[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40507-40511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16068]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No.: 080626784-8786-01]
RIN 0693-ZA82
Technology Innovation Program (TIP) Notice of Availability of
Funds and Announcement of Public Meetings (Proposers' Conferences)
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST)
Technology Innovation Program (TIP) announces that it will hold a
single fiscal year 2008 competition and is soliciting high-risk, high-
reward research and development proposals for financial assistance. TIP
also announces that it will hold public meetings (Proposers'
Conferences) for all interested parties. TIP is soliciting proposals
under this fiscal year 2008 competition in one area of critical
national need entitled ``Civil Infrastructure'' as described in the
Program Description section below.
DATES: The due date for submission of proposals is 3 p.m. Eastern Time,
Thursday, September 4, 2008. This deadline applies to any mode of
proposal submission, including hand-delivery, courier, express mailing,
and electronic. Do not wait until the last minute to submit a proposal.
TIP will not make any allowances for late submissions, including
incomplete Grants.gov registration or delays by guaranteed overnight
couriers. To avoid any potential processing backlogs due to last minute
registrations, proposers are strongly encouraged to start their
Grants.gov registration process at least four weeks prior to the
proposal submission due date. Review, selection, and award processing
is expected to be completed by the end of November 2008.
ADDRESSES: Proposals must be submitted to TIP as follows:
Paper submission: Send to National Institute of Standards and
Technology, Technology Innovation Program, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4701,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-4701.
Electronic submission: http://www.grants.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Lambis at 301-975-4447 or by
e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Additional Information. The full Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO)
announcement for this request for proposals is available at http://www.grants.gov. The full FFO announcement text can also be accessed on
the TIP Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html. The June 2008
Technology Innovation Program Proposal Preparation Kit is also
available at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html. The TIP Proposal
Preparation Kit must be used to prepare a TIP proposal. The TIP
implementing regulations are published at 15 CFR Part 296, 73 FR 35,913
(June 25, 2008), and included in the TIP Proposal Preparation Kit as
Appendix B.
Public Meetings (Proposers' Conferences). TIP is holding public
meetings (Proposers' Conferences) at several locations around the
country. Proposers' conferences will provide general information
regarding TIP, guidance on preparing proposals, and the opportunity for
questions and answers. Proprietary technical discussions about specific
project ideas with NIST staff are not permitted at these conferences or
at any time before submitting the proposal to TIP. Therefore, you
should not expect to have proprietary issues addressed at proposers'
conferences. Also, NIST/TIP staff will not critique or provide feedback
on project ideas while they are being developed by a proposer. However,
NIST/TIP staff will answer questions about the TIP eligibility and
cost-sharing requirements, evaluation and award criteria, selection
process, and the general characteristics of a competitive TIP proposal
at the proposers' conferences and by phone and e-mail. Attendance at
TIP proposers' conferences is not required.
TIP Proposers' Conferences are being held at the following dates,
times, and locations:
July 16, 2008, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Central Time: St. Louis Airport
Marriott, 10700 Pear Tree Lane, St. Louis, MO (314-253-5121).
July 16, 2008, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Central Time: Renaissance Houston, 6
Greenway Plaza, East Houston, TX (713-850-2310).
July 17, 2008, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Eastern Time: Holiday Inn Atlanta
Airport North, 1380 Virginia Avenue, Atlanta, GA (404-838-0029).
July 17, 2008, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Pacific Time: Holiday Inn Portland
Airport, 8439 North East Columbia Boulevard, Portland, OR (503-914-
5253).
July 18, 2008, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Pacific Time: Doubletree San Jose,
2050 Gateway Place, San Jose, CA (408-437-2124).
July 21, 2008, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Eastern Time: Boston Courtyard
Downtown, 275 Tremont Street, Boston, MA (781-537-5594).
July 22, 2008, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Eastern Time: NIST Red Auditorium, 100
Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD (301-975-8910). Pre-registration is
required by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on July 16, 2008 for the Proposers'
Conference being held at NIST Gaithersburg, MD only. Due to increased
security at NIST, no on-site registrations will be accepted and all
attendees must be pre-registered. Photo identification must be
presented at the NIST main gate to be admitted to the July 17, 2008
conference. Attendees must wear their conference badge at all times
while on the NIST campus. Same day registration will be allowed at the
[[Page 40508]]
other locations. Electronic Registration: At http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/080722.htm.
No registration fee will be charged for any of the Proposers'
Conferences. Presentation materials from Proposers' Conferences will be
made available on the TIP Web site.
Statutory Authority. Section 3012 of the America Creating
Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology,
Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act, Pub. L. 110-69 (August 9, 2007),
15 U.S.C.A. 278n (2008).
CFDA. 11.613, Technology Innovation Program
Program Description. TIP is soliciting proposals under this fiscal
year 2008 competition in one area of critical nation need entitled
``Civil Infrastructure'' as described below. The objective of this area
of critical national need is to address two elements of a Civil
Infrastructure Structural Integrity societal challenge. The two
elements are inspection and monitoring of the United States' Civil
Infrastructure Structural Integrity as outlined in the white paper
``Advanced Sensing Technologies for the Infrastructure: Roads,
Highways, Bridges and Water Systems'' (http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html).
The solutions to this societal challenge require advancement beyond
the state-of-the-art of sensing technologies that will assess the
structural integrity and/or deterioration processes of bridges, roads,
water mains, and wastewater collection systems, that are more accurate,
easier to use, and more economically feasible. The need for advanced
sensing technologies is of national importance because nearly all
municipalities and states in the nation face infrastructure management
challenges. The need for TIP's investment is justified because portions
of infrastructure are reaching the end of their life spans and there
are few cost effective technical means to monitor infrastructure
integrity and to prioritize the renovation and replacement of
infrastructure elements. Transformational research beyond incremental
advancements is required to achieve the objectives for this area of
critical national need. Incremental improvements of current
technologies will not meet the challenges of providing cost-effective,
widely deployable solutions to the problems of sensing structural
integrities and/or deterioration processes widely across infrastructure
systems.
Proposals are being sought to create and validate new advanced,
robust, network capable, nondestructive evaluation and test sensing
systems, or system components, to cost effectively and quantitatively
inspect and evaluate the structural integrity of the civil
infrastructure.
The targeted system should be capable of, but not limited to,
detection of corrosion, cracking, and delamination or failure of
critical infrastructure elements and the materials of which they are
made.
Solutions are needed for improved inspection systems for roads,
highways, bridges, drinking and wastewater systems that provide real-
time understanding of the integrity and service life through the use of
portable, mobile or remote sensing capabilities.
Innovations are being sought in all aspects of a system to provide
an advanced, cost effective, networked system, either fixed or mobile,
that is easily deployable, self powered, and self monitoring. A
complete system could include all system components, hardware, and
software.
Proposals that include validation by potential end users will be
considered as having strong potential.
Also within scope are:
a. Systems that provide new and advanced methodologies for the
detection of fluid leaks from water piping systems; and
b. Single components of a system solution that include a
demonstration of the component in a system setting.
Ineligible projects under this competition are:
a. Advancements in a system component without a prototype
demonstrating that the component is functional within a system
solution, as part of the proposed technical plan;
b. Integration projects using only existing state-of-the-art
components;
c. Straightforward improvements to existing components without the
potential for a transformational increase in performance to the
technical requirements; and
d. Software development that is predominantly straightforward,
routine data gathering using applications of standard software
development practices.
In addition to the competition-specific ineligible projects, the
following are ineligible projects:
a. Straightforward improvements of existing products or product
development.
b. Projects that are Phase II, III, or IV clinical trials. TIP will
rarely fund Phase I clinical trials and reserves the right not to fund
a Phase I clinical trial. The portion of a Phase I trial that may be
funded must be critical to meeting Evaluation Criterion (a)(1)
addressing the scientific and technical merit of the proposal. The
trial results must be essential for completion of a critical R&D task
of the project. The definitions of all phases of clinical trials are
provided in the TIP Guidelines and Documentation Requirements for
Research Involving Human & Animal Subjects located at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html.
c. Pre-commercial-scale demonstration projects where the emphasis
is on demonstrating that some technology works on a large scale or is
economically sound rather than on R&D that advances the state of the
art and is high-risk, high-reward.
d. Projects that TIP determines would likely be completed without
TIP funds in the same time frame or nearly the same time frame, or with
the same scale or scope.
e. Predominantly straightforward, routine data gathering (e.g.,
creation of voluntary consensus standards, data gathering/handbook
preparation, testing of materials, or unbounded research aimed at basic
discovery science) or application of standard engineering practices.
f. Projects in which the predominant risk is market oriented--that
is, the risk that the end product may not be embraced by the
marketplace.
g. Projects with software work, that are predominantly about final
product details and product development, and that have significant
testing involving users outside the research team to determine if the
software meets the original research objectives, are likely to be
either uncompetitive or possibly ineligible for funding. However, R&D
projects with limited software testing, involving users outside of the
research team, may be eligible for funding and contain eligible costs
within a TIP award when the testing is critical to meeting Evaluation
Criteria and/or Award Criteria and the testing results are essential
for completion of a critical task in the proposed research. This type
of testing in projects may also be considered to involve human subjects
in research.
Funding Availability. Fiscal year 2008 appropriations include funds
in the amount of approximately $9 million for new TIP awards.
Approximately 9 awards are anticipated. The anticipated start date is
January 1, 2009. The period of performance depends on the R&D activity
proposed. A single company can receive up to a total of $3 million with
a project period of performance of up to 3 years. A joint venture can
receive up to a total of $9 million with a project period of
performance of up to 5 years. Continuation funding is based on
satisfactory performance, availability
[[Page 40509]]
of funds, continued relevance to program objectives, and is at the sole
discretion of NIST.
Eligibility Criteria. Single companies and joint ventures may apply
for TIP funding as provided in 15 CFR 296.2, 296.4, and 296.5.
Cost Sharing Requirements. At least 50 percent of the yearly total
project costs (direct plus all of the indirect costs).
Evaluation and Award Criteria. Proposals are selected for funding
based on the evaluation criteria listed in 15 CFR 296.21 and the award
criteria listed in 15 CFR 296.22 as identified below. Additionally, no
proposal will be funded unless TIP determines that it has scientific
and technical merit and that the proposed research has strong potential
for addressing a societal challenge within the TIP-identified area of
critical national need as described in this notice. Detailed guidance
on how to address the evaluation and award criteria is provided in
Chapter 2 of the TIP Proposal Preparation Kit, which is available at
http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html.
Evaluation Criteria. The two components of the evaluation criteria
and respective weights as listed in 15 CFR 296.21 are as follows:
(a)(1) The proposer(s) adequately addresses the scientific and
technical merit and how the research may result in intellectual
property vesting in a United States entity including evidence that:
(i) The proposed research is novel;
(ii) The proposed research is high-risk, high-reward;
(iii) The proposer(s) demonstrates a high level of relevant
scientific/technical expertise for key personnel, including contractors
and/or informal collaborators, and has access to the necessary
resources, for example research facilities, equipment, materials, and
data, to conduct the research as proposed;
(iv) The research result(s) has the potential to address the
technical needs associated with a major societal challenge not
currently being addressed; and
(v) The proposed research plan is scientifically sound with tasks,
milestones, timeline, decision points and alternate strategies.
(2) Total weight of (a)(1)(i) through (v) is 50%.
(b)(1) The proposer(s) adequately establishes that the proposed
research has strong potential for advancing the state-of-the-art and
contributing significantly to the United States science and technology
knowledge base and to address areas of critical national need through
transforming the Nation's capacity to deal with a major societal
challenge(s) that is not currently being addressed, and generate
substantial benefits to the Nation that extend significantly beyond the
direct return to the proposer including an explanation in the proposal:
(i) Of the potential magnitude of transformational results upon the
Nation's capabilities in an area;
(ii) Of how and when the ensuing transformational results will be
useful to the Nation; and
(iii) Of the capacity and commitment of each award participant to
enable or advance the transformation to the proposed research results
(technology).
(2) Total weight of (b)(1)(i) through (iii) is 50%.
Award Criteria. The six components of the award criteria as listed
in 15 CFR Sec. 296.22 are as follows:
(a) The proposal explains why TIP support is necessary, including
evidence that the research will not be conducted within a reasonable
time period in the absence of financial assistance from TIP;
(b) The proposal demonstrates that reasonable and thorough efforts
have been made to secure funding from alternative funding sources and
no other alternative funding sources are reasonably available to
support the proposal;
(c) The proposal explains the novelty of the research (technology)
and demonstrates that other entities have not already developed,
commercialized, marketed, distributed, or sold similar research results
(technologies);
(d) The proposal has scientific and technical merit and may result
in intellectual property vesting in a United States entity that can
commercialize the technology in a timely manner; and
(e) The proposal establishes that the research has strong potential
for advancing the state-of-the-art and contributing significantly to
the United States science and technology knowledge base; and
(f) The proposal establishes that the proposed transformational
research (technology) has strong potential to address areas of critical
national need through transforming the Nation's capacity to deal with
major societal challenges that are not currently being addressed, and
generate substantial benefits to the Nation that extend significantly
beyond the direct return to the proposer.
NIST must determine that a proposal successfully meets all six
award criteria for the proposal to receive funding under the Program.
Selection Factors. In making final selections, the Selecting
Official will select funding recipients based upon the Evaluation
Panel's rank order of the proposals and the following selection
factors:
a. Assuring an appropriate distribution of funds among technologies
and their applications,
b. Availability of funds, and/or
c. Program priorities.
Program Priorities. TIP is soliciting proposals under this fiscal
year 2008 competition in one area of critical nation need entitled
``Civil Infrastructure'' as described in the Program Description
section above.
Selection Procedures. Proposals are selected based on a multi-
disciplinary peer-review process, as described in 15 CFR 296.20. A
preliminary review is conducted to determine if the proposal is in
accordance with 15 CFR 296.3, complies with the eligibility
requirements described in 15 CFR 296.5, addresses award criteria (a)
through (c) of 15 CFR 296.22, and is complete. Proposals that are
incomplete or do not meet any one of the preliminary review
requirements will normally be eliminated. All remaining proposals are
then carefully reviewed based on the TIP evaluation criteria listed in
15 CFR 296.21 and award criteria listed in 15 CFR 296.22. An Evaluation
Panel will present funding recommendations to a Selecting Official in
rank order for further consideration. The Selecting Official makes the
final selections for funding. The selection of proposals by the
Selecting Official is final and cannot be appealed. The final approval
of selected proposals and award of assistance will be made by the NIST
Grants Officer. The award decision of the NIST Grants Officer is final
and cannot be appealed.
NIST reserves the right to negotiate the cost and scope of the
proposed work with the proposers that have been selected to receive
awards. This may include requesting that the proposer delete from the
scope of work a particular task that is deemed by NIST to be
inappropriate for support. NIST also reserves the right to reject a
proposal where information exists that raises a reasonable doubt as to
the responsibility of the proposer.
Unallowable/Ineligible Costs. The following items, regardless of
whether they are allowable under the federal cost principles, are
ineligible/unallowable under TIP:
a. Bid and proposal costs unless they are incorporated into a
federally approved indirect cost rate (e.g., payments to any
organization or person retained to help prepare a proposal).
[[Page 40510]]
b. Construction costs for new buildings or extensive renovations of
existing laboratory buildings. However, costs for the construction of
experimental research and development facilities to be located within a
new or existing building are allowable provided the equipment or
facilities are essential for carrying out the proposed project and are
approved by the NIST Grants Officer. These types of facility costs may
need to be prorated if they will not be used exclusively for the
research activities proposed.
c. Contractor office supplies and contractor expenses for
conferences/workshops.
d. Contracts to another part of the same company or to another
company with identical or nearly identical ownership. Work proposed by
another part of the same company or by another company with identical
or nearly identical ownership should be shown as funded through inter-
organizational transfers that do not contain profit. Inter-
organizational transfers should be broken down in the appropriate
budget categories.
e. For research involving human and/or animal subjects, any costs
used to secure Institutional Review Board or Institutional Animal Care
and Use Committee approvals before or during the award.
f. General purpose office equipment and supplies that are not used
exclusively for the research, e.g., office computers, printers,
copiers, paper, pens, and toner cartridges.
g. Indirect costs, which must be absorbed by the recipient.
However, indirect costs are allowable for contractors under a single
company or joint venture. (Note that indirect costs absorbed by the
recipient may be used to meet the cost-sharing requirement.)
h. Marketing, sales, or commercialization costs, including
marketing surveys, commercialization studies, and general business
planning, unless they are included in a federally approved indirect
cost rate.
i. Office furniture costs, unless they are included in a federally
approved indirect cost rate.
j. Patent costs and legal fees, unless they are included in a
federally approved indirect cost rate.
k. Preaward costs.
l. Profit, management fees, interest on borrowed funds, or
facilities capital cost of money. However, profit is allowable for
contractors under a single company or joint venture.
m. Relocation costs, unless they are included in a federally
approved indirect cost rate.
n. Tuition costs. However, an institution of higher education
participating in a TIP project as a contractor or as a joint venture
member or lead may charge TIP for tuition remission or other forms of
compensation in lieu of wages paid to students working on TIP projects,
but only as provided in OMB Circular A-21, Section J.41. In such cases,
tuition remission would be considered a cash contribution rather than
an in-kind contribution.
Intellectual Property Requirements. For single company award
recipients, pursuant to the Bayh-Dole Act (35 U.S.C. 202 (a) and (b))
and ``Memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies:
Government Patent Policy'' (February 18, 1983), the entity that invents
owns the invention. However, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 202(a)(i), when a
single company or its contractor under a TIP award is not located in
the United States or does not have a place of business located in the
United States or is subject to the control of a foreign government,
NIST will require that title to inventions made by such parties be
transferred to a United States entity that will ensure the
commercialization of the technology in a timely fashion.
For joint ventures, ownership of inventions arising from a TIP-
funded project may vest in any participant in a joint venture, as
agreed by the members of the joint venture (notwithstanding 35 U.S.C.
202 (a) and (b)). (Participant includes any entity that is identified
as a recipient, subrecipient, or contractor on an award to a joint
venture.)
Title to any such invention shall not be transferred or passed,
except to a participant in the joint venture, until the expiration of
the first patent obtained in connection with such invention. Should the
last existing participant in a joint venture cease to exist prior to
the expiration of the first patent obtained in connection with any
invention developed from assistance provided under TIP, title to such
patent must be transferred or passed to a U.S. entity that can
commercialize the technology in a timely fashion.
The United States reserves a nonexclusive, nontransferable,
irrevocable paid-up license, to practice or have practiced for or on
behalf of the United States any inventions developed from a TIP award.
The federal government shall not in the exercise of such license
publicly disclose proprietary information related to the license. This
does not prohibit the licensing to any company of intellectual property
rights arising from a TIP-funded project. (15 CFR 296.11(b)(3)). The
federal government also has march-in rights in accordance with 37 CFR
401.6.
Projects Involving Human Subjects. Research involving human
subjects must be in compliance with applicable Federal regulations and
NIST policies for the protection of human subjects. Human subjects
research activities involve interactions with live human subjects or
the use of data, images, tissue, and/or cells/cell lines (including
those used for control purposes) from human subjects. Research
involving human subjects may include activities such as the use of
image and/or audio recording of people, taking surveys or using survey
data, using databases containing personal information, testing software
with volunteers, and many tasks beyond those within traditional
biomedical research. A Human Subjects Determination Checklist is
included in the June 2008 TIP Proposal Preparation Kit in Chapter 4
(http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html) to assist you in determining
whether your proposed research plan has human subjects involvement,
which would require additional information in your proposal submission,
and possibly more documentation during the Evaluation Panel's
consideration of your proposal. See the TIP Guidelines and
Documentation Requirements for Research Involving Human & Animal
Subjects for more specific information on documentation requirements
and due dates for documentation located at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html or by calling 1-888-847-6478.
Projects Involving Live Vertebrate Animals. Research involving live
vertebrate animals must be in compliance with applicable federal
regulations and NIST policies for the protection of live vertebrate
animals. Vertebrate animal research involves live animals that are
being cared for, euthanized, or used by the project participants to
accomplish research goals or for teaching or testing. The regulations
do not apply to animal tissues purchased from commercial processors or
tissue banks or to uses of preexisting images of animals (e.g., a
wildlife documentary or pictures of animals in newscasts). The
regulations do apply to any animals that are transported, cared for,
euthanized or used by a project participant for testing, research, or
training such as testing of new procedures or projects, collection of
biological samples or observation data on health and behavior. Detailed
information regarding the use of live vertebrate animals in research
plans and required documentation is available in the TIP Guidelines and
Documentation
[[Page 40511]]
Requirements for Research Involving Human & Animal Subjects located at
http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html or by calling 1-888-847-6478.
Executive Order 12372 (Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs). Proposals under this program are not subject to Executive
Order 12372.
Administrative Procedure Act and Regulatory Flexibility Act. Prior
notice and comment are not required under 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other
law, for rules relating to public property, loans, grants, benefits or
contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)). Because prior notice and an opportunity
for public 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. et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory
flexibility analysis is not required and has not been prepared.
E.O. 13132 (Federalism). This notice does not contain policies with
Federalism implications as defined in Executive Order 13132.
E.O. 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review). This notice is not a
significant regulatory action under Sections 3(f)(3) and 3(f)(4) of
Executive Order 12866, as it does not materially alter the budgetary
impact of a grant program and does not raise novel policy issues. This
notice is not an ``economically significant'' regulatory action under
Section 3(f)(1) of the Executive Order, as it does not have an effect
on the economy of $100 million or more in any one year, and it does not
have a material adverse effect on the economy, a sector of the economy,
productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or
safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities.
Paperwork Reduction Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of the
law, no person is required to, nor shall any person be subject to
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 Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number. This notice contains
collection-of-information requirements subject to the PRA. The use of
Form NIST-1022, Standard Form-424 (R&R), SF-424B, SF-LLL, Research and
Related Other Project Information Form, and CD-346 has been approved by
OMB under the respective control numbers 0693-0050, 4040-0001, 4040-
0007, 0348-0046, 4040-0001, and 0605-0001.
Administrative and National Policy Requirements. Department of
Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative
Agreements, 73 FR 7696-05 (Feb. 11, 2008), apply to this solicitation.
Dated: July 9, 2008.
James M. Turner,
Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. E8-16068 Filed 7-14-08; 8:45 am]
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