32058 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 111 / Monday, June 11, 2007 / Notices 

Dated: June 4, 2007. 

Claire Lavendel, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 07–2881 Filed 6–8–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Development 

Notice Inviting Applications for 

Biomass Research and Development 

AGENCY: Rural Development, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture (USDA) jointly solicit 

applications for financial assistance 

addressing research and development of 

biomass based products, bioenergy, 

biofuels and related processes. This 

Notice herein referred to as the 

‘‘Solicitation’’ is intended to promote 

greater innovation and development 

related to biomass, and to support the 

Biomass Research Development Act of 

2000, the Healthy Forest Restoration Act 

of 2003, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 

and Federal policy calling for greater 

use of biomass-based products, 

feedstock production, and processing 

and conversion. 

This joint USDA/DOE solicitation for 

FY07 reflects the technical areas 

identified in the Biomass Research and 

Development Act of 2000 as amended 

by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. These 

technical areas will assist DOE and 

USDA in developing and maintaining a 

balanced portfolio of activities under 

the Federal Government’s Biomass 

program to effectively advance cost 

effective utilization of biomass for the 

production of biobased fuels and 

products. DOE and USDA will have 

separate funding allocations and make 

separate awards under this Notice. 

DATES: Pre-applications must be 

submitted no later than July 11, 2007, 

not later than 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The 

closing date for applications (only for 

those pre-applications which have been 

selected for further processing) will be 

45 calendar days following notice of 

invitation by Agency, not later than 8 

p.m. Eastern Time. You are encouraged 

to transmit your application well before 

the deadline. Applications received 

after the deadline will not be reviewed 

or considered for an award. The 

comment period for the information 

collection under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 continues 

through August 10, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: For further information 

contact Lisa Siesennop, Business Loan 

and Grant Analyst, USDA Rural 

Development, 1400 Independence Ave, 

SW., 6870, Stop 3225, Washington, DC 

20250–3225, Telephone: (202) 690– 

3810, Fax: (202) 720–6561, E-mail: 

lisa.siesennop@wdc.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Programs Affected 

This program is listed in the Catalog 

of Federal Domestic Assistance under 

Number 81.087. This program is subject 

to Executive Order 12372, which 

requires Intergovernmental consultation 

with State and local officials. 

Intergovernmental consultation will 

occur in accordance with the process 

and procedures outlined in 7 CFR part 

3015 subpart V. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The collection of information 

requirements contained in this Notice 

has been submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

temporary emergency clearance. 

However, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

USDA Rural Development will seek 

standard OMB approval of the reporting 

requirements contained in this Notice 

and hereby opens a 60-day public 

comment period. 

Title: Biomass Research and 

Development Initiative. 

Type of Request: New collection. 

Abstract: Rural Development needs to 

receive the information contained in 

this collection of information to select 

the projects that demonstrate the 

greatest potential for success. The 

selection process is competitive. Rural 

Development will ensure that the funds 

are used for the intended purpose. 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 11 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: Institutions of higher 

education; National laboratories; 

Federal research agencies; State research 

agencies; private sector entities to 

include companies, corporations, 

cooperatives, and other entities that 

compete in the marketplace; nonprofit 

organizations, other than 501(c)(4) 

organizations that engage in lobbying, 

and a consortium of two or more of 

these entities. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

466. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 2. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

871. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 9,252 hours. 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Cheryl Thompson, 

Regulations and Paperwork 

Management Branch, at (202) 692–0043. 

Comments: Comments are invited on: 

(a) The accuracy of Rural Development’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; (b) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (c) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection information on those who are 

to respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. Comments may 

be sent to Cheryl Thompson, 

Regulations and Management Branch, 

Support Services Division, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Rural 

Development, STOP 0742, 1400 

Independence Ave., SW., Washington, 

DC 20250. All responses to this Notice 

will be summarized and included in the 

request for OMB approval. All 

comments will also be a matter of public 

record. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

The Department of Agriculture is 

committed to complying with the EGovernment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 103– 

347, December 17, 2002), to promote the 

use of the Internet and other 

information technologies to provide 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. To 

demonstrate commitment for the EGovernment Act, USDA is requiring that 

all applicants intending to submit preapplications or applications in response 

to this solicitation use Grants.gov in the 

submission process. 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Authority 

The authority for the Biomass 

Research and Development Initiative 

(Initiative) is 7 U.S.C. 8606. 

Objectives 

The objectives of the Initiative as set 

out in 7 U.S.C. 8606(b) are to develop: 

(1) Technologies and processes 

necessary for abundant commercial 

production of biobased fuels at prices 

competitive with fossil fuels; 

(2) High-value biobased products; 

(A) To enhance the economic viability 

of biobased fuels and power; and 

(B) As substitutes for petroleum-based 

feedstocks and products; and 

(3) A diversity of sustainable domestic 

sources of biomass for conversion to 

biobased fuels and biobased products. 


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Purposes 

The purposes of the Initiative as set 

out in 7 U.S.C. 8606(c) are: 

(1) To increase the energy security of 

the United States; 

(2) To create jobs and enhance the 

economic development of the rural 

economy; 

(3) To enhance the environment and 

public health; and 

(4) To diversify markets for raw 

agricultural and forestry products. 

DOE and USDA are, therefore, seeking 

applications to address the Technical 

Areas set out in 7 U.S.C. 8606(d) and 

listed here as the only eligible topic 

areas under this Solicitation. Each 

individual application must address 

only one Technical Area. However, an 

applicant may submit multiple, unique 

applications in order to respond to 

multiple topics or may submit multiple 

unique applications to a single topic 

area. If invited to submit an application, 

the application must address only the 

specific pre-application subject matter 

and technical area as identified in the 

invitation letter sent from the Agency to 

the applicant. 

Technical Topic Areas 

The Technical Areas as set out in 7 

U.S.C. 8606(d) are described below and 

in more detail in Appendix A. 

(1) Feedstock production through the 

development of crops and cropping 

systems relevant to production of raw 

materials for conversion to biobased 

fuels and biobased products. (USDA 

Topic) 

(2) Overcoming recalcitrance of 

cellulosic biomass through developing 

technologies for converting cellulosic 

biomass into intermediates that can 

subsequently be converted into biobased 

fuels and biobased products. (USDA and 

DOE Topic) 

(3) Product diversification through 

technologies relevant to production of a 

range of biobased products (including 

chemicals, animal feeds, and 

cogenerated power) that eventually can 

increase the feasibility of fuel 

production in a biorefinery. (USDA 

Topic) 

(4) Analysis that provides strategic 

guidance for the application of biomass 

technologies in accordance with 

realization of improved sustainability 

and environmental quality, cost 

effectiveness, security, and rural 

economic development, usually 

featuring system-wide approaches. 

(USDA Topic) 

Definitions Applicable to This Notice 

Agency. The United States 

Department of Agriculture, Rural 

Development, or the United States 

Department of Energy, either or both 

acting on behalf of the Federal 

government. 

Applicant. The legal entity submitting 

the pre-application or application. This 

entity may be one eligible organization 

or a consortium of eligible organizations 

that has chosen to submit a single 

application in response to a solicitation. 

Application. The documentation 

submitted at the Agency’s invitation 

after submitting a pre-application 

NOTE: Application is referred to as 

‘‘proposal’’ in the DOE Industry 

Interactive Procurement System (IIPS). 

Award. The written documentation 

executed by DOE or USDA Contracting 

Officer, after an applicant is selected, 

which contains the negotiated terms and 

conditions for providing financial 

assistance to the applicant. A Financial 

Assistance Award may be either a grant 

or (for DOE) a cooperative agreement. 

Biobased Fuel. Any transportation 

fuel produced from biomass. 

Biobased Product. An industrial 

product (including chemicals, materials, 

and polymers) produced from biomass, 

or a commercial or industrial product 

(such as animal feed and electric power) 

derived in connection with the 

conversion of biomass to fuel. 

Biomass. Any organic matter that is 

available on a renewable or recurring 

basis, including agricultural crops and 

trees, wood and wood wastes and 

residues, plants (including aquatic 

plants), grasses, residue fibers, animal 

wastes, municipal wastes, and other 

waste materials. 

Budget. The cost expenditure plan 

submitted in the application, including 

both the Federal Government 

contribution and the applicant Cost 

Share. 

Consortium (plural consortia). The 

group of eligible organizations that have 

chosen to submit a single preapplication or application in response to 

this Solicitation. 

Contracting Officer. The Agency 

official authorized to execute awards on 

behalf of DOE or USDA who is 

responsible for the business 

management and non-program aspects 

of the Financial Assistance process. 

Cooperative Agreement. A Financial 

Assistance instrument used by DOE to 

transfer money or property when the 

principal purpose of the transaction is 

to accomplish a public purpose of 

support or stimulation authorized by 

Federal statute, and Substantial 

Involvement (see definition below) is 

anticipated by DOE during the 

performance of the contemplated 

activity. 

Cost Sharing. The respective share of 

Total Project Costs to be contributed by 

the Applicant and by the Federal 

Government. The percentage of 

Applicant Cost Share is to be applied to 

the Total Project Cost (i.e., the sum of 

Applicant plus Federal Government 

Cost Shares) rather than to the DOE or 

the USDA contribution alone. 

Data Universal Numbering System 

(DUNS) Number. A unique ninecharacter identification number issued 

by Dun and Bradstreet (D&B). 

Organizations must obtain a DUNS 

number, free of charge, prior to 

registering in the CCR by contacting 

D&B at 1–866–705–5711 or via the 

internet at http://www.grants.gov/ 

RequestaDUNS. 

Demonstration. Demonstration of 

technology in a pilot plant or semiworks scale facility. 

Financial Assistance. The transfer of 

money to an applicant to accomplish a 

public purpose under this Solicitation 

through Grants or (for DOE) Cooperative 

Agreements. 

Federally Funded Research and 

Development Center (FFRDC). A 

research laboratory as defined by 

Federal Acquisition Regulation 35.017. 

Grant. A Financial Assistance 

instrument used by DOE or USDA to 

transfer money when the principal 

purpose of the transaction is to 

accomplish a public purpose of support 

or stimulation under this Solicitation 

and no Substantial Involvement is 

anticipated by DOE or USDA during the 

performance of the contemplated 

activity. 

Grants.gov. The ‘‘storefront’’ web 

portal which allows organizations to 

electronically find and apply for 

competitive grant opportunities from all 

Federal grant-making agencies. 

Grants.gov is the single access point for 

over 900 grant programs offered by the 

26 Federal grant-making agencies. 

http://www.grants.gov 

Key Personnel. The individuals who 

will have significant roles in planning 

and implementing the proposed Project 

on the part of the Applicant, including 

FFRDCs. 

Pre-application. The documentation 

submitted in response to this Notice. 

NOTE: Application is referred to as 

‘‘proposal’’ in the DOE Industry 

Interactive Procurement System (IIPS). 

Project. The set of activities described 

in an Application that is approved by 

DOE or USDA for Financial Assistance 

(whether such Financial Assistance 

represents all or only a portion of the 

support necessary to carry out those 

activities). 

Proposal. The term used in IIPS 

meaning the documentation submitted 


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in response to a solicitation. Also see 

definition for Application. 

Recipient. The organization that 

receives a Financial Assistance Award 

from the Agency, is financially 

accountable for the use of any Agency 

funds or property provided for the 

performance of the Project, and is 

legally responsible for carrying out the 

terms and condition of the award. 

Selection Official. The Agency official 

designated to select Applications for 

negotiation toward award under a 

solicitation. Each Agency will have its 

own Selection Official. 

Substantial Involvement. Significant 

involvement by the Government which 

may include shared responsibility for 

the performance of the Project; 

providing technical assistance or 

guidance which the Applicant is to 

follow; and the right to intervene in the 

conduct or performance of the Project. 

Such involvement will be negotiated 

with each Applicant prior to signing any 

agreement. 

Total Project Cost. The Agency 

approved expenses for completing the 

Project. 

II. Award Information 

Grant Amounts 

Up to $4 million in DOE funding and 

up to $12 million in USDA funding is 

available for new awards under this 

Solicitation. The maximum amount for 

an individual award made under this 

Solicitation is $1 million. DOE and 

USDA anticipate making a total of 16– 

30 awards under this Solicitation, 

depending on the size of the awards. 

Funding Distribution 

As directed by 7 U.S.C. 8606(g)(2), the 

distribution of funding by technical area 

shall be distributed to achieve an 

approximate award distribution as 

follows: 

(1) Feedstock Production: 20 percent. 

(2) Overcoming Recalcitrance of 

Cellulosic Biomass: 45 percent. 

(3) Product Diversification: 30 

percent. 

(4) Analysis for Strategic Guidance: 5 

percent. 

As directed by 7 8606(g)(3), the 

funding distribution areas within the 

first three technical areas shall be 

distributed to achieve an approximate 

award distribution as follows: 

(1) Applied fundamentals: 15 percent. 

(2) Innovation: 35 percent. 

(3) Demonstration: 50 percent. 

III. Eligibility Information 

Applicant Eligibility 

All entities listed under 7 U.S.C. 

8606(f) are eligible to apply, except 

nonprofit organizations described in 

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

Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying 

activities after December 31, 1995. 

Eligible entities are: 

(a) Institutions of higher education (as 

defined in 20 U.S.C. 1002(a)). 

Institutions of higher education include 

colleges and universities beyond the 

secondary education level; 

(b) National Laboratories (as defined 

in 42 U.S.C. 15801); 

(c) Federal research agencies; 

(d) State research agencies; 

(e) Private sector entities. Private 

sector entities include companies, 

corporations, cooperatives, and other 

entities that compete in the 

marketplace; 

(f) Nonprofit organizations, other than 

501(c)(4) organizations that engage in 

lobbying; or 

(g) Consortia of 2 of more entities 

described in paragraphs (a) through (f) 

above. Consortia are encouraged in 

order to bring important capabilities 

together to best achieve the desired 

innovation on biomass projects. 

Eligible FFRDC applicants may apply 

for an award under this Solicitation, or 

they may be proposed as a team member 

in both cases subject to the following 

guidelines: 

(a) The Federal agency sponsoring the 

FFRDC must authorize in writing the 

participation of the FFRDC in the 

proposed project and this authorization 

must be submitted with the application. 

The use of a FFRDC must be consistent 

with its authority under its award. The 

following language is acceptable for this 

authorization. 

Authorization is granted for the 

llllllll Laboratory to participate in 

the proposed project. The work proposed for 

the Laboratory is consistent with or 

complimentary to the missions of the 

Laboratory and will not adversely impact 

execution of the assigned programs at the 

Laboratory. 

(b) The value of, and funding for, the 

FFRDC portion of the work, when the 

FFDRC is not the prime recipient, will 

not be included in the award to a 

successful applicant. DOE will fund a 

DOE/National Nuclear Security 

Administration FFRDC through the DOE 

field work proposal system and other 

FFRDC’s will be funded by the Agency 

through an interagency agreement with 

the sponsoring FFRDC agency. 

(c) The applicant, if successful, will 

be the responsible authority regarding 

the settlement and satisfaction of all 

contractual and administrative issues, 

including but not limited to, intellectual 

property agreement among the parties, 

disputes and claims arising out of any 

agreement between the applicant and 

the FFRDC. 

Project Eligibility 

The technical areas defined in 7 

U.S.C. 8606(d) and listed here, are the 

only eligible topic areas under this 

Solicitation. 

The technical areas are described 

below and in more detail in Appendix 

A. 

(1) Feedstock production through the 

development of crops and cropping 

systems relevant to production of raw 

materials for conversion to biobased 

fuels and biobased products. (USDA 

Topic) 

(2) Overcoming recalcitrance of 

cellulosic biomass through developing 

technologies for converting cellulosic 

biomass into intermediates that can 

subsequently be converted into biobased 

fuels and biobased products. (USDA and 

DOE Topic) 

(3) Product diversification through 

technologies relevant to production of a 

range of biobased products (including 

chemicals, animal feeds, and 

cogenerated power) that eventually can 

increase the feasibility of fuel 

production in a biorefinery. (USDA 

Topic) 

(4) Analysis that provides strategic 

guidance for the application of biomass 

technologies in accordance with 

realization of improved sustainability 

and environmental quality, cost 

effectiveness, security, and rural 

economic development, usually 

featuring system-wide approaches. 

(USDA Topic) 

The term ‘‘demonstration’’ as defined 

in 7 U.S.C. 8602 means ‘‘demonstration 

of technology in a pilot plant or semiworks scale facility.’’ 

Grant Funding 

(a) Costs must be allowable in 

accordance with the applicable Federal 

cost principles (see 10 CFR part 600 and 

7 CFR part 3015 subpart T, as 

applicable). 

(b) The applicant’s cost share 

requirement will be based on the total 

project cost, including the applicant’s 

and the FFRDC contractor’s portions of 

the effort if any. If an FFRDC is the 

applicant, they are responsible for 

fulfilling the cost share requirement 

with non-Federal funds. 

(c) As directed under 7 U.S.C. 

8606(g)(4), the cost share borne by the 

applicant must be at least 20 percent of 

the total project costs for research and 

development and projects and 50 

percent of the total project costs for 

projects designed to demonstrate the 

feasibility of commercial application 

and must come from non-Federal 


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sources. The sum of the Government 

share, including FFRDC contractor costs 

if applicable, and the recipient share of 

total project costs equals the total 

project cost. (For DOE see 10 CFR part 

600 for the applicable cost sharing 

requirements.) 

(d) For institutions of higher 

education, hospitals, for profit 

organizations, and non-profit 

organizations, costs incurred for a 

selected project may be charged to an 

award provided they were incurred 

within the ninety (90) calendar day 

period immediately preceding the 

execution of the grant agreement, if such 

costs are allowable in accordance with 

the applicable Federal cost principles 

(see 10 CFR part 600 and 7 CFR part 

3015 subpart T). Recipients must obtain 

the prior approval of the Agency for any 

pre-award costs that are for periods 

greater than this 90 day calendar period. 

(e) Pre-award costs are incurred at the 

recipient’s risk. DOE and USDA are 

under no obligation to reimburse such 

costs if for any reason the applicant 

does not receive an award or if the 

award is made for a lesser amount than 

the applicant expected. 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

Application and Documentation 

(a) Grants.gov. Applicants must 

submit pre-applications and, if selected, 

applications to the Agency in electronic 

format. The electronic format deadline 

will be based on Washington DC time. 

Users of Grants.gov will be able to 

download a copy of the pre-application 

and application package, complete it off 

line, and then upload and submit the 

application via the Grants.gov site. You 

may not e-mail an electronic copy of a 

pre-application or application to USDA. 

When you enter the Grants.gov site, 

you will find information about 

submitting an application electronically 

through the site as well as the hours of 

operation. USDA and DOE strongly 

recommend that you do not wait until 

the deadline date to begin the 

application process through Grants.gov. 

To use Grants.gov, applicants must have 

a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal 

Numbering System (DUNS) number 

which can be obtained at no cost via a 

toll-free request line at 1–866–705– 

5711. 

You must submit all documents 

electronically through the Grants.gov 

Web site including all necessary 

assurances and certifications. 

After electronically submitting an 

application through the Web site, the 

applicant will receive an automatic 

acknowledgement from Grants.gov that 

contains a Grants.gov tracking number. 

USDA or DOE may request that the 

applicant provide original signatures on 

forms at a later date. 

If applicants experience technical 

difficulties with the Grants.gov system 

on the closing date and are unable to 

meet the 8 p.m. (Washington, DC time) 

deadline, print out your pre-application 

or application and submit it to the 

National Office using the contact 

information provided in the Addresses 

section of this Solicitation. The Agency 

will verify the occurrence of technical 

difficulties with Grants.gov. If 

applicants submit a pre-application or 

application to the National Office, the 

pre-application or application must be 

postmarked by the closing date. 

Additionally, applicants are requested 

to use an express mail service (e.g., 

FedEx, USPS, UPS, DHL) to submit their 

pre-application or application. No handdelivered, e-mail, or Fax preapplications or applications will be 

accepted. 

Applicants may access the electronic 

grant application for the Biomass 

Research and Development Initiative at 

http://www.grants.gov. 

Please note that applicants must 

locate the downloadable pre-application 

package for this program by the CFDA 

Number or FedGrants Funding 

Opportunity Number, which can be 

found at http://www.grants.gov. 

(b) Pre-applications. Pre-applications 

are required and must be submitted 

electronically through Grants.gov at 

www.Grants.gov. You must complete the 

mandatory forms in accordance with the 

instructions on the forms and the 

additional instructions below. Files that 

are attached to the forms must be in 

Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) 

unless otherwise specified in this 

Solicitation. 

(1) The pre-application shall consist 

of a SF 424 ‘‘Application for Federal 

Assistance,’’ form and the preapplication narrative, limited to no 

more than three additional pages when 

printed single-sided, plus cover sheet. 

The SF–424, the cover sheet, and the 

three-page project summary, as 

described herein, are required for a preapplication. 

(i) SF–424—Complete this form first 

to populate data in other forms. 

Complete all required fields in 

accordance with the pop-up instructions 

on the form. To activate the 

instructions, turn on the ‘‘Help Mode’’ 

(Icon with the pointer and question 

mark at the top of the form). On the SF 

424, applicants must complete Boxes 1, 

2 and 5–18, checking ‘‘Nonconstruction’’ under ‘‘Pre-application’’ 

section of Box 1. Applicants must also 

indicate in Box 11, ‘‘Descriptive Title of 

Applicant’s Project,’’ their project’s 

technical area from the Project 

Eligibility section of this Solicitation 

and described in more detail in 

Appendix A. 

(ii) Pre-application Narrative File— 

Mandatory Other Attachment. Submit 

the following file with your preapplication and attach it to the Other 

Attachments Form. Click on ‘‘Add 

Mandatory Other Attachment’’ to attach 

the pre-application narrative file. This 

narrative must adhere to the following 

guidelines: 

(A) The cover page should include the 

name and type of organization, the 

solicitation title, the project title, the 

project’s technical area, the project’s 

funding distribution area, a statement as 

to whether the project addresses 

cellulosic biomass, and both the 

technical and business points of contact 

for the applicant, showing the names, 

titles, addresses, telephone and 

facsimile numbers, and electronic mail 

addresses. (Note this page does not 

count against the narrative’s specified 

page limit.) 

(B) The project narrative must not 

exceed 3 pages, including charts, 

graphs, maps, photographs, and other 

pictorial presentations, when printed 

using standard 8.5’’ by 11’’ paper with 1 

inch margins (top, bottom, left, and 

right). Evaluators will only review the 

number of pages specified in the 

preceding sentence. 

(C) The font must not be smaller than 

11 point. 

(D) Do not include any Internet 

addresses (URLs) that provide 

information necessary to review the 

application. 

(E) See Appendix B for instructions 

on how to mark proprietary application 

information. 

(F) Save the information in a single 

file named ‘‘Project.pdf,’’ and click on 

‘‘Add Mandatory Other Attachment’’ to 

attach. 

(G) The pre-application narrative 

should address the major aspects of the 

four technical evaluation criteria given 

below. The pre-application shall be 

organized into the following sections: 

(1) Technical Relevance and Merit. 

(2) Technical Approach/Work Plan. 

(3) Fossil Fuel Displacement, Energy 

Efficiency, Rural Economic 

Development, and Environmental 

Benefits. Describe the benefits if the 

research is successful and in particular 

any potential fossil fuel displacement, 

energy efficiency, rural economic 

development, and environmental 

improvements. The framework of the 


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benefits can be at the local, state, or, if 

appropriate, national level. 

(4) Technical, Management, and 

Facility Capabilities (include 

intellectual property, if appropriate). 

Applicants are encouraged to read 

and understand the intent of each 

criterion before preparing their preapplication. It is the applicant’s 

responsibility to address each criterion 

as fully as possible within the 3-page 

limit of the pre-application. 

(iii) Pre-application Review Process. 

DOE and USDA will jointly perform the 

technical evaluation of all preapplications, based on the criteria listed 

above. As a result of this pre-application 

review, each applicant will either be 

requested to submit an application 

package or be removed from 

consideration for funding under this 

Solicitation. In either case, a letter of 

explanation will be provided to each 

applicant. In addition all unsuccessful 

applicants will be provided appeal 

rights pursuant to 7 CFR part 11. 

(c) Application (By Invitation Only). 

Following the pre-application review, 

selected applicants will be invited to 

submit an application package. Only 

applicants invited to submit an 

application may apply for an award. 

There is no commitment by DOE or 

USDA to fund a specific number of 

applications. All technical information 

provided in the application package 

must follow the format specified in the 

application and documentation section 

of this Solicitation. A discussion of each 

evaluation criteria is required. You must 

complete the mandatory forms and any 

applicable optional forms (e.g., SF–LLL 

‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying Activities’’) in 

accordance with the instructions on the 

forms and the additional instructions 

below. Files that are attached to the 

forms must be in Adobe Portable 

Document Format (PDF) unless 

otherwise specified in this Solicitation. 

(1) SF–424. Complete this form first to 

populate data in other forms. Complete 

all required fields in accordance with 

the pop-up instructions on the form. To 

activate the instructions, turn on the 

‘‘Help Mode’’ (Icon with the pointer and 

question mark at the top of the form). 

On the SF 424, applicants must 

complete Boxes 1, 2 and 5–18, checking 

‘‘Non-construction’’ under ‘‘Preapplication’’ section of Box 1. 

Applicants must also indicate in Box 11, 

‘‘Descriptive Title of Applicant’s 

Project,’’ their project’s technical area 

from the Project Eligibility section of 

this Solicitation and described in more 

detail in Appendix A. 

(2) Other Attachments Form. Submit 

the following files with your application 

and attach them to the Other 

Attachments Form. Click on ‘‘Add 

Mandatory Other Attachment’’ to attach 

the Project Narrative. Click on ‘‘Add 

Optional Other Attachment,’’ to attach 

the other files. 

(3) Project Narrative—Mandatory 

Other Attachment. 

(i) The project narrative must not 

exceed 20 pages, including charts, 

graphs, maps, photographs, and other 

pictorial presentations, when printed 

using standard 8.5’’ by 11’’ paper with 1 

inch margins (top, bottom, left, and 

right). The Review Committee will 

review only the number of pages 

specified in the preceding sentence. 

(ii) The font must not be smaller than 

11 point. 

(iii) Do not include any Internet 

addresses (URLs) that provide 

information necessary to review the 

application. 

(iv) See Appendix B for instructions 

on how to mark proprietary application 

information. 

(v) Save the information in a single 

file named ‘‘Project.pdf,’’ and click on 

‘‘Add Mandatory Other Attachment’’ to 

attach. 

(vii) The project narrative must 

include: 

(A) Cover Page. Cover page should 

include the name and type of 

organization, the solicitation title, the 

project title, the technical area which 

the project addresses, the funding 

distribution area which the project 

addresses, a statement as to whether the 

project addresses cellulosic biomass, 

and both the technical and business 

points of contact for the applicant, 

showing the names, titles, addresses, 

telephone and facsimile numbers, and 

electronic mail addresses. (Note this 

page does not count against the 

narrative’s specified page limit.) 

(B) Table of Contents. Table of 

contents should include page numbers 

corresponding to the elements outlined 

in these guidelines. (Note the table of 

contents does not count against the 

narrative’s specified page limit.) 

(C) Project Objectives. This section 

should provide a clear, concise 

statement of the specific objectives/aims 

of the proposed project. 

(D) Merit Review Criterion Discussion. 

This section should be formatted to 

address each of the merit review 

criterion and sub-criterion listed in 

criterion 1 through 4 below. Provide 

sufficient information so that reviewers 

will be able to evaluate the application 

in accordance with these merit review 

criteria. DOE and USDA will evaluate 

and consider only those applications 

that address separately each of the merit 

review criterion and sub-criterion. The 

merit criterion are: 

(1) Criterion 1: Technical Relevance 

and Merit. The purpose of this section 

is to demonstrate the technical 

relevance and merit of the proposed 

work. The application will be evaluated 

based on the extent to which the project, 

if successfully carried out, will address 

research, development, and 

demonstration activities for the biomass 

Technical Topic Areas as described in 

this Solicitation. The applicant must 

address the following topics: 

(i) Clearly describe the project 

objectives and their relevance to the 

objectives outlined in 7 U.S.C. 8606(b) 

of the Biomass Research and 

Development Initiative. Explain how the 

project objectives serve the needs of the 

eligible technical areas outlined in the 

project eligibility section of this 

Solicitation. 

(ii) Specifically address the novelty, 

innovation, uniqueness, and originality 

of the proposed work. 

(iii) Describe the technical merit of 

the proposed research, development, or 

demonstration. 

(iv) Address the extent to which the 

proposed work will demonstrate the 

current state of knowledge or 

technology and the extent to which the 

proposed work will complement or 

advance the current knowledge or 

technology for the stated objectives. 

(2) Criterion 2: Technical Approach/ 

Work Plan. The purpose of this section 

is to illustrate the technical approach to 

the proposed work. This section will be 

evaluated based on the clarity and 

technical strength of the approach and 

scientific methodology used to achieve 

the project objectives, including the 

plan for each task and subtask, 

milestones and deliverables. The 

applicant must address the following 

topics: 

(i) Describe the technical feasibility of 

the proposed work. 

(ii) Describe each activity necessary to 

complete the project. Address the 

adequacy and completeness of the 

proposed tasks. Provide a project 

schedule in an appropriate level of 

detail that will demonstrate that the 

project can be adequately managed. 

Describe the reasonableness of the 

schedule. Include a discussion of the 

likelihood of achieving project 

objectives through realistic milestones 

and logical task structure. 

(iii) Describe the process for 

monitoring and evaluating the project’s 

progress and performance. Include a list 

of quantifiable measures of success and 

milestones for evaluating progress with 

regard to key subtasks and deliverables. 

Identify and discuss the appropriateness 

of key decision points for mitigating 

potential problems. Include a discussion 


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on monitoring and evaluating the 

project’s progress and performance. This 

discussion should include scientific, 

technical, and quantifiable technology 

transfer measures past the period of 

performance of the grant. 

(3) Criterion 3: Fossil Fuel 

Displacement, Energy Efficiency, Rural 

Economic Development, and 

Environmental Benefits. The purpose of 

this section is to explain the overall 

projected benefits of the proposed work. 

This section will be evaluated in terms 

of: Improvements in energy efficiency 

and economics of the biomass 

technology, oil or fossil fuel 

displacement, rural economic 

development, and environmental 

benefits. The applicant must address 

any and all of the following topic areas 

applicable to the proposed work: 

(i) Estimate the benefits of the project 

in comparison to existing technology or 

system (e.g., crude oil displacement or 

energy efficiency gains in product 

production). 

(ii) Provide a comparison of the cost 

to produce the targeted product(s), 

fuel(s), and power, or integrated system 

that includes several technologies 

versus existing best commercial 

technology (or system). 

(iii) Describe the anticipated energy or 

economic benefits, including those 

related to enterprise and community 

self-sufficiency, rural economic 

development, job creation, and 

reduction in imports. 

(iv) Discuss the potential for the 

proposed work to provide sufficient 

benefits in terms of cost reduction, risk 

reduction, or performance improvement 

to justify the cost of the system being 

investigated. 

(v) Discuss the potential for near-term 

implementation of the proposed system 

or technology. 

(vi) Describe the incorporation of 

activities and technologies that are 

protective of the environment. 

(vii) Describe the extent to which 

public safety, environmental concerns, 

and land sustainability issues in rural 

areas are addressed. 

(4) Criterion 4: Technical, 

Management, and Facility Capabilities. 

The purpose of this section is to 

illustrate the technical and management 

qualifications of all participating 

organizations and key personnel, 

including subcontractors and 

consultants. They will be evaluated 

with respect to their ability to carry out 

the proposed effort. The adequacy and 

appropriateness of the facilities planned 

for this work will also be considered. 

This section should address the 

following topics: 

(i) Describe the credentials, 

capabilities, experience (technical and 

managerial), performance record, and 

availability of the applicant to 

comprehensively address all aspects of 

the proposed project. 

(ii) Discuss the soundness of the 

project management concept with 

respect to proposed tasks and 

organizational structure to achieve 

project objectives. 

(iii) Describe the type, quality, 

availability, and appropriateness of 

facilities, equipment, and materials 

utilized to carry out the proposed work. 

(iv) Discuss intellectual property 

agreements among the project 

participants. 

(v) Explain the level of participation 

by project participants as evidenced by 

letter(s) of commitment. 

(vi) Describe the extent of beneficial 

collaboration across industry and 

academia. 

(vii) Discuss any current or recent 

government contracts, grants, 

cooperative agreements, or other work 

by the applicant or participants in this 

or related fields. 

(E) Relevance and Outcomes/Impacts. 

This section should explain the 

relevance of the effort to the objectives 

in the Solicitation (as outlined in the 

Summary) and the expected outcomes 

and impacts. 

(F) Project Timetable. This section 

should outline as a function of time, 

year by year, all the important activities 

or phases of the project, including any 

activities planned beyond the project 

period. Successful applicants must use 

this project timetable to report progress. 

(G) Evaluation Phase. This section 

must include a plan and quantifiable 

measures to be used to assess the 

success of the project. 

(H) SF–424A, ‘‘Budget Information— 

Non-Construction Programs’’. You must 

provide a separate budget for each year 

of support requested and a cumulative 

budget for the total project period. Use 

SF–424A on the Applicant and 

Recipient Page at http:// 

grants.pr.doe.gov. Save the information 

in a single file named ‘‘SF424A.xls,’’ and 

click on ‘‘Add Optional Other 

Attachment’’ to attach. 

(I) Budget Justification. You must 

justify the costs proposed in each Object 

Class Category/Cost Classification 

category (e.g., identify key persons and 

personnel categories and the estimated 

costs for each person or category; 

provide a list of equipment and cost of 

each item; identify proposed subaward/ 

consultant work and cost of each 

subaward/consultant; describe purpose 

of proposed travel, number of travelers 

and number of travel days; list general 

categories of supplies and amount for 

each category; and provide any other 

information you wish to support your 

budget). Provide the name of your 

cognizant/oversight agency, if you have 

one, and the name and phone number 

of the individual responsible for 

negotiating your indirect rates. If cost 

sharing is required, provide an 

explanation of the source, nature, 

amount and availability of any proposed 

cost sharing. Save this information in a 

single file named ‘‘Budget.pdf,’’ and 

click on ‘‘Add Optional Other 

Attachment’’ to attach. 

(J) Subaward Budget. You must 

provide a separate budget (i.e., budget 

for each budget year and a cumulative 

budget) for each subawardee that is 

expected to perform work estimated to 

be more than $100,000 or 50 percent of 

the total project cost (whichever is less). 

Use SF–424A or the SF–424C ‘‘Budget 

Information for Construction Programs.’’ 

These forms are found on the Applicant 

and Recipient Page at http:// 

grants.pr.doe.gov. Save each Subaward 

budget in a separate file. Use up to 10 

letters of the subawardee’s name 

(plus.xls) as the file name (e.g., ucla.xls 

or energyres.xls), and click on ‘‘Add 

Optional Other Attachment’’ to attach. 

(K) Certifications/Assurances for use 

with SF–424. You must complete and 

provide the ‘‘Certifications and 

Assurances’’ on the Applicant and 

Recipient Page at http:// 

grants.pr.doe.gov. Submission of an 

electronic application through 

Grants.gov constitutes the submission of 

a signed document. Type the name of 

the person responsible for providing the 

certifications and assurances and save 

as a pdf file. Do not submit a scanned 

copy of the form. Name the file 

‘‘Certs.pdf,’’ and click on ‘‘Add Optional 

Other Attachment’’ to attach. 

(L) Commitment Letters from Third 

Parties Contributing to Cost Sharing. 

The applicant must have firm funding 

commitment letters from third parties 

expected to contribute to cost sharing. 

At the time the application is submitted, 

the applicant must identify for each 

participant providing cost sharing: 

(1) The name of the organization; 

(2) The proposed dollar amount to be 

provided; 

(3) The amount as a percentage of the 

total project cost; and 

(4) The proposed cost sharing—cash, 

services, or property. For projects with 

multiple cost sharing partners, 

summarize the information in a table 

format. Provide the information in a 

single file named ‘‘CLTP’’ and click on 

‘‘Add Optional Other Attachment’’ to 

attach. 


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(M) Biographical Sketch. Provide a 

biographical sketch for each key person 

proposed, including subawardees and 

consultants if they meet the definition 

of key person. A key person is any 

individual who contributes in a 

substantive, measurable way to the 

execution of the project. Save all 

biographical sketches in a single file 

named ‘‘bio.pdf’’ and click on ‘‘Add 

Optional Other Attachment’’ to attach. 

The biographical information for each 

person must not exceed 2 pages when 

printed on 8.5’’ by 11’’ paper with 1 inch 

margins (top, bottom, left, and right) 

with font not smaller than 11 point and 

must include: 

(1) Education and Training. 

Undergraduate, graduate and 

postdoctoral training, provide 

institution, major/area, degree and year. 

(2) Professional Experience. 

Beginning with the current position list, 

in chronological order, professional 

and/or academic positions with a brief 

description. 

(3) Publications. Provide a list of up 

to 10 publications most closely related 

to the proposed project. For each 

publication, identify the names of all 

authors (in the same sequence in which 

they appear in the publication), the 

article title, book or journal title, volume 

number, page numbers, year of 

publication, and Web site address if 

available electronically. Patents, 

copyrights and software systems 

developed may be provided in addition 

to or substituted for publications. 

(4) Synergistic Activities. List no more 

than 5 professional and scholarly 

activities related to the effort proposed. 

(N) Budget for DOE Federally Funded 

Research and Development Center 

(FFRDC), if applicable. If a DOE FFRDC 

is to perform any portion of the work, 

you must provide a DOE Field Work 

Proposal in accordance with the 

requirements in DOE Order 412.1 Work 

Authorization System. These forms are 

available at http://grants.pr.doe.gov. Use 

up to 10 letters of the FFRDC name 

(plus .pdf) as the file name (e.g., lanl.pdf 

or anl.pdf), and click on ‘‘Add 

Attachments’’ in Field 11 to attach. 

(O) Authorization for Participation of 

a FFRDC. If a FFRDC is to perform any 

portion of the work, you must provide 

an authorization letter as described in 

the Applicant Eligibility section of this 

Solicitation. Provide the information in 

a single file using up to 6 letters of the 

FFRDC name (plus ‘‘auth.pdf’’ e.g. 

anlauth.pdf, laslauth.pdf) and click on 

‘‘Add Optional Other Attachment’’ to 

attach. 

(P) SF–LLL, ‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying 

Activities’’. If applicable, complete SF– 

LLL. Applicability: If any funds other 

than Federal appropriated funds have 

been paid or will be paid to any person 

for influencing or attempting to 

influence an officer or employee of any 

agency, a Member of Congress, an 

officer or employee of Congress, or an 

employee of a Member of Congress in 

connection with the grant/cooperative 

agreement, you must complete and 

submit SF–LLL, available at 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/ 

grants_forms.html. 

V. Application Review Information 

Evaluation of Grant Applications 

(a) Initial Review Criteria. An initial 

review will not be performed for preapplications. Prior to a comprehensive 

merit evaluation for applications, USDA 

will perform an initial review to 

determine that (1) The applicant is 

eligible for an award and meets the 

minimum cost share requirements; (2) 

the information required by the 

Solicitation has been submitted; (3) all 

mandatory requirements are satisfied; 

and (4) the proposed project is 

responsive to the objectives of the 

Notice. 

(b) Merit Review Criteria. All timely 

applications that fulfill the minimum 

application requirements, as determined 

by the Initial Review Criteria outlined in 

paragraph (a) of this section will be 

eligible for comprehensive evaluation 

and will undergo the following 

evaluation by DOE and USDA. The first 

evaluation includes a joint technical 

merit review using a scientific peer 

review process. During the technical 

merit review, each application will be 

rated with a numerical score using the 

technical criteria listed below. Each of 

the four technical criteria will be rated 

on a one hundred point numerical scale 

and weighted accordingly. The total 

score will be the sum of the weighted 

scores, with a maximum numerical 

score of 100 points (plus any policy 

factor points awarded). 

(1) Criterion 1: Technical Relevance 

and Merit, Weight: 40 percent. 

(2) Criterion 2: Technical Approach/ 

Work Plan, Weight: 25 percent. 

(3) Criterion 3: Fossil Energy 

Displacement, Energy Efficiency, Rural 

Economic Development, and 

Environmental Benefits, Weight: 20 

percent. 

(4) Criterion 4: Technical, 

Management, and Facility Capabilities, 

Weight: 15 percent. 

Technical evaluation of applications 

will be performed in accordance with 10 

CFR 600.13. Members of the Merit 

Review Committee (hereinafter referred 

to as ‘‘Committee’’) will be required to 

protect the confidentiality of any 

specifically identified trade secrets or 

privileged or confidential commercial or 

financial information obtained as a 

result of their participation in this 

evaluation. Information contained in the 

applications shall be treated in 

accordance with the policies and 

procedures set forth in 10 CFR 600.15. 

In addition, to meet requirements of 

the EPAct, each recommended 

application will receive a Program 

Policy Review by DOE Headquarters 

and USDA personnel. This will be 

performed by various Headquarters or 

USDA personnel depending on the 

applicable sector of the technology or 

project proposed. Each Program Policy 

Review will be conducted by a reviewer 

not part of the merit review process for 

that application. The Program Policy 

Review will be based on the policy 

factors listed below as well as the policy 

factors located in the Independent 

Program Policy Factors section of this 

Solicitation. The Committee will also 

individually rate each of the program 

policy factors listed below as high 

(which will result in 5 bonus points 

being added to the applicant’s merit 

score), medium (which will result in 3 

bonus points being added to the 

applicant’s merit score), or low (which 

will result in no bonus points being 

added to the applicant’s merit score) 

with respect to the extent to which the 

proposed activity: 

(1) Involves a consortia of experts 

from multiple institutions; 

(2) Encourages the integration of 

disciplines and application of the best 

technical resources; and 

(3) Increases the geographic diversity 

of demonstration projects. 

The maximum number of bonus 

points available to any grantee will be 

15, based on the above cited criteria, as 

awarded by a policy factor panel made 

up of Agency personnel. These rating 

scores will be added to the merit scores 

and included in the Chairperson Report 

to the Selection Official. 

(c) Evaluation guidelines. Each 

member of the Committee, including exofficio members shall strictly adhere to 

the following guidelines: 

(1) Committee members shall not 

discuss the evaluation process with any 

unauthorized personnel. 

(2) Committee members shall not 

divulge their identities to any applicant. 

(3) Committee members shall not 

contact applicants. 

(4) Committee members shall not 

discuss the Committee proceedings 

outside of the Committee meeting, even 

after the selection and award. 

(5) Committee members shall not 

accept any invitations, gratuities (i.e., 

meals, gifts, favors, etc.), or job offers 


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from any applicant. If a Committee 

member is offered any invitations, 

gratuities, or job offers by or on behalf 

of any applicant, the member shall 

immediately report it to the Contracting 

Officer. 

(6) Committee members shall only 

evaluate information provided by the 

applicants in the pre-applications and 

applications and only evaluate against 

the published criteria. No additional 

criteria are to be considered by the 

Committee. 

(7) Committee members shall 

individually assess all pre-applications 

and applications against the published 

criteria only and initially rate all 

applications independently and without 

consultation between members. 

(8) Committee members may contact 

the Chairperson to obtain clarifications 

regarding pre-applications and 

applications. 

(d) Evaluation of pre-applications. 

(1) Appointments. The Selection 

Officials will appoint the Committee of 

no less than three individuals to review 

pre-applications. The Committee will be 

composed of independent experts 

selected from outside the Departments 

of Agriculture and Energy as directed by 

7 U.S.C. 8606(g)(1)(B). The Committee 

may consist of multiple panels of no 

less than three individuals per panel to 

perform technical evaluations of the 

pre-applications, depending on the 

number of pre-applications received. 

The Committee will not include anyone 

who, on behalf of the Federal 

government, provides assistance to the 

applicant(s); has any decision-making 

role regarding the application(s); serves 

as Contracting Officer or performs 

business management functions for the 

project; audits the recipient for the 

project; or, has any other conflict of 

interest. 

(2) Certification. Prior to evaluating 

pre-applications, each Committee 

member must read and sign a 

confidentiality and conflict of interest 

certification and acknowledgement, 

indicating an understanding of the 

evaluation and selection plan 

procedures and requirements. A signed 

form must be returned to the 

Contracting Officer prior to performing 

evaluations on any pre-application. 

Once signed, strict adherence to the 

agreement is required. All individuals 

not directly appointed to the 

Committee, but involved in the 

evaluation process, will also sign a 

confidentiality and conflict of interest 

certification and acknowledgement 

form. 

(3) Pre-application review process. 

During the Committee meeting, each 

member shall receive one paper copy of 

each pre-application to be reviewed by 

that member. Paper copies will include 

a control number for tracking purposes. 

Committee members shall not make 

copies of any pre-application, and when 

the Committee’s work is completed, all 

pre-applications shall be returned to the 

Contracting Officer. A checklist will be 

used to record return of the preapplications to the Contracting Officer. 

(i) Initial review. An initial review 

will not be performed for preapplications. 

(ii) Pre-application comprehensive 

evaluation. The members of the 

Committee shall receive preapplications for review at the 

Committee. Each committee member 

shall independently review assigned 

pre-applications and identify strengths 

and weaknesses for each criterion. A 

pre-application must be evaluated even 

if it does not address the criteria or the 

order is not maintained. However, it is 

not the evaluator’s responsibility to 

search for information which is not 

readily apparent. 

After the Committee members have 

independently reviewed their assigned 

pre-applications, the Committee panel 

will convene to discuss the strengths 

and weaknesses of each application and 

come to consensus on numerical scores 

and strengths and weaknesses. If the 

number of pre-applications warrants the 

assignment of multiple panels, 

consensus will be reached and recorded 

within the panels. Following the panel 

discussions, the entire Committee will 

convene and reach consensus on all the 

pre-applications. 

Once the consensus pre-application 

scores have been assigned to all preapplications being considered by the 

Committee, the Committee will 

recommend a range that establishes a 

pre-application selection range. 

(4) Chairperson’s report—preapplications. A Chairperson’s Report 

must be prepared presenting the 

findings of the Committee. The Report 

shall include three sections—one to 

establish the purpose of the report, one 

to document the compliance review 

performed and record the merit review 

process used including any deviations, 

and one to request action by the 

selection official. In addition, relevant 

attachments shall be included, as 

referenced below. 

(a) Section 1 shall include the 

following: 

(1) A brief statement as to the purpose 

of the Chairperson’s Report; and 

(2) A brief summary of the number of 

pre-applications received and the 

number recommended by the 

Committee for selection for submission 

of an application. 

(b) Section 2 shall include the 

following: 

(1) The number of Committee 

members, their names, a statement that 

all applications were independently 

evaluated in accordance with the 

evaluation criteria and certification that 

all signed confidentiality and 

acknowledgment forms were executed; 

(2) A discussion of the independent 

review process for all pre-applications; 

(3) Details of the Committee and the 

process followed, including a 

discussion of any deviations, such as 

issues with conflict of interest; and 

(4) A discussion of the development 

of consensus scores for each preapplication, the ranking process, the 

number of pre-applications 

recommended, and any observations or 

findings that impacted the decision 

regarding the recommended selection 

range. Details of the Committee’s 

process to set the selection range and a 

reference to the final list of 

recommended pre-applications should 

also be included. 

(c) Section 3 shall include the 

following: 

(1) A request for action from the 

Selection Official regarding selection of 

pre-applications for submission of 

applications; and 

(2) Instructions regarding these 

actions and subsequent communication 

of his/her decision to the Contracting 

Officer (including submittal of the preapplication selection statement, as 

defined below). 

The Selection Official may require the 

Chairperson or the Committee to present 

the report orally in addition to the 

written Chairperson’s Report. 

In a separate document, the 

Committee shall provide any 

recommendations (lessons learned) to 

the Contracting Officer to improve the 

Notice or evaluation criteria and plan in 

the future. 

(5) Pre-application selection 

statement. After the Selection Official 

receives the Chairperson’s report, the 

Selection Official will complete the 

Selection Statement, which will specify 

those applicants who will be invited to 

submit applications. The Selection 

Official shall then forward the signed 

Selection Statement to the Contracting 

Officer. 

(6) Pre-application debriefing 

methods. Applicants are entitled to a 

debriefing. After selections have been 

made for those applicants that are 

invited to submit applications, 

applicants will be notified of the 

method to be used for debriefings. 

Debriefings may be provided either 

orally or in writing and will consist of 

the consensus strengths and weaknesses 


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as determined by the Committee 

reviews regarding the pre-applications. 

Debriefings for pre-applications will 

take place at the end of the selection 

process. 

(7) Appeals. Appeals will be handled 

in accordance with 7 CFR part 11 of this 

title. Any party adversely affected by an 

Agency decision under this Solicitation 

may request an appeal from the 

Director, National Appeals Division, 

USDA, within 30 days of the adverse 

decision. 

(e) Evaluation of Application 

Appointments. 

(1) Appointments. The Selection 

Officials will appoint the Committee of 

no less than three individuals to review 

applications. The Committee will be 

composed of independent experts 

selected from outside the Departments 

of Agriculture and Energy as directed by 

7 U.S.C. 8606(g)(1)(B). The committee 

may consist of multiple panels of no 

less than three individuals per panel to 

perform technical evaluations of the 

applications, depending on the number 

of applications received. DOE and 

USDA may use outside assistance in 

accordance with applicable regulations 

including qualified personnel from 

other Federal agencies, other 

Government entities, academia, 

industry, and DOE or USDA contractors. 

The Committee may not include anyone 

who, on behalf of the Federal 

government, provides assistance to the 

applicants; has any decision-making 

role regarding the applications; serves as 

Contracting Officer or performs business 

management functions for any selected 

project; audits the recipient of any 

selected project; or has any other 

conflict of interest. 

(2) Certification. Prior to evaluating 

Applications, each evaluator must read, 

understand and sign a confidentiality 

and conflict of interest certification and 

acknowledgement, indicating an 

understanding of the Evaluation and 

Selection Plan procedures and 

requirements. A signed form must be 

returned to the Contracting Officer prior 

to performing evaluations on any 

Application. Once signed, strict 

adherence to the agreement is required. 

All individuals not directly appointed 

to the Committee, but involved in the 

evaluation process will also sign a 

confidentiality and conflict of interest 

certification and acknowledgement 

form. 

(3) Application Review Process. Each 

evaluator will be assigned Applications 

for independent review prior to the 

convening of the Committee. A copy of 

each Application shall be made 

available to each evaluator for 

independent review. In addition, each 

evaluator shall receive an explanation of 

the merit review process, a copy of the 

criteria, and an explanation of scoring. 

Any printed or electronic copies of 

Applications shall be returned to the 

Chairperson, Contracting Officer or 

destroyed following the convening of 

the Committee. 

(i) Initial Review. Prior to a 

comprehensive evaluation, the Agency 

will perform an initial review to 

determine the following: 

(1) The applicant is eligible for an 

award, 

(2) The information required by the 

Notice has been submitted, and 

(3) All mandatory requirements of the 

Notice have been satisfied. If an 

applicant or application fails to meet 

these requirements, the applicant will 

be deemed non-responsive and 

eliminated from further review. 

(ii) Comprehensive Evaluation. All 

timely applications that have been 

determined, through the Initial Review, 

to meet the minimum application 

qualifications will be eligible for 

comprehensive evaluation. A listing of 

the factors that are to be considered in 

the comprehensive evaluation are 

specified in the Merit Review Criteria 

section of this Solicitation. 

(A) Independent review. The 

Committee members shall be notified of 

applications assigned to them to review 

by the Chairperson. Each Committee 

member shall independently review 

each application against the published 

criteria and provide written 

documentation of the strengths and 

weaknesses for each criterion. With the 

completion of the independent review, 

each evaluator shall be prepared to 

discuss each application’s strengths and 

weaknesses during the Committee 

meeting. 

An application must be evaluated 

even if an application does not address 

the criteria or follow the prescribed 

format. However, it is not the 

Committee members’ responsibility to 

search for information which is not 

readily apparent. Committee members 

are expected to use their best judgment 

in evaluating the application. 

(B) Committee review. The Committee 

will meet and discuss in detail the 

strengths and weaknesses of each 

criterion within each application and 

will provide written documentation of 

their consensus strengths and 

weaknesses. The Committee will then 

develop consensus scores for each 

criterion based on their deliberations. 

Once the final scores have been 

assigned, the Committee will propose a 

range of scores that shall constitute 

applications recommended for selection 

for negotiation of award. This selection 

range shall determine the order in 

which applications will be 

recommended for selection. 

(C) Program Policy Review. See 

Independent Program Policy Factors in 

this section of the Solicitation for 

further details. 

(4) Chairperson’s Report— 

Applications. A Chairperson’s Report 

must be prepared presenting the 

findings of the Committee. The Report 

shall include four sections—one to 

establish the purpose of the report, one 

to document the compliance review 

performed, one to record the merit 

review process used and any deviations, 

and one to request action by the 

selection official. In addition, relevant 

attachments shall be included, as 

referenced below. 

(a) Section 1 shall include the 

following: 

(1) A brief statement as to the purpose 

of the Chairperson’s Report; and 

(2) A brief summary of the number of 

applications received and the number 

recommended by the Committee for 

selection for negotiation of award. 

(b) Section 2 shall include the 

following: 

(1) A list of applications rejected in 

the initial compliance review, if any; 

and 

(2) A list of the reasons why they were 

rejected and not comprehensively 

reviewed. 

(c) Section 3 shall include the 

following: 

(1) The number of Committee 

members, their names, a statement that 

all applications were independently 

evaluated in accordance with the 

evaluation criteria; and certification that 

all signed Confidentiality and 

Acknowledgment Forms have been 

executed; 

(2) A discussion of the independent 

review process for all applications; 

(3) Details of the Committee meeting 

and the process followed, including a 

discussion of any deviations, such as 

issues with conflict of interest; and 

(4) A discussion of the development 

of consensus scores for each 

application, the ranking process, the 

number of applications recommended, 

and any observations or findings that 

impacted the decision regarding the 

recommended selection range. 

(5) Details of the Committee’s process 

to set the selection range and a reference 

to the final list of recommended 

applications. 

(d) Section 4 shall include the 

following: 

(1) A request for action from the 

Selection Official regarding application 

of the program policy factors and 

selection of applications for negotiation 

of award; and 


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(2) Instructions regarding these 

actions and subsequent communication 

of his/her decision to the Contracting 

Officer. 

The Selection Official may require the 

Chairperson or the Committee to present 

the report orally in addition to the 

written Chairperson’s Report. 

In a separate document, the 

Committee shall provide any 

recommendations (lessons learned) to 

the Contracting Officer to improve the 

Notice, or Evaluation and Selection Plan 

in the future. 

(5) Independent Program Policy 

Factors. These policy factors are in 

addition to the policy factors listed in 

Merit Review Criteria section of this 

Solicitation and are unique to each 

Agency. 

For the DOE award selection process, 

an independent program policy factor 

review will occur. After the DOE 

Selection Official receives the 

Chairperson’s report, the DOE Selection 

Official shall consider program policy 

factors for the purpose of maximizing 

the effectiveness of available 

government funding. The program 

policy factors will not be point scored, 

but the DOE Selection Official will 

consider them in making the selections 

for negotiation of award. USDA award 

selections will be based solely on the 

rank and recommendations provided by 

the Committee with the exception that 

two or more applicants achieve the 

same merit score in any given technical 

topic area and the level of funding is not 

sufficient to fund all such like scored 

applications 

For proposals selected for award by 

DOE, program policy factors will 

include: 

(a) Balance of the overall portfolio of 

DOE investments in biomass research 

and development. 

(b) Level of cost sharing above the 

minimum requirement. 

For proposals selected for award by 

USDA, additional program policy 

factors will include: 

(c) Level of cost sharing above the 

minimum requirement. 

(6) Application Selection Statement. 

The Selection Official will complete the 

Selection Statement. The Selection 

Statement shall specify a ranked order 

of applications recommended by the 

Committee for negotiation of award and 

applications not selected. For purposes 

of DOE, selections of any applications 

not in the Committee’s selection range 

will require written approval from the 

Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy. 

(7) Debriefing of Unsuccessful 

Applicants. Unsuccessful applicants are 

entitled to a debriefing. After selections 

for negotiation for award have been 

made, those applicants not selected will 

be advised, in writing, that they were 

not selected. Debriefings will consist of 

either the findings of the Initial Review 

as determined by USDA or the 

consensus strengths and weaknesses as 

determined by the Committee. The 

debrief letters will not include the 

consensus score of the application or 

the relative standing of the application 

in comparison to all other applications. 

The letters forwarding this information 

will be signed by the Committee 

Chairperson. 

(8) Appeals. Appeals will be handled 

in accordance with 7 CFR part 11 of this 

title. Any party adversely affected by an 

Agency decision under this Solicitation 

may request an appeal determination 

from the Director, National Appeals 

Division, USDA, within 30 days of the 

adverse decision. 

(9) Additional Information. 

Committee members may contact the 

Chairperson to obtain clarification 

regarding a pre-application or 

application. Committee members shall 

not contact the applicant. 

(10) Non-Discrimination Statement. 

USDA prohibits discrimination in all its 

programs and activities on the basis of 

race, color, national origin, age, 

disability, and where applicable, sex, 

marital status, familial status, parental 

status, religion, sexual orientation, 

genetic information, political beliefs, 

reprisal, or because all or part of an 

individual’s income is derived from any 

public assistance program. (Not all 

prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication of 

program information (braille, large 

print, audiotape, etc.) should contact 

USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720– 

2600 (voice and TDD). To file a 

complaint of discrimination, write to 

USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–9410, or call 

(866) 632–9992 (voice), or (202) 401– 

0216 (TDD). ‘‘USDA is an equal 

opportunity provider, employer, and 

lender.’’ 

VI. Award Administration 

(a) Award Notices. 

(1) Notice of selection. DOE and 

USDA will notify applicants selected for 

award. This notice of selection is not an 

authorization to begin performance. 

Organizations whose applications have 

not been selected will be advised as 

promptly as possible. This notice will 

explain why the application was not 

selected. 

(2) Notice of award. A notice of 

financial assistance award issued by the 

Contracting Officer is the authorizing 

award document. 

(b) Administrative and national policy 

requirements. 

(1) Administrative requirements. The 

administrative requirements and 

national policy requirements (e.g., 

‘‘generally applicable requirements’’) for 

Federal agency grants and cooperative 

agreements are governed by the 

awarding agency’s regulations (10 CFR 

part 600 for DOE (See: http:// 

ecfr.gpoaccess.gov); 7 CFR parts 3015, 

3016, and 3019 for USDA), except for 

DOE grants made to FDP institutions. 

The FDP terms and conditions and DOE 

FDP agency specific terms and 

conditions are located on the National 

Science Foundation Web site at http:// 

www.nsf.gov/awards/managing/ 

fed_dem_part.jsp. 

(2) Special terms and conditions and 

national policy requirements. For DOE, 

the special terms and conditions for use 

in most grants and cooperative 

agreements are located at http:// 

grants.pr.doe.gov. The national policy 

assurances to be incorporated as award 

terms are located at http:// 

grants.pr.doe.gov. 

(i) Intellectual Property Provisions. 

Financial assistance intellectual 

property provisions for USDA and DOE 

will be specified in the award 

documents for each project. The 

standard DOE financial assistance 

intellectual property provisions 

applicable to the various types of 

recipients are located at http:// 

www.gc.doe.gov/techtrans/ 

sipp_matrix.html. 

(ii) Statement of Substantial 

Involvement. Either a grant or, for DOE, 

cooperative agreement may be awarded 

under this program Solicitation. If the 

award is a cooperative agreement, the 

DOE will negotiate a Statement of 

Substantial Involvement prior to award. 

Grantee Reporting Requirements 

All award recipients are required to 

provide a concise narrative report to the 

Agency describing the status of work on 

each Project on a semi-annual basis, or 

more frequently for cause. It is 

estimated complete reports will be 2–3 

pages. The information included should 

reflect quantifiable results that can be 

used to evaluate and measure progress 

towards Project success, based on the 

objectives, timeline, and Project scope 

of the Agency approved application 

provided by the Grantee. 

These reports must include the 

following information: 

(a) Statement of quantifiable progress 

toward Project objective(s) achieved to 

date, 


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(b) Problems, obstacles, new 

developments or market/industry/ 

research changes that effected or may 

affect the expected outcomes, 

completion date, cost or scope of the 

Project, 

(c) Recommended changes to the 

work plan. 

All award recipients are required to 

provide a concise final narrative report 

to the Agency. It is estimated complete 

final reports will be at least five pages. 

The information included should reflect 

quantifiable results that can be used to 

evaluate and measure Project success, 

based on the objectives and Project 

scope of the Agency approved 

application provided by the Grantee. 

This final report must include the 

following information: 

(a) Statement of quantifiable progress 

toward Project objective(s), 

(b) Problems, obstacles, new 

developments or market/industry/ 

research changes that had an effect on 

the expected outcomes, completion 

date, cost or scope of the Project, 

(c) Description of the estimated 

impact of the Project, 

(d) Description of the estimated 

impact on the development of the 

principal discipline(s) of the Project, 

(e) Description of the estimated 

impact on other disciplines, 

(f) Description of the estimated impact 

on human resource, 

(g) Description of the estimated 

impact on physical, institutional, and 

information resources that form 

infrastructure, 

(h) Description of the estimated 

impact on society, 

(i) Description of the estimated impact 

on technology transfer, 

(j) Estimate of the economic impact of 

the Project following commercialization, 

and 

(k) Estimate of the need and cost to 

retire existing infrastructure upon 

commercialization. 

Appendix A—Detailed Descriptions of 

Technical Areas 

1. Feedstock Production through the 

development of crops and cropping systems 

relevant to production of raw materials for 

conversion to biobased fuels and biobased 

products, including: 

• Development of advanced and dedicated 

crops with desired features, including 

enhanced productivity, broader site range, 

low requirements for chemical inputs, and 

enhanced processing; 

• Advanced crop production methods to 

achieve the features described in paragraph 

1 above; 

• Feedstock harvest, handling, transport, 

and storage; and 

• Strategies for integrating feedstock 

production into existing managed land. 

Discussion and Program Relevance 

Proposals are invited for research, 

development, and demonstration projects 

that promote feedstock production through 

the development of crops and cropping 

systems relevant to production of raw 

materials for conversion to biobased fuels 

and biobased products. Biomass feedstocks of 

interest include agricultural and forest 

resources. Biomass feedstock development 

and production efforts should focus on 

improving quality, reducing raw material 

costs, enhancing the productivity, and 

ensuring agronomic and silvicultural 

methods for sustainable production. This 

may include development of advanced and 

dedicated crops with desired features, 

including enhanced productivity, broader 

site range, low chemical input requirements 

and enhanced processing. 

Projects of interest include, but are not 

limited to, those that develop appropriate 

agriculture and forest production/ 

management technologies and systems; 

identify and evaluate innovative equipment 

designs and systems to produce, harvest, 

recover, and transport biomass; or develop 

tools which land managers and community 

developers can use to evaluate the technical 

and economic viability of biomass 

production systems or to manage these 

systems more efficiently. Tools should 

integrate management, harvesting, and 

processing technologies and methods with 

economic analyses of utilization options for 

bioenergy, biofuels, and biobased products. 

Desired outcomes: 

• Scientific and technological 

breakthroughs to overcome production 

barriers and enhance economic viability. 

• Substantive development and 

demonstration of known and adapted 

technologies for effective and economical 

biomass feedstock production and use. 

• Comprehensive descriptive and 

analytical understanding of methods and 

costs of management, collection, handling, 

primary processing, and transportation of 

primary feedstocks. 

• Sustainable production and harvesting 

systems and methods that protect or enhance 

the site and surrounding landscape, 

including the long-term soil productivity, 

water, and other ecological and 

environmental resources. 

• Guidelines, tools, and management 

systems that provide a basis for decisions on 

land use, production, and technology 

application for integrated resource 

management and biomass use. 

• Tools that aid land managers and 

community developers in evaluating the 

technical and economic viability of biomass 

production, markets, and revenue streams for 

local areas. 

2. Overcoming Recalcitrance of Cellulosic 

Biomass through developing technologies for 

converting cellulosic biomass into 

intermediates that can subsequently be 

converted into biobased fuels and biobased 

products, including: 

• Enzyme-based or other novel hydrolytic 

approaches that improve the yields of 

hemicellulose (e.g. xylan) to sugars compared 

to pretreatment methods alone, or 

• Conditioning methods that improve the 

quality of sugar streams from pretreated 

materials for fermentation to ethanol; and 

• Thermochemical approaches, including 

gasification and pyrolysis. 

Discussion and Program Relevance 

Proposals are invited that address 

overcoming the recalcitrance of biomass by 

developing enzyme-based (non-cellulase) or 

other fractionation approaches to improve 

hemicellulose to sugar yields, or 

conditioning methods to improve the quality 

of pretreated streams, that will move the 

program toward meeting its sugar cost target 

goal delineated in the ‘‘Desired outcome’’ 

section below. Ultimately, the DOE program 

wishes to identify the pretreatment, 

hydrolysis and conditioning combinations 

that will lead to high yield, high quality 

hemicellulose sugars (i.e. xylose) while 

maintaining (or improving) the cellulose 

derived sugar (glucose) yield and quality in 

the stream going to a fermentation process. 

Cellulose is the primary carbohydrate in 

biomass; however cellulose conversion alone 

is not sufficient to provide an economic 

return—hemicellulose, primarily xylan, must 

be converted at high yields as well. It is 

likely that a combination of pretreatment and 

enzymatic (non-cellulase) hydrolysis is the 

most economical method of converting the 

hemicellulose, and processes that combine 

these in a feasible and economical way to 

produce high yields of xylose are sought. 

There are a number of pretreatment 

methods being developed and evaluated 

including dilute acid, ammonia fiber 

explosion (AFEX), ammonia percolation, 

lime, hot water (as is, or with pH control to 

maintain neutral pH), and organosolv-based 

processes. These pretreatments each produce 

substrates that differ in composition and in 

the levels of conditioning or detoxification 

required to make the sugars derived from 

these materials fermentable by 

microorganisms. Proposals should identify 

the basic mechanisms behind conditioning 

processes and from that knowledge, the 

methods that result in minimal sugar 

degradation while removing known 

inhibitors to ethanologens such as acetic acid 

and phenolic compounds. 

Proposals are also invited that will address 

the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass 

and develop conversion techniques and 

processes for thermochemical approaches, 

including gasification and pyrolysis, which 

move the program toward meeting its syngas 

quality and cost target goal delineated in the 

‘‘Desired outcome’’ section below. Proposals 

should address cost-competitive, 

consolidated cleanup and conditioning 

processes for a stand-alone biomass 

gasification-mixed alcohol process to: 

minimize the number of unit operations: 

achieve syngas quality required for fuel 

synthesis; reduce syngas impurities; and 

optimize performance and lifetime of 

synthesis catalysts for fuels conversion. Gas 

cleanup is a general term for removing the 

unwanted impurities from biomass 

gasification product gas and generally 

involves an integrated, multi-step approach 

to remove or eliminate tars, acid gases, 

ammonia, alkali metals, and particulates. 


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Proposals should identify or develop catalyst 

systems that reform tars with greater 

tolerance to sulfur gases to achieve synthesis 

yields of ∼90 gal fuel/ton biomass. 

Comparable R&D plans and technical targets 

are being developed for biofuels production 

from pyrolysis processes. Pyrolysis efforts 

should focus on improving stability and longterm storability and reducing the Total Acid 

Number (TAN) of bio-oils. Improving the 

yields of converting bio-oils to fungible fuels 

is another R&D area of importance. 

Desired outcome: Development of 

process(es) or process combinations that 

improve the efficiency of biomass conversion 

by improving the xylose yield or overall 

quality of the sugar intermediate in order to 

achieve the cost of a mixed, dilute sugars 

stream suitable for fermentation to ethanol in 

a mature biochemical plant of $0.06–0.07/lb 

sugars by the year 2012 and to $0.03–$0.04/ 

lb by the year 2030. 

Identification or development of 

process(es) or process combinations that 

overcome the recalcitrance of cellulosic 

biomass by developing conversion 

techniques and processes for thermochemical 

approaches, including gasification and 

pyrolysis, that produce a syngas with a 

quality of 3 volume percent or less methane, 

10 ppm or less benzene, 1 ppm or less 

hydrogen sulfide, 10 ppm or less ammonia, 

10 ppb or less hydrogen chloride and 0.1 

grams or less of heavy tars per Normal cubic 

meter and at a cost of $5.25 per million BTU 

or less. 

3. Product Diversification through 

technologies relevant to production of a 

range of biobased products (including 

chemicals, animal feeds, and co-generated 

power) that eventually can increase the 

feasibility of fuel production in a biorefinery, 

including: 

• Catalytic processing, including 

thermochemical fuel production; 

• Metabolic engineering, enzyme 

engineering, and fermentation systems for 

biological production of desired products or 

cogeneration of power; 

• Product recovery; 

• Power production technologies; and 

• Integration into existing biomass 

processing facilities, including starch ethanol 

plants, paper mills, and power plants. 

Discussion and Program Relevance 

Proposals are invited for research, 

development, and demonstrations of 

technologies that would result in product 

diversification through technologies relevant 

to production of a range of biobased products 

(including chemicals, animal feeds and cogenerated power) that eventually can 

increase the feasibility of fuel production in 

a biorefinery, including those that also: 

• Enable the conversion, via biological, 

thermal, catalytic or chemical means, of 

agricultural and forest biomass feedstocks 

into biobased products. 

• Improve the performance or commercial 

viability of biobased products and coproducts. 

• Improve the potential for developing 

rural based processing and manufacturing of 

biobased products. 

• Demonstrate commercial relevance of the 

technology, its expected marketability, and 

its potential commercial viability for 

processing and manufacturing biobased 

products. 

Desired outcomes: 

• Develop new technologies that would 

significantly decrease the cost and improve 

the energy efficiency of converting biomass 

into sugars for subsequent conversion to 

marketable fuels, chemicals or polymers. 

• Develop new technologies that would 

significantly decrease the cost and improve 

the energy efficiency of converting 

lignocellulosic biomass into syngas. 

• Develop new technologies that would 

significantly decrease the cost and improve 

the energy efficiency of converting syngas 

into marketable fuels or chemicals. 

• Develop new technologies that would 

significantly decrease the cost and improve 

the energy efficiency of pyrolyzing biomass 

into oils that could be used for (or converted 

into) marketable fuels or chemicals. 

• Develop new technologies that would 

significantly decrease the cost and improve 

the energy efficiency of producing methane 

or hydrogen from biomass. 

• Develop new technologies that would 

significantly improve the performance or 

decrease the cost and improve the energy 

efficiency of producing new, marketable 

products from biomass. 

• Develop new technologies that would 

significantly improve the performance or 

decrease the cost and improve the energy 

efficiency of producing products from the 

hemicellulose or lignin fractions of biomass. 

• Develop new technologies for converting 

bio-based fats and oils to marketable fuels, 

chemicals or polymers. 

4. Analysis that Provides Strategic 

Guidance for the application of biomass 

technologies in accordance with realization 

of improved sustainability and 

environmental quality, cost effectiveness, 

security, and rural economic development, 

usually featuring system-wide approaches. 

Appendix B—Proprietary and 

Intellectual Property Information 

Proprietary Application Information 

Patentable ideas, trade secrets, proprietary 

or confidential commercial or financial 

information, disclosure of which may harm 

the applicant, should be included in an 

application only when such information is 

necessary to convey an understanding of the 

proposed project. The use and disclosure of 

such data may be restricted, provided the 

applicant includes the following legend on 

the first page of the project narrative and 

specifies the pages of the application which 

are to be restricted: 

The data contained in pages llll of 

this application have been submitted in 

confidence and contain trade secrets or 

proprietary information, and such data shall 

be used or disclosed only for evaluation 

purposes, provided that if this applicant 

receives an award as a result of or in 

connection with the submission of this 

application, DOE or USDA shall have the 

right to use or disclose the data herein to the 

extent provided in the award. This restriction 

does not limit the government’s right to use 

or disclose data obtained without restriction 

from any source, including the applicant. 

To protect such data, each line or 

paragraph on the pages containing such data 

must be specifically identified and marked 

with a legend similar to the following: 

The following contains proprietary 

information that (name of applicant) requests 

not be released to persons outside the 

Government, except for purposes of review 

and evaluation. 

Intellectual Property Developed Under this 

Program 

Patent rights. The government will have 

certain statutory rights in an invention that 

is conceived or first actually reduced to 

practice under a DOE or USDA award. 

Specific regulations of each agency will be 

identified in the award documents for each 

project. 

For DOE awards, 42 U.S.C. 5908 provides 

that title to such inventions vests in the 

United States, except where 35 U.S.C. 202 

provides otherwise for nonprofit 

organizations or small business firms. 

However, the Secretary of Energy may waive 

all or any part of the rights of the United 

States subject to certain conditions. (See 

‘‘Notice of right to request patent waiver’’ 

below.) 

Rights in technical data. Normally, the 

government has unlimited rights in technical 

data created under a Federal Agency 

agreement. Delivery or third party licensing 

of proprietary software or data developed 

solely at private expense will not normally be 

required except as specifically negotiated in 

a particular agreement to satisfy the 

Government’s own needs or to insure the 

commercialization of technology developed 

under a Government agreement. The rights in 

data applicable to the various types of DOE 

financial assistance recipients are contained 

in 10 CFR part 600 and for USDA in 7 CFR 

parts 3015, 3016, and 3019. 

Special protected data statutes. For DOE, 

this program is covered by a special 

protected data statute. The provisions of the 

statute provide for the protection from public 

disclosure, for a period of up to five (5) years 

from the development of the information, of 

data that would be trade secret, or 

commercial or financial information that is 

privileged or confidential, if the information 

had been obtained from a non-Federal party. 

Generally, the provision entitled, Rights in 

Data—Programs Covered Under Special 

Protected Data Statutes, (10 CFR 600, 

Appendix A to Subpart D), would apply to 

an award made under this announcement. 

This provision will identify data or categories 

of data first produced in the performance of 

the award that will be made available to the 

public, notwithstanding the statutory 

authority to withhold data from public 

dissemination, and will also identify data 

that will be recognized by the parties as 

protected data. 

Notice of right to request patent waiver. For 

DOE, applicants may request a waiver of all 

or any part of the rights of the United States 

in inventions conceived or first actually 

reduced to practice in performance of an 

agreement as a result of this announcement, 

in advance of or within 30 days after the 

effective date of the award. Even if such 

advance waiver is not requested or the 


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request is denied, the recipient will have a 

continuing right under the award to request 

a waiver of the rights of the United States in 

identified inventions, i.e., individual 

inventions conceived or first actually 

reduced to practice in performance of the 

award. Any patent waiver that may be 

granted is subject to certain terms and 

conditions in 10 CFR part 784. 

Domestic small businesses and domestic 

nonprofit organizations will receive the 

patent rights clause at 37 CFR 401.14, i.e., the 

implementation of the Bayh-Dole Act. This 

clause permits domestic small business and 

domestic nonprofit organizations to retain 

title to subject inventions. Therefore, small 

businesses and nonprofit organizations do 

not need to request a waiver. 

Dated: June 5, 2007. 

Jackie J. Gleason, 

Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–2865 Filed 6–8–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Housing Service 

Section 538 Multi-Family Housing 

Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing 

Program (GRRHP) Demonstration 

Program for Fiscal Year 2007 

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability. 

SUMMARY: Through this Notice of Funds 

Availability (NOFA), the Agency 

announces the implementation of a 

demonstration program under the 

section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental 

Housing Program (GRRHP) pursuant to 

7 CFR 3565.4 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 

and 7 CFR 3565.17 Demonstration 

programs. The Demonstration Program’s 

purpose is to test the viability and 

efficacy of the concept of a continuous 

loan note guarantee through the 

construction and permanent loan 

financing phases of a project. Those 

applications that meet the 

Demonstration Program’s qualifying 

criteria and are selected to participate 

will be offered one loan note guarantee 

upon closing of the construction loan 

that will be in effect throughout both of 

the project’s construction and 

permanent phases without interruption. 

To be considered for participation in 

the Demonstration Program, in addition 

to responding to this NOFA, a Lender 

must have first submitted its application 

under either the GRRHP’s 2007 Notice 

at 72 FR 8339 (Feb. 26, 2007) or the 

GRRHP’s 2006 Notice at 71 FR 4559 

(Jan. 27, 2006). Furthermore, the 

application to be considered must have 

been obligated from October 1, 2006 to 

July 31, 2007. 

The funding for the Demonstration 

Program will be approximately $10 

million. Expenses incurred in 

developing applications will be at the 

applicant’s risk. The following 

paragraphs outline the timeframes, 

eligibility requirements, lender 

responsibilities, and the overall 

response and application processes. 

Eligible Lenders wishing to have their 

FY 2007 obligations considered for the 

Demonstration Program must send a 

signed request on its letterhead with the 

proposed project details as outlined in 

the ‘‘Demonstration Program Response 

Submission Address’’ section of this 

NOFA. 

Demonstration Program Guidelines: 

The following guidelines are being 

provided to facilitate a structured 

implementation of the program: 

1. Demonstration guarantee. The 

Demonstration guarantee is a guarantee 

that will be offered to those applications 

that apply for and meet the 2007 

Demonstration NOFA’s demonstration 

program’s qualifying criteria. The 

Demonstration guarantee will consist of 

one loan note guarantee upon closing of 

the construction loan that will be in 

effect throughout both of the project’s 

construction and permanent financing 

phases without interruption. 

2. Upon approval of an application 

from an approved lender, the Agency 

will commit to providing a 

demonstration guarantee for the 

construction and permanent financing 

phases of the project, subject to the 

availability of funds. 

3. Guarantee percentage and payment. 

Both construction loan advances and 

permanent loans are eligible for a 

guaranty subject to the following 

limitations: 

Construction loan advances and 

permanent loans. The Agency may 

guarantee a construction contract which 

has credit enhancements to protect the 

Government’s interest. The Agency can 

guarantee the ‘‘construction and 

permanent’’ financing phases of a 

project. The Agency cannot, however, 

guarantee only the ‘‘construction’’ 

financing phase of a project. Guarantees 

under the demonstration guarantee will 

cover construction loan advances and 

the subsequent permanent loan. A 

demonstration guarantee requires an 

additional operating reserve equal to 2% 

of the appraised value of the project or 

total development costs, whichever is 

greater, to be set aside prior to closing 

the construction loan. This cash 

contribution is an additional amount, 

over and above the required initial 

operating and maintenance 

contribution. The maximum guarantee 

of construction advances will not at any 

time exceed the lesser of 90 percent of 

the amount of principal and interest up 

to default advanced for eligible uses of 

loan proceeds or 90 percent of the 

original principal amount and interest 

up to default of a loan. Penalties 

incurred as a result of default are not 

covered by the guarantee. The Agency 

may provide a lesser guarantee based 

upon its evaluation of the credit quality 

of the loan. 

4. A lender making a construction 

loan must demonstrate an ability to 

originate and service construction loans. 

5. Guarantee during construction. The 

Agency will issue a demonstration 

guarantee only to an approved lender. 

6. Demonstration guarantee program 

compliance requirement. For a 

demonstration guarantee, the following 

items will have to be submitted in order 

to remain compliant with program 

requirements. The items must be 

submitted within the timeframe 

stipulated by the Agency and must also 

be approved by the Agency: 

(1) A certificate of substantial 

completion; 

(2) A certificate of occupancy or 

similar evidence of local approval; 

(3) A final cost certification in a form 

acceptable to the Agency; 

(4) A complete copy of the permanent 

loan closing docket; and 

(5) Necessary information to complete 

an updated necessary assistance review 

by the Agency. 

The Agency may declare the loan in 

default if the Lender fails to comply 

with the demonstration guarantee 

program guidelines. The Agency may 

also declare the loan in default if the 

Agency’s final inspection is not 

satisfactory. To facilitate the 

implementation of the program, certain 

program forms may be addended to 

include relevant Demonstration Program 

requirements. 

The selected applicants will be 

subject to the Demonstration Program 

guidelines in this NOFA, and GRRHP’s 

controlling statute, regulations, and 

handbook as amended. The GRRHP 

operates under the Housing Act of 1949 

and regulations at 7 CFR part 3565. The 

GRRHP Origination and Servicing 

Handbook (HB–1–3565) is available to 

provide lenders and the general public 

with guidance on program 

administration. HB–1–3565, which 

contains a copy of 7 CFR part 3565 in 

Appendix 1, can be found at the Rural 

Development Instructions Web site 

address http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ 

regs/hblist.html#hbw6. 

Demonstration Program Eligibility: 

Applications that meet the following 

criteria will be eligible for consideration 


rmajette on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with MISCELLANEOUS