6230 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 28 / Tuesday, February 11, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Research

Energy Research Financial Assistance

Program Notice 97–06; Integrated

Assessment of Global Climate Change

Research Program

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice inviting research grant

applications.

SUMMARY: The Office of Health and

Environmental Research (OHER) of the

Office of Energy Research (ER), U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE), hereby

announces its interest in receiving

applications for the Integrated

Assessment of Global Climate Change

research grants Program. This notice is

a follow on to three previous notices

published in the Federal Register

(Notice 93–4 published December 9,

1992, entitled Economics of Global

Change Research Program; Notice 95–12

published December 29, 1994, entitled

Global Change Assessment Research

Program; and Notice 96–06 published

January 30, 1996, entitled Global

Change Integrated Assessment

Research). The program has a more

narrowly defined scope this year to

emphasize specific topics in support of

integrated assessment. The research

program supports the Department’s

Global Change Research Program, the

U.S. Global Change Research Program

and the Administration’s goals to

understand and mitigate the rise in

greenhouse gases.

DATES: Applicants are encouraged (but

not required) to submit a brief

preapplication for programmatic review.

There is no deadline for the

preapplication, but early submission of

preapplications is encouraged to allow

time for meaningful dialogue. A

preapplication should consist of two to

three pages of narrative describing the

research objectives and methods of

accomplishment together with a brief

summary of the principal investigator’s

publication and research background.

The deadline for receipt of formal

applications is 4:30 p.m., E.S.T., March

27, 1997, to be accepted for merit review

and to permit timely consideration for

award in fiscal year 1997 or early fiscal

year 1998. An original and seven copies

of the application must be submitted;

however, applicants are requested not to

submit multiple applications using

more than one delivery or mail service.

ADDRESSES: If submitting a

preapplication, referencing Program

Notice 97–06, it should be sent E-mail

to john.houghton@oer.doe.gov. Formal

applications referencing Program Notice

97–06 on the cover page must be

forwarded to: U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Energy Research,

Grants and Contracts Division, ER–64,

19901 Germantown Road, Germantown,

MD 20874–1290, ATTN: Program Notice

97–06. This address must also be used

when submitting applications by U.S.

Postal Service Express Mail or any other

commercial overnight delivery service,

or when hand-carried by the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

John Houghton, Environmental Sciences

Division, ER–74, Office of Health and

Environmental Research, Office of

Energy Research, U.S. Department of

Energy, 19901 Germantown Road,

Germantown, MD 20874–1290,

telephone: (301) 903–8288, E-mail:

john.houghton@oer.doe.gov, fax: (301)

903–8519.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

determination of energy policy, such as

the administration analysis of

international protocols for global

climate change, is tied to understanding

the benefits and costs of potential

actions with respect to the control of

greenhouse gases and possible climate

change. The research described in this

notice supports the analysis of those

benefits and costs.

This research will be judged in part

on its potential to improve and/or

support the analytical basis for policy

development. The program is narrowly

focused and will primarily concentrate

support on three specific topics,

described below. Applications that

involve development of analytical

models and computer codes will be

judged partly on the basis of proposed

tasks to prepare documentation and

make the models and codes available to

other groups.

Integrated Assessment of Global

Climate Change

Integrated assessment of climate

change is defined here as the analysis of

climate change from the cause, such as

greenhouse gas emissions, through

impacts, such as changed energy

requirements for space conditioning due

to temperature changes. Integrated

Assessment is sometimes, but not

always, implemented as a computer

model. A description of Integrated

Assessment may be found in Chapter

10: ‘‘Integrated Assessment of Climate

Change: An Overview and Comparison

of Approaches and Results’’, in Climate

Change 1995: Economic and Social

Dimensions of Climate Change, edited

by Bruce, James P.; Lee, Hoesung; and

Haites, Erik F., Cambridge University

Press, 1996.

The following categories are requested

research topics:

1. Technology innovation and

diffusion. This category has been a

primary focus of the Integrated

Assessment of Global Climate Change

Program since its initiation four years

ago.

Potential research projects include

such issues as:

• Decomposing the effect of

technology innovation and diffusion on

carbon emissions into such components

as changes in GDP, sectoral mix, capital

stock, innovation, and diffusion.

Historical records might be used to

estimate trends and make projections

that vary as a function of price effects

and policy options.

• Technology innovation and

diffusion is an important part of several

aspects of integrated assessment models,

such as backstop technologies,

adaptation, resource depletion, labor

productivity, and substitution

parameters for shifting factor shares.

Investigations might include studies to

help predict changes in these

parameters both for a base case and for

various policy options, as well as

studies to analyze the internal

consistency among these aspects.

• The rate and nature of technology

diffusion from the US to developing

countries. Relevant factors include the

prediction of the energy-use path for

developing countries, the effects of

changes in international trade policies

and patterns, and ‘‘carbon leakage’’.

• The translation of existing literature

on the economics of technology

innovation into a representation that

could be adapted for IA models.

• Investment or other policies to

encourage research and development

are options for increasing abatement and

improving adaptation. Research in this

topic would investigate such subjects as

evaluating the effectiveness of

alternative modes of implementation,

such as direct grants, cooperative

research projects, et cetera.

2. Representing impacts in integrated

assessments. A major challenge before

the integrated assessment modeling

community is to improve and expand

the range of representations in

integrated assessment models of the

response of ecosystems, socio-economic

systems, and other sectors to potential

climate changes. Two criteria for

selection will be (1) The degree of

collaboration with scientists working on

the ecological and socio-economic

consequences of climate change, and (2)

the utility of the results (output) to the

integrated assessment community, such

as the ability to represent potential

ecological or socio-economic
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 28 / Tuesday, February 11, 1997 / Notices 6231

consequences of climate change in

integrated assessment models. Proposed

research at a regional or more detailed

scale will need an explicit description

of the potential of the expected results

to be expanded to a national or

continental scale for use directly or

indirectly by the integrated assessment

community. Academic researchers

interested in regional-scale impact

studies or in developing methods and

models for conducting regional-scale

assessments of the consequences of

climate change may also contact Dr.

Jerry Elwood, E-mail address

jerry.elwood@oer.doe.gov, for

information about applying to DOE’s

National Institute for Global

Environmental Change (NIGEC) research

program.

Topics of high importance include:

• For the OECD countries,

unmanaged ecosystems (including

marine) and energy sectors.

• For the non-OECD countries,

energy, water, unmanaged ecosystems

(including marine), and sea level rise.

Themes that increase the importance

to the integrated assessment community

include:

• Explicit analysis and treatment of

adaptation.

• Analysis of transient climate

changes rather than static climate

scenarios.

• Analysis of thresholds.

• Analysis of variability and extremes

(including low-probability/highconsequence events).

• The combination of several impact

sectors so that cross-sector issues (such

as water or land availability) are

explicitly considered.

3. Analysis of Environmental

Technologies. It is difficult to send the

‘‘proper price signals’’ (measures of full

environmental impacts) to designers,

manufacturers, policy makers, and

research managers so that decisions can

reflect the full societal impact by the

manufacturing process of resource use

and byproduct disposal, including

greenhouse gases. The following

industries represent 80 percent of the

energy consumption in the

manufacturing sector: chemicals,

petroleum refining, forest products,

steel, aluminum, glass, and metal

casting. We would welcome

applications that propose to prepare an

integrated assessment framework of

these sectors to investigate such issues

as life cycle analysis, ‘‘industrial

ecology’’ and ‘‘sustainability’’, the

expected improvement in technologies

in response to various policy options,

and the value of improved technologies.

Applicants responding to this specific

topic are encouraged to develop

working collaborations with appropriate

and relevant industries; applications

involving industrial collaboration will

receive preference over applications of

equal scientific merit but lacking such

collaboration.

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION: The

preparation and submission of grant

applications must follow the guidelines

given in the Application Guide for the

Office of Energy Research Financial

Assistance Program 10 CFR Part 605.

Information about the development,

submission of applications, eligibility,

limitations, evaluation, the selection

process, and other policies and

procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part

605, and in the Application Guide for

the Office of Energy Research Financial

Assistance Program. The Application

Guide is available from the U.S.

Department of Energy, Office of Energy

Research, ER–74, 19901 Germantown

Road, Germantown, MD 20874–1290.

Telephone requests may be made by

calling (301) 903–3338. Electronic

access to ER’s Financial Assistance

Application Guide and forms is possible

via the World Wide Web at: http://

www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/

grants.html. The research description

must be 15 pages or less, exclusive of

attachments, and must contain an

abstract or summary of the proposed

research. Attachments include

curriculum vitae, a listing of all current

and pending federal support, and letters

of intent when collaborations are part of

the proposed research.

Applications will be subjected to

formal merit review (peer review) and

will be evaluated against the following

evaluation criteria which are listed in

descending order of importance codified

at 10 CFR 605.10(d):

1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of

the Project;

2. Appropriateness of the Proposed

Method or Approach;

3. Competency of Applicant’s

Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed

Resources;

4. Reasonableness and

Appropriateness of the Proposed

Budget.

The evaluation will include program

policy factors such as the relevance of

the proposed research to the terms of

the announcement and an agency’s

programmatic needs. Note, external peer

reviewers are selected with regard to

both their scientific expertise and the

absence of conflict-of-interest issues.

Non-federal reviewers will often be

used, and submission of an application

constitutes agreement that this is

acceptable to the investigator(s) and the

submitting institution.

It is anticipated that up to $1.5

million will be available for multiple

awards to be made in FY 1997 and early

FY 1998 in the categories described

above, contingent on availability of

appropriated funds. Applications may

request project support up to three

years, with out-year support contingent

on availability of funds, progress of the

research, and programmatic needs.

Annual budgets are expected to range

from $30,000 to $150,000 total costs.

Although the required original and

seven copies of the application must be

submitted, researchers are asked to

submit an electronic version of their

abstract of the proposed research in

ASCII format and their E-mail address to

Karen Carlson by E-mail at

karen.carlson@oer.doe.gov. Additional

information on the Integrated

Assessment Program is available at the

following web site: http://

www.er.doe.gov/production/oher/john/

iapage.html. For researchers who do not

have access to the world wide web,

please contact Karen Carlson;

Environmental Sciences Division, ER–

74; U.S. Department of Energy; 19901

Germantown Road; Germantown, MD

20874–1290; telephone: (301) 903–3338;

fax: (301) 903–8519; E-mail:

karen.carlson@oer.doe.gov; for hard

copies of background material

mentioned in this solicitation.

Curriculum vitae should be submitted

in a form similar to that of NIH or NSF

(two to three pages), see for example:

http://www.nsf.gov:80/bfa/cpo/gpg/

fkit.htm#forms-9.

Related Funding Opportunities

Investigators may wish to obtain

information about the following related

funding opportunities.

National Science Foundation/Methods

and Models for Integrated Assessment

In concert with other USGCRP

agencies, NSF sponsors high-quality,

fundamental and methodological

research in two related categories: (1)

Research that advances the development

of methodologies and models that will

integrate or couple multiple component

systems; and (2) research that develops

and enhances the scientific components

of the integrated approach. NSF

encourages participation and

collaboration of researchers from all

appropriate scientific and engineering

disciplines, including the mathematical

sciences. In FY 1996, NSF awarded

approximately $3.4 million through the

special MMIA competition. Funding in

FY 1997 is anticipated at approximately

the same level, depending on

availability of funds. Proposals

submitted for this competition must be
6232 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 28 / Tuesday, February 11, 1997 / Notices

received by NSF by February 14, 1997.

For more information on this program,

please contact; Dr. Keith Crank,

Directorate for Mathematical and

Physical Sciences, National Science

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd.,

Arlington, VA 22230, telephone: (703)

306–1885, fax: (703) 306–0555, Internet:

kcrank@nsf.gov. NSF also supports

related research in all fields of science

and engineering. Information on NSF

environment and global change funding

opportunities is available at: http://

www.nsf.gov/stratare/egch/.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

Within the context of its Economics

and Human Dimensions of Climate

Fluctuations Program, the Office of

Global Programs of the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration will

support research that identifies and

analyzes social and economic impacts

associated with seasonal, year-to-year,

and intradecadal climate variability;

improves our understanding of factors

that determine human vulnerability to

such fluctuations; and identifies options

for reducing vulnerability. The program

is particularly interested in learning

how advanced climate information (e.g.,

ENSO-based probabilistic climate

forecasts), as well as an improved

understanding of current coping

mechanisms, could be used for reducing

vulnerability and providing for more

efficient adjustment to these variations.

Notice of this program is included in the

Program Announcement for NOAA’s

Climate and Global Change Program,

which is published each spring in the

Federal Register. The deadline for

proposals to be considered in fiscal year

1998 is expected to be in late summer

1997. For further information, contact:

Caitlin Simpson; Office of Global

Programs; National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration; 1100

Wayne Ave., Suite 1225; Silver Spring,

MD 20910; telephone: (301) 427–2089,

ext. 47; Internet:

simpson@ogp.noaa.gov.

Environmental Protection Agency

In 1997 the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) will support research on

Consequences of Global Change on

Ecosystems by joining the interagency

Terrestrial Ecology and Global Change

(TECO) Program, administered by the

National Science Foundation (NSF).

Related requests for applications that

are currently advertised on the EPA

Home Page include ‘‘Ecosystem

Indicators’’; ‘‘Ecosystem Restoration’’—

sponsored jointly with National

Aeronautics and Space Administration;

and ‘‘Water/Watersheds’’—sponsored

jointly with the NSF. The EPA offers

grants in global climate change through

its ‘‘National Center for Environmental

Research and Quality Assurance’’.

Information is available through web

site: http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa or

hotline 1–800–490–9194. For further

information, contact Barbara M.

Levinson, EPA (8723), Washington, DC

20460, telephone: (202) 260–5983, fax:

(202) 260–4524, E-mail:

Levinson.barbara@epamail.epa.gov.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance Number for this program is

81.049, and the solicitation control number is

ERFAP 10 CFR Part 605.

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 3,

1997.

John Rodney Clark,

Associate Director for Resource Management,

Office of Energy Research.

[FR Doc. 97–3383 Filed 2–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. RP97–246–000]

ANR Pipeline Company; Notice of

Proposed Changes in FERC Gas Tariff

February 5, 1997.

Take notice that on January 31, 1997,

ANR Pipeline Company (ANR) tendered

for filing as part of its FERC Gas Tariff,

Second Revised Volume No. 1, the

following tariff sheets to become

effective February 1, 1997:

Nineteenth Revised Sheet No. 8

Twenty-first Revised Sheet No. 9

Twentieth Revised Sheet No. 13

Twenty-first Revised Sheet No. 16

Twenty-fourth Revised Sheet No. 18

ANR states that the above-referenced

tariff sheets are being filed to cancel the

expired PD surcharges associated with

ANR’s first and second PD cost recovery

filings, and to commence recovery of

approximately $2.5 million of

additional pricing differential (PD) and

carrying costs that have been incurred

by ANR during the period September 1,

1996 through November 30, 1996 as a

result of the implementation of Order

Nos. 636, et seq. ANR proposes a

reservation fee surcharge applicable to

its Part 284 firm transportation

customers to recover ninety percent

(90%) of the PD costs, and an

adjustment to the maximum base tariff

rates applicable to Rate Schedule ITS

and overrun service rendered pursuant

to Rate Schedule FTS–2, so as to recover

the remaining ten percent (10%). ANR

has requested that the Commission

accept the tendered sheets to become

effective February 1, 1997. Due to the

expiring surcharges noted above, ANR

advises that its PD surcharge will

decrease from $0.357 to $0.157 as a

result of this filing.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

protest this filing should file a motion

to intervene or protest with the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,

in accordance with Sections 385.214

and 385.211 of the Commission’s Rules

and Regulations. All such motions or

protests must be filed as provided in

Section 154.210 of the Commission’s

regulations. Protests will be considered

by the Commission in determining the

appropriate action to be taken, but will

not serve to make protestants parties to

the proceeding. Any person wishing to

become a party must file a motion to

intervene. Copies of this filing are on

file with the Commission and are

available for public inspection in the

Public Reference Room.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–3298 Filed 2–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

[Docket No. RP97–245–000]

Colorado Interstate Gas Company;

Notice of Proposed Changes in FERC

Gas Tariff

February 5, 1997.

Take notice that on January 31, 1997,

Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG),

tendered for filing as part of its FERC

Gas Tariff, First Revised Volume No. 1,

Third Revised Sheet No. 368.

CIG states that Sheet No. 368 was a

tariff sheet authorized by Commission

Order issued December 27, 1991 in

Docket No. RP92–44–000. The tariff

sheet identified customers’ buyoutbuydown obligation pursuant to Order

No. 528.

CIG states the filing is being made to

‘‘clean up’’ Sheet No. 368. One Buyer

had elected to amortize its payment of

its obligation over a 60-month period.

The 60-month payment period has

terminated and the Buyer has paid its

obligation; therefore, the filing reflects

all Buyers have now paid their

obligation pursuant to the authorization

in Docket No. RP92–44–000.

CIG states that copies of the filing

have been sent to all parties in Docket

No. RP92–44–000. An effective date of

March 3, 1997 has been requested.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

make any protest with reference to said

application should file a motion to

intervene or a protest with the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,