[Federal Register: February 24, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 36)]
[Notices]
[Page 9069-9070]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24fe05-64]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7876-5]
State Innovation Grant Program, Notice of Availability of
Solicitation for Proposals for 2005/2006 Awards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for
Environmental Innovation (NCEI) is giving notice of the availability of
its solicitation for proposals for the 2005/2006 grant program to
support innovation by state environmental regulatory agencies--the
``State Innovation Grant Program.'' The full text of the solicitation
includes the following:
Background information on the State Innovation Grant
Program, including prior awards;
A description of the 2005-2006 program;
The process for preparing and submitting proposals;
The State Innovation Grant Program selection criteria;
A description of the selection and award process;
A pre-proposal checklist to help States prepare effective
proposals;
A list of definitions for purposes of this solicitation.
The solicitation is available at the Agency's State Innovation
Grant Web site: http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/solicitation2005.pdf
, or may be requested from the Agency by e-mail,
telephone, or by mail. Only the principal environmental regulatory
[[Page 9070]]
agency within each State (generally, where delegated authorities for
Federal environmental regulations exist) is eligible to receive these
grants.
DATES: State environmental regulatory agencies will have 60 days until
April 25, 2005, to respond with a pre-proposal, budget, and project
summary. The environmental regulatory agencies from the fifty (50)
States; Washington, DC, and four (4) territories were notified of the
solicitation's availability by fax and e-mail transmittals on February
24, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Solicitation can be downloaded from the
Agency's Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants or may
be requested by telephone ((202) 566-2186), or by e-mail (
Innovation_State_Grants@epa.gov). Proposals submitted in response to this
solicitation, or questions concerning the solicitation should be sent
to: State Innovation Grant Program, Office of Policy, Economics and
Innovation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1807T), 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Proposal responses or questions may also be sent by fax to ((202)
566-2220), addressed to the ``State Innovation Grant Program,'' or by
e-mail to: Innovation_State_Grants@epa.gov. We encourage e-mail
responses. If you have questions about responding to this notice,
please contact EPA at this e-mail address or fax number, or you may
call Sherri Walker at (202) 566-2186. EPA will acknowledge all
responses it receives to this notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: In April 2002, EPA issued its plan for future
innovation efforts, published as Innovating for Better Environmental
Results: A Strategy to Guide the Next Generation of Innovation at EPA
(EPA 100-R-02-002; http://www.epa.gov/opei/strategy). In Fall of 2002,
EPA initiated the State Innovation Grants Program with a competition
that asked for State project proposals that would create innovation in
environmental permitting programs related to one of the Strategy's four
priority environmental issues: reducing greenhouse gases, reducing
smog, improving water quality, and ensuring the long-term integrity of
the nations's water infrastructure. This assistance agreement program
strengthens EPA's partnership with the States by assisting State
innovation that supports the Strategy. EPA would like to help States
build on previous experience and undertake strategic innovation
projects that promote larger-scale models for ``next generation''
environmental protection and promise better environmental results. EPA
is interested in funding projects that go beyond a single facility
experiment to promote change that is ``systems-oriented'' and provides
better results from a program, process, or sector-wide innovation. EPA
is particularly interested in innovation that promotes integrated
(cross-media) environmental management with high potential for transfer
to other States. Following the pilot round of State Innovation Grants
in 2002, EPA consulted with the States through the Environmental
Council of the States (ECOS) and through a comment period announced in
the Federal Register (FRL 7510-7, June 11, 2003) (see http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants
). EPA received support in comments
from a large number of the responding States for maintaining innovation
in permitting as a subject of the next solicitation in order to build
and sustain a stable resource base for testing new ideas that can
improve this critical core function. Within this topic there was
considerable support for EPA assistance to help States explore the
relationship between Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and
permitting (see: http://www.epa.gov/ems/) and to support adoption of
the Environmental Results Program (ERP) model (see: http: //
http://www.epa.gov/ooaujeag/permits/masserp.htm). Additionally, in October
2004 EPA through a subsequent Federal Register notice (FRL 7827-4,
October 13, 2004) asked states to provide additional input on topic
areas for this solicitation. EPA received continued support for
maintaining innovation in permitting as a subject of the next
solicitation. During the months of October and November 2004, EPA held
a series of six informational calls for the states. The purpose of the
conference calls was to offer a streamlined proposal development
workshop to all States prior to publication of our solicitation, and to
answer any questions that the States may have prior to the competition,
in keeping with Federal requirements that we afford assistance fairly
in a competition process. Through this effort, our primary focus was to
encourage individual States (and/or State-led teams) to submit well-
developed pre-proposals that effectively describe how their project
would achieve measurable environmental results. Questions and answers
from these six calls are posted at the program Web site at http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants
.
Sixteen projects that received awards in prior competitions
included: seven Environmental Results Program (ERP) models, six
Environmental Management Systems (EMS) projects, two Watershed-Based
Permitting projects, and one Enhanced Permitting Through Application of
Innovative Information Technology (IT) Systems. For more information on
the prior solicitations and awards, please see the EPA State Innovation
Grants Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants.
Dated: February 17, 2005.
Elizabeth Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation.
[FR Doc. 05-3529 Filed 2-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P