[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 14, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54368-54369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18231]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 030602141-5037-15; I.D. 090805D]


Availability of Grants Funds for Fiscal Year 2006

AGENCY: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; re-opening of competition solicitation.

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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National 
Ocean Service publishes this notice to re-open the competitive 
solicitation for the Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CRES) program to 
provide the public more time to submit proposals

DATES: The new deadline for the receipt of proposals is October 12, 
2005, for both electronic and paper applications.

ADDRESSES: The address for submitting Proposals electronically is: 
http://www.grants.gov/. (Electronic submission is strongly encouraged). 
Paper submissions should be sent to the attention of CRES 2006, Center 
for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (N/SCI2), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East-West Highway, SSMC4, 8th Floor 
Station 8243, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact: Dr. 
Michael Dowgiallo, 301-713-3338 X161, [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This program was originally solicited in the 
Federal Register on June 30, 2005, as part of the June, 2005 NOAA 
Omnibus solicitation. The original deadline for receipt of proposals 
was 3 p.m., EST, on September 1, 2005. NOAA re-opens the solicitation 
period to provide the public more time to submit proposals. The new 
deadline for the receipt of proposals is October 12, 2005, for both 
electronic and paper applications. All applications that are submitted 
between September 1, 2005, and the date of publication of this notice 
will be considered timely. All other requirements for this solicitation 
remain the same.

Limitation of Liability

    Funding for programs listed in this notice is contingent upon the 
availability of Fiscal Year 2006 appropriations. Applicants are hereby 
given notice that funds have not yet been appropriated for the programs 
listed in this notice. In no event will NOAA or the Department of 
Commerce be responsible for proposal preparation costs if these 
programs fail to receive funding or are cancelled because of other 
agency priorities. Publication of this announcement does not oblige 
NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

Universal Identifier

    Applicants should be aware that they are required to provide a Dun 
and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number during the 
application process. See 67 FR 66177; October 30, 2002, for additional 
information. Organizations can receive a DUNS number at no cost by 
calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number request line at 1-866-705-
5711 or via the internet (http://www.dunandbradstreet.com ).

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 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

[[Page 54369]]

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 contained in the Federal Register 
notice of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389), 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, 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 respond to, nor 
shall any 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 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not 
been prepared.

    Dated: September 8, 2005.
Peter N. Gibson,
Acting Deputy Chief Financial Officer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, National Ocean Service.
[FR Doc. 05-18231 Filed 9-13-05; 8:45 am]
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