69514 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 223 / Friday, November 17, 2000 / Notices

research area is to characterize the

impact of acute and chronic exposure to

HAB species or toxins on marine

mammals, birds, and other protected

species.

Eligibility

Academic and not-for-profit

institutions located in the U.S., and

state or local governments, are eligible

under all existing authorizations. Some

participating agencies are authorized to

make awards to profit-making firms and

international institutions. NOAA and

other permitted Federal partnering

agencies may fund investigators from

Federal laboratories that successfully

compete through the ECOHAB Program

announcement, but salaries of full time

Federal employees will be in accord

with individual agency policies. Federal

investigators will be required to submit

certifications or documentation which

clearly show that they have specific

legal authority to receive funds from

another Federal agency in excess of

their appropriations. Applications from

non-Federal and Federal applicants will

be competed against each other.

Proposals from Federal researchers

deemed acceptable and selected for

funding will be funded through a

medium other than a grant or

cooperative agreement, where legal

authority exists for such funding. In

order for projects to be eligible for

support by NOAA Sea Grant, the

projects must include non-Federal

matching funds equivalent to 50% of

the total Federal funds requested.

How To Apply

The original and twenty (20) copies of

the fully developed application (21 in

all) and one (1) additional copy of the

abstract, prepared in accordance with

the instructions in the full

announcement, must be received by

NOAA no later than 3:00 P.M. Eastern

Time on the closing date, January 31,

2001.

Program Authorities. For COP: 33 U.S.C.

883d and P.L. 105–383; for the Office of

Protected Resources/NOAA: 16 U.S.C. 1382

and 16 U.S.C. 1421a; EPA: 33 U.S.C 1251 et.

seq. and 40 CFR parts 30 and 40; for NSF:

42 U.S.C. 1861 et. seq.; for ONR: 10 U.S.C

2358 as amended and 31 U.S.C 6304; and for

NASA: 14 CFR part 1260.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Numbers. 11.478 for the Coastal Ocean

Program; 11.472 for NOAA/Office of

Protected Resources; 66.500 for the

Environmental Protection Agency; 47.050 for

the National Science Foundation, and 12.300

for the Office of Naval Research.

Dated: October 31, 2000.

Approved for publication.

Norine E. Noonan,

Assistant Administrator for Research and

Development, USEPA.

[FR Doc. 00–29503 Filed 11–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[OPP–200003; FRL–6751–8]

Technical Resource Center for

Integrated Pest Management in

Schools and Day Care Centers;

Solicitation of Grant Proposals

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: EPA is soliciting preapplication grant proposals and is

prepared to provide up to $100,000 for

the establishment of a Technical

Resource Center for promoting the

adoption of integrated pest management

(IPM) in schools and day care centers.

This Center will be regionally based

(region of the country and target states

to be identified by the applicant). The

Center will provide information,

guidance, education, training and other

tools necessary for schools and day care

centers to successfully launch and

sustain IPM programs geared at

reducing children’s exposure to pests

and pesticides. EPA will award a

cooperative agreement with up to

$100,000 in initial funding, with the

possibility of additional future funding

depending on the availability of funds

budgeted for this purpose. Selection of

the successful grantee will be made

based on the evaluation of the preapplication proposal and the results of

oral interviews with prospective

grantees. This notice describes

eligibility, activities, application

procedures and requirements, and

evaluation criteria.

DATES: All pre-applications must be

received on or before December 15,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit pre-application

proposals to: Katherine J. Seikel,

Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention

Division (7511C), Office of Pesticide

Programs (OPP), Environmental

Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Bldg.,

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,

Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general information contact: Katherine J.

Seikel, Biopesticides and Pollution

Prevention Division (7511C), Office of

Pesticide Programs, Environmental

Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Bldg.,

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,

Washington, DC 20460; telephone

numbers: (703) 308–8272; e-mail

address: seikel.kathy@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Does this Notice Apply to Me?

This action is directed to all entities

eligible to receive funding pursuant to

the assistance award authority of FIFRA

section 20. If you have any questions

regarding the applicability of this action

to a particular entity, consult the person

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

II. Scope and Purpose

The cooperative agreement to be

funded pursuant to this announcement

will provide funding for activities

designed to foster the adoption and

maintenance of IPM programs in

schools and day care centers in a

particular region of the country, and in

states to be selected by the grantee.

Thus, we anticipate this center being

regional—not national—in scope.

Applicants are expected to provide

information on how and why they have

targeted a particular region of the

country for IPM in schools, and on the

number of schools and day care centers

in the region they intend to serve (so

EPA can gauge the scope and feasibility

of the project plan).

Applicants should provide

information on the status of IPM

implementation in this region as it

exists today. Applicants should also

outline specific goals and include a

strategic plan for changing the status

quo as a result of activities funded

under this assistance agreement.

Applicants are encouraged to provide

clear-cut, measurable goals for their

work under this cooperative agreement.

An example would be the number of

schools and day care centers in the

target region, the number of those

schools and day care centers currently

practicing IPM, and the number of

schools/day care centers which the

grantee will have engaged in the

establishment of IPM programs by the

end of the first year of this cooperative

agreement.

The expected duration of this project

is 1–2 years. The applicant has the

flexibility to propose the start and end

dates.

III. Eligibility

Eligible recipients are all entities

eligible to receive grants under the

authority of FIFRA section 20, as

amended by Public Law 106–074.

Eligible entities include, but are not

limited to States, tribes, institutions of

higher learning, non-profit

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 223 / Friday, November 17, 2000 / Notices 69515

organizations, for-profit businesses, and

individuals.

A. General Requirements

1. There are no requirements for

matching funding under this grant

program. However, applicants are

encouraged to seek funding from

sources other than EPA to supplement

the income of this Center. Applicants

must identify, as part of this proposal,

any funds from other sources (private or

public) that will be used to carry out

proposed grant projects.

2. If the applicant has conducted, or

is currently working on a related

project(s), please provide a brief

description of those projects and

funding sources in the application.

B. Administrative Reporting

Requirements

The applicant must provide EPA with

the original plus three copies of the

Semi-annual progress reports. These

reports must include:

1. Total financial expenditures for the

quarter, with costs broken down by cost

element, i.e. direct labor, travel costs,

supplies, equipment sub contract costs,

sub grantee costs, indirect costs.

2. For direct labor, provide the names

and percentage time devoted to the

project for each person assigned to the

assistance agreement.

3. For travel costs, provide names of

travelers, destinations, and purpose of

trip(s).

4. For indirect costs (overhead, fringe

benefits, general and administrative

expenses, etc.), provide the base of

allocation, the name of the cognizant

audit Agency and the period for which

final rates were negotiated.

5. Total estimated expenditures for

the next quarter, with costs broken

down by cost element and anticipated

activities for the upcoming quarter.

6. Explanation of expenditures that

are significantly higher or lower than

projected in the original budget

estimate. If expenditures are higher than

originally estimated, explain how

project activities will be accomplished

within the originally budgeted amount

or, alternatively, provide a projection of

any anticipated shortfall or activities

that must be reduced or curtailed to stay

within the budget.

7. Justification for any anticipated

changes to personnel assigned to the

project or changes to the level of effort

to be devoted by approved personnel.

Provide curricula vitae for any proposed

additions or replacements to the project

team.

8. A summary statement of funds

available for the budget period,

expenditures by quarter for all quarters

included in the budget period, and

funds remaining in the budget period.

9. Explanation of any difficulties

encountered during the reporting period

or foreseen for future reporting periods

that might hinder the recipient’s

accomplishment of planned project

activities.

10. Technical progress, including an

accounting of all work shops attended

and held, training provided,

consultations, tally of phone calls to 800

number, amount and nature of all

written materials distributed to outside

parties, number of facilities that have

launched new IPM programs, and any

other measures that can serve as

measures of grantee progress toward

institutionalization of IPM programs in

schools falling within its target zone.

The technical progress report should

also provide information on obstacles

encountered, unforseen difficulties or

any other indicators that program

objectives may not be accomplished on

time and reasonably in conformance

with anticipated project costs.

In addition to periodic progress

reports, the grantee shall furnish the

EPA Project Officer ALL materials

developed or maintained by the Center.

The Government reserves the right to

cite, distribute, and otherwise use these

materials for public purposes which

extend beyond the scope of this

assistance agreement.

IV. Authority

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide

and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), section

20, Research, as amended by Pubic Law

106–074 authorizes EPA to award grants

for the purpose of conducting research,

development, and monitoring as

necessary, ‘‘Provided that,

notwithstanding any other provisions of

law, beginning in FY 2000 [October 1,

1999] and thereafter, grants awarded

under section 20 of FIFRA, as amended,

shall be available for research,

development, monitoring, public

education, training, demonstrations, and

studies.’’

V. Activities to be Funded

EPA will provide financial assistance

in the form of a cooperative agreement

to fund a Technical Resource Center for

IPM in schools to fund activities

proposed by the grantee, in consultation

with EPA. These activities may include:

1. Establishing programs to increase

public awareness of IPM and

undertaking all such actions as may be

necessary to aggressively promote the

adoption of IPM programs by schools

and day care centers in the target region.

2. Creating awareness of IPM to

prospective school administrators or

other decision-makers through effective

use of outreach and other

communications strategies. (This might

include publication of newsletters,

development of a web page, providing a

toll-free telephone line, etc.).

3. Coordinating development and

distribution of guidance and other

resources necessary for successful

implementation of IPM in schools and

day care centers falling within the

region targeted by the grantee. This

could include user friendly best

practices, ‘‘how-to’’ guides, pest specific

management tips, etc. Much of this

guidance already exists; therefore, it is

expected that the center would devote

substantially more effort toward

assessing the value of existing tools for

schools (guidance, handbook, video and

audio tapes, etc.) and determining

which is best suited for widespread

distribution than on developing new

materials.

4. Building and maintaining a library

of all applicable state-developed school

IPM materials.

5. Establishing a core group of

nationally recognized school IPM

trainers and consultants. Providing

training and work shops for groups such

as school administrators, facilities

services staff, food services staff, and

teachers.

6. Maintaining a database and

communications network. This could

involve some new development but

should, to the extent possible, draw

upon existing resources to avoid reinventing the wheel and to maximize

the application of grant funds toward

the diffusion of IPM in targeted schools

districts. In all likelihood, this will

require establishing a toll free 800

number to handle call-ins.

7. Finding and filling information

gaps to facilitate adoption of IPM in

schools.

8. Developing training efforts such as

a national short course on IPM at the

Center’s location, symposia and on-site

visits for coordinators of new and

existing programs, etc.

9. Measuring the effectiveness of local

IPM efforts through use of model

guidelines for IPM training and

implementation or other methods

developed by the cooperator.

10. Creating guidance for schools to

self-evaluate (or for outside parties to

evaluate) schools’ implementation of

IPM.

11. Providing assistance to the State

Pest Control Associations and the

National Pest Management Association

in training Pest Control Operators on

school IPM implementation.

69516 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 223 / Friday, November 17, 2000 / Notices

VI. Pre-Application Requirements,

Procedures, and Schedule

Applicants must submit a proposal for

the pre-application procedure. The preapplication, as described in this unit,

consists of two parts—a work plan and

a budget.

The Agency will use the applicant’s

work plan and budget to select projects

to be funded under this grant program.

After EPA conducts a review of all preapplications, it may, at its discretion,

conduct interviews, either

telephonically or in person, with

applicants. The results of the interview,

along with written material

accompanying the proposal submission,

will be used to determine the successful

applicant. The successful applicant will

be contacted and requested to submit

other documents (such as the

‘‘Application for Federal Assistance’’

form, a ‘‘Budget Information: NonConstruction Programs’’ form, and other

required forms) to complete the

application process.

All applicants must submit one

original and three copies of the preapplication (double-sided copies). Preapplications must be reproducible (for

example, stapled in the upper left-hand

corner, on white paper, and with page

numbers). The deadline for EPA’s

receipt of pre-applications is December

15, 2000.

The pre-application consists of the

following two parts.

1. Work plan. The work plan must

describe the proposed project. The work

plan must be no more than 15-typed

pages in length (excluding resumes).

One page is one side of a single-spaced

typed page. The pages must be letter

size (10 or 12 characters per inch (cpi)

and must have margins that are at least

1 inch.

Resumes of key personnel shall be

included in an appendix to the proposal

and should include references (names,

phone numbers or other contact

information) for previous or current

grants or contracts within the last 5

years. The appendix must be no more

than 10 pages total and follows the same

paging and spacing description as

provided above.)

2. Budget. The budget should include

the following categories of costs:

A. Personnel

B. Fringe benefits

C. Travel

D. Equipment

E. Supplies

F. Contractual

G. Other

H. Total direct charges (sum of

personnel, fringe benefits, travel,

equipment, supplies, contractual, and

other)

I. Indirect charges and total (sum of

total direct charges and indirect charges)

VII. Evaluation Criteria

EPA will review all applications.

Applications will be reviewed for

quality, strength, and completeness

against the following criteria:

1. Management plan and technical

approach. This will include, among

other things, the plan for making use of

available resources to stock the center,

plan for becoming financially selfsufficient, strategy for determining the

order of priority for introducing IPM

into various states and school districts,

etc. Applicant must include reasonable

and attainable goals and an approach

that is clearly detailed. The plan should

include expected outcomes and

procedures that will be used to evaluate

progress toward achievement of these

outcomes. Applicant should provide

information on projects of similar scope

and magnitude that he/she has

managed.

2. Technical expertise. This includes

qualifications, education, training and

field experience of all staff assigned to

the project. The applicant should

describe positions of staff, roles and

responsibilities, and their qualifications.

Applicant should include

documentation of qualified expert staff

who may be used as a reference but may

not be directly compensated.

3. Budget and schedule. This budget

and schedule will be evaluated to

ensure they are reasonable, clear, and

consistent with the intended use of the

funds. Applicants should assume that

this project will be funded for 18

months to 2 years only. The availability

of funds for additional time periods is

not known at this point in time. EPA’s

role is to provide start-up funding for

the center. It is anticipated that the

center will ultimately become selfsustaining.

VIII. Submission to Congress and the

Comptroller General

Under the Agency’s current

interpretation of the definition of a

‘‘rule,’’ grant solicitations such as this

which are competitively awarded on the

basis of selection criteria, are considered

rules for the purpose of the

Congressional Review Act (CRA). The

CRA, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by

the Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

(SBREFA), generally provides that

before a rule may take effect, the agency

promulgating the rule must submit a

rule report, which includes a copy of

the rule, to each House of the Congress

and to the Comptroller General of the

United States. EPA will submit a report

containing this rule and other required

information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S.

House of Representatives, and the

Comptroller General of the United

States prior to publication of the rule in

the Federal Register. This rule is not a

‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C.

804(2).

List of Subjects

Environmental protection, children’s

health, pesticides.

Dated: November 8, 2000.

Janet L. Andersen,

Director, Biopesticides and Pollution

Prevention Division, Office of Pesticide

Programs.

[FR Doc. 00–29512 Filed 11–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6903–6]

Investigator-Initiated Grants: Request

for Applications

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of request for

applications.

SUMMARY: This notice provides

information on the availability of fiscal

year 2001 investigator-initiated grants

program announcements, in which the

areas of research interest, eligibility and

submission requirements, evaluation

criteria, and implementation schedules

are set forth. Grants will be

competitively awarded following peer

review.

DATES: Receipt dates vary depending on

the specific research areas within the

solicitations and are listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

National Center for Environmental

Research (8703R), 1200 Pennsylvania

Avenue, NW., Washington DC 20460,

telephone (800) 490–9194. The

complete announcements can be

accessed on the Internet from the EPA

home page: http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa

under ‘‘announcements.’’

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In its

Requests for Applications (RFA) the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) invites research grant

applications in the following areas of

special interest to its mission: (1)

Environmental Monitoring for Public

Access and Community Tracking

(EMPACT); (2) Children’s Vulnerability

to Toxic Substances in the Environment;

(3) Research Program on Statistical

Survey Design and Analysis for Aquatic