[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 201 (Thursday, October 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61417-61418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24589]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8729-8]
State Innovation Grant Program, Notice of Availability of
Solicitation for Proposals for 2009 Awards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for
Environmental Innovation (NCEI) is giving notice of the availability of
its solicitation for proposals for the 2009 grant program to support
innovation by state environmental regulatory agencies--the ``State
Innovation Grant Program.''
The solicitation is available at the Agency's State Innovation
Grant website: http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/solicitation2009.pdf, or may be requested from the Agency by e-mail to:
[email protected] , telephone, or by mail. State
principal environmental agencies, as well as regional, county, or
municipal agencies with delegated or re-delegated authority for federal
environmental permitting programs are eligible to receive these grants.
In each state, each agency with one or more primary delegations for
federal environmental permitting programs from EPA, or a re-delegated
authority from a state agency with one or more primary delegations from
EPA may submit one pre-proposal under this solicitation, but may appear
on multiple team pre-proposals.
Any agency with a re-delegated authority for a federal
environmental permitting program from a state environmental agency must
have that principal state environmental regulatory agency as an active
member of the project team.
DATES: Eligible applicants will have until December 10, 2008 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 email transmittals on October 9, 2008.
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 ([email protected]). You can request a solicitation application
package be sent to you by fax or by mail by contacting NCEI as
indicated below.
Applicants are requested to apply online using the grants.gov
website with an electronic signature. Applicants are encouraged to
submit their pre-proposals early. For those applicants who lack the
technical capability to apply electronically via http://www.grants.gov,
please contact Sherri Walker by phone at: (202) 566-2186 and / or by e-
mail to: [email protected] for alternative submission
procedures. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation, or
questions concerning the solicitation should be sent to:
State Innovation Grant Program, National Center for Environmental
Innovation, Office of the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (MC 1807T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460,
(202) 566-2186, (202) 566-2220 FAX, [email protected] .
For courier delivery only:
Sherri Walker, State Innovation Grant Program, U.S. EPA, EPA West
Building, Room 4214D, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20005.
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: [email protected] . 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: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is soliciting pre-proposals for an assistance agreement program
(the ``State Innovation Grant Program'') in an effort to support
innovation by State environmental regulatory agencies. In April 2002,
EPA issued its plan for future innovation efforts, published as
Innovating for Better Environmental Result: A Strategy to Guide the
Next Generation of Innovation at EPA (EPA 100-R-02-002; http://www.epa.gov/innovation/pdf/strategy.pdf). This assistance agreement
program strengthens EPA's partnership with the States by supporting
state innovation compatible with EPA's Innovation Strategy. EPA wants
to encourage states to build on previous experience (theirs and others)
to undertake strategic innovation projects that promote larger-scale
models for ``next generation'' environmental protection and promise
better environmental outcomes and other beneficial results. EPA is
interested in funding projects that: (i) Go beyond a single facility
experiment
[[Page 61418]]
and provide change that is ``systems-oriented;'' (ii) provide better
results from a program, process, or sector-wide innovation; and (iii)
promote integrated (multi-media) environmental management with a high
potential for transfer to other states, U.S. territories, and tribes.
``Innovation in permitting'' is the theme for the 2009
solicitation. Under this theme, EPA is interested in pre-proposals
that:
Support the development and implementation of state
Environmental Results Programs (ERPs);
Test various forms of permitting integration;
Test ways to help facilities practicing lean manufacturing
better address environmental permit requirements and other
environmental and energy considerations; or
Advance implementation of performance-based environmental
leadership programs similar to the National Environmental Performance
Track (PT) program, particularly including the development and
implementation of incentives.
EPA continues to interpret ``innovation in permitting'' broadly to
include permitting programs, pesticide licensing programs, and other
alternatives or supplements to permitting programs. EPA is interested
in creative approaches for both: (1) Achieving mandatory federal and
state standards; and (2) encouraging performance and addressing
environmental issues above and beyond minimum requirements. EPA's focus
on a small number of topics within this general subject area
effectively concentrates the limited resources available for greater
strategic impact. EPA may contemplate a very limited number of projects
not linked to these focus areas, but otherwise related to the general
theme of innovation in permitting, in particular as they address EPA
regional and state environmental permitting priorities.
This solicitation begins the seventh State Innovation Grant
competition. To date, the program has supported projects primarily in
three strategic focus areas: application of the Environmental Results
Programs (ERP) model, the National Environmental Performance Track (PT)
Program and similar state performance-based environmental leadership
programs, and demonstrations of various types of permitting
integration, including the integration of Environmental Management
Systems (EMS) into permit requirements. Thirty-eight awards to States
have been made from the six prior competitions (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008). These projects awarded nearly 7.5 million dollars in
assistance to States. Some of the projects funded previously fit into
more than one category (e.g., combination projects of ERP with EMS, or
ERP with PT). Among the grant projects: eighteen (18) were provided for
development of Environmental Results Programs, eight (8) were to
enhance performance-based Environmental Leadership Programs, nine (9)
were related to the application of environmental management systems in
permitting or for ``beyond-compliance'' improvement, seven (7) were
awarded for demonstrations of other permit integration or streamlining
approaches including two (2) for watershed-based permitting, one (1) to
support development of an integrated regional air quality management
plan, one (1) to test permit integration across various governmental
levels, and one (1) was for an information technology innovation for
the application of geographic information systems (GIS) and a web-based
portal to a permitting process. For information on prior State
Innovation Grant Program solicitations and awards, please see the EPA
State Innovation Grants Web site at http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants.
Dated: October 8, 2008.
Elizabeth Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation.
[FR Doc. E8-24589 Filed 10-15-08; 8:45 am]
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