[Federal Register: February 18, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 32)]
[Notices]
[Page 7628-7631]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18fe04-35]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7624-2]
Notice of Availability for FY 04 Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance Multi-Media Assistance Agreements
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Compliance (OC), within EPA's Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), is soliciting proposals
for states and tribes to support their on-going efforts in state/tribal
data system modernization. In particular, the grants will fund
technical assistance and technical expertise for states/tribes to
ensure that they will be able to accurately transmit water enforcement
and compliance data to EPA. Grants will be in the range of $50,000--
$200,000. The total number and amount of the awards will depend on the
amount of funds available.
DATES: Electronic or hard copy proposals must be received by April 12,
[[Page 7629]]
2004. Funding decisions will be made by late May based on the
proposals. Applicants selected to receive funds will be required to
submit final grant materials (e.g., grant application, certifications,
assurances) to the appropriate EPA Region by August 29, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Copies of proposals should be sent to David Piantanida
(2222A), U.S. EPA--Ariel Rios South Rm 6149D, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20460, email: piantanida.david@epa.gov, Tel: (202)
564-8318, Fax: (202) 564-0034; and simultaneously to the appropriate
Regional Enforcement Coordinator. This Notice will be posted on the
EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Web site at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/planning/state/grants/stag/index.html
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Piantanida at (202) 564-8318.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Eligibility and Authority
Eligible applicants include States, Tribes, Inter-Tribal Consortia,
Territories, Local governments, and multi-jurisdictional state
organizations. Where a lead state environmental agency exists,
applicants should work with and coordinate through, the lead state
environmental agency.
EPA expects to award these grants under the Clean Water Act,
Section 104. The applicable grant regulations for this grant program
are in 40 CFR part 31 for state and local governments and Indian
tribes.
Authority to enter into assistance agreements for the purposes
described in this Notice are delegated to OECA in EPA Delegation 1-47,
Assistance Agreements for Economic, Social Science, Statistical, and
Other Research, Development, Studies, Surveys, Demonstrations,
Investigations, Public Education Programs, Training, and Fellowships.
Funding priorities must be allowable under 66.709 (Capacity
Building Grants and Cooperative Agreements for States and Tribes) of
the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA).
II. Funding
The funds available are from OECA's Multi-Media State and Tribal
Assistance Grants (STAG) appropriation. The grants/cooperative
agreements should be in the range of $50,000 to $200,000, although
proposals below or above that range will be considered. The total
number and amount of the awards will depend on the amount of funds
available. The U.S. EPA reserves the right to make no awards under this
solicitation.
State and tribal matching funds are not required. However,
preference will be given to proposals which also make a commitment of
state or tribal resources towards the total project cost. This can be
state or tribal personnel salary dedicated to the project, cash
contribution to the project budget, or other ``in kind'' contributions.
The value of donated or ``in-kind'' services in the performance of a
project should be considered in accordance with OMB Circular A-87,
``Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian Tribal Governments.''
Lastly, federal funds cannot generally be used to provide a match or
cost-share for other federal projects.
EPA can not predict that additional funds for these focus areas
will be available in future years. Therefore, states and tribes should
assume that these funds will be available on a one-time only basis and
should not propose projects requiring annual funding.
III. Desired Projects
OECA will only consider funding projects for the focus area
described below and for projects which can be completed in three years
or less. Projects will be evaluated for potential funding based on the
extent to which they address the focus area below.
A. Focus Area--Permit Compliance System Modernization (PCS)
In FY2004, OECA will continue its effort in the phased
implementation of the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS).
ICIS will be a consolidated enforcement, compliance and National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting information
management system that will provide a single source of information for
the national enforcement, compliance and NPDES permitting programs.
This new system will reduce burden and duplication by providing a
single source of data entry, will improve public access to data,
support the development of risk reduction strategies, and will provide
states and Regions with a modernized system to meet their program
management needs.
The second phase of ICIS is centered around the modernization of
PCS which supports the implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA)
NPDES program. PCS has little or no data for major new NPDES
requirements, such as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)
Storm Water, and Sanitory Sewer Overflow (SSO). PCS is being modernized
to address these serious data gaps, as well as provide for easy use of
and access to the system, use of current information technology,
support the Agency's initiative for data integration, and to promote
the exchange and sharing of data via the Network and the Agency Central
Data Exchange (CDX) with our state partners. The availability of more
comprehensive data in a modernized PCS will enhance the Agency's and
the states' ability to more effectively manage the CWA NPDES program.
Grant funding will support state/tribal efforts to procure
technical assistance and technical expertise to ensure the continued
flow of data from states and tribes to OECA modernized systems.
Examples of state/tribal technical assistance/expertise activities to
be covered include:
Migration of state/tribal data from the legacy
Permit Compliance System (PCS) to the new modernized Integrated
Compliance Information System-National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System, (ICIS-NPDES) (e.g., conversion of General Permit data currently
in legacy PCS to correspond with the General Permit data requirements
of the modernized system);
Data clean-up to support the state/tribal data
conversion from the legacy PCS system to the new ICIS-NPDES; and,
Activities to support the states/tribes in their
move to the full use of ICIS-NPDES (e.g., feasibility study/requirement
analysis).
B. Proposal Criteria
All proposals will be evaluated and ranked based on the criteria
outlined below. The following three criteria and associated points will
be used by EPA to evaluate the proposals:
(a) [20 points] The proposal must describe the existing and/or
proposed state/tribal use of the PCS system (e.g., support management
of the NPDES program);
(b) [20 points] The proposal must describe how data is currently
being entered into PCS;
(c) [60 points] Proposals must clearly identify the states/tribes
activities to be performed that will ensure data entry and/or data flow
of NPDES information to the new ICIS-NPDES and to meet EPA's modernized
system, and/or new, data requirements. Examples of modernization
activities include data migration, data conversion, and analyses or
studies to support the state's full use of the modernized system.
[[Page 7630]]
C. Past Performance
In addition to the above criteria, EPA will also consider past
performance of a grantee under this grant program (e.g., timely and
complete quarterly/semi-annual reports, results/outcomes are apparent
during the project, final reports are timely and complete). Where there
are two proposals that have been ranked equally, the applicant with
better past performance will win. If a grantee should have no record
under this program, they will not be unfairly penalized.
D. Other EPA Funding Opportunity--Office of Environmental Information--
The Exchange Network
Applicants may also be interested in related efforts by EPA and its
State/Tribe/Territory partners to develop the Environmental Information
Exchange Network. The Exchange Network is an Internet- and standards-
based, secure information systems network which will support the
electronic storage and collection of high-quality data, provide real-
time access to environmental data, and help users integrate data from
many different sources. The Exchange Network Grant Program provides
funding to States, Tribes, and Territories to support the development
of Exchange Network nodes and data flows. The deadline for submitting
pre-proposals for the FY 2004 Exchange Network Grant Program was
February 3, 2004, but EPA expects to continue the program in FY 2005,
provided appropriations for the program become available. In FY 2005,
EPA plans to highlight ICIS-NPDES as one of the key Exchange Network
data flows. For more information about the types of ICIS-NPDES
activities that may be supported in the future, please refer to the FY
2004 Exchange Network Grant Program Guidance (http://www.epa.gov/Networkg
, click on Guidance Document, and go to Section VIII: Systems
Information). For further information about the Exchange Network Grant
Program, please contact Rebecca Moser at (202) 566-1679.
IV. Process and Schedule
Electronic proposals must be received by EPA by April 12, 2004 and
should follow the format below. Proposals should be submitted
simultaneously to the appropriate Regional Enforcement Coordinator, and
to David Piantanida, OECA, (See contact information below). Funding
decisions will be made by late May, 2004 based on the proposals.
Applicants selected to receive funds will be required to submit a final
grant package electronically by August 29, 2004. Regions will provide
final application materials to selected applicants.
FOIA, CBI, and Enforcement Screening: Applicants should be aware
that proposals submitted under this or any other EPA grant program are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This means that
anyone can request and receive copies of all the information submitted
in your grant proposal. If your application contains any Confidential
Business Information (CBI), be sure to highlight it so the
confidentiality can be protected in the event of a FOIA request.
Proposed Milestones for 2004 OECA Multi Media Assistance Agreements
April 12 Electronic Proposals due simultaneously to the appropriate EPA
Regional Enforcement Coordinator, and David Piantanida, (OECA) (See
contact information below).
Late May EPA notifies all applicants (selected and non-selected) via e-
mail of funding decisions.
Mid June Selected recipients receive final application materials from
EPA Regional office. Regional Project Officer and Regional Grants
Contact are identified.
August 29 Final Proposals and Grant Applications are due to Regional
Project Officer, Regional Grant Contact, and David Piantanida, (OECA).
Late September Grants are awarded
V. Format for Proposals
Proposals should not exceed 12 pages and follow the format below:
(12 point font, on 8\1/2\ by 11 inch paper)
A. Project Information:
State/Tribe and Department:
Title of Project:
Focus Area: (from Notice of Availability).
Total Funds Requested from EPA:
Total Project Cost (including state/tribe cash and in-kind
contributions):
Contact Person: (name, title, address, phone, fax, & email).
Preferred Assistance Agreement: (Grant or cooperative agreement).
B. Summary:
Summary of the problem being addressed;
Summary of project goal(s);
Summary of project components;
Summary of how the project components will
address the problem & attain the goals.
C. Summary Work Plan:
Proposed activities--list and describe
activities and how they relate to the proposal criteria;
Measures--how will the success of the project be
measured? Include both output and environmental outcome measures;
Sharing results--how will the results of the
project be shared across states/tribes?
D. Project Milestones:
List project milestones with estimated dates,
including estimated duration of project.
E. Project Costs:
Include a detailed itemized budget for all
project costs--distinguish the funds requested from any state/tribe
contributions (in kind or other).
VI. Reports
Awarded recipients will be required to submit semi-annual and final
progress reports to their project officer and to David Piantanida at
the address below. A template reporting form will be e-mailed to all
recipients. Recipients will also be required to complete annual
financial status reports. All reports must be prepared in either Word
or Wordperfect formats and delivered electronically to the appropriate
project officer and to David Piantanida.
VII. Contact Information
For more information regarding this process, please contact David
Piantanida at the address below: David Piantanida (2222A), US EPA--
Ariel Rios South Rm 6149D, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20460, piantanida.david@epa.gov.
Tel: (202) 564-8318.
Fax: (202) 564-0034.
EPA Regional Contacts
EPA Region I
(Act) Enforcement Coordinator: Joel Blumstein--
blumstein.joel@epa.gov
Enforcement Division Director: Stephen Perkins--
perkins.stephen@epa.gov
EPA Region II
Enforcement Coordinator: Barbara McGarry_mcgarry.barbara@epa.gov
Enforcement Division Director: Dore LaPosta_laposta.Dore@epa.gov
EPA Region III
Enforcement Coordinator: Samantha Fairchild--
fairchild.samantha@epa.gov
EPA Region IV
Enforcement Coordinator: Bruce Miller_miller.bruce@epa.gov
Enforcement Division Director: Mary Kay Lynch-- lynch.mary-
kay@epa.gov
EPA Region V
Compliance Assistance Coordinator: Linda Mangrum--
mangrum.linda@epa.gov
EPA Region VI
[[Page 7631]]
Enforcement Coordinator: Connie Overbay_overbay.connie@epa.gov
Enforcement Division Director: Gerald Fontenot--
fontenot.gerald@epa.gov
EPA Region VII
Enforcement Coordinator: Althea Moses_moses.althea@epa.gov
EPA Region VIII
Enforcement Coordinator: Eddie Sierra_sierra.eddie@epa.gov
Enforcement Division Director: Carol Rushin_rushin.carol@epa.gov
EPA Region IX
Enforcement Coordinator: Jim Grove_grove.jim@epa.gov
EPA Region X
Enforcement Coordinator: Deborah Flood_flood.deborah@epa.gov
(Act) Enforcement Division Director: Mike Bussell--
bussell.Mike@epa.gov
Dated: February 9, 2004.
Lisa Lund,
Acting Director, Office of Compliance.
[FR Doc. 04-3451 Filed 2-17-04; 8: 45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P