Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 63 / Tuesday, April 3, 2007 / Notices 15881 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in hard 

copy. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Board of Scientific Counselors, Safe 

Pesticides/Safe Products Subcommittee 

Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 

B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC. The Public Reading 

Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 

legal holidays. The telephone number 

for the Public Reading Room is (202) 

566–1744, and the telephone number for 

the ORD Docket is (202) 566–1752. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Designated Federal Officer via mail at: 

Heather Drumm, Mail Drop 8104–R, 

Office of Science Policy, Office of 

Research and Development, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1300 

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC 20460; via phone/voice mail at: 

(202) 564–8239; via fax at: (202) 565–

2911; or via e-mail at: 

drumm.heather@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Information 

Any member of the public interested 

in receiving a draft BOSC agenda or 

making a presentation at the meeting 

may contact Heather Drumm, the 

Designated Federal Officer, via any of 

the contact methods listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 

above. In general, each individual 

making an oral presentation will be 

limited to a total of three minutes. 

Proposed agenda items for the 

meeting includes but is not limited to 

discussion of progress on the final 

report. The meeting is open to the 

public. 

Information on Services for 

Individuals with Disabilities: For 

information on access or services for 

individuals with disabilities, please 

contact Heather Drumm at (202) 564–

8239 or drumm.heather@epa.gov. To 

request accommodation of a disability, 

please contact Heather Drumm, 

preferably at least 10 days prior to the 

meeting, to give EPA as much time as 

possible to process your request. 

Dated: March 26, 2007. 

Jeffery Morris, 

Acting Director, Office of Science Policy. 

[FR Doc. E7–6147 Filed 4–2–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND 

CONCILIATION SERVICE 

Labor Management Cooperation Act of 

1978 (Pub. L. 95–524) 

AGENCY: Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service. 

ACTION: Request for public comment on 

draft Fiscal Year 2007, program 

guidelines/application solicitation for 

labor-management committees. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service (FMCS) is 

publishing a draft Fiscal Year 2007 

Program Guidelines/Application 

Solicitation for the Labor-Management 

Cooperation Program. The program is 

supported by Federal funds authorized 

by the Labor-Management Cooperation 

Act of 1978, subject to annual 

appropriations. This solicitation 

contains a change in the deadline for 

accepting applications. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

ADDRESSES section below within 30 

days from the date of this publication in 

the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Michael Bartlett, Federal 

Register Liaison, Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service, 2100 K Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20427. Comments 

may be submitted by fax at (202) 606–

5345 or electronic mail (e-mail) to 

mbartlett@fmcs.gov. All comments and 

data in electronic form must be 

identified by the appropriate agency 

form number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Linda Stubbs, Grants Management 

Specialist, FMCS, 2100 K Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20427. Telephone 

number 202–606–8181, e-mail to 

lstubbs@fmcs.gov or fax at (202) 606–

3434. 

A. Introduction 

The following is the draft Solicitation 

for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 cycle of 

the Labor-Management Cooperation 

Program as it pertains to the support of 

labor-management committees. These 

guidelines represent the continuing 

efforts of the Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service to implement the 

provisions of the Labor-Management 

Cooperation Act of 1978, which was 

initially implemented in FY1981. The 

Act authorizes FMCS to provide 

assistance in the establishment and 

operation of company/plant, area, 

public sector, and industry-wide labormanagement committees which: 

(A) Have been organized jointly by 

employers and labor organizations 

representing employees in that 

company/plant, area, government 

agency, or industry; and 

(B) Are established for the purpose of 

improving labor-management 

relationships, job security, and 

organizational effectiveness; enhancing 

economic development; or involving 

workers in decisions affecting their 

working lives, including improving 

communication with respect to subjects 

of mutual interest and concern. 

The Program Description and other 

sections that follow, as well as a 

separately published FMCS Financial 

and Administrative Grants Manual, 

make up the basic guidelines, criteria, 

and program elements a potential 

applicant for assistance under this 

program must know in order to develop 

an application for funding consideration 

for either a company/plant, area-wide, 

industry, or public sector labormanagement committee. Directions for 

obtaining an application kit may be 

found in Section H. A copy of the LaborManagement Cooperation Act of 1978, 

included in the application kit, should 

be reviewed in conjunction with this 

solicitation. 

B. Program Description 

Objectives 

The Labor-Management Cooperation 

Act of 1978 identifies the following 

seven general areas for which financial 

assistance would be appropriate: 

(1) To improve communication 

between representatives of labor and 

management; 

(2) To provide workers and employers 

with opportunities to study and explore 

new and innovative joint approaches to 

achieving organizational effectiveness; 

(3) To assist workers and employers 

in solving problems of mutual concern 

not susceptible to resolution within the 

collective bargaining process; 

(4) To study and explore ways of 

eliminating potential problems which 

reduce the competitiveness and inhibit 

the economic development of the 

company/plant, area, or industry; 

(5) To enhance the involvement of 

workers in making decisions that affect 

their working lives; 

(6) To expand and improve working 

relationships between workers and 

managers; and 

(7) To encourage free collective 

bargaining by establishing continuing 

mechanisms for communication 

between employers and their employees 

through Federal assistance in the 

formation and operation of labormanagement committees. 

The primary objective of this program 

is to encourage and support the 

establishment and operation of joint 


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labor-management committees to carry 

out specific objectives that meet the 

aforementioned general criteria. The 

term ‘‘labor’’ refers to employees 

represented by a labor organization and 

covered by a formal collective 

bargaining agreement. These committees 

may be found at the plant (company), 

area, industry, or public sector levels. 

A plant or company committee is 

generally characterized as restricted to 

one or more organizational or 

productive units operated by a single 

employer. An area committee is 

generally composed of multiple 

employers of diverse industries as well 

as multiple labor unions operating 

within and focusing upon a particular 

city, county, contiguous multicounty, or 

statewide jurisdiction. 

An industry committee generally 

consists of a collection of agencies or 

enterprises and related labor union(s) 

producing a common product or service 

in the private sector on a local, state, 

regional, or nationwide level. A public 

sector committee consists of government 

employees and managers in one or more 

units of a local or state government, 

managers and employees of public 

institutions of higher education, or of 

employees and managers of public 

elementary and secondary schools. 

Those employees must be covered by a 

formal collective bargaining agreement 

or other enforceable labor-management 

agreement. In deciding whether an 

application is for an area or industry 

committee, consideration should be 

given to the above definitions as well as 

to the focus of the committee. 

In FY2007, competition will be open 

to company/plant, area, private 

industry, and public sector committees. 

Special consideration will be given to 

committee applications involving 

innovative or unique efforts. All 

application budget requests should 

focus directly on supporting the 

committee. Applicants should avoid 

seeking funds for activities that are 

clearly available under other Federal 

programs (e.g., job training, mediation of 

contract disputes, etc.). 

Required Program Elements 

1. Problem Statement—The 

application should have numbered 

pages and discuss in detail what 

specific problem(s) face the company/ 

plant, area, government, or industry and 

its workforce that will be addressed by 

the committee. Applicants must 

document the problem(s) using as much 

relevant data as possible and discuss the 

full range of impacts these problem(s) 

could have or are having on the 

company/plant, government, area, or 

industry. An industrial or economic 

profile of the area and workforce might 

prove useful in explaining the 

problem(s). This section basically 

discusses why the effort is needed. 

2. Results or Benefits Expected—By 

using specific goals and objectives, the 

application must discuss in detail what 

the labor-management committee will 

accomplish during the life of the grant. 

Applications that promise to provide 

objectives after a grant is awarded will 

receive little or no credit in this area. 

While a goal of ‘‘improving 

communication between employers and 

employees’’ may suffice as one over-all 

goal of a project, the objectives must, 

whenever possible, be expressed in 

specific and measurable terms. 

Applicants should focus on the 

outcome, impacts or changes that the 

committee’s efforts will have. Existing 

committees should focus on expansion 

efforts/results expected from FMCS 

funding. The goals, objectives, and 

projected impacts will become the 

foundation for future monitoring and 

evaluation efforts of the grantee, as well 

as the FMCS grants program. 

3. Approach—This section of the 

application specifies how the goals and 

objectives will be accomplished. At a 

minimum, the following elements must 

be included in all grant applications: 

(a) A discussion of the strategy the 

committee will employ to accomplish 

its goals and objectives; 

(b) A listing, by name and title, of all 

existing or proposed members of the 

labor-management committee. The 

application should also offer a rationale 

for the selection of the committee 

members (e.g., members represent 70% 

of the area or company/plant 

workforce); 

(c) A discussion of the number, type, 

and role of all committee staff persons. 

Include proposed position descriptions 

for all staff that will have to be hired as 

well as resumes for staff already on 

board; noting, that grant funds may not 

be used to pay for existing employees; 

an assurance that grant funds will not be 

used to pay for existing employees; 

(d) In addressing the proposed 

approach, applicants must also present 

their justification as to why Federal 

funds are needed to implement the 

proposed approach; 

(e) A statement of how often the 

committee will meet (we require 

meetings at least every other month) as 

well as any plans to form subordinate 

committees for particular purposes; and 

(f) For applications from existing 

committees, a discussion of past efforts 

and accomplishments and how they 

would integrate with the proposed 

expanded effort. 

4. Major Milestones—This section 

must include an implementation plan 

that indicates what major steps, 

operating activities, and objectives will 

be accomplished as well as a timetable 

for when they will be finished. A 

milestone chart must be included that 

indicates what specific 

accomplishments (process and impact) 

will be completed by month over the 

life of the grant using ‘‘month one’’ as 

the start date. The accomplishment of 

these tasks and objectives, as well as 

problems and delays therein, will serve 

as the basis for quarterly progress 

reports to FMCS. 

Applicants must prepare their budget 

narrative and milestone chart using a 

start date of ‘‘month one’’ and an end 

date of ‘‘month twelve’’ or ‘‘month 

eighteen’’, as appropriate. Thus, if 

applicant is seeking a twelve month 

grant, use figures reflecting month one 

through twelve. If applicant is seeking 

an eighteen month grant, use figures 

reflecting month one through eighteen. 

If the grant application is funded; FMCS 

will identify the start and end date of 

the grant on the Application for Federal 

Assistance (SF–424) form. 

5. Evaluation—Applicants must 

provide for either an external evaluation 

or an internal assessment of the project’s 

success in meeting its goals and 

objectives. An evaluation plan must be 

developed which briefly discusses what 

basic questions or issues the assessment 

will examine and what baseline data the 

committee staff already has or will 

gather for the assessment. This section 

should be written with the application’s 

own goals and objectives clearly in 

mind and the impacts or changes that 

the effort is expected to cause. 

6. Letters of Commitment—

Applications must include current 

letters of commitment from all proposed 

or existing committee participants and 

chairpersons. These letters should 

indicate that the participants support 

the application and will attend 

scheduled committee meetings. A 

blanket letter signed by a committee 

chairperson or other official on behalf of 

all members is not acceptable. We 

encourage the use of individual letters 

submitted on company or union 

letterhead represented by the 

individual. The letters should match the 

names provided under Section 3(b). 

7. Other Requirements—Applicants 

are also responsible for the following: 

(a) The submission of data indicating 

approximately how many employees 

will be covered or represented through 

the labor-management committee; 

(b) From existing committees, a copy 

of the existing staffing levels, a copy of 

the by-laws (if any), a breakout of 


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annual operating costs and 

identification of all sources and levels of 

current financial support; 

(c) A detailed budget narrative that 

clearly identifies each line item and the 

estimated cost (a complete breakdown 

of each line item) based on policies and 

procedures contained in the FMCS 

Financial and Administrative Grants 

Manual; 

(d) An assurance that the labormanagement committee will not 

interfere with any collective bargaining 

agreements; 

(e) An assurance that committee 

meetings will be held at least every 

other month and that written minutes of 

all committee meetings will be prepared 

and made available to FMCS; and 

(f) An assurance that the maximum 

rate for an individual consultant paid 

from grant project can be no more than 

$950 for an eight-hour-day. The day 

includes preparation, evaluation and 

travel time. Also, time and effort records 

must be maintained. 

Selection Criteria 

The following criteria will be used in 

the scoring and selection of applications 

for award: 

(1) The extent to which the 

application has clearly identified the 

problems and justified the needs that 

the proposed project will address. 

(2) The degree to which appropriate 

and measurable goals and objectives 

have been developed to address the 

problems/needs of the applicant. 

(3) The feasibility of the approach 

proposed to attain the goals and 

objectives of the project and the 

perceived likelihood of accomplishing 

the intended project results. This 

section will also address the degree of 

innovativeness or uniqueness of the 

proposed effort. 

(4) The appropriateness of committee 

membership and the degree of 

commitment of these individuals to the 

goals of the application as indicated in 

the letters of support. 

(5) The feasibility and thoroughness 

of the implementation plan in 

specifying major milestones and target 

dates. 

(6) The cost effectiveness and fiscal 

soundness of the application’s budget 

request, as well as the application’s 

feasibility vis-a-vis its goals and 

approach. 

(7) The overall feasibility of the 

proposed project in light of all of the 

information presented for consideration; 

and 

(8) The value to the government of the 

application in light of the overall 

objectives of the Labor-Management 

Cooperation Act of 1978. This includes 

such factors as innovativeness, site 

location, cost, and other qualities that 

impact upon an applicant’s value in 

encouraging the labor-management 

committee concept. 

C. Eligibility 

Eligible grantees include state and 

local units of government, labormanagement committees (or a labor 

union, management association, or 

company on behalf of a committee that 

will be created through the grant), and 

certain third-party private non-profit 

entities on behalf of one or more 

committees to be created through the 

grant. Federal government agencies and 

their employees are not eligible. 

Third-party private, non-profit 

entities that can document that a major 

purpose or function of their 

organization is the improvement of 

labor relations are eligible to apply. 

However, all funding must be directed 

to the functioning of the labormanagement committee, and all 

requirements under Part B must be 

followed. Applications from third-party 

entities must document particularly 

strong support and participation from 

all labor and management parties with 

whom the applicant will be working. 

Applications from third-parties which 

do not directly support the operation of 

a new or expanded committee will not 

be deemed eligible, nor will 

applications signed by entities such as 

law firms or other third-parties failing to 

meet the above criteria. 

Successful grantees will be bound by 

OMB Circular 110 i.e. ‘‘contractors that 

develop or draft specifications, 

requirements, statements of work, and 

invitations for bids and/or requests for 

proposals shall be excluded (emphasis 

added from competing for such 

procurements). 

Applicants who received funding 

under this program in the last 6 years 

for committee operations are not eligible 

to re-apply. The only exception will be 

made for grantees that seek funds on 

behalf of an entirely different committee 

whose efforts are totally outside of the 

scope of the original grant. 

D. Allocations 

The FY2007 appropriation for this 

program is $396,000. The Grant Review 

Board will review submissions and 

make recommendations for awards 

based on merit without regard to 

category. 

In addition, to the competitive 

process identified in the preceding 

paragraph, FMCS will subject to funds 

availability, set aside a sum not to 

exceed thirty percent of its non-reserved 

appropriation to be awarded on a noncompetitive basis. These funds will be 

used only to support applications that 

have been solicited by the Director of 

the Service and are not subject to the 

dollar range noted in Section E. All 

funds returned to FMCS from a 

competitive grant award may be 

awarded on a non-competitive basis in 

accordance with budgetary 

requirements. 

E. Dollar Range and Length of Grants 

Awards to expand existing or 

establish new labor-management 

committees will be for a period of up to 

18 months. If successful progress is 

made during this initial budget period 

and all grant funds are not obligated 

within the specified period, these grants 

may, at the discretion of FMCS, be 

extended for up to six months. 

The dollar range of awards is as 

follows: 

—Up to $65,000 over a period of up to 

18 months for company/plant 

committees or single department 

public sector applicants; 

—Up to $125,000 per 18-month period 

for area, industry, and multidepartment public sector committee 

applicants. 

Additionally, FMCS reserves the right 

under special conditions to award 

supplemental (continuation) grants 

subject to funds availability. If awarded 

the additional amount is added to the 

current grant amount. 

Applicants are reminded that these 

figures represent maximum Federal 

funds only. If total costs to accomplish 

the objectives of the application exceed 

the maximum allowable Federal 

funding level and its required grantee 

match, applicants may supplement 

these funds through voluntary 

contributions from other sources. 

Applicants are also strongly encouraged 

to consult with their local or regional 

FMCS field office to determine what 

kinds of training may be available at no 

cost before budgeting for such training 

in their applications. A list of our field 

leadership team and their phone 

numbers may be obtained from the 

FMCS Web site (http://www.fmcs.gov) 

under ‘‘Who We Are’’. 

F. Cash Match Requirements and Cost 

Allowability 

All applicants must provide at least 

10 percent of the total allowable project 

costs in cash. Matching funds may come 

from State or local government sources 

or private sector contributions, but may 

generally not include other Federal 

funds. Funds generated by grantsupported efforts are considered 


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15884 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 63 / Tuesday, April 3, 2007 / Notices 

‘‘project income,’’ and may not be used 

for matching purposes. 

It is the policy of this program to 

reject all requests for indirect or 

overhead costs as well as ‘‘in-kind’’

match contributions. In addition, grant 

funds must not be used to supplant 

private or local/state government funds 

currently spent for committee purposes. 

Funding requests from existing 

committees should focus entirely on the 

costs associated with the expansion 

efforts. Also, under no circumstances 

may business or labor officials 

participating on a labor-management 

committee be compensated out of grant 

funds for time spent at committee 

meetings or time spent in committee 

training sessions. Applicants generally 

will not be allowed to claim all or a 

portion of existing full-time staff as an 

expense or match contribution. For a 

more complete discussion of cost 

allowability, applicants are encouraged 

to consult the FY2007 FMCS Financial 

and Administrative Grants Manual, 

which will be included in the 

application kit. 

G. Application Submission and Review 

Process 

The Application for Federal 

Assistance (SF–424) form must be 

signed by both a labor and management 

representative. In lieu of signing the SF–

424 form, representatives may type their 

name, title, and organization on plain 

bond paper with a signature line signed 

and dated, in accordance with block 18 

of the SF–424 form. The individual 

listed as contact person in block 6 on 

the application form will generally be 

the only person with whom FMCS will 

communicate during the application 

review process. Please be sure that 

person is available once the application 

has been submitted. Additionally, it is 

the applicant’s responsibility to notify 

FMCS in writing of any changes (e.g. if 

the address or contact person has 

changed). 

We will accept applications beginning 

May 1, 2007, and continue to do so until 

July 31, 2008, or until all FY2007 grant 

funds are obligated. Awards will be 

made by September 30, 2008. Proposals 

may be accepted at any time between 

April 1, 2007 and July 31, 2008, but 

proposals received late in the cycle have 

a greater risk of not being funded due 

to unavailability of funds. Once your 

application has been received and 

acknowledged by FMCS, no 

applications or supplementary materials 

will be accepted thereafter. Applicants 

are highly advised to contact the FMCS 

Grants Program prior to committing any 

resources to the preparation of a 

proposal. 

An original application containing 

numbered pages, plus three copies, 

should be addressed to the Federal 

Mediation and Conciliation Service, 

Labor-Management Grants Program, 

2100 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20427. FMCS will not consider 

videotaped submissions or video 

attachments to submissions. FMCS will 

confirm receipt of all applications 

within 10 days thereof. 

All eligible applications will be 

reviewed and scored by a Grant Review 

Board. The Board(s) will recommend 

selected applications for rejection or 

further funding consideration. The 

Director or his/her designee will finalize 

the scoring and selection process. All 

FY2007 grant applicants will be notified 

of results and all grant awards will be 

made by September 30, 2008. 

Applications that fail to adhere to 

eligibility or other major requirements 

will be administratively rejected by the 

Director or his/her designee. 

H. Contact 

Individuals wishing to apply for 

funding under this program should 

contact the Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service as soon as possible 

to obtain an application kit. Please 

consult the FMCS Web site (http:// 

www.fmcs.gov) to download forms and 

information. These kits and additional 

information or clarification can be 

obtained free of charge by contacting the 

Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

Service, Labor-Management Grants 

Program, 2100 K Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20427, Linda Stubbs at 

(202) 606–8181 (lstubbs@fmcs.gov). 

Additionally, we are currently 

accepting applications for FY2006 grant 

cycle and will do so until July 31, 2007 

or until all FY2006 funding has been 

obligated. Please consult the FMCS Web 

site (http://www.fmcs.gov) to download 

forms and information. 

Fran Leonard, 

Director, Budget and Finance, Federal 

Mediation and Conciliation Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–1554 Filed 4–2–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6732–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Meeting of the National Advisory 

Council for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ). 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 

10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee 

Act, this notice announces a meeting of 

the National Advisory Council for 

Healthcare Research and Quality. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Friday, April 13, 2007, from 9 a.m. to 4 

p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Eisenberg Conference Center, 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, 

Maryland 20850. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Deborah Queenan, Coordinator of the 

Advisory Council, at the Agency for 

Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 

Gaither Road, Rockville, Maryland, 

20850, (301) 427–1330. For press-related 

information, please contact Karen 

Migdail at (301) 427–1855. 

If sign language interpretation or other 

reasonable accommodation for a 

disability is needed, please contact Mr. 

Donald L. Inniss, Director, Office of 

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Program, Program Support Center, on 

(301) 443–1144 no later than April 2, 

2007. The agenda, roster, and minutes 

are available from Ms. Bonnie Campbell, 

Committee Management Officer, Agency 

for Healthcare Quality and Research, 

540 Gaither Road, Rockville, Maryland 

20850. Her phone number is (301) 427–

1554. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Purpose 

Section 921 of the Public Health 

Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299c) established 

the National Advisory Council for 

Healthcare Research and Quality. In 

accordance with its statutory mandate, 

the Council is to advise the Secretary of 

the Department of Health and Human 

Services and the Director, Agency for 

Healthcare Research and Quality 

(AHRQ), on matters related to actions of 

the Agency to enhance the quality, 

improve the outcomes, reduce the costs 

of health care services, improve access 

to such services through scientific 

research, and to promote improvements 

in clinical practice and in the 

organization, financing, and delivery of 

health care services. 

The Council is composed of members 

of the public appointed by the Secretary 

and Federal ex-officio members. 

II Agenda 

On Friday, April 13, the Council 

meeting will begin at 9 a.m., with the 

call to order by the Council Chair and 

approval of previous Council minutes. 

The Director, AHRQ, will present her 


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