[Federal Register: September 30, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 188)]
[Notices]
[Page 50206-50207]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30se09-53]
[[Page 50206]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8963-1]
State Innovation Grant Program, Preliminary Notice for Proposals
for 2010 Awards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency), National
Center for Environmental Innovation (NCEI) is giving preliminary notice
of its intention to solicit pre-proposals for a 2010 grant program to
support innovation by State environmental agencies--the ``State
Innovation Grant Program.'' In addition, EPA is asking each State
environmental regulatory agency to designate a point of contact
speaking on behalf of management (in addition to the Commissioner,
Director, or Secretary) who will be the point of contact for further
communication about the upcoming solicitation. If your point of contact
from previous State Innovation Grant solicitations is to be your
contact for this year's competition, there is no need to send that
information again, as all previously designated points of contact will
remain on our notification list for this year's competition. EPA
anticipates publication of a Solicitation Announcement of Federal
Funding Opportunity on the Federal government's grants opportunities
Web site (http://www.grants.gov) to announce the availability of the
next solicitation within 45 days.
DATES: State environmental regulatory agencies or agencies within
States that have received a re-delegation of authority from the
principal State environmental regulatory agency for one or more
environmental permitting programs will have 30 days from the date of
this pre-announcement notice in the Federal Register publication until
October 30, 2009 to respond with point of contact information for the
person within the agency (in addition to Commissioner, Director, or
Secretary) who will be designated to receive future notices about the
State Innovation Grant competition. We will automatically transmit
notice of availability of the solicitation to people in State agencies
identified for previous solicitations.
ADDRESSES: We encourage e-mail responses. Information should be
submitted in writing via e-mail to: innovation_state_grants@epa.gov;
or fax to ``State Innovation Grant Program'' at (202) 566-2220. 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. If
you have not received an acknowledgment from EPA within three (3) days
of the end of the notice period, please send an e-mail to: innovation_
state_grants@epa.gov or call Sherri Walker at (202) 566-2186. Failure
to do so may result in your information or comments not being received
by the deadline. EPA will respond to all questions in writing, and all
comments, questions and responses will be posted on the EPA State
Innovation Grant Web site at http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants.
Potentially interested applicants are advised to monitor this Web site
for information posted in response to questions received prior to and
during the competition period.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: Historically, the State Innovation Grant Program has
been used to strengthen EPA's partnership with the States by supporting
State innovation compatible with EPA's Innovation Strategy http://
www.epa.gov/innovation/pdf/strategy.pdf. EPA wants to encourage states
to build on previous experience (theirs and others) to undertake
strategic innovation projects that promote larger-scale models with
potential for broader use for ``next generation'' environmental
protection that promise better environmental outcomes and other
beneficial results. EPA is interested in funding projects that: (i) Go
beyond a single facility experiment 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.
Since 2002, EPA has sponsored seven State Innovation Grant Program
competitions that asked for State project pre-proposals that supported
the general theme of innovation in environmental permitting. We
interpreted this theme broadly to include alternatives to permitting
and the establishment of incentives to promote beyond compliance
performance. To date, the program has supported projects primarily in
three strategic focus areas: Application of the Environmental Results
Programs (ERP) model (http://www.epa.gov/permits/erp/index.htm), the
application of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) (http://
www.epa.gov/permits/ems/index.htm) and other integration tools in
permitting, and State performance-based environmental leadership
programs similar to the National Environmental Performance Track (PT)
Program. EPA's focus on a small number of topics within this general
subject area effectively concentrated the limited resources available
for greater strategic impact.
Forty awards to States have been made from the seven prior
competitions and information on those projects can be found on the EPA
Web site at, http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/projects.htm.
These projects received collectively over eight million dollars in
assistance. The assistance agreement awards for these projects were
made to State environmental regulatory agencies and also to a
commission within a State with a re-delegated authority to administer
an environmental permitting program. Among the grant projects,
including those with pending awards: twenty (20) were provided for
development of Environmental Results Programs (ERP), eight (8) were
related to Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and permitting, eight
(8) were to enhance performance-based environmental leadership
programs, two (2) were for watershed-based permitting, two (2) were for
integrated permitting approaches, one (1) was for streamlining a storm
water permit program using an innovation in information technology,
applying geographic information systems (GIS) and a Web-based portal to
a permit application and screening process, and one (1) was for
development and implementation of a lean manufacturing and
environmental technical assistance program to improve environmental and
operational performance for industrial and commercial entities. Some of
the projects funded fit into more than one category (e.g., combination
projects of ERP with PT, or ERP with EMS). 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.
Agencies That Are Eligible to Compete for State Innovation Grants:
The competition will be open to all agencies with a delegated authority
from EPA for one or more permitting programs, or a re-delegated
authority from a principal State environmental regulatory agency for a
Federal environmental permitting program. Again this year we will
consider these agencies for awards providing that the principal State
environmental regulatory agency will be an active member of the project
team for a
[[Page 50207]]
proposal from a re-delegation agency. Agencies are encouraged to
partner with other governmental agencies or non-governmental
organizations within the State (or outside of their State) that have
complementary environmental mandates or symbiotic interests (e.g.,
energy, agriculture, natural resources management, transportation,
public health, sustainability). States are also encouraged to partner
with other States and American Indian tribes to address cross-boundary
issues, to encourage collaborative environmental partnering within
industrial sectors or in certain topical areas (e.g., agriculture), and
to create networks for peer-mentoring. EPA regrets that because of the
limitation in available funding it is not yet able to open this
competition to American Indian tribal environmental agencies but we
strongly encourage tribal agencies to join with adjacent States in
project proposals.
Historically, EPA has supported State projects that involve
innovation in environmental permitting (including alternatives to
permitting) related to one of the EPA Innovation Strategy's priority
environmental areas, or to other priority areas identified previously
by individual States in collaboration with EPA in a formal State-EPA
agreement such as a Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA). EPA
anticipates continuing the theme of Innovation in Permitting in the
2010 competition. EPA is interested in innovative projects that focus
on priority environmental issues, such as reducing greenhouse gases
(e.g., energy efficiency), reducing smog, restoring and maintaining
water quality, and reducing the cost of water and wastewater
infrastructure.
Projects will be much less likely to be funded through this State
Innovation Grant if agency resources pertinent to the topic are already
available through another EPA program. Project selections and awards
will be subject to funding availability.
Request for Designation of a Primary Point of Contact: EPA asks
that each State environmental agency or other agencies within a State
with a delegated or re-delegated authority for Federal environmental
regulatory programs designate a primary point-of-contact who we will
add to the EPA notification list for further announcements about the
State Innovation Grant Program. For point of contact information,
please provide: name, title, department and agency, street or post
office address, city, state, zip code, telephone, fax number, and e-
mail address. If your point of contact from previous State Innovation
Grant solicitations is to be your contact for this year's competition,
there is no need to send that information again, as all previously
designated points of contact will remain on our notification list for
this year's competition. We are asking that any new name be submitted
with the knowledge and approval of the highest levels of management
within an Agency (Commissioner, Director, Secretary, or their deputies)
within 30 days after publication of this notice in the Federal
Register. Please submit this information to EPA by mail, fax, or e-mail
prior to October 30, 2009 in the following manner.
By e-mail to: Innovation_State_Grants@EPA.gov.
By fax to: State Innovation Grant Program.
(202) 566-2220.
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. For point-
of-contact information, please provide: name, title, department and
agency, mailing address (street or P.O. Box), city, state, zip code,
telephone, fax number, and e-mail address. EPA will acknowledge all
responses it receives to this notice.
Opportunity for Dialogue: Between now and the initiation of the
competition with the release of the solicitation, communication between
potential applicants and EPA is allowed. This communication may include
helping potential applicants determine whether the applicant itself is
eligible or if the scope of an applicant's potential project is
suitable for funding, as well as responding to general requests for
clarification of the notice. State agencies are encouraged to contact
the appropriate EPA Regional innovation contact identified in the list
below for general discussion about potential projects and their
acceptability under an upcoming solicitation. To ensure an equal
opportunity for all potential applicants, questions should be sent to
NCEI. Responses to questions that come to us during the period between
this pre-announcement and the release of the solicitation along with
helpful resource materials will be posted on the State Innovation Grant
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants. The contacts for
the EPA Regions and the EPA HQ National Center for Environmental
Innovation are as follows:
Anne Leiby or Josh Secunda, U.S. EPA Region 1, 1 Congress Street, Suite
1100, Boston, MA 02114-2023. (617) 918-1076 or (617) 918-1736.
leiby.anne@epa.gov or secunda.josh@epa.gov. States: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI,
VT .
Irene Boland, U.S. EPA Region 2, 290 Broadway, 26th Floor, New York, NY
10007-1866. (212) 637-3586. boland.irene@epa.gov. States & Territories:
NJ, NY, PR, VI.
Michael Dunn, U.S. EPA Region 3, 1650 Arch Street (3EA40),
Philadelphia, PA 19103. (215) 814-2712. dunn.michael@epa.gov. States:
DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV.
LaToya Miller, U.S. EPA Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, GA
30303. (404) 562-9885. miller.latoya@epa.gov. States: AL, FL, GA, KY,
MS, NC, SC, TN.
Marilou Martin, U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago,
IL 60604-3507. (312) 353-9660. martin.marilou@epa.gov. States: IL, IN,
MI, MN, OH, WI.
Craig Weeks, U.S. EPA Region 6, Fountain Place, Suite 1200, 1445 Ross
Avenue, Dallas, TX 75202-2733. (214) 665-7505. weeks.craig@epa.gov.
States: AR, LA, NM, OK, TX.
Ashley Betts or Richard Sumpter, U.S. EPA Region 7, 901 North 5th
Street, Kansas City, KS 66101. (913) 551-7336 or (913) 551-7661.
Betts.ashley@epa.gov or sumpter.richard@epa.gov. States: IA, KS, MO,
NE.
Anthony Deloach, U.S. EPA Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO
80202-1129. (303) 312-6070. deloach.anthony@epa.gov. States: CO, MT,
ND, SD, UT, WY.
Kathy Meltzer, U.S. EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street (WTR-1), San
Francisco, CA 94105. (415) 972-3714. Meltzer.kathy@epa.gov. States and
Territories: AS, AZ, CA, GU, HI, NV.
Bill Glasser, U.S. EPA Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue (ENF-T), Seattle,
WA 98101. (206) 553-7215. glasser.william@epa.gov. States: AK, ID, OR,
WA.
Headquarters Office: Sherri Walker, U.S. EPA (MC 1807T), National
Center for Environmental Innovation, State Innovation Grants Program,
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. (202) 566-2186.
(202) 566-2220 fax.
Dated: September 21, 2009.
David Widawsky,
Associate Office Director, National Center for Environmental
Innovation.
[FR Doc. E9-23630 Filed 9-29-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P