Title 30—Mineral Resources--Volume 1
PART 401—STATE WATER RESEARCH INSTITUTE PROGRAM
§ 401.1   Purpose.
The regulations in this part are issued pursuant to title I of the Water Research Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97) which authorizes appropriations to, and confers authority upon, the Secretary of the Interior to promote a national program of water-resources research.
§ 401.2   Delegation of authority.
The State Water Research Institute Program, as authorized by section 104 of the Act, has been established as a component of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Secretary of the Interior has delegated to the Director of the USGS authority to take the actions and make the determinations that, under the Act, are the responsibility of the Secretary.
§ 401.3   Definitions.
Act means the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97).
Fiscal year means a 12-month period ending on September 30.
Director means the Director of the USGS or a designee.
Grant means the funds made available to an institute in a particular fiscal year pursuant to section 104 of the Act and the regulations in this chapter.
Grantee means the college or university at which an institute is established.
Granting agency means the USGS.
Institute means a water resources research institute, center, or equivalent agency established in accordance with Title I of the Act.
Region means any grouping of two or more institutes mutually chosen by themselves to reflect a commonality of water-resources problems.
Scientists means individuals engaged in any professional discipline, including the life, physical or social sciences, and engineers.
Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or a designee.
State means each of the 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
§ 401.4   Information collection.
(a) The information collection requirements contained in sections 401.11 and 401.19 have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned clearance number 1028-0044. The information will be used to support water related research and provide performance reports on accomplishments achieved under Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97 (42 U.S.C. 10303). This information allows the agency to determine compliance with the objectives and criteria of the grant programs. Response is mandatory in accordance with 30 CFR 401.11 and 401.19.
(b) Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 84 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate, or any other suggestions for reducing the burden, to Paperwork Management Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, Paperwork Management Section MS 208, Reston, Virginia 22092 and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1028-0044), Washington, DC 20503.
§ 401.5   [Reserved]
§ 401.6   Designation of institutes.
(a) As a condition of recognition as an established institute under the provisions of this chapter, each institute shall provide to the Director written evidence that it conforms to the requirements of subsection 104(a) of the Act, in that:
(1) The institute is established at the college or university in the State that was established in accordance with the Act of July 21, 1862 (12 Stat. 503; 7 U.S.C. 301ff), i.e., a “land-grant” institution, or;
(2) If established at some other institution, the institute is at a college or university that has been designated by act of the legislature for the purposes of the Act, or;
(3) If there is more than one “land-grant” institution in the State, and no designation has been made according to paragraph (a)(2) of this section, the institute has been established at the one such institution designated by the Governor of the State to participate in the program, or;
(4) The institute has been designated as an interstate or regional institute by two or more cooperating States as provided in the Act.
(b) The certification of designation made pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section shall originate following the issuance of these regulations, be signed by the highest ranking officer of the college or university at which the institute is established and be submitted to the Director within 90 days of the effective date of these regulations. It shall be accompanied either by the evidence of establishment under the provisions of 30 CFR part 401 or by new evidence of establishment made pursuant to these regulations.
(c) Any institute not previously established under the provisions of the Water Resources Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88-379, 78 Stat. 331) or the Water Research and Development Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-467, 92 Stat. 1305) shall also, in addition to the annual program application specified in § 401.11 of this chapter, submit to the Director the following information:
(1) Evidence of the appointment by the governing authority of the college or university of an officer to receive and account for all funds paid under the provisions of the Act and to make annual reports to the granting agency on work accomplished; and
(2) A management plan for meeting the requirements of the evaluation mandated by § 401.26.
§ 401.7   Programs of institutes.
(a) Release of grant funds to participating institutes is conditioned on the ability of each receiving institute to plan, conduct, or otherwise arrange for:
(1) Competent research, investigations, and experiments of either a basic or practical nature, or both, in relation to water resources;
(2) Promotion of the dissemination and application of the results of these efforts; and
(3) Assistance in the training of scientists in relevant fields of endeavor to water resources through the research, investigations, and experiments.
(b) Such research, investigations, experiments and training may include:
(1) Aspects of the hydrologic cycle;
(2) Supply and demand;
(3) Demineralization of saline and other impaired waters;
(4) Conservation and best use of available supplies of water and methods of increasing such supplies;
(5) Water reuse;
(6) Depletion and degradation of ground-water supplies;
(7) Improvements in the productivity of water when used for agricultural, municipal, and commercial purposes;
(8) The economic, legal, engineering, social, recreational, biological, geographical, ecological, or other aspects of water problems;
(9) Scientific information dissemination activities, including identifying, assembling, and interpreting the results of scientific research on water resources problems, and ;
(10) Providing means for improved communication of research results, having due regard for the varying conditions and needs of the respective States and regions.
(c) An institute shall cooperate closely with other colleges and universities in the State that have demonstrated capabilities for research, information dissemination and graduate training in the development of its program. For purposes of financial management, reporting and other research program management and administration activities, the institutes shall be responsible for performance of the activities of other participating institutions.
(d) Each institute shall cooperate closely with other institutes and other research organizations in the region to increase the effectiveness of the institutes, to coordinate their activities, and to avoid undue duplication of effort.
§§ 401.8-401.10   [Reserved]
§ 401.11   Applications for grants.
(a) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, but not to exceed a total of $10 million, an equal amount of dollars will be available to each qualified institute in each fiscal year to assist it in carrying out the purposes of the Act. If the full amount of the appropriated funds is not obligated by the close of the fiscal year for which they were appropriated, the remaining funds shall be made available in the succeeding fiscal year to support competitively selected research projects under the terms of section 104(g) of the Act. Selection and approval of such projects shall be based on criteria to be determined by the Director. Announcement of such criteria shall be made by notice in the Federal Register. The granting agency may retain an amount up to 15 percent of the total appropriation for administrative costs.
(b) The granting agency will annually make available to qualified institutes instructions for the submittal of applications for grants. The instructions will include information pertinent only to a single fiscal year, such as the closing date for applications and the amount of funds initially available to each institute. They also will include notification of the provisions and assurances necessary to ensure that administration of the grant will be conducted in compliance with this chapter and other Federal laws and regulations applicable to grants to institutions of higher learning.
(c) In making its application for funds to which it is entitled under the Act, each institute shall use and follow the standard form for Federal assistance (SF 424, Federal Assistance). No preapplication is required. The institute shall include in section IV of Standard Form 424 evidence that its application was:
(1) Developed in close consultation and collaboration with senior personnel of the State's department of water resources or similar agencies, other leading water resources officials within the State, and interested members of the public;
(2) Coordinated with other institutes in the region for the purposes of avoiding duplication of effort and encouraging regional cooperation in research areas of water management, development, and conservation that have a regional or national character; and
(3) Reviewed for technical merit of its research components by qualified scientists.
(d) Each application shall further include:
(1) A financial plan relating expenditures to scheduled activity and rate of effort to be expended and indicating the times at which there will be need for specified amounts of Federal funds; and
(2) A description of the institute's arrangements for development, administration, and technical oversight of the research program.
(e) Each annual program application is to include separately identifiable proposals for conduct of research to meet the needs of the State and region. Such proposals must set forth for each project:
(1) The nature, scope and objectives of the project to be undertaken;
(2) Its importance to the State, region, or Nation; its relation to other known research projects already completed or in progress; and the anticipated applicability of the research results;
(3) The period during which it will be pursued;
(4) The names and qualifications of the senior professional personnel who will direct and conduct the project;
(5) Its estimated costs, with a breakdown of the costs per year; and
(6) The extent of which it will provide opportunity for the training of scientists.
(f) Each program application shall contain a plan for disseminating information on the results of research and promoting their application. Plans which require the use of grant funds shall contain:
(1) Definition of the topics for dissemination;
(2) Identification of the target audiences for dissemination;
(3) Strategies for accomplishing the dissemination;
(4) Duties and qualifications of the personnel to be involved;
(5) Estimated costs of each identifiable element of the plan; and
(6) Identification of cooperating entities.
(g) The application shall provide assurance that non-Federal dollars will be available to share the costs of the proposed program. The Federal funds are to be matched on a basis of no less than two non-Federal dollars for each Federal dollar, unless this matching requirement has been waived.
(h) The granting agency will evaluate the proposals for consistency with the provisions of its instructions and this chapter and within no more than 90 days request any revisions and additions necessary for such consistency.
§ 401.12   Program management.
(a) Upon approval of each fiscal year's proposed program, the granting agency will transmit to the grantee an award which will incorporate the application and assurances.
(b) The grant is effective and constitutes an obligation of Federal funds in the amount and for the purpose stated in the award document at the time of the Director's signature.
(c)(1) Acceptance of the award document certifies the grantee's assurance that the grant will be administered in compliance with OMB regulations, policies, guidelines, and requirements as described in:
(i) Circular No. A-21, revised, Cost Principles of Educational Institutions;
(ii) Memorandum No. M-92-01, Coordination of Water Resources Information;
(iii) Circular No. A-88, revised, Indirect Cost Rates, Audit and Audit Follow-up at Educational Institutions;
(iv) Circular No. A-110, Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and other Nonprofit Organizations; and
(v) Circular No. A-124, Patents—Small Business Firms and Nonprofit Organizations.
(2) Copies of the documents listed in paragraph (c)(1) of this section shall be available from the granting agency.
§§ 401.13-401.18   [Reserved]
§ 401.19   Reporting procedures.
(a) The institutes are encouraged to publish, as technical reports or in the professional literature, the findings, results, and conclusions relating to separately identifiable research projects undertaken pursuant to the Act.
(b) Each institute shall submit to the granting agency, by a date to be specified in the award document, an annual program report which provides:
(1) A statement concerning the relationship of the institute's program to the water problems and issues of the State;
(2) A synopsis of the objectives, methods, and conclusions of each project completed within the period covered;
(3) A progress report on each project continuing into the subsequent fiscal year;
(4) Citations of all reports, papers, publications or other communicable products resulting from each project completed or in progress;
(5) A description of all activities undertaken for the purpose of promoting the application of research results;
(6) A description of cooperative arrangements with other educational institutions, State agencies, and others.
(c) One manuscript of reproducible quality and two copies of the annual program report shall be furnished to the granting agency. One copy of a complete report on the objectives, methods, and conclusions of each research project shall be maintained by the institute and open to inspection.
(d) Appropriate acknowledgment shall be given by institutes to the granting agency's participation in financing activities carried out under provisions of the Act. Such acknowledgment shall be included in all reports, publications, news releases, and other information media developed by institutes and others to publicize, describe, or report upon accomplishments and activities of the program.
(e) An original and two copies of the final “Financial Status Report,” SF 269, shall be furnished to the granting agency within 90 days of completion of the grant period.
§§ 401.20-401.25   [Reserved]
§ 401.26   Evaluation of institutes.
(a) Within 2 years of the date of its certification according to the provisions of § 401.6, each institute will be evaluated for the purpose of determining whether the national interest warrants its continued support under the provisions of the Act. That determination shall be based on:
(1) The quality and relevance of its water resources research as funded under the Act;
(2) Its effectiveness as an institution for planning, conducting, or arranging for research;
(3) Its demonstrated performance in making research results available to users in the State and elsewhere; and
(4) Its demonstrated record in providing for the training of scientists through student involvement in its research program.
(b) An evaluation team, selected by the granting agency on the basis of the members' knowledge of water research and administration, shall evaluate each institute, and may with the concurrence of the granting agency, visit such institutes as it considers necessary. The team is to include at least one individual from each of the following categories:
(1) Employees of the Department of the Interior;
(2) University faculty or other professionals with relevant experience in the conduct of water resources research;
(3) Former directors of water research institutes; and
(4) University faculty or other professionals with relevant experience in information transfer.
(c) The granting agency may request recommendations for team selections from the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences and from other organizations whose members include the types of individuals cited in paragraph (b) of this section.
(d) The granting agency shall, as an administrative cost, provide the funds for travel and per diem expense of the team members, within the maximum limits allowable under Federal travel regulations (41 CFR subtitle F).
(e) The granting agency has the right to select dates for evaluation visits, and notice of the team's visit shall be provided to the institute being evaluated at least 60 days in advance.
(f) It shall be the responsibility of each institute to provide such documentation of its activities and accomplishments as the granting agency and evaluation team may reasonably request. The request for this documentation shall be made at least 60 days prior to the due date of its receipt.
(g) The team shall, within 90 days after completion of its evaluation, submit a written report of its findings to the granting agency for transmittal to the institute. If an institute is found to have deficiencies in meeting the objectives of the Act, it shall be allowed 1 year to correct them and to report such action to the granting agency. The decision as to the institute's eligibility to receive further funding will rest with the granting agency.
(h) After the initial evaluation, each institute shall be reevaluated at least every 5 years.