Title 30—Mineral Resources--Volume 1
PART 402—WATER-RESOURCES RESEARCH PROGRAM AND THE WATER-RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
§ 402.1   Purpose.
The regulations in this part are issued pursuant to title I of the Water Resources 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 national programs of water-resources research and technology development.
§ 402.2   Delegation of authority.
The Water-Resources Research Program and the Water-Resources Technology Development Program, as authorized by sections 105 and 106 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 10304 and 10305), have been established as components of the USGS. The Secretary of the Interior has delegated to the Director of the USGS authority to take actions and make the determinations that, under the Act, are the responsibility of the Secretary.
§ 402.3   Definitions.
(a) Grant is used in these rules as a generic term for a Federal assistance award, including project grants and cooperative agreements.
(b) Act means the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97).
(c) Educational institution means any educational institution—privately and/or publicly owned.
(d) Dollar-for-dollar matching grant means for each Federal dollar provided to support the projects, a non-Federal dollar also must be provided to the project.
§ 402.4   Information collection.
The information-collection requirements contained in sections 402.10, 402.11, and 402.15 have been approved by the OMB under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned clearance number 1028-0046. The application proposals being collected will contain technical information that will be used by the USGS as a basis for selection and award of grants. The progress reports being collected will contain a description of all work accomplished and results achieved on each funded project and will enable the USGS to carry out its oversight responsibilities and provide dissemination of technical information.
§ 402.5   [Reserved]
§ 402.6   Water-Resources Research Program.
(a) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the Water-Resources Research Program will provide support, in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching grant, to educational institutions, private foundations, private firms, individuals, and agencies of local or State governments for research concerning any aspect of a water-resource related problem deemed to be in the national interest. Federal agencies are excluded from receiving matching grants. Grants may be awarded on other than a dollar-for-dollar matching basis in cases where the USGS determines that research on a high-priority subject is of a basic nature that otherwise would not be undertaken.
(b) The types of research to be undertaken under this program are listed below, without indication of priority:
(1) Aspects of the hydrologic cycle;
(2) Supply and demand for water;
(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 groundwater supplies;
(7) Improvements in the productivity of water when used for agricultural, municipal, and commercial purposes; and
(8) The economic, legal, engineering, social, recreational, biological, geographic, ecological, and other aspects of water problems.
(9) Scientific information-dissemination activities, including identifying, assembling, and interpreting the results of scientific and engineering research on water-resources problems.
(10) Providing means for improved communications of research results, having due regard for the varying conditions and needs for the respective States and regions.
§ 402.7   Water-Resources Technology Development Program.
(a) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the Water-Resources Technology Development Program will provide funds in the form of grants or contracts to educational institutions, private firms, private foundations, individuals, and agencies of local or State governments for technology development concerning any aspect of water-related technology deemed to be of State, regional, and national importance, including technology associated with improvement of waters of impaired quality and the operation of test facilities. Federal agencies are excluded from receiving grants or contracts. The types of technology-development to be undertaken under this program shall include paragraphs 1 through 10 of § 402.6(b).
(b) The USGS may establish any condition for the matching of funds by the recipient of any grant or cost-sharing under a contract under the technology-development program which the USGS considers to be in the best interest of the Nation.
§§ 402.8-402.9   [Reserved]
§ 402.10   Research-project applications.
(a) Only those applications for grants that are in response to and meet the guidelines of specific USGS announcements will be considered for funding appropriated for this program.
(b) The USGS program announcements will identify priorities, matching requirements, particular areas of interest, criteria for evaluation, OMB regulations as appropriate, assurances, closing date, and proposal submittal instructions. Program announcements may also include criteria for high-priority subjects of a basic nature that may be funded on other than a dollar-for-dollar basis. Program announcements will be distributed to names on the current USGS mailing list for the Water-Resources Research Program announcements, including new requests received in response to published notices of upcoming program announcements.
(c) Notification of the availability of the program announcement will be published in the Commerce Business Daily and/or Federal Register.
(d) The application for funds must be signed by an individual or official authorized to commit the applicant and it must contain:
(1) A Standard Form 424 “Federal Assistance,” sections I and II completed by applicant, used as the cover sheet for each proposal.
(2) A project summary of no more than one typed, single-spaced page providing the following specific information:
(i) Identification of the water or water-related problems and the problem-solution approach;
(ii) Identification of the proposed scientific contribution of the problem solution;
(iii) Concise statement of the specific objectives of the project;
(iv) Identification of the approach to be used to accomplish the work; and
(v) Identification of potential users of the proposed work.
(3) Narrative information, as specified in the published program announcement, such as project title, project objectives, background information, research tasks, methodology to conduct the research task, the relevancy of the proposed project to water-resources problems, qualifications of the principal investigators and their organizations, and proposed budget with supporting information sufficient to allow evaluation of costs.
§ 402.11   Technology-development project applications.
(a) Grant awards will be used to support those portions of the program for which the principal purpose is other than as described in § 402.11(b). Program announcements and applications will be governed by the same procedures provided in § 402.10.
(b) If it is determined that the principal purpose of a planned award (or awards) is to acquire goods or services for the direct benefit or use of the Government, the action must be regarded as a procurement contract. A competitive solicitation prepared in accordance with applicable acquisition regulations will be issued to interested parties. Notification of the availability of any contract solicitation will be published in the Commerce Business Daily, unless waived in accordance with § 5.202 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Contracts may be awarded without full and open competition only if justified in accordance with FAR subpart 6.3.
§ 402.12   Evaluation of applications for grants and contracts.
(a) Grants. (1) Each grant application will receive technical evaluations from Government and/or non-Government scientific or engineering personnel. Utilizing the criteria for evaluation identified in the applicable announcement, each reviewer will assign a technical score.
(2) Grant applications with low technical ratings will be screened out, and the remaining grant applications will be rank-ordered by review panels.
(3) USGS program officials will compile a single, consolidated rank-ordered list of the grant applications based on technical scoring, program needs and published priorities, and the available Federal funds.
(b) Contracts. Proposals for contract awards will be evaluated by a USGS panel. Contracts will be awarded according to procedures contained in the FAR, the Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulation, and in acquisition policy releases issued by the Department and by the USGS.
§ 402.13   Program management.
(a) After the conclusion of negotiations, the USGS will transmit a grant or contract-award document, as appropriate, setting forth the terms of the award.
(b) Grants. Recipients will be required to execute funded projects in accordance with OMB Circulars governing cost principles, administrative requirements, and audit, as applicable to their organization type. In addition, OMB Circular A-67, Coordination of Federal Activities in the Acquisition of Certain Water Data, is applicable to awards under these programs.
(c) Contracts. Administrative requirements for performance of research contracts will be established in the contract clauses in conformance with applicable procurement regulations and other interior or USGS acquisition policy documents. OMB Circular A-67 will also apply to some contract awards under this program.
§ 402.14   [Reserved]
§ 402.15   Reporting procedures.
(a) Grantees or contractors will be required to submit the following technical reports to the USGS address identified under the terms and conditions of each award.
(1) Quarterly Technical Progress Report. This report shall include a description of all work accomplished, results achieved, and any changes that affect the project's scope of work, time schedule, and personnel assignments.
(2) Draft Technical Completion Report. The draft report will be required for review prior to submission of the final technical completion report.
(3) Final Technical Completion Report. The final report and a camera-ready copy shall be submitted to the USGS within 90 days after the expiration date of the award and shall include a summary of all work accomplished, results achieved, conclusions, and recommendations. The camera-ready copy shall be prepared in a manner suitable for reproduction by a photographic process. Format will be specified in the terms and conditions of the award.
(4) Final Report Abstract. A complete Water-Resources Scientific Information Center Abstract Form 102 and National Technical Information Service Form 79 shall be submitted with the final report.
(b) Grantees or contractors will be required to submit financial, administrative, and closeout reports as identified under the terms of each award. Reporting requirements will conform to the procedures described in the Departmental Manual of the Department of the Interior at 505 DM 1-5.
(c) Contracts for technology-development projects may also require delivery of hardware items produced and/or specifications, drawings, test results, or other data describing the funded technology.