[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 33 (Friday, February 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7877-7879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3605]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 0811251527-9165-02]
RIN 0648-ZB55
Availability of Grants Funds for Fiscal Year 2009; Amendment
AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice of funding availability; amendment.
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SUMMARY: NOAA publishes this notice to amend the solicitation ``NOAA
Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program,'' which was
originally announced in the Federal Register on Tuesday, December 16,
2008. Due to technical difficulties, potential applicants may have
experienced problems when attempting to submit applications for the
``NOAA Bay
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Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program,'' solicitation (73 FR
76341) through Grants.gov. This notice announces that the B-WET Program
will accept applications from applicants who were unsuccessful in
submitting their application through Grants.gov during the original
solicitation period.
DATES: Applicants will be required to provide documentation of the
problem and appropriate paper application materials to the B-WET
National Coordinator by 5:00 PM ET, February 27, 2009.
ADDRESSES: B-WET National Coordinator, NOAA Office of Education, 1401
Constitution Avenue NW, Room 6863, Washington, DC 20230. Please note:
Because hard copies of applications submitted via the US Postal Service
can take up to 4 weeks to reach this office, applicants are advised to
submit their applications via expedited shipping methods (e.g.,
Airborne Express, DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc.).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about this notice may be
directed to Bronwen Rice, B-WET National Coordinator, by phone at 202-
482-6797 or e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA publishes this notice to inform the
public of an amendment to the solicitation ``NOAA Bay Watershed
Education and Training (B-WET) Program'' announced in the Federal
Register on December 16, 2008 (73 FR 76341). Due to issues with the
submission process and system-wide delays in using Grants.gov on the
days prior to and including the deadline, some potential applicants for
the NOAA B-WET program may have been unsuccessful in submitting their
applications through the website. To ensure that all applicants have
the opportunity to apply for the B-WET program, NOAA will accept paper
applications to this announcement where it can be shown that the
applicants attempted to submit via Grants.gov by the January 26
deadline originally published in the announcement, and who contacted a
Federal Program Officer to communicate their problem. If these
applicants would like to have their application considered for funding,
they may submit a complete paper application package to the B-WET
National Coordinator by 5:00 PM ET, February 27, 2009.
All information and requirements published in NOAA Bay Watershed
Education and Training (B-WET) Program solicitation published in the
Federal Register on December 16, 2008 apply to any applications
submitted pursuant to this notice.
Limitation of Liability
In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible
for proposal preparation costs if this program is 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. Applicants are hereby given notice that funding for the Fiscal
Year 2009 program is contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year
2009 appropriations.
Universal Identifier
Applicants should be aware they are required to provide a Dun and
Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number during the
application process. See the October 30, 2002, Federal Register, (67,FR
66177) 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 at 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
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 October 1, 2001 (66 FR 49917), as amended by the Federal
Register notice published on: October 30, 2002 (67 FR 66109); December
30, 2004 (69 FR 78389); and February 11, 2008 (73 FR 7696) 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
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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: February 12, 2009.
Mitchell J. Ross,
Director, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office.
[FR Doc. E9-3605 Filed 2-19-09; 8:45 am]
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