Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 226 / Monday, November 24, 1997 / Notices 62661

Originating Office: Bureau of

Diplomatic Security.

Title of Information collection:

Building Access Application.

Frequency: On occasion.

Form Number: DSP–97.

Respondents: Press Corps,

maintenance personnel, visitors, and

others as needed.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

10,250.

Average Hours Per Response: 15

minutes.

Total Estimated Burden: 2,550 hours.

Public comments are being solicited

to permit the agency to—

• Evaluate whether the proposed

information collection is necessary for

the proper performance of the agency

functions.

• Evaluate the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection.

• Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected.

• Minimize the reporting burden on

those who are to respond, including

through the use of automated collection

techniques or other forms of technology.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Comments

regarding the collection listed in this

notice or requests for copies of the

proposed collection and supporting

documents should be directed to

Charles S. Cunningham, Directives

Management Branch, U.S. Department

of State, Washington, DC 20520, (202)

647–0596.

Dated: November 4, 1997.

Eliza McClenaghan,

Chief Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–30739 Filed 11–21–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–43–M

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice No. 2626]

Discretionary Grant Programs:

Application Notice Establishing

Closing Date for Transmittal of Certain

Fiscal Year 1998 Applications

AGENCY: The Department of State invites

applications from national organizations

with interest and expertise in

conducting research and training to

serve as intermediaries administering

national competitive programs

concerning the countries of Eastern

Europe and the independent states of

the former Soviet Union. The grants will

be awarded through an open, national

competition among applicant

organizations.

Authority for this Program for

Research and Training on Eastern

Europe and the Independent States of

the Former Soviet Union is contained in

the Soviet-Eastern European Research

and Training Act of 1983 (22 U.S.C.

4501–4508, as amended).

SUMMARY: The purpose of this

application notice is to inform potential

applicant organizations of fiscal and

programmatic information and closing

dates for transmittal of applications for

awards in Fiscal Year 1998 under a

program administered by the

Department of State. The program seeks

to build and sustain expertise among

Americans willing to make a career

commitment to the study of Eastern

Europe and the countries of the former

Soviet Union.

ORGANIZATION OF NOTICE: This notice

contains three parts. Part I lists the

closing date covered by this of Notice:

notice. Part II consists of a statement of

purpose and priorities of the program.

Part III provides the fiscal data for the

program.

Part I

Closing Date for Transmittal of

Applications

An application for an award must be

mailed or hand-delivered by February

20, 1998.

Applications Delivered by Mail

An application sent by mail must be

addressed to Kenneth E. Roberts,

Executive Director, Advisory Committee

for Studies of Eastern Europe and the

Independent States of the Former Soviet

Union, INR/RES, Room 6841, U.S.

Department of State, 2201 C Street,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520–6510.

An applicant must show proof of

mailing consisting of one of the

following:

(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service

postmark.

(2) A legible mail receipt with the

date of mailing stamped by the U.S.

Postal Service.

(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or

receipt from a commercial center.

(4) Any other proof of mailing

acceptable to the Department of State.

If any application is sent through the

U.S. Postal Service, the Department of

State does not accept either of the

following as proof of mailing: (1) A

private metered postmark, or (2) a mail

receipt that is not dated by the U.S.

Postal Service.

An applicant should note that the

U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly

provide a dated postmark. Before

relying on this method, an applicant

should check with the local post office.

An applicant is encouraged to use

registered or at least first class mail. Late

applications will not be considered and

will be returned to the applicant.

Applications Delivered by Hand

An application that is hand delivered

must be taken to Kenneth E. Roberts,

Executive Director, Advisory Committee

for Studies of Eastern Europe and the

Independent States of the Former Soviet

Union, INR/RES, Room 6841, 2201 C

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Please

phone first ((202) 736–4572) to ensure

access to the building.

The Advisory Committee staff will

accept hand-delivered applications

between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST

daily, except Saturdays, Sundays, and

Federal holidays.

An application that is hand delivered

will not be accepted after 4:00 p.m. on

the closing date.

Part II

Program Information

In the Soviet-Eastern European

Research and Training Act of 1983 the

Congress declared that independently

verified factual knowledge about the

countries of that area is ‘‘of utmost

importance for the national security of

the United States, for the furtherance of

our national interests in the conduct of

foreign relations, and for the prudent

management of our domestic affairs.’’

Congress also declared that the

development and maintenance of such

knowledge and expertise ‘‘depends

upon the national capability for

advanced research by highly trained and

experienced specialists, available for

service in and out of Government.’’ The

program provides financial support for

advanced research, training and other

related functions on the countries of the

region. By strengthening and sustaining

in the United States a cadre of experts

on Eastern Europe and the independent

states of the former Soviet Union, the

program contributes to the overall

objectives of the FREEDOM Support and

SEED programs.

The full purpose of the Act and the

eligibility requirements are set forth in

Pub. L. 98–164, 97 Stat. 1047–50, as

amended. The countries include

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,

Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia,

Georgia, Hungary, Kazakstan, Kyrgyz

Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova,

Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia,

Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,

Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia (including

Kosovo and Montenegro), and the

Former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia.

The Act establishes an Advisory

Committee to recommend grant policies
62662 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 226 / Monday, November 24, 1997 / Notices

and recipients. The Secretary of State,

after consultation with the Advisory

Committee, approves policies and

makes final determination on awards.

Applications for funding under the

Act are invited from U.S. organizations

prepared to conduct competitive

programs on the independent states of

the former Soviet Union and the

countries of Eastern Europe and related

fields. Applying organizations or

institutions should have the capability

to conduct competitive award programs

that are national in scope. Programs of

this nature are those that make awards

which are based upon an open,

nationwide competition, incorporating

peer group review mechanisms.

Individual end-users of these funds—

those to whom the applicant

organizations or institutions propose to

make awards—must be at the graduate

or post-doctoral level, and must have

demonstrated a likely career

commitment to the study of Eastern

Europe and/or the independent states of

the former Soviet Union.

Applications sought in this

competition among organizations or

institutions are those that would

contribute to the development of a

stable, long-term, national program of

unclassified, advanced research and

training on the countries of Eastern

Europe and/or the independent states of

the former Soviet Union by proposing:

(1) National programs which award

contracts or grants to American

institutions of higher education or notfor-profit corporations in support of

post-doctoral or equivalent level

research projects, such contracts or

grants to contain shared-cost provisions;

(2) National programs which offer

graduate, post-doctoral and teaching

fellowships for advanced training on the

countries of Eastern Europe and the

independent states of the former Soviet

Union, and in related studies, including

training in the languages of the region,

with such training to be conducted on

a shared-cost basis, at American

institutions of higher education;

(3) National programs which provide

fellowships and other support for

American specialists enabling them to

conduct advanced research on the

countries of Eastern Europe and the

independent states of the former Soviet

Union, and in related studies; and those

which facilitate research collaboration

between Government and private

specialists in these areas;

(4) National programs which provide

advanced training and research on a

reciprocal basis in the countries of

Eastern Europe and the independent

states of the former Soviet Union by

facilitating access for American

specialists to research facilities and

resources in those countries;

(5) National programs which facilitate

the public dissemination of research

methods, data and findings; and those

which propose to strengthen the

national capability for advanced

research or training on the countries of

Eastern Europe and the independent

states of the former Soviet Union in

ways not specified above.

Note: The Advisory Committee will not

consider applications from individuals to

further their own training or research, or

from institutions or organizations whose

proposals are not for competitive award

programs that are national in scope as

defined above. Support for specific activities

will be guided by the following policies:

—Support for Transitions. The Advisory

Committee strongly encourages support for

activities which, while building expertise

among U.S. specialists on the region, also

promote fundamental goals of U.S.

assistance programs such as helping

establish market economies and promoting

democratic governance and civil societies.

—Publications. Funds awarded in this

competition should not be used to

subsidize journals, newsletters and other

periodical publications except in special

circumstances, in which cases the funds

should be supplied through peer-review

organizations with national competitive

programs.

—Conferences. Proposals for conferences,

like those for research projects and training

programs, should be assessed according to

their relative contribution to the

advancement of knowledge and to the

professional development of cadres in the

fields. Therefore, requests for conference

funding should be directed to one or more

of the national peer-review organizations

receiving program funds, with proposed

conferences being evaluated competitively

against research, fellowship or other

proposals for achieving the purposes of the

grant.

—Library Activities. Funds may be used for

certain library activities which clearly

strengthen research and training on the

countries of Eastern Europe and the

independent states of the former Soviet

Union and benefit the fields as a whole.

Such programs must make awards based

upon open, nationwide competition,

incorporating peer group review

mechanisms. Funds may not be used for

activities such as modernization,

acquisition, or preservation. Modest, costeffective proposals to facilitate research, by

eliminating serious cataloging backlogs or

otherwise improving access to research

materials, will be considered.

—Language Support. The Advisory

Committee encourages attention to the

non-Russian languages of the independent

states of the former Soviet Union and the

less commonly taught languages of the East

European countries. Support provided for

Russian language instruction/study

normally will be only for advanced level.

Applicants proposing to offer language

instruction are encouraged to apply to a

national program as described above which

has appropriate peer group review

mechanisms.

—Support for Non-Americans. The purpose

of the program is to build and sustain U.S.

expertise on the countries of Eastern

Europe and the independent states of the

former Soviet Union. Therefore, the

Advisory Committee has determined that

highest priority for support always should

go to American specialists (i.e., U.S.

citizens or permanent residents). Support

for such activities as long-term research

fellowships, i.e., nine months or longer,

should be restricted solely to American

scholars. Support for short-term activities

also should be restricted to Americans,

except in special instances where the

participation of a non-American scholar

has clear and demonstrable benefits to the

American scholarly community. In such

special instances, the applicant must

justify the expenditure.

In making its recommendations, the

Committee will seek to encourage a

coherent, long-term, and stable effort

directed toward developing and

maintaining a national capability on the

countries of Eastern Europe and the

independent states of the former Soviet

Union. Program proposals can be for the

conduct of any of the functions

enumerated, but in making its

recommendations, the Committee will

be concerned to develop a balanced

national effort which will ensure

attention to all the countries of the area.

Legislation requires and this

announcement indicates under Program

Information of this section that in

certain cases grantee organizations must

include shared-cost provisions in their

arrangements with end-users. Costsharing is encouraged, whenever

feasible, in all programs.

Part III

Available Funds

Awards are contingent upon the

availability of funds. Funding may be

available at a level up to $5.0 million.

The precise level of funding will not be

known until legislative action is

complete. In Fiscal Year 1997, the

Congress appropriated to the program

$4.2 million from the U.S. Agency for

International Development budget,

which funded grants to 10 national

organizations. The number of awards

varies each year, depending on the level

of funding.

The Department legally cannot

commit funds that may be appropriated

in subsequent fiscal years. Thus multiyear projects cannot receive assured

funding unless such funding is supplied

out of a single year’s appropriation.

Grant agreements may permit the

expenditure from a particular year’s
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 226 / Monday, November 24, 1997 / Notices 62663

grant to be made up to three years after

the grant’s effective date.

Applications

Applications must be prepared and

submitted in 20 copies in the form of a

statement, the narrative part of which

should not exceed 20 double-spaced

pages. This must be accompanied by a

one-page executive summary, a budget,

and vitae of key professional staff.

Proposers may append other

information they consider essential,

although bulky submissions are

discouraged and run the risk of not

being reviewed fully. The one-page

summary and budget should precede

the narrative in the proposal.

Proposed programs should be

described fully, including benefits for

the fields. All applicants should provide

detailed information about their plans

for peer evaluation and review

procedures and estimates of the types

and amount of anticipated awards.

Applicants who have received a grant

from this program in the previous

competition should provide detailed

information on the peer evaluation and

review procedures followed, and awards

made, including, where applicable,

names/affiliations of recipients, and

amounts and types of awards. If an

applicant received support prior to the

last competition, a summary of those

awards also should be included.

Descriptions of all competitive award

programs should specify both past and

anticipated applicant-to-award ratios.

Proposals from national organizations

involving language instruction programs

should provide for those programs

supported in the past year information

on the criteria for evaluation, including

levels of instruction, degrees of

intensiveness, facilities, methods for

measuring language proficiency

(including pre-and post-testing),

instructors’ qualifications, and budget

information showing estimated costs per

student.

A description of affirmative action

policies and practices must be included

in the application.

Applications should include

certifications of compliance with the

provisions of: (1) The Drug-Free

Workplace Act (Pub. L.100–690), in

accordance with Appendix C of 22 CFR

137, Subpart F; and (2) Section 319 of

the Department of the Interior and

Related Agencies Appropriations Act

(Pub. L. 101–121), in accordance with

Appendix A of 22 CFR 138, New

Restrictions on Lobbying Activities.

Budget

Since funds provided by U.S. AID

would come separately from its East

Europe (including the Baltic states) and

New Independent States programs,

proposals must indicate how the

requested funds will be distributed by

region, country (to the extent possible),

and activity. Subsequently, grant

recipients must report expenditures by

region, country, and activity.

Applicants should familiarize

themselves with Department of State

grant regulations contained in 22 CFR

145, ‘‘Grants and Cooperative

Agreements with Institutions of Higher

Education, Hospitals, and Other NonProfit Organizations,’’ OMB Circular A–

110, ‘‘Grants and Agreements with

Institutions of Higher Education * * *

Uniform Administrative Requirements,’’

and OMB Circular A–133, ‘‘Audits of

Institutions of Higher Learning and

Other Non-Profit Institutions’’ and

indicate or provide the following

information:

(1) Whether the organization falls

under OMB Circular No. A–21, ‘‘Cost

Principles for Educational Institutions,’’

or OMB Circular No. A–122, ‘‘Cost

Principles for Nonprofit Organizations;’’

(2) A detailed program budget

indicating direct expenses by program

element, by region (the independent

states of the former Soviet Union or

Eastern Europe), indirect costs, and the

total amount requested. NB: Indirect

costs are limited to 10 percent of total

direct program costs. Applicants

requesting funds to supplement a

program having other sources of support

should submit a current budget for the

total program and an estimated future

budget for it showing how specific lines

in the budget would be affected by the

allocation of requested grant funds.

Other funding sources and amounts,

when known, should be identified.

(3) The applicant’s cost-sharing

proposal, if applicable, containing

appropriate details and cross references

to the requested budget;

(4) The organization’s most recent

audit report (the most recent U.S.

Government audit report if available)

and the name, address, and point of

contact of the audit agency. N.B.: The

threshold for grants that trigger an audit

requirement has been raised from

$25,000 to $300,000.

(5) An indication of the proposer’s

priorities if funding is being requested

for more than one program or activity.

All payments will be made to grant

recipients through the Department of

State.

Technical Review

The Advisory Committee for Studies

of Eastern Europe and the Independent

States of the Former Soviet Union will

evaluate applications on the basis of the

following criteria:

(1) Responsiveness to the substantive

provisions set forth above in Part II,

Program Information (45 points);

(2) The professional qualifications of

the applicant’s key personnel and their

experience conducting national

competitive award programs of the type

the applicant proposes on the countries

of Eastern Europe and the independent

states of the former Soviet Union (35

points); and

(3) Budget presentation and cost

effectiveness (20 points).

Further Information

For further information, contact

Kenneth E. Roberts, Executive Director,

Advisory Committee for Studies of

Eastern Europe and the Independent

States of the Former Soviet Union, INR/

RES, Room 6841, U.S. Department of

State, 2201 C Street, N.W., Washington,

D.C. 20520–6510. Telephone: (202) 736–

4572 or 736–4386, fax: (202) 736–4851.

Dated: November 4, 1997.

Kenneth E. Roberts,

Executive Director, Advisory Committee for

Studies of Eastern Europe and the

Independent States of the Former Soviet

Union.

[FR Doc. 97–30761 Filed 11–21–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–32–P

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Secretary

[Public Notice 2656]

Extension of the Restriction on the Use

of United States Passports for Travel

To, In, or Through Libya

On December 11, 1981, pursuant to

the authority of 22 U.S.C. 211a and

Executive Order 11295 (31 FR 10603),

and in accordance with 22 CFR

51.73(a)(3), all United States passports

were declared invalid for travel to, in,

or through Libya unless specifically

validated for such travel. This

restriction has been renewed yearly

because of the unsettled relations

between the United States and the

Government of Libya and the possibility

of hostile acts against Americans in

Libya.

The Government of Libya still

maintain a decidedly anti-American

stance and continues to emphasize its

willingness to direct hostile acts against

the United States and its nationals. The

American Embassy in Tripoli remains

closed, thus preventing the United

States from providing routine

diplomatic protection or consular