Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 9, 2000 / Notices 26835

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

[Program Announcement 00085]

Cooperative Agreement With the

Association of Environmental Health

Academic Programs; Notice of

Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, (CDC) announces the

availability of fiscal year (FY) 2000

funds for a cooperative agreement

program for the purpose of determining

need and developing programs and

curricula to strengthen State, local and

tribal environmental health

infrastructure; identifying and

evaluating the effectiveness of core

competencies to practice environmental

health; preparing future professionals

and educating current professionals to

those competencies; and increasing the

number of programs accredited by the

National Environmental Health Science

and Protection Accreditation Council

(NEHSPAC).

CDC is committed to achieving the

health promotion and disease

prevention objectives of ‘‘Healthy

People 2010,’’ a national activity to

reduce morbidity and mortality and

improve the quality of life. This

announcement is related to the focus

areas of Environmental Health and

Public Health Infrastructure. For the

conference copy of ‘‘Healthy People

2010,’’ visit the internet site: http://

www.health.gov/healthypeople

B. Eligible Applicant

Assistance will be provided only to

the Association of Environmental

Health Academic Programs (AEHAP).

No other applications are solicited.

AEHAP is the only organization for

conducting this program because:

1. AEHAP is the only association

which represents all the undergraduate

and graduate institutions with academic

programs of environmental health

accredited by the NEHSPAC as well as

those seeking accreditation.

2. AEHAP has the critical framework

in place for developing the technical

competence, managerial capacity, and

leadership potential of accredited

undergraduate and graduate programs in

environmental health.

3. AEHAP is uniquely positioned to

communicate and consult with all of the

accredited undergraduate and graduate

programs of environmental health

because the accredited programs are a

part of the existing membership.

4. AEHAP has a documented ability to

build effective partnerships and

collaborative relationships with federal

health agencies and appropriate

national organizations.

5. AEHAP provides the structure and

experience for instituting programs that

strengthen the environmental health

system at the State and local levels.

6. AEHAP, through its affiliation with

non-accredited universities teaching

environmental sciences and

environmental health, can encourage

growth of qualified and accredited

academic institutions to meet the

demand for entry level environmental

health professionals.

C. Availability of Funds

Approximately $100,000 is available

in FY 2000 to fund this Cooperative

Agreement. It is expected that the award

will begin on or about September 1,

2000, and will be made for a 12-month

budget period within a project period of

up to 5 years. Funding estimates may

change.

Continuation awards within an

approved project period will be made

on the basis of satisfactory progress as

evidenced by required reports and the

availability of funds.

D. Program Requirements

In conducting activities to achieve the

purpose of this Cooperative Agreement,

the recipient shall be responsible for the

activities under 1. (Recipient Activities),

and CDC shall be responsible for

conducting activities under 2. (CDC

Activities):

1. Recipient Activities

a. Develop and implement a plan for

addressing the national shortage of

properly prepared and trained

environmental health professionals.

b. Identify effective public health

principles and incorporate into

curricula of students entering the field

of environmental health.

c. Identify capacity gaps and build the

capacity of local environmental health

programs to incorporate sound public

health practice into their programs.

d. Develop and implement a plan to

increase the number of accredited

undergraduate and graduate programs in

environmental health in areas of the

country with a need for AEHAP

prepared environmental health

professionals by providing assistance to

programs working to become accredited

by the Environmental Health Science

and Protection Accreditation Council.

e. Convene professional groups with

diverse backgrounds to obtain their

reviews and comments on plans and

practices to prepare future and current

environmental health professionals.

f. Develop liaisons with key federal,

State, local and tribal agencies and

professional groups in areas of

environmental health.

g. Evaluate the effectiveness of the

project’s activities.

2. CDC Activities

a. Provide consultation, assistance,

and guidance in planning and

implementing program activities.

b. Assist in developing and

implementing short- and long-term

plans for improving environmental

health practices at local communities.

c. Provide science-based collaboration

and technical assistance in developing

and implementing evaluation strategies

for the program.

d. Facilitate collaboration between

recipient and public and private sector

agencies involved in environmental

health at the national, regional, State

and community levels.

e. Facilitate the exchange of program

information among public and private

agencies at all levels.

E. Application Content

Use the information in the Program

Requirements, Other Requirements and

Evaluation Criteria sections to develop

the application content. Your

application will be evaluated on the

criteria listed, so it is important to

follow them in laying out your program

plan.

Provide a detailed budget and

justification. A brief projection should

be submitted that clearly separates

direct and indirect costs.

F. Submission and Deadline

Submit the original and two copies of

PHS 5161–1 (OMB Number 0937–0189).

Forms are available at the following

Internet address: www.cdc.gov/...Forms,

or in the application kit.

On or before June 26, 2000, submit the

application to the Grants Management

Specialist identified in the ‘‘Where to

Obtain Additional Information’’ section

of this announcement.

Deadline: Application shall be

considered as meeting the deadline if it

is either:

(a) Received on or before the deadline

date; or

(b) Sent on or before the deadline date

and received in time for submission to

the independent review group.

(Applicant must request a legibly dated

U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain

a legibly dated receipt from a

commercial carrier or U.S. Postal

Service. Private metered postmarks shall

not be acceptable as proof of timely

mailing.)

26836 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 9, 2000 / Notices

Late Application: Application which

does not meet the criteria in (a) or (b)

above is considered a late application,

will not be considered, and will be

returned to the applicant.

G. Evaluation Criteria

The application will be evaluated

against the following criteria by an

independent review group appointed by

CDC.

1. Understanding of the problem (20

percent)

The applicant’s ability to demonstrate

an understanding of the nature of the

problem to be addressed. This

specifically includes description of the

public health importance of the planned

activities to be undertaken, and realistic

presentation of proposed objectives.

2. Technical approach (25 percent)

The extent to which the applicant’s

proposal addresses: (1) An overall

design strategy, including measurable

time lines; and (2) management analysis

of the data collected.

3. Ability to carry out the project (25

percent) Degree to which the applicant

provides evidence of ability to carry out

the proposed project and the extent to

which the applicant documents

demonstrated capability to achieve the

purpose of this project.

4. Personnel (20 percent)

The extent to which professional

personnel involved in this project are

qualified, including evidence of

experience similar to this project.

5. Plans for Administration (10

percent)

Adequacy of plans for administering

the project.

6. Budget (not scored)

Itemized budget for conducting the

project, along with justification, is

provided and is reasonable and

appropriate to the described project.

H. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements

Provide CDC with the original plus

two copies of:

1. Semi-annual progress report;

2. Financial status report, no more

than 90 days after the end of the budget

period;

3. Final financial status report and

performance report, no more than 90

days after the end of the project period.

Send all reports to the Grants

Management Specialist identified in the

‘‘Where to Obtain Additional

Information’’ section of this

announcement.

The following additional

requirements are applicable to this

program. For a complete description of

each, see Attachment I in the

application package.

AR–7 Executive Order 12372 Review

AR–10 Smoke-Free Workplace

Requirements

AR–11 Healthy People 2010

AR–12 Lobbying Restrictions

I. Authority and Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance Number

This program is authorized under

section 301 and 317 of the Public Health

Service Act, [42 U.S.C. section 241 and

247b] as amended. The Catalog of

Federal Domestic Assistance number is

93.283.

J. Where To Obtain Additional

Information

To obtain additional information,

contact: Sonia Rowell, Grants

Management Specialist Grants

Management Branch, Procurement and

Grants Office Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (E–13) 2920

Brandywine Road, Room 3000 Atlanta,

GA 30341 Telephone (770) 488–2724

Email address svp1@cdc.gov

For program technical assistance,

contact: Patrick O. Bohan, National

Center for Environmental Health,

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (F–48), 4770 Buford

Highway NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30341,

(770) 488–7303, E-mail address

pfb3@cdc.gov.

The CDC Homepage address on the

Internet is http://www.cdc.gov

Dated: May 3, 2000.

Henry S. Cassell III,

Acting Director, Procurement and Grants

Office, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC).

[FR Doc. 00–11514 Filed 5–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

[Program Announcement 00076]

Cooperative Agreement for Early

Hearing Detection and Intervention

(EHDI) Tracking, Research, and

Integration With Other Newborn

Screening Programs; Notice of

Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) announces the

availability of fiscal year 2000 funds for

a cooperative agreement program to

promote the implementation and

integration of State-based surveillance

and tracking systems for Early Hearing

Detection and Intervention (EHDI) and

other disorders detected by newborn

screening.

The purpose of the EHDI program

includes screening newborns for hearing

loss, audiologic evaluation to identify

infants with hearing loss, and early

intervention for children identified.

This program addresses ‘‘Healthy

People 2010,’’ a national activity to

reduce morbidity and mortality and

improve the quality of life. This

announcement is related to the focus

area Vision and Hearing. For the

conference copy of ‘‘Healthy People

2010,’’ visit the internet site: <http://

www.health.gov/healthypeople>.

B. Eligible Applicants

Assistance will be provided only to

the health departments of States or their

bona fide agents, including the District

of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands, American Samoa, Guam,

federally recognized Indian tribal

governments, the Federated States of

Micronesia, the Republic of the

Marshall Islands, and the Republic of

Palau. Only one application from each

State may be submitted.

Two levels of cooperative agreements

will be awarded:

Level I: Eligible applicants for Level I

funding are those that do not have an

established State or regional centralized

EHDI surveillance and tracking

program, or are in the beginning stages

of establishing their program and would

like to expand or improve their existing

surveillance and tracking program.

Level II: Eligible applicants for Level

II funding are those that have an

existing State or regional centralized

EHDI population-based (i.e., complete

geographic coverage) surveillance and

tracking program that includes data on

at least 75 per cent of infants from a

birth population of at least 30,000 live

births per year. States with fewer births

may form multi-State data collection

regions in order to meet the eligibility

requirements; these do not have to be

composed of contiguous States. Level I

applicants may belong only to one

multi-State regional data collection site.

Applicants from multi-State regions

must provide documentation from each

State of their willingness to collaborate

and pool data from each site in their

proposed region. One State must be

identified as the designated lead on a

multi-State application. The lead State

must submit the application and

administer the award.

Note: Effective January 1, 1996, Public Law

104–65 states that an organization described

in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue

Code of 1986 which engages in lobbying