25488 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 89 / Friday, May 8, 1998 / Notices

Washington, DC 20402–9325, telephone:

(202) 512–1800.

Dated: May 4, 1998.

Joseph R. Carter,

Acting Associate Director for Management

and Operations, Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC).

[FR Doc. 98–12236 Filed 5–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health

[Program Announcement 98056]

Mining Occupational Safety and Health

Research Grants; Availability of Funds

for FY 1998

A. Purpose

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), National Institute for

Occupational Safety and Health

(NIOSH), announces the availability of

fiscal year (FY) 1998 funds for a

research grant program for Mining

Occupational Safety and Health

Research Grants. This program

addresses the ‘‘Healthy People 2000’’

priority area of Occupational Safety and

Health. The purpose of the program is

to develop knowledge that can be used

to prevent occupational diseases and

injuries to miners. NIOSH will support

hypothesis-testing research projects to

identify and quantify occupational

health and safety hazards to miners,

develop methods and technologies to

measure and control these hazards, and

translate research findings so that they

can be applied to solve health and safety

problems in mines.

B. Eligible Applicants

Applications may be submitted by

public and private nonprofit and forprofit organizations and by governments

and their agencies; that is, universities,

colleges, research institutions, hospitals,

other public and private nonprofit and

for-profit organizations, State and local

governments or their bona fide agents,

and federally recognized Indian tribal

governments, Indian tribes, or Indian

tribal organizations.

Note: Pub. L. 104–65 states that an

organization described in section 501(c)(4) of

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that

engages in lobbying activities is not eligible

to receive Federal funds constituting an

award, grant, cooperative agreement,

contract, loan, or any other form.

C. Availability of Funds

Approximately $700,000 is expected

to be available in FY 1998 to fund 4–8

research project grants. This money is in

addition to the funds available for the

previous RFA 807 announced in August

1997. Organizations that submitted

applications for RFA 807 may revise

and resubmit under this announcement.

The amount of funding available may

vary and is subject to change. Awards

will range from $50,000 to $200,000 in

total costs (direct and indirect) per year.

It is expected that the awards will begin

on or about September 30, 1998, and

will be made for a 12-month budget

period within a project period of up to

3 years.

Continuation awards within an

approved project period will be made

on the basis of satisfactory progress as

evidenced by required reports and the

availability of funds.

D. Programmatic Interest

The Mine Safety and Health Research

Program has been fully coordinated

with the National Occupational

Research Agenda (NORA) plans and

recommendations. The NORA

document is available through the

NIOSH homepage at http://

www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora.html. The

focus of grants should emphasize

research in the following topical areas

which are in priority order:

(1) Hearing Loss Prevention

Conduct laboratory and field research

on noise-induced hearing loss in

miners; Conduct field dosimetric and

audiometric surveys to assess the extent

and severity of the problem and to

identify those mining segments in

greatest need of attention and to

objectively track progress in meeting

loss prevention goals; Conduct field and

laboratory research to identify noise

generation sources and to identify those

areas most amenable to intervention

activities; Develop, test, and

demonstrate new control technologies

for noise reduction; Develop strategies

and methods to improve the

effectiveness of hearing protectors for

miners; Assess the effect of using

hearing protectors on miner safety;

Evaluate technical and economic

feasibility of controls; Develop,

evaluate, and recommend

implementation strategies to promote

the adoption and use of noise reduction

technology.

(2) Mining Injury Prevention

Conduct laboratory, field, and

computer modeling research to focus on

human physiological capabilities and

limitations and their interactions with

mining jobs, tasks, equipment and the

mine work environment; Research on

causes and prevention of low back

disorders, slips and falls, and materials

handling injuries in miners; Study

effects of human behavior on mining

injuries; Design and conduct

epidemiological research studies to

identify and classify risk factors that are

causing or may be causing traumatic

injuries to miners; Evaluate and

recommend implementation strategies

for injury prevention and control

technologies; Research to improve

response to mine emergencies, and to

enhance the effectiveness of mine

rescue teams; Identify and evaluate

research opportunities using a systems

approach for intervention and

prevention; and Develop cost analysis

methodologies to evaluate performance

and engineering control strategies.

(3) Dust and Toxic Substance Control

Research to develop or improve

personal and area direct reading

instruments for measuring mining

contaminants, including but not limited

to respirable dust, silica, diesel engine

emissions, and other toxic substances

and mixtures; Conduct field tests,

experiments, and demonstrations of

new technology for monitoring and

assessing mine air quality; Conduct

laboratory and field research to develop

airborne hazard reduction control

technologies; Carry out field surveys in

mines to identify work organization

strategies that could result in reduced

dust or toxic substance exposure;

Evaluate the performance, economics,

and technical feasibility of engineering

control strategies, novel approaches,

and the application of new or emerging

technologies for underground and

surface mine dust and toxic substance

control systems; Develop and evaluate

implementation strategies for using

newly developed monitors and control

technology for exposure reduction or

prevention.

(4) Social and Economic Consequences

of Mining Illness and Injury

Analyze all effects of mining illness

and injury on miners, their families,

communities and States; Assess the

effectiveness of health services provided

to miners for prevention and care of

occupational illness and injury; Assess

the economic burden of mining illnesses

and injuries and potential economic

benefits of their prevention.

(5) Surveillance

Develop and evaluate new

surveillance methods for mining-related

illnesses and fatal and nonfatal injuries

to improve collection and analysis of
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 89 / Friday, May 8, 1998 / Notices 25489

health and safety data; Collect

demographic information on miners to

analyze health and safety data; Develop

improved methods to describe trends in

incidence of mining-related fatalities,

morbidity, and traumatic injury;

Develop and evaluate methods to

conduct surveillance on the use of new

and emerging technologies, the use of

engineering controls, and the use of

protective equipment in the mining

sector; Analyze the effectiveness of

prevention and control interventions in

mining; Conduct mining-relevant risk

analyses.

E. Submission and Deadline

Letter of Intent (LOI)

Your letter of intent should identify

the announcement number, name of

principal investigator, and specify the

priority area to be addressed by the

proposed project. The letter of intent

does not influence review or funding

decisions, but it will enable CDC to plan

the review more efficiently, and will

ensure that each applicant receives

timely and relevant information prior to

application submission.

The Letter of Intent must be submitted

on or before June 1, 1998, to: Joanne

Wojcik, Grants Management Specialist,

Grants Management Branch,

Procurement and Grants Office,

Announcement 98056, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

Room 300, 255 East Paces Ferry Road,

NE., M/S E–13, Atlanta, Georgia 30305–

2209.

Application

Submit the original and five copies of

PHS–398 (OMB Number 0925–0001)

(adhere to the instructions on the Errata

Instruction Sheet for PHS 398). Forms

are in the application kit. On or before

June 25, 1998, submit the application to:

Joanne Wojcik, Grants Management

Specialist, Grants Management Branch,

Procurement and Grants Office,

Announcement 98056, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

Room 300, 255 East Paces Ferry Road,

NE., M/S E–13, Atlanta, Georgia 30305–

2209.

If your application does not arrive in

time for submission to the independent

review group, it will not be considered

in the current competition unless you

can provide proof that you mailed it on

or before the deadline (i.e., receipt from

U.S. Postal Service or a commercial

carrier; private metered postmarks are

not acceptable).

F. Evaluation Criteria

Upon receipt, applications will be

reviewed by CDC for completeness and

responsiveness. Applications

determined to be incomplete or

unresponsive to this announcement will

be returned to the applicant without

further consideration. If the proposed

project involves organizations or

persons other than those affiliated with

the applicant organization, letters of

support and/or cooperation must be

included.

Applications that are complete and

responsive to the announcement will be

reviewed for scientific and technical

merit by an initial review group and

will be determined to be competitive or

non-competitive, based on the review

criteria relative to other applications

received. Applications determined to be

non-competitive will be withdrawn

from further consideration and the

principal investigator/program director

and the official signing for the applicant

organization will be promptly notified.

Applications judged to be competitive

will be discussed and assigned a

priority score. Following initial review

for technical merit, the applications will

receive a secondary review for

programmatic importance.

Review Criteria for Technical Merit Are

as Follows

1. Significance—Does this study

address an important problem related to

the topical research issues outlined in

this solicitation? If the aims of the

application are achieved, how will

scientific knowledge be advanced? What

will be the effect of these studies on the

concepts or methods that drive this

field?

2. Approach—Are the conceptual

framework, design (including

composition of study population),

methods, and analyses adequately

developed, well-integrated and

appropriate to the aims of the project?

Does the applicant acknowledge

potential problem areas and consider

alternative approaches?

3. Innovation—Does the project

employ novel concepts, approaches or

methods? Are the aims original and

innovative? Does the project challenge

existing paradigms or develop new

methodologies or technologies.

4. Principal Investigator—Is the

investigator appropriately trained and

well suited to carry out this work

(particularly but not exclusively) in the

area of the proposed project? Is the work

proposed appropriate to the experience

level of the principal investigator and

other researchers, if any?

5. Environment—Does the scientific

environment in which the work will be

done contribute to the probability of

success? Do the proposed experiments

take advantage of unique features of the

scientific environment or employ useful

collaborative arrangements? Is there

documentation of cooperation from

industry, unions, or other participants

in the project, where applicable? Is there

evidence of institutional support and

availability of resources necessary to

perform the project?

6. Gender and minority issues—Are

plans to include both sexes and

minorities and their subgroups

adequately developed (as appropriate

for the scientific goals of the project)?

Are strategies included for the

recruitment and retention of human

subjects?

7. Human Subjects—Are the

procedures proposed adequate for the

protection of human subjects and are

they fully documented? Are all

procedures in compliance with

applicable published regulations (see

‘‘Other Requirements’’).

8. Vertebrate animals—Are the

procedures proposed adequate for the

welfare of vertebrate animals and are

they fully documented? Are all

procedures in compliance with

applicable published regulations?

9. Budget—Is the budget reasonable

and appropriate for all direct costs and

period/s of requested support and are all

entries adequately justified?

Review Criteria for Programmatic

Importance Are as Follows

1. Relevance to mine safety and

health, by contributing to achievement

of research objectives specified in

Section 501 of the Federal Mine Safety

and Health Act of 1977.

2. Magnitude of the problem in terms

of numbers of miners affected.

3. Severity of the disease or injury in

the mining population.

4. Usefulness to applied technical

knowledge in the identification,

evaluation, or control of occupational

safety and health hazards in mines on

a national or regional basis.

The Following Will Be Considered in

Making Funding Decisions

1. Technical merit of the proposed

project as determined by the initial peer

review.

2. Programmatic importance of the

project as determined by secondary

review.

3. Availability of funds.

4. Program balance among priority

areas of the announcement.

G. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements

Provide CDC with original plus two

copies of—

1. Progress reports (annual);
25490 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 89 / Friday, May 8, 1998 / Notices

2. Financial status report, no more

than 90 days after the end of the budget

period; and

3. Final financial and performance

reports, no more than 90 days after the

end of the project period.

Send all reports to: Joanne Wojcik,

Grants Management Specialist, Grants

Management Branch, Procurement and

Grants Office, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC), Room

300, 255 East Paces Ferry Road, NE., M/

S E–13, Atlanta, GA 30305–2209.

The following additional

requirements are applicable to this

program. For a complete description of

each, see Attachment I (in the

application kit).

AR98–1—Human Subjects

Requirements

AR98–2—Requirements for Inclusion of

Women and Racial and Ethnic

Minorities in Research

AR98–3—Animal Subjects

Requirements

AR98–10—Smoke-Free Workplace

Requirements

AR98–11—Healthy People 2000

AR98–12—Lobbying Restrictions

H. Authority and Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance Number

This program is authorized under the

Public Health Service Act, section

301(a) (42 U.S.C. 241(a)), as amended

and the Federal Mine Safety and Health

Act of 1977, section 501 (30 U.S.C. 951)

as amended. The Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance number is 93.262.

I. Where To Obtain Additional

Information

Please refer to Program

Announcement 98056 when you request

information. For a complete program

description, information on application

procedures, an application package, and

business management technical

assistance, contact: Joanne Wojcik,

Grants Management Specialist, Grants

Management Branch, Procurement and

Grants Office, Announcement 98056,

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), Room 300, 255 East

Paces Ferry Road, NE., M/S E–13,

Atlanta, GA 30305–2209, telephone

(404) 842–6535, Email address:

jcw6@cdc.gov.

For program technical assistance,

contact: Roy M. Fleming, Sc.D.,

Research Grants Program, National

Institute for Occupational Safety and

Health, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), 1600 Clifton Road,

NE., Building 1, Room 3053, M/S D–30,

Atlanta, GA 30333, Telephone: (404)

639–3343, FAX: (404) 639–4616,

Internet: rmf2@cdc.gov.

To receive additional written

information and to request an

application kit, call 1–888–GRANTS4

(1–888 472–6874). You will be asked to

leave your name and address and will

be instructed to identify the

Announcement number of interest.

Also, this and other CDC

Announcements can be found on the

CDC homepage on the Internet,(http://

www.cdc.gov) under the ‘‘Funding’’

section, as well as on the NIOSH

homepage (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh

under ‘‘Extramural Program.’’ For your

convenience, you may be able to

retrieve a copy of the PHS Form 398

from (http://www.nih.gov/grants/

funding/phs398/phs398.html).

Please Refer to Announcement

Number 98056 when Requesting

Information and Submitting an

Application.

Dated: May 1, 1998.

Diane D. Porter,

Acting Director, National Institute for

Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

[FR Doc. 98–12212 Filed 5–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163–19–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and

Families

[Program Announcement No. OCSE 98SIP–

1]

Child Support Enforcement

Demonstration and Special Projects—

Special Improvement Projects

AGENCY: Office of Child Support

Enforcement, ACF, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The OCSE invites eligible

applicants to submit competitive grant

applications for special improvement

projects which further the national child

support mission, vision, and goals as

outlined in the CSE Strategic Plan with

Outcome Measures for Fiscal Years

1995–1999. A copy of the CSE Strategic

Plan may be obtain upon request (See

ADDRESSES of this announcement).

Applications will be screened and

evaluated as indicated in this program

announcement. Awards will be

contingent on the outcome of the

competition and the availability of

funds.

DATES: The closing date for submission

of applications is July 7, 1998. See Part

IV of this announcement for more

information on submitting applications.

ADDRESSES: Application kits containing

the necessary forms and instructions to

apply for a grant under this program

announcement and the CSE Strategic

Plan are available from: Administration

for Children and Families, Office of

Child Support Enforcement, Office of

Automation and Special Projects, 370

L’Enfant Promenade, SW, 4th Floor,

West Wing, Washington, DC 20447,

Attention: Jay Adams, (202) 401–9240,

ljadams@ACF.DHHS.GOV, or (202) 401–

5539 (FAX).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Administration for Children and

Families (ACF), OCSE, Susan A.

Greenblatt at (202) 401–4849, for

specific program concerns regarding the

announcement.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

program announcement consists of four

parts:

Part I: Background—program purpose,

program objectives, legislative authority,

funding availability, and CFDA Number.

Part II: Project and Applicant Eligibility—

project priorities, project considerations,

eligible applicants, and project and budget

periods.

Part III: The Review Process—

intergovernmental review, initial ACF

screening, evaluation criteria and

competitive review, and funding

reconsideration.

Part IV: The Application—application

materials, application development, and

application submission.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.

L. 104–13)

Public reporting burden for this

collection of information is estimated to

average 20 hours per response,

including the time for reviewing

instructions, gathering and maintaining

the data needed, and reviewing the

collection of information.

The following information collections

within this Program Announcement are

approved under the following currently

valid OMB control numbers: 424 (0348–

0043); 424A (0348–0044); 424B (0348–

0040); Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

(0348–0046); Uniform Project

Description (0970–0139 Expiration date

10/31/00).

An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless it displays a currently valid OMB

control number.

Part I. Background

A. Program Purpose and Objectives

To fund a number of special

improvement projects which further the

national child support mission, vision

and goals as outlined in the Office of

Child Support Enforcement Plan (1995–

1999). Thus, proposed projects should

further the accomplishment of national