[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR918.5]

[Page 90-92]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
CHAPTER IX--NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
                               OF COMMERCE
 
PART 918_SEA GRANTS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 918.5  Eligibility, qualifications, and responsibilities--Sea Grant 
Regional Consortia.

    (a) To be eligible for designation as a Sea Grant Regional 
Consortium, the candidate association or alliance of organizations must 
provide, in significant breadth and quality, one or more services in the 
areas of research, education, and training, or advisory service in 
fields related to ocean, Great Lakes, and coastal resources. Further, it 
is essential that the candidate Sea Grant Consortium be required to 
provide all three services as soon as possible after designation. 
Further, such association or alliance must demonstrate that:
    (1) It has been established for the purpose of sharing expertise, 
research, educational facilities, or training facilities, and other 
capabilities in order to facilitate research, education, training, and 
advisory services in any field related to ocean, Great Lakes, and 
coastal resources; and
    (2) It will encourage and follow a regional multi-State approach to 
solving problems or meeting needs relating to ocean, Great Lakes, and 
coastal resources, in cooperation with appropriate Sea Grant Colleges, 
Sea Grant Programs and other persons in the region.
    (b) Although it is recognized that the distribution of effort 
between research, education, training, and advisory services to achieve 
appropriate balance in a Sea Grant Regional Consortium may differ from a 
Sea Grant College, sustained effort in all of these areas is, 
nonetheless, an essential requirement for retention of such designation. 
To be eligible for designation as a Sea Grant Regional Consortium, the 
candidate association or alliance of organizations must meet the 
qualifications set forth above as evaluated by a site review team 
composed of members of the Sea Grant Review Panel, the Office of Sea 
Grant, and other experts. Further, the candidate must be rated highly in 
all of the following qualifying areas which

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are pertinent to the Consortium's program:
    (1) Leadership. The Sea Grant Regional Consortium candidate must 
have achieved recognition as an intellectual and practical leader in 
marine science, engineering, education, and advisory service in its 
region.
    (2) Organization. The Sea Grant Regional Consortium candidate must 
have created the management organization to carry on a viable and 
productive multidisciplinary Sea Grant Program and have the backing of 
the administrations of its component organizations at a sufficiently 
high level to fulfill its multidisciplinary and multifaceted mandate.
    (3) Relevance. The Sea Grant Regional Consortium candidate's Sea 
Grant Program must be relevant to regional opportunities and problems in 
the marine environment. Important factors in evaluating relevance are 
the extent and depth of the need of a region for a focused marine 
resource emphasis and the degree to which the candidate has developed 
its capability to be responsive to that need.
    (4) Education and training. Education and training must be clearly 
relevant to regional needs and must be of high quality in fields related 
to ocean, Great Lakes, and coastal resources. As appropriate, education 
may include precollege, college, post-graduate, public and adult levels.
    (5) Advisory services. The Sea Grant Regional Consortium candidate 
must have a strong program through which information techniques, and 
research results from any reliable source, domestic or international, 
may be communicated to and utilized by user communities. In addition to 
the educational and information dissemination role, the advisory service 
program must aid in the identification and communication of user 
communities' research and educational needs.
    (6) Relationships. The Sea Grant Regional Consortium candidate must 
have close ties with federal agencies, state agencies and 
administrations, regional authorities, regional business and industry, 
and other regional educational institutions. These regional ties are: 
(i) To ensure the relevance of programs, (ii) to generate requests for 
such assistance as the consortium may offer, and (iii) to assist others 
in developing research and management competence. The extent and quality 
of a candidate's relationships are critical factors in evaluating the 
proposed designation.
    (7) Productivity. The Sea Grant Regional Consortium candidate must 
have demonstrated a degree of productivity (of research results, 
reports, employed students, service to regional agencies, industry, 
etc.) commensurate with the length of its Sea Grant operations and the 
level of funding under which it has worked.
    (8) Support. The Sea Grant Regional Consortium candidate must have 
the ability to obtain matching funds from non-Federal sources, such as 
State legislatures, university management, State agencies, and business 
and industry. A diversity of matching funds sources is encouraged as a 
sign of program vitality and the ability to meet the Sea Grant 
requirement that funds for the general programs be matched with at least 
one non-Federal dollar for every two Federal dollars.
    (c) Finally, it must be found that the Sea Grant Regional Consortium 
candidate will act in accordance with the following standards relating 
to its continuing responsibilities as a Sea Grant Regional Consortium:
    (1) Continue pursuit of excellence and high performance in marine 
research education, training, and advisory services.
    (2) Provide regional leadership in marine activities including 
coordinated planning and cooperative work with local, State, regional, 
and Federal agencies, other Sea Grant Programs, and non-Sea Grant 
organizations.
    (3) Maintain an effective management framework and application of 
organizational resources to the achievement of Sea Grant objectives.
    (4) Develop and implement long-term plans for research, education, 
training, and advisory services consistent with Sea Grant goals and 
objectives.
    (5) Advocate and further the Sea Grant concept and the full 
development of its potential within the consortium and the region.

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    (6) Provide adequate and stable matching financial support for the 
program from non-Federal sources.
    (7) Establish and operate an effective system to control the quality 
of its Sea Grant program.