
Develop a capability for regional, low-cost monitoring of the
chlorophyll, salinity, and turbidity fields in coastal areas, and (2)
provide ground truth information for ocean color satellites in Case 2
water and (3) aid in the development of algorithms specific to regional
water types.
(7) In response to the need for accurate, timely information on
beach and dune field topography, and also pertaining to gradual or
catastrophic coastal change, and erosion over broad expanses of
coastline, CRS will undertake the mapping of coastal topography using
aircraft LIDAR techniques. To establish the capability for highly
accurate retrieval of coastal topography and erosion, CRS will map
beach elevation over the middle and south Atlantic coast. CRS
anticipates that these data will be useful in monitoring and assessing
coastal erosion, including severe erosion due to hurricanes and other
meteorological disturbances.
For more information, please contact John Brock at 803-974-6239 or
jbrock@csc.noaa.gov.
Integration and Development
The Integration and Development (I&D) program focuses on product
development, I&D's primary customers are the nation's coastal resource
managers and other Coastal Services Center components. I&D specializes
in linking the technical benefits of geographic information systems
(GIS) with the political needs of coastal managers to enhance
decisions. For coastal managers, I&D strives to provide readily
accessible, spatial (geographic) information for decision-making
support and visualization. To support this goal, I&D has a program for
local government planning, management, and liaison services in
developing community based hazard mitigation GIS-based decision support
systems.
In FY98, the Coastal Services Center will participate in three
local demonstration projects to develop integrated hazard mitigation
decision support systems in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. These
projects will involve partnerships with various federal, state, and
local agencies but will be targeted primarily for implementation at the
local government level. Liaison services will be required from an
organization with strong local government connections and expertise.
Specific expertise will also be required in the areas of community
planning, emergency management, and hazard mitigation. Total grant
amount is estimated between $100,000 and $300,000.
For more information, please contact Miki Schmidt at 803-974-6237
or mschmidt@csc.noaa.gov.
Coastal Management Fellowship
The Coastal Services Center Coastal Management Fellowship was
established to provide professional on-the-job education and training
opportunities for post-graduate students in coastal resource management
and policy and to provide specific technical assistance for state
coastal resource management programs. The program matches highly
qualified recently graduated masters, professional degree, and doctoral
students with hosts around the U.S. in state coastal zone management
programs. For two years the recipients will work on substantive state-
level coastal resource management issues that pertain to federal
management policies and regulations. The recipients are designated
Coastal Services Center Coastal Management Fellows.
Funding to support the CSC Coastal Management Fellows is provided
by several sources: the federal government, state governmental
agencies, private industry, and non-profit organizations (501.c3's).
The two year Fellowship award of $64,000 with an additional $12,000
State match made for each Fellow includes $30,000 per year salary for
the Fellow, divided into a $20,000 stipend and $10,000 for per diem
living expenses. The remaining $8,000 per year shall be divided as
follows: $5,000 for fringe benefits, including health insurance,
worker's compensation insurance, and the employer's share of FICA;
$1,000 for reimbursable moving expenses; and $2,000 for travel
associated with the fellowship experience. NOAA and the other funding
sources will provide funding directly to the organization that will
administer the Fellowship awards. The organization selected to
administer the Fellowship awards shall be capable of receiving and
processing funding from
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all existing and potential funding sources. The organization selected
to administer the grants shall be capable of providing all
administrative and financial support required for between six and
twenty Fellows per year, according to the guidelines set forth by the
Coastal Services Center. Total program budget for FY98 will be in the
range of $128,000 to $700,000. This program will be administered as a
Cooperative Agreement, with substantial involvement by the Coastal
Services Center in the implementation and coordination of the
Fellowship Program.
For more information, please contact Paul M. Scholz at 803-974-6208
or pscholz@csc.noaa.gov.
Coastal Training Institute
The goal of the Coastal Training Institute is to provide technical
training to support the development and use of Coastal Services Center
products and services by the coastal management community. The Training
Institute serves as an ongoing resource for training design, delivery
and professional meeting/conference planning and logistics. Through
specialized training workshops, professional conferences and meeting
support services, the Coastal Training Institute provides ongoing
opportunities for professional development and technical training.
Services provided by the Training Institute include:
Training development and design
Needs assessment and evaluation
Training delivery and training of trainers
Facilitation and meeting management
Meeting planning and logistical support
In FY98 the Coastal Training Institute will conduct up to 10
technical workshops and conferences in partnership with NOAA line
offices, other federal agencies and state natural resource management
agencies. Specific expertise in on site meeting management/logistical
support, facilitation services, training design and delivery as well as
technical trainers will be required. Anticipated funding for FY98 will
be between $25,000 and $200,000. On a per project basis, the range for
funding available is between $25,000 and $100,000. For more
information, please contact Jennet Robinson Alterman at (803) 974-6210
or jralterman@csc.noaa.gov.
Special Projects
The Coastal Services Center has conducted a variety of projects
that have resulted in technical, management or planning for outcomes
that apply directly to the state and local coastal management
community. The goal of this program is to provide assistance to the
coastal management community for technical management related issued on
a very broad range of topics related to coastal resources and their
wise management. This has ranged from boating, shipping and navigation,
to beach management and conservation, coastal hazards mitigation,
protected areas, all forms of pollution and control, as well as
training, education and outreach activities. In some cases, projects
have included use of high-end spatial data and in other level meetings,
workshops, and reports. The Coastal Services Center expects to work an
equally broad range of topics and will be granting awards to
organizations across the United States with proven abilities to
implement practical solutions at a state and local level. All project
proposal received in this category will be reviewed for technical merit
and management relevance. The specific guidelines will include special
projects evaluation criteria with point values to be assigned. In
addition, program policy factors may be considered in final award
decisions to ensure a variety of topic areas, geographical
distribution, and/or organization type are represented in the final mix
by quarter. Project proposals received for this program will be
reviewed on the following timelines: Proposals received October 1-
December 31--January review; January 1-March 31--April review; April 1-
September 30--October review.
Anticipated funding for this in FY98 will be between $50,000 and
$750,000. On a per project basis, the range for funding available is
between $25,000 and $300,000.
For more information, please contact Paul M. Scholz at 803-974-6208
or pschol@csc.noaa.gov.
Evaluation
Specific evaluation criteria and selection procedures will be
identified in the program guidelines distributed to requesters. These
guidelines will include point value for each ranking criteria and a
detailed description of the selection process and timeline.
Funding Availability
Specific funding available for awards in each of these categories
will be finalized after the NOAA budget for FY98 is authorized,
however, total funding availability for this announcement will be
between $500,000 and $3,000,000. There is no guarantee that sufficient
funds will be available to make awards for all approved projects.
Publication of this notice does not obligate NOAA to award any specific
grant or cooperative agreement or to obligate all or any parts of the
available funds.
Cost Sharing
Applications must reflect the total budget to accomplish the
project, including contributions and/or donations. Cost sharing is not
required by general office policy, however, individual program
guidelines may indicate cost share requirements and assign point
values.
Type of Funding Instrument
The projects will be awarded either as a Grant or a Cooperative
Agreement, distributed by the Coastal Service Center.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications for grants and cooperative agreements under this
program announcement may be submitted, in accordance with the
procedures set forth in the specific guidelines to be published by each
program area, by any state resource management agency, college or
university, private industry, or any nonprofit organization relating to
cooperative research units. Other Federal agencies or institutions are
not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this notice. Specific
eligibility criteria for each program will be provided in the
guidelines for proposal submission.
Before submitting an application under this program, applicants
should contact the appropriate technical point of contact for a copy of
the specific proposal guidelines for the program area. Applications for
the project funding under this program must be complete and in
accordance with the instructions in the proposal guidelines.
Award Period
The normal award period under this announcement will be one year,
but for some programs the period will be longer. Interested applicants
should consult with specific technical points of contact for additional
information.
Indirect Costs
The total dollar amount of the indirect costs proposed in an
application under this program must not exceed the current indirect
cost rate negotiated and approved by the applicant's cognizant Federal
agency, prior to the proposed effective date of the award or 100
percent of the total proposed direct
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costs dollar amount in the application, whichever is less.
Project Funding Priorities
Funding priorities will be set by individual programs award
categories depending on the FY98 appropriations.
Federal Policies and Procedures
Recipients and sub-recipients are subject to all Federal laws and
Federal and DOC policies, regulations, and procedures applicable to
Federal assistance awards.
Name Check Review
All non-profit and for-profit applicants are subject to a name
check review process. Name checks are intended to reveal if any key
individuals associated with the recipient have been convicted of, or
are presently facing, criminal charges such as fraud, theft, perjury,
or other matters that significantly reflect on the recipient's
management, honesty, or financial integrity.
Past Performance
Unsatisfactory performance under prior Federal awards may result in
an application not being considered for funding.
Pre-Award Activities
If applicants incur any costs prior to an award being made, they do
so solely at their own risk of not being reimbursed by the Government.
Notwithstanding any verbal or written assurance that may have been
received, there is no obligation on the part of DOC to cover pre-award
costs.
No Obligation for Future Funding
If the application is selected for funding, DOC has no obligation
to provide any additional future funding in connection with that award.
Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of
performance is at the total discretion of DOC.
Delinquent Federal Debts
No award or Federal Funds shall be made to an applicant who has an
outstanding delinquent Federal debt until either:
(i) The delinquent account is paid in full,
(ii) A negotiated repayment schedule is established and at least one
payment is received, or
(iii) Other arrangements satisfactory to DOC are made.
Primary Applicant Certifications
All organizations or individuals preparing grant applications must
submit a completed Form CD-511 ``Certifications Regarding Debarment,
Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free Workplace
Requirements and Lobbying,'' and explanations are hereby provided:
Non-Procurement Debarment and Suspension
Prospective participants (as defined at 15 CFR part 26, Section
105) are subject to 15 CFR part 26, ``Nonprocurement Debarment and
Suspension'' and the related section of the certification form
prescribed above applies;
Drug-Free Workplace
Grantees (as defined at 15 CFR part 26, Section 605) are subject to
15 CFR part 26, subpart f, ``Government side Requirements for Drug-Free
Workplace (Grants)'' and the related section of the certification form
prescribed above applies;
Anti-Lobbying
Persons (as defined at 15 CFR part 28, Section 105) are subject to
the lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352, ``Limitation on use of
appropriated funds to influence certain Federal contracting and
financial transactions,'' and the lobbying section of the certification
form prescribed above applies to application/bids for grants,
cooperative agreements, and contracts for more than $100,000, and loans
and loan guarantees for more than $150,000, or the single family
maximum mortgage limit for affected programs, whichever is greater; and
Anti-Lobbying Disclosures
Any applicant that has paid or will pay for lobbying using any
funds must submit an SF-LLL, ``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,'' as
required under 15 CFR part 28, Appendix B.
Lower-Tier Certifications
Recipients shall require applicants/bidders for sub-grants,
contracts, subcontracts, or other lower-tier-covered transactions at
any tier under the award to submit, if applicable, a completed Form CD-
512, ``Certifications Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility
and Voluntary Exclusion-Lower Tier Covered Transactions and Lobbying''
and disclosure form, SF-LLL, ``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.''
Form CD-512 is intended for the use of recipients and should not be
transmitted to DOC. SF-LLL submitted by any tier recipient or sub-
recipient should be submitted to DOC in accordance with the
instructions contained in the aware document.
False Statements
A false statement on an application is grounds for denial or
termination of funds and grounds for possible punishment by a fine or
imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.
Intergovernmental Review
Applications under this program are subject to Executive Order
12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''
Buy American-Made Equipment or Products
Applicants are hereby notified that they will be encouraged, to the
greatest extent practicable, to purchase American-made equipment and
products with funding provided under this program in accordance with
Congressional intent.
Classification
This action has been determined to be not significant for purposes
of Executive Order 12866.
Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required
by the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for this notice
concerning grants, cooperative agreements, benefits, and contracts.
Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required for
purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required
to respond 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 Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) unless that collection of
information displays a currently valid OMB control number.
This notice contains a collection-of-information requirement
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The collection-of-information
has been approved by OMB, OMB Control Numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044,
0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-0001.
Dated: September 17, 1997.
Nancy Foster,
Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management.
[FR Doc. 97-25437 Filed 9-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-12-M
