14524 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 31, 2009 / Notices 

March 20, 2009. 

John M. Andersen, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 

Operations. 

[FR Doc. E9–7221 Filed 3–30–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

[Docket No.: 090318324–9325–01] 

RIN 0693–ZA89 

Technology Innovation Program (TIP) 

Notice of Availability of Funds and 

Announcement of Public Meeting 

(Proposers’ Conference) 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST), Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Institute of 

Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 

Technology Innovation Program (TIP) 

announces that it will hold a single 

fiscal year 2009 competition and is 

soliciting high-risk, high-reward 

research and development (R&D) 

proposals for financial assistance. TIP 

also announces that it will hold a public 

meeting (Proposers’ Conference) for all 

interested parties. TIP is soliciting 

proposals under this fiscal year 2009 

competition in two areas of critical 

national need entitled ‘‘Civil 

Infrastructure’’ and ‘‘Manufacturing’’ as 

described in the Program Description 

section below. 

DATES: The due date for submission of 

proposals is 3 p.m. Eastern Time, 

Tuesday, June 23, 2009. This deadline 

applies to any mode of proposal 

submission, including paper and 

electronic. Do not wait until the last 

minute to submit a proposal. TIP will 

not make any allowances for late 

submissions, including incomplete 

Grants.gov registration or delays by 

guaranteed overnight couriers. To avoid 

any potential processing backlogs due to 

last minute registrations, proposers are 

strongly encouraged to start their 

Grants.gov registration process at least 

four weeks prior to the proposal 

submission due date. Review, selection, 

and award processing is expected to be 

completed by the end of November 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: Proposals must be 

submitted to TIP as follows: 

Paper Submission: Send to National 

Institute of Standards and Technology, 

Technology Innovation Program, 100 

Bureau Drive, Stop 4701, Gaithersburg, 

MD 20899–4701. 

Electronic Submission: http:// 

www.grants.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barbara Cuthill at 301–975–3273 or by 

e-mail at barbara.cuthill@nist.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Additional Information. The full 

Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) 

announcement for this request for 

proposals contains detailed information 

and requirements for the program. 

Proposers are strongly encouraged to 

read the FFO in developing proposals. 

The full FFO announcement text is 

available at http://www.grants.gov and 

on the TIP Web site at http:// 

www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html. In 

addition, proposers are directed to 

review the March 2009 Technology 

Innovation Program Proposal 

Preparation Kit available at http:// 

www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html. The TIP 

Proposal Preparation Kit must be used 

to prepare a TIP proposal. The TIP 

implementing regulations are published 

at 15 CFR part 296, and included in the 

TIP Proposal Preparation Kit as 

Appendix B. 

Public Meeting (Proposers’ 

Conference). TIP is holding a public 

meeting (Proposers’ Conference) at NIST 

to provide general information regarding 

TIP, to offer guidance on preparing 

proposals, and to answer questions. 

Proprietary technical discussions about 

specific project ideas with NIST staff are 

not permitted at this conference or at 

any time before submitting the proposal 

to TIP. Therefore, proposers should not 

expect to have proprietary issues 

addressed at the proposers’ conference. 

Also, NIST/TIP staff will not critique or 

provide feedback on project ideas while 

they are being developed by a proposer. 

However, NIST/TIP staff will answer 

questions about the TIP eligibility and 

cost-sharing requirements, evaluation 

and award criteria, selection process, 

and the general characteristics of a 

competitive TIP proposal at the 

Proposers’ Conference and by phone 

and e-mail. Attendance at the TIP 

proposers’ conference is not required. 

The TIP Proposers’ Conference is 

being held on the following date, time, 

and location: 

April 8, 2009, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Eastern 

Time: NIST Red Auditorium, 100 

Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD. Preregistration is required by 5 p.m. Eastern 

Time on April 6, 2009 for the Proposers’ 

Conference being held at NIST 

Gaithersburg, MD. Due to increased 

security at NIST, no on-site registrations 

will be accepted and all attendees must 

be pre-registered. Photo identification 

must be presented at the NIST main gate 

to be admitted to the April 8, 2009 

conference. Attendees must wear their 

conference badge at all times while on 

the NIST campus. Electronic 

Registration at: https://rproxy.nist.gov/ 

CRS/. 

No registration fee will be charged at 

the Proposers’ Conference. Presentation 

materials from the Proposers’ 

Conference will be made available on 

the TIP Web site. 

TIP may schedule additional 

Proposers’ Conferences at other 

locations throughout the country. If this 

occurs, notices will be posted on the TIP 

Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip and 

grants.gov Web site and in the Federal 

Register. 

Statutory Authority. Section 3012 of the 

America Creating Opportunities to 

Meaningfully Promote Excellence in 

Technology, Education, and Science 

(COMPETES) Act, Public Law 110–69 

(August 9, 2007), 15 U.S.C.A. 278n (2008). 

CFDA. 11.616, Technology Innovation 

Program. 

Program Description. TIP is soliciting 

proposals under this fiscal year 2009 

competition in two areas of critical 

national need entitled ‘‘Civil 

Infrastructure’’ and ‘‘Manufacturing’’ as 

described below. 

Area of Critical National Need 1: Civil 

Infrastructure 

The objective of this competition is to 

provide civil infrastructure managers 

with tools to better manage the 

structural integrity of elements of the 

civil infrastructure. Two elements of the 

societal challenge of managing the 

Structural Integrity of the United States’ 

Infrastructure will be addressed as 

outlined in the white paper ‘‘Advanced 

Sensing Technologies and Advanced 

Repair Materials for the Infrastructure: 

Water Systems, Dams, Levees, Bridges, 

Roads, and Highways’’ (http:// 

www.nist.gov/tip/comp09_home.html). 

Solutions to this societal challenge 

require advancement beyond the current 

practice and state-of-the-art of sensing 

technologies and repair/retrofit 

technologies. Sensing advancements are 

needed to assess the structural integrity 

and/or deterioration processes of water 

mains, wastewater collection systems, 

dams, levees, navigation lock structures, 

bridges, roads, and highways. Sensing 

technologies must be more accurate in 

their determinations of structural 

integrity, easier to use, and more 

economically feasible. The increased 

information obtained from new sensing 

technologies will lead to better 

prioritization of repair schedules; 

however, prioritization is only the first 


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step in a management strategy. Efficient 

infrastructure management requires that 

once a structural defect is detected, an 

economical repair be made. Advancing 

the technologies of repairing 

infrastructure elements in contact with 

water, in contact with salts (road salt or 

marine environments), and subjected to 

thermal changes requires transformative 

research to significantly extend the 

lifetimes of repairs, lower the costs of 

repairs, and provide repair technologies 

that are suitable for a wide range of 

conditions. For the scope of this 

competition, ‘‘retrofit’’ refers to the 

fitting into or onto a structure already in 

existence and that is in service or can 

be returned to service by repair. A 

retrofit material or application can be 

one that returns the infrastructure 

element to original specifications or that 

improves the performance of the 

infrastructure element beyond the 

specifications of the original 

construction. Novel materials and the 

novel methods to deploy the new 

materials, constituting repair/retrofit 

systems, can serve to help meet the 

societal challenge of better managing the 

structural integrity of civil 

infrastructure. 

The need for advanced sensing 

technologies and advanced repair/ 

retrofit materials is of national 

importance because nearly all 

municipalities and States in the nation 

face infrastructure management 

challenges. TIP’s investment is justified 

because portions of infrastructure are 

reaching the end of their life spans and 

there are few cost effective technical 

means to monitor infrastructure 

integrity and to prioritize and 

implement long lived repair/retrofit of 

the wide variety of constructions of 

infrastructure elements. 

Transformational research beyond 

incremental advancements is required 

to achieve the objectives for this area of 

critical national need. Incremental 

improvements of current technologies 

will not meet the challenges of 

providing cost-effective, widely 

deployable solutions to the problems 

faced by infrastructure managers. 

Element 1—Inspection and/or 

Monitoring Technologies 

Proposals are being sought to create 

and validate new, advanced, robust, 

network capable, nondestructive 

evaluation and test sensing systems, or 

system components, to cost effectively 

and quantitatively inspect and evaluate 

the structural integrity of civil 

infrastructure elements of water and 

wastewater mains, dams, levees, 

navigation lock structures, bridges, 

roads and highways. The targeted 

system should be capable of, but not 

limited to, detection of corrosion, 

cracking, delamination and other 

relevant modes of failure of critical 

infrastructure elements and the 

materials of which they are made. 

Solutions are needed for improved 

inspection systems for water and 

wastewater mains, dams, levees, 

navigation lock structures, bridges, 

roads, and highways, where these 

systems provide real-time 

understanding of the integrity and 

service life through the use of portable, 

mobile or remote sensing capabilities. 

Innovations are being sought in all 

aspects of a system to provide an 

advanced, cost effective, networked 

system, either fixed or mobile, that is 

easily deployable, self powered, and self 

monitoring. A complete system could 

include all system components, 

hardware, and software. In addition, the 

systems may, or may not, need to be 

underwater in order to assess 

underwater integrity issues. 

Proposals should include validation 

of the effectiveness of the new 

technology in actual environmental use 

conditions with potential end user(s) of 

the technology. 

Eligible projects that are also within 

the scope of this element are: 

• Systems that provide new and 

advanced methodologies for the 

detection of fluid leaks from water 

piping systems. 

• Single novel components of a 

system solution that include a 

validation of the component in a system 

setting. 

• Inspection systems for structural 

components located below a water 

surface in part, or in whole, and 

susceptible to failure caused by scour, 

impact, degradation and/or some other 

subsurface mode of failure. 

Ineligible projects under this element 

include: 

• Advancements in a system 

component without a prototype for 

validating that the component is 

functional within a system solution, as 

part of the proposed technical plan. 

• Straightforward improvements to 

existing components or materials 

without the potential for a 

transformational increase in 

performance to the technical 

requirements. 

• Integration projects using only 

existing state-of-the-art components or 

materials. 

• Software development that is 

predominantly straightforward, routine 

data gathering using applications of 

standard software development 

practices. 

Element 2—Repair/Retrofit Material 

and Application Technologies 

Proposals are also being sought to 

create novel technologies for repair or 

retrofit of existing civil infrastructure 

elements already identified above. 

These new technologies could be 

considered as consisting of two parts: A 

novel material and the application or 

deployment system for installing or 

placing the novel material. These novel 

materials and application/deployment 

technologies are to provide much 

longer-lived repairs than current repair 

materials and/or greater performance 

characteristics than current repair/ 

retrofit methods and/or the original 

construction. 

A proposal for development of a new 

material, or a novel combination of 

materials that results in a 

transformational solution for costeffective repair/retrofit that includes a 

novel technology for achieving the 

repair or retrofit will be considered as 

having strong potential. 

Proposals should include validation 

of the effectiveness of the new 

technology in actual environmental 

conditions with potential end user(s) of 

the technology. 

Eligible projects that are within the 

scope of this element are: 

• The combination of a novel 

material, or a novel combination of 

materials, combined with a novel 

application or installation technology. 

• A novel application technology that 

incorporates an existing material, or 

combination of materials, from material 

domains outside those normally used 

within civil infrastructure, or that 

incorporates a material or combination 

of materials, from a domain of materials 

normally used within civil 

infrastructure. To be considered 

competitive, there must be a 

transformational expansion of 

applicability of the materials. An 

example of a project within scope 

would be a robotic system capable of 

lining water mains with a material to 

restore the strength of a deteriorated 

main to the originally specified burst 

strength. 

• A novel material, or a combination 

of novel materials, that can be applied 

with existing application technologies, 

or that requires minor adjustments to 

existing application technologies. An 

example of a project within scope 

would be a novel reinforcing material 

combined with a novel compressive 

matrix material that could be applied 

using current construction practices. 

Ineligible projects under this element 

are: 

• Novel materials, or combinations of 

materials, that apply only to new 


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construction or primarily to new 

construction. 

• A novel material, or novel 

combination of materials, for which 

there is not a deployment technology 

and no deployment technology 

approach is included in the proposed 

research. 

• Training or training systems for 

repair/retrofit installation of novel 

materials or of current materials. 

• Novel systems to deploy repair/ 

retrofit materials, where the materials 

are both not novel and without a history 

of being long-lived repair solutions. 

• Novel repair parts or assemblies 

that do not incorporate a novel material, 

for example: a new type of retrofit 

stirrup or bracing made from current, 

conventional materials or combinations 

of materials. 

Area of Critical National Need 2: 

Manufacturing 

The goal of the research outcome/ 

impacts from this competition is to 

provide manufacturers and end users 

improved access to adequate quantities 

of advanced materials at competitive 

costs that allow evaluation and 

utilization of these materials in 

innovative ways. TIP’s funding strategy 

for this competition will emphasize two 

important elements: (1) Process scaleup, integration, and design for advanced 

materials; and (2) Predictive modeling 

for advanced materials and materials 

processing. These two elements of the 

societal challenge of accelerating the use 

of advanced materials will be addressed 

as outlined in the white paper 

‘‘Accelerating the Incorporation of 

Materials Advances into Manufacturing 

Processes’’ (http://www.nist.gov/tip/ 

comp09_home.html). 

Materials performance is often a 

critical consideration and controlling 

factor in the innovation process. 

For example, high strength alloys, 

aluminum, and magnesium are used to 

build stronger, lighter and safer 

vehicles; superalloys are used to make 

higher efficiency gas turbines; 

composites make larger, more efficient 

wind turbine blades and provide 

improved performance in aerospace 

applications; and nanomaterials are 

finding their way into better performing 

batteries, energy storage devices, high 

voltage transmission lines and 

healthcare applications (e.g. imaging). 

Sustainable materials development and 

materials substitutions are additional 

examples where greater capabilities are 

critical to ongoing or increased 

competitiveness of U.S innovations. 

Without the ability to produce these 

new materials and to rapidly integrate 

them into products while maintaining 

the material’s unique properties, the 

U.S. will lose these value-added 

manufacturing innovations to overseas 

competition, a trend which has already 

occurred in so many industries. 

Outlined in this announcement are two 

key areas related to the 

manufacturability of advanced materials 

and descriptions of the supporting 

technical challenges that need to be 

addressed. 

If successful, the manufacturing 

solutions envisioned would have the 

potential to create significant 

performance improvements in new 

products by accelerating the utilization 

of an advanced material’s new 

functionality. 

For purposes of this area of critical 

national need, the term ‘‘advanced 

materials’’ refers to materials that have 

unique functionalities but require 

improved controls and measurements to 

achieve desired functionalities in a 

revolutionary and cost-effective way. 

The unique functionality that these 

materials could bring to new products 

will require new levels of understanding 

in the sciences of materials processing 

and process control. For example, in 

nanomaterials, manipulation and 

measurement at the atomic level will be 

needed. In alloys, the control and 

measurement would be at the 

microscale (and eventually at the 

nanoscale) with an emphasis on 

anisotropic features of the micro (nano) 

structure. In composites, control and 

measurement would be at the mesoscale 

and would take advantage of the 

anisotropic layering of the process. 

Control of one material or phase within 

another will also be an important 

consideration. 

There are additional classes of 

materials (e.g., polymers, ceramics, etc.) 

that could be included in this 

discussion. However, the three classes 

of materials described above are 

considered to be most critical to 

emerging or other potential growth areas 

for manufacturing and will be the focus 

of this area of critical national need. 

Therefore, this competition is limited to 

nanomaterials; superalloys, alloys and 

smart materials; and composites. 

Manufacturing, like so many other 

areas of critical national need, has a 

variety of challenges that need to be 

addressed. TIP’s funding strategy for 

this competition will emphasize two 

important elements: (1) Process scaleup, integration, and design for advanced 

materials; and (2) Predictive modeling 

for advanced materials and materials 

processing. 

Element 1—Process Scale-Up 

Integration and Design for Advanced 

Materials 

New materials typically are developed 

in a laboratory setting in progressively 

larger quantities, and then samples are 

given to end-users for alpha and beta 

testing. It can take considerable time 

and experimentation to understand how 

the materials can be incorporated into a 

new product in a way that maintains 

and utilizes its unique functionality. 

Time is also needed to effectively 

integrate the processes that scale-up 

from laboratory quantities to 

commercial amounts for more efficient 

production. This scale-up is often nonlinear and does not follow 

straightforward scaling laws due to the 

unique functionality that has been 

designed into the advanced materials. 

Element 2—Predictive Modeling Tools 

for Advanced Materials and Materials 

Processing 

Predictive modeling capabilities are 

key to developing new processes, 

scaling-up these processes and 

understanding how to utilize an 

advanced material’s unique 

functionality. Modeling capabilities are 

needed to: 

• Analyze and understand why a 

newly discovered material does what it 

does and then extrapolate its behavior to 

new conditions, and 

• Incorporate this knowledge into 

process design tools so new products 

can quickly be made while maintaining 

the unique functionality of the 

materials. 

To successfully address the proposed 

challenges for ‘‘Accelerating the 

Integration of Materials Advances into 

Manufacturing Processes,’’ research in 

new technologies will be needed. The 

table below illustrates the relationship 

between key challenges. The three 

columns of material types 

(nanomaterials, superalloys and 

composites) are arranged in order of 

increasing microstructural size. TIP 

expects proposed solutions to the 

challenges to map into one or more of 

the blank cells in the table, for the 

proposal to be within scope for funding 

under this area of critical national need. 


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Technological needs Nanomaterials 

Superalloys, 

alloys & smart 

materials 

Composites 

Materials Processing ............... Scale-up from Laboratory Quantities/Controls 

Incorporate into New Uses/Maintain Functionality 

Predictive Modeling Tools ....... Rules/Understand Why It Does What It Does 

Process Modeling/Design & Product Design Tools 

For Element 1—Process scale-up, 

integration and design for advanced 

materials, new processes will need to be 

developed. These processes will 

increase to commercial scale the 

quantity and quality of available 

advanced materials; or help incorporate 

these advanced materials into new, 

revolutionary products based on a new 

material’s properties. These scaled-up 

processes may be a next generation or 

an entirely new process. For example, 

forging ever larger parts cannot be 

solved by building ever larger forges 

(which become prohibitively 

expensive), but instead by new partial 

forging techniques. 

In support of these new processes, 

new instrumentation and measurement 

capabilities will also be needed. These 

instruments will need to measure real 

time process parameters such as the 

properties that provide the unique 

capabilities of the advanced materials 

(e.g., composition). In addition, 

instruments for real time inspection are 

needed to ensure and/or verify materials 

are being correctly incorporated into 

manufactured products that require the 

revolutionary functions of these new 

materials. 

Proposals addressing process scaleup, integration and design for advanced 

materials will be considered eligible if 

they consist of: 

• A single process to achieve the 

goals of the scale-up, or ones that 

consist of one or more processes 

integrated together into a coherent 

solution; 

• Scale-up of materials processes to 

manufacture and apply coatings that are 

within the three eligible material types 

(nanomaterials; superalloys, alloys and 

smart materials; and composites); or 

• Scale-up of materials processes for 

healthcare applications (e.g., imaging). 

Eligible proposals addressing process 

scale-up, integration and design for 

advanced materials must address all of 

the following issues: 

• Address one or more of the 

materials areas: 

—Nanomaterials; 

—Superalloys, alloys, and smart 

materials; and/or 

—Composites; 

• Quantify the baseline processing 

capabilities; 

• Describe how the results of the 

process scale-up could lead to new 

products and manufacturing process 

capabilities; and 

• Quantification and qualification of 

the estimated output of the final project 

results. 

In addition, proposals for process 

scale-up must address both of the 

following issues: 

• Scale-up of the quantities produced 

during the project must be targeted to 

increase by a factor of 1,000 fold or 

more (unit quantity per unit time) as 

compared to the baseline; and 

• A detailed scientific rationale and 

description of the challenges to 

accomplish scale-up of the process(es). 

Proposals addressing process scaleup, integration and design of advanced 

materials will be considered more 

competitive if they: 

• Include validation methodologies 

by or with processors or end users; and/ 

or 

• Address sustainability issues. 

Proposals addressing process scaleup, integration and design for advanced 

materials will be considered ineligible if 

they: 

• Have the primary focus of the 

proposal on the following materials: 

—Materials derived from a biological 

source; 

—A pure ceramic, glass (including 

metallic glass), or polymer; or 

—Primarily an electronic or photonic 

material. 

• Focus primarily on the application 

of material coatings. 

For Element 2—Predictive modeling 

for advanced materials and materials 

processing, new tools are needed to 

enable researchers to use constitutive 

relations and rules (with validation) 

concerning the underlying behavior of 

materials (understanding structure vs. 

function) and the changes to behavior 

due to manufacturing processes. For 

example, new tools will need to account 

for the scale-dependent behavior of 

advanced materials. This capability will 

enable a better and quicker 

understanding of why materials do what 

they do. These efforts will also enable 

extrapolation of that knowledge beyond 

the laboratory conditions for which they 

were developed, and therefore will need 

new validation and verification 

capabilities. 

In addition, critical knowledge is also 

needed about why certain decisions or 

assumptions were made in order to 

incorporate new modeling capabilities 

for laboratory results into process design 

and modeling. Again, new validation 

and verification methodologies will be 

essential. 

With successful development of these 

tools, processes, and technologies, the 

manufacturing communities will have 

significantly improved capabilities to 

quickly incorporate advanced materials 

breakthroughs into revolutionary 

products based on new materials 

functionality, and thus establish new 

competitive advantages in a global 

economy. 

Eligible proposals addressing 

predictive modeling for advanced 

materials and materials processing must 

address all of the following issues: 

• Address one or more of the eligible 

materials areas: 

—Nanomaterials; 

—Superalloys, alloys, and smart 

materials; and/or 

—Composites; 

• Quantify the baseline modeling 

capability; and 

• Describe how the results of the 

proposed modeling capabilities could 

lead to new products and manufacturing 

process capabilities. 

Proposals for predictive modeling for 

advanced materials and materials 

processing must address one or both of 

the following: 

• Develop constitutive relationships 

and rules that describe the behavior and 

the process of the materials at a level 

that is useful for describing laboratory 

results, as well as for developing a 

greater understanding of the materials 

for end users; and/or 

• Develop or use the constitutive 

relationships and rules to develop 

process design tools for the 

manufacturing processes for these 

advanced materials. 

Proposals addressing predictive 

modeling for advanced materials and 

materials processing will be considered 

more competitive if they address: 

• Collaboration by or with those who 

manufacture the advanced materials, in 

order to validate the models; and/or 


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• How users will specifically benefit 

from the acceleration and 

implementation of the proposed models 

in support of materials reliability (i.e. 

final properties or mechanical 

performance) and materials behavior 

before and after processing. 

Proposals addressing predictive 

modeling for advanced materials and 

materials processing that do not include 

validation of models will be considered 

less competitive. 

Proposals addressing predictive 

modeling for advanced materials and 

materials processing will be considered 

ineligible that: 

• Have the primary focus of the 

modeling effort on the following 

materials: 

—Materials derived from a biological 

source; 

—A pure ceramic, glass (including 

metallic glass), or polymer; or 

—Primarily an electronic or photonic 

material; 

• Focus primarily on the application 

of material coatings. 

An additional key characteristic that 

all manufacturing proposals must 

address is how the outcomes of the 

research will enable manufacturers to 

produce advanced materials faster, 

better and cheaper, as well as enable the 

new uses for the advanced materials. 

Additional Requirements for All 

Manufacturing Proposals 

Ineligible projects under this area of 

critical national need include: 

• Projects whose principal focus is on 

discovery of new materials: 

• Efforts related to the physical 

extraction of raw materials; 

• Straightforward improvements to 

existing processes or materials without 

the potential for a transformational 

increase in performance to the technical 

requirements; 

• Integration projects using only 

existing state-of-the-art processes, 

models or materials; or 

• Software development that is 

predominantly straightforward, routine 

data gathering using applications of 

standard software development 

practices. 

Additional Requirements for All 

Manufacturing and Civil Infrastructure 

Proposals 

In addition to the competition-specific 

ineligible projects, the following are 

ineligible projects: 

• Straightforward improvements of 

existing products or product 

development. 

• Projects that are Phase II, III, or IV 

clinical trials. TIP will rarely fund Phase 

I clinical trials and reserves the right not 

to fund a Phase I clinical trial. The 

portion of a Phase I trial that may be 

funded must be critical to meeting 

evaluation criterion (a)(1) addressing the 

scientific and technical merit of the 

proposal. The trial results must be 

essential for completion of a critical 

R&D task of the project. The definitions 

of all phases of clinical trials are 

provided in the TIP Guidelines and 

Documentation Requirements for 

Research Involving Human & Animal 

Subjects located at http://www.nist.gov/ 

tip/helpful.html. 

• Pre-commercial-scale 

demonstration projects where the 

emphasis is on demonstrating that some 

technology works on a large scale or is 

economically sound rather than on R&D 

that advances the state of the art and is 

high-risk, high-reward. 

• Projects that TIP determines would 

likely be completed without TIP funds 

in the same time frame or nearly the 

same time frame, or with the same scale 

or scope. 

• Predominantly straightforward, 

routine data gathering (e.g., creation of 

voluntary consensus standards, data 

gathering/handbook/specification sheet 

preparation, testing of materials, or 

unbounded research aimed at basic 

discovery science) or application of 

standard engineering practices. 

• Projects in which the predominant 

risk is market oriented—that is, the risk 

that the end product may not be 

embraced by the marketplace. 

• Projects with software work, that 

are predominantly about final product 

details and product development, and 

that have significant testing involving 

users outside the research team to 

determine if the software meets the 

original research objectives, are likely to 

be either uncompetitive or possibly 

ineligible for funding. However, R&D 

projects with limited software testing, 

involving users outside of the research 

team, or vertebrate animals, may be 

eligible for funding and contain eligible 

costs within a TIP award when the 

testing is critical to meeting evaluation 

criteria and/or award criteria and the 

testing results are essential for 

completion of a critical task in the 

proposed research. This type of testing 

in projects may also be considered to 

involve human subjects or vertebrate 

animals in research and require 

compliance with applicable Federal 

regulations and NIST policies for the 

protection of human subjects or live 

vertebrate animals. 

Unallowable/Ineligible Costs. The 

following items, regardless of whether 

they are allowable under the Federal 

cost principles, are ineligible/ 

unallowable under TIP: 

a. Bid and proposal costs unless they 

are incorporated into a Federallyapproved indirect cost rate (e.g., 

payments to any organization or person 

retained to help prepare a proposal). 

b. Construction costs for new 

buildings or extensive renovations of 

existing buildings. However, costs for 

the construction of experimental 

research and development facilities to 

be located within a new or existing 

building are allowable provided the 

equipment or facilities are essential for 

carrying out the proposed project and 

are approved in advanced by the NIST 

Grants Officer. These types of facility 

costs may need to be prorated if they 

will not be used exclusively for the 

research activities proposed. 

c. Contractor office supplies and 

contractor expenses for conferences/ 

workshops. 

d. Contracts to another part of the 

same company or to another company 

with identical or nearly identical 

ownership. Work proposed by another 

part of the same company or by another 

company with identical or nearly 

identical ownership should be shown as 

funded through inter-organizational 

transfers that do not contain profit. 

Inter-organizational transfers should be 

broken down in the appropriate budget 

categories. 

e. For research involving human and/ 

or animal subjects, any costs used to 

secure Institutional Review Board or 

Institutional Animal Care and Use 

Committee approvals before or during 

the award. 

f. General purpose office equipment 

and supplies that are not used 

exclusively for the research: e.g., office 

computers, printers, copiers, paper, 

pens, and toner cartridges. 

g. Indirect costs, which must be 

absorbed by the recipient. However, 

indirect costs are allowable for 

contractors under a single company or 

joint venture. (Note that indirect costs 

absorbed by the recipient may be used 

to meet the cost-sharing requirement.) 

h. Marketing, sales, or 

commercialization costs, including 

marketing surveys, commercialization 

studies, and general business planning, 

unless they are included in a Federally 

approved indirect cost rate. 

i. Office furniture costs, unless they 

are included in a Federally approved 

indirect cost rate. 

j. Patent costs and legal fees, unless 

they are included in a Federally 

approved indirect cost rate. 

k. Preaward costs: i.e., any costs 

incurred prior to the award start date. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 31, 2009 / Notices 14529 

l. Profit, management fees, interest on 

borrowed funds, or facilities capital cost 

of money. However, profit is allowable 

for contractors under a single company 

or joint venture. 

m. Project development planning (e.g. 

patent and literature searches) and 

creation of milestones. For example, 

proposals that plan on developing 

milestones only if an award is received 

and after literature searches are 

performed under the award are 

generally not competitive. Costs for 

literature searches in general are 

ineligible. 

n. Relocation costs, unless they are 

included in a Federally approved 

indirect cost rate. 

o. Salaries: NIST limits the salaries of 

project personnel to not exceed Level I 

of the Executive Schedule ($196,700 as 

of January 1, 2009, http://www.opm.gov/ 

oca/09tables/html/ex.asp). 

p. Tuition costs. An institution of 

higher education participating in a TIP 

project as a contractor or as a joint 

venture member or lead may charge TIP 

for tuition remission or other forms of 

compensation in lieu of wages paid to 

students working on TIP projects, but 

only as provided in OMB Circular A–21, 

Section J.41. In such cases, tuition 

remission would be considered a cash 

contribution rather than an in-kind 

contribution. 

Funding Availability. Fiscal year 2009 

appropriations include funds in the 

amount of approximately $25 million 

for new TIP awards. Approximately $10 

million is available for the Civil 

Infrastructure area of critical national 

need and approximately $15 million is 

available in the Manufacturing area of 

critical national need. Approximately 25 

total awards are anticipated. The 

anticipated start date is January 1, 2010. 

The period of performance depends on 

the R&D activity proposed. A single 

company can receive up to a total of $3 

million with a project period of 

performance of up to 3 years. A joint 

venture can receive up to total of $9 

million with a project period of 

performance of up to 5 years. 

Continuation funding after the initial 

award is based on satisfactory 

performance, availability of funds, 

continued relevance to program 

objectives, and is at the sole discretion 

of NIST. 

Eligibility Criteria. Single companies 

and joint ventures may apply for TIP 

funding as provided in 15 CFR 296.2, 

296.4, and 296.5. 

Large-sized Company Participation. A 

large-sized company is not eligible to 

apply for TIP funding. A large-sized 

company is defined as any business, 

including any parent company plus 

related subsidiaries, having annual 

revenues in excess of $1.63 billion. This 

number is based on the May 2008 issue 

of Fortune magazine’s Fortune 1000 list. 

(Note that the revenue amount will be 

updated annually and will be noted in 

future annual announcements of 

availability of funds.) 

Cost-Sharing Requirements. Proposers 

must provide a cost share of at least 50 

percent of the yearly total project costs 

(direct plus all of the indirect costs). 

Evaluation and Award Criteria. 

Proposals are selected for funding based 

on the evaluation criteria listed in 15 

CFR 296.21 and the award criteria listed 

in 15 CFR 296.22 as identified below. 

Additionally, no proposal will be 

funded unless TIP determines that it has 

scientific and technical merit and that 

the proposed research has strong 

potential for addressing a societal 

challenge within the TIP-identified area 

of critical national need as described in 

this notice. Detailed guidance on how to 

address the evaluation and award 

criteria is provided in Chapter 2 of the 

TIP Proposal Preparation Kit, which is 

available at http://www.nist.gov/tip/ 

helpful.html. 

Evaluation Criteria. The two 

components of the evaluation criteria 

and respective weights as listed in 15 

CFR. 296.21 are as follows: 

(a)(1) The proposer(s) adequately 

addresses the scientific and technical 

merit and how the research may result 

in intellectual property vesting in a 

United States entity including evidence 

that: 

(i) The proposed research is novel; 

(ii) The proposed research is highrisk, high-reward; 

(iii) The proposer(s) demonstrates a 

high level of relevant scientific/ 

technical expertise for key personnel, 

including contractors and/or informal 

collaborators, and has access to the 

necessary resources, for example 

research facilities, equipment, materials, 

and data, to conduct the research as 

proposed; 

(iv) The research result(s) has the 

potential to address the technical needs 

associated with a major societal 

challenge not currently being addressed; 

and 

(v) The proposed research plan is 

scientifically sound with tasks, 

milestones, timeline, decision points 

and alternate strategies. 

(2) Total weight of (a)(1)(i) through (v) 

is 50%. 

(b)(1) The proposer(s) adequately 

establishes that the proposed research 

has strong potential for advancing the 

state-of-the-art and contributing 

significantly to the United States 

science and technology knowledge base 

and to address areas of critical national 

need through transforming the Nation’s 

capacity to deal with a major societal 

challenge(s) that is not currently being 

addressed, and generate substantial 

benefits to the Nation that extend 

significantly beyond the direct return to 

the proposer including an explanation 

in the proposal: 

(i) Of the potential magnitude of 

transformational results upon the 

Nation’s capabilities in an area; 

(ii) Of how and when the ensuing 

transformational results will be useful to 

the Nation; and 

(iii) Of the capacity and commitment 

of each award participant to enable or 

advance the transformation to the 

proposed research results (technology). 

(2) Total weight of (b)(1)(i) through 

(iii) is 50%. 

Award Criteria. The six components 

of the award criteria as listed in 15 CFR 

296.22 are as follows: 

(a) The proposal explains why TIP 

support is necessary, including 

evidence that the research will not be 

conducted within a reasonable time 

period in the absence of financial 

assistance from TIP; 

(b) The proposal demonstrates that 

reasonable and thorough efforts have 

been made to secure funding from 

alternative funding sources and no other 

alternative funding sources are 

reasonably available to support the 

proposal; 

(c) The proposal explains the novelty 

of the research (technology) and 

demonstrates that other entities have 

not already developed, commercialized, 

marketed, distributed, or sold similar 

research results (technologies); 

(d) The proposal has scientific and 

technical merit and may result in 

intellectual property vesting in a United 

States entity that can commercialize the 

technology in a timely manner; and 

(e) The proposal establishes that the 

research has strong potential for 

advancing the state-of-the-art and 

contributing significantly to the United 

States science and technology 

knowledge base; and 

(f) The proposal establishes that the 

proposed transformational research 

(technology) has strong potential to 

address areas of critical national need 

through transforming the Nation’s 

capacity to deal with major societal 

challenges that are not currently being 

addressed, and generate substantial 

benefits to the Nation that extend 

significantly beyond the direct return to 

the proposer. 

NIST must determine that a proposal 

successfully meets all six award criteria 

for the proposal to receive funding 

under the Program. 


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14530 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 31, 2009 / Notices 

Selection Factors. In making final 

selections, the Selecting Official will 

select funding recipients based upon the 

Evaluation Panel’s rank order of the 

proposals and the following selection 

factors: 

a. Assuring an appropriate 

distribution of funds among 

technologies and their applications, 

b. Availability of funds, and/or 

c. Program priorities. 

Program Priorities. TIP is soliciting 

proposals under this fiscal year 2009 

competition in two areas of critical 

nation need entitled ‘‘Civil 

Infrastructure’’ and ‘‘Manufacturing’’ as 

described in the Program Description 

section above. 

Selection Procedures. Proposals are 

selected based on a multi-disciplinary 

peer-review process, as described in 15 

CFR 296.20. A preliminary review is 

conducted to determine if the proposal 

is in accordance with 15 CFR 296.3; 

complies with the eligibility 

requirements described in 15 CFR 296.5; 

addresses award criteria (a) through (c) 

of 15 CFR 296.22; was submitted to a 

previous TIP competition, and if so, has 

been substantially revised; and is 

complete. Proposals that are incomplete 

or do not meet any one of the 

preliminary review requirements will 

normally be eliminated. All remaining 

proposals are then carefully reviewed 

based on the TIP evaluation criteria 

listed in 15 CFR 296.21 and award 

criteria listed in 15 CFR 296.22. An 

Evaluation Panel consisting of Federal 

employees will present funding 

recommendations to a Selecting Official 

in rank order for further consideration. 

The Selecting Official makes the final 

selections for funding. The selection of 

proposals by the Selecting Official is 

final and cannot be appealed. The final 

approval of selected proposals and 

award of assistance will be made by the 

NIST Grants Officer. The award 

decision of the NIST Grants Officer is 

final and cannot be appealed. NIST 

reserves the right to negotiate the cost 

and scope of the proposed work with 

the proposers that have been selected to 

receive awards. This may include 

requesting that the proposer delete from 

the scope of work a particular task that 

is deemed by NIST to be inappropriate 

for support. NIST also reserves the right 

to reject a proposal where information 

exists that raises a reasonable doubt as 

to the responsibility of the proposer. 

Intellectual Property Requirements. 

For single company award recipients, 

pursuant to the Bayh-Dole Act (35 

U.S.C. 202 (a) and (b)) and 

‘‘Memorandum to the Heads of 

Executive Departments and Agencies: 

Government Patent Policy’’ (February 

18, 1983), the entity that invents owns 

the invention. However, pursuant to 35 

U.S.C. 202(a)(i), when a single company 

or its contractor under a TIP award is 

not located in the United States or does 

not have a place of business located in 

the United States or is subject to the 

control of a foreign government, NIST 

will require that title to inventions made 

by such parties be transferred to a 

United States entity that will ensure the 

commercialization of the technology in 

a timely fashion. 

For joint ventures, ownership of 

inventions arising from a TIP-funded 

project may vest in any participant in a 

joint venture, as agreed by the members 

of the joint venture (notwithstanding 35 

U.S.C. 202 (a) and (b)). (Participant 

includes any entity that is identified as 

a recipient, subrecipient, or contractor 

on an award to a joint venture.) 

Title to any such invention shall not 

be transferred or passed, except to a 

participant in the joint venture, until the 

expiration of the first patent obtained in 

connection with such invention. 

Should the last existing participant in 

a joint venture cease to exist prior to the 

expiration of the first patent obtained in 

connection with any invention 

developed from assistance provided 

under TIP, title to such patent must be 

transferred or passed to a U.S. entity 

that can commercialize the technology 

in a timely fashion. 

The United States reserves a 

nonexclusive, nontransferable, 

irrevocable paid-up license, to practice 

or have practiced for or on behalf of the 

United States any intellectual property 

developed from a TIP award. The 

Federal government shall not in the 

exercise of such license publicly 

disclose proprietary information related 

to the license. This does not prohibit the 

licensing to any company of intellectual 

property rights arising from a TIPfunded project. (15 CFR 296.11(b)(3)). 

The Federal government also has marchin rights in accordance with 37 CFR 

401.6. Intellectual property means an 

invention patentable under title 35, 

United States Code, or any patent on 

such an invention, or any work for 

which copyright protection is available 

under title 17, United States Code. (15 

CFR 296.2.) 

Projects Involving Human Subjects. 

Research involving human subjects 

must be in compliance with applicable 

Federal regulations and NIST policies 

for the protection of human subjects. 

Human subjects research activities 

involve interactions with live human 

subjects or the use of data, images, 

tissue, and/or cells/cell lines (including 

those used for control purposes) from 

human subjects. Research involving 

human subjects may include activities 

such as the use of image and/or audio 

recording of people, taking surveys or 

using survey data, using databases 

containing personal information, testing 

software with volunteers, and many 

tasks beyond those within traditional 

biomedical research. A Human Subjects 

Determination Checklist is included in 

the March 2009 TIP Proposal 

Preparation Kit in Chapter 4 (http:// 

www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html) to assist 

you in determining whether your 

proposed research plan has human 

subjects involvement, which would 

require additional information in your 

proposal submission, and possibly more 

documentation during the Evaluation 

Panel’s consideration of your proposal. 

See the TIP Guidelines and 

Documentation Requirements for 

Research Involving Human & Animal 

Subjects for more specific information 

on documentation requirements and 

due dates for documentation located at 

http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html or 

by calling 1–888–847–6478. President 

Obama has issued Exec. Order No. 

13,505, 74 FR 10667 (March 9, 2009), 

revoking previous executive orders and 

Presidential statements regarding the 

use of human embryonic stem cells in 

research. NIST will follow any guidance 

issued by the National Institutes of 

Health (NIH) pursuant to the executive 

order and will develop its own 

procedures based on the NIH guidance 

before funding research using human 

embryonic stem cells. NIST will follow 

any additional polices or guidance 

issued by the current Administration on 

this topic. 

Projects Involving Live Vertebrate 

Animals. Research involving live 

vertebrate animals must be in 

compliance with applicable Federal 

regulations and NIST policies for the 

protection of live vertebrate animals. 

Vertebrate animal research involves live 

animals that are being cared for, 

euthanized, or used by the project 

participants to accomplish research 

goals or for teaching or testing. The 

regulations do not apply to animal 

tissues purchased from commercial 

processors or tissue banks or to uses of 

preexisting images of animals (e.g., a 

wildlife documentary or pictures of 

animals in newscasts). The regulations 

do apply to any animals that are 

transported, cared for, euthanized or 

used by a project participant for testing, 

research, or training such as testing of 

new procedures or projects, collection 

of biological samples or observation 

data on health and behavior. Detailed 

information regarding the use of live 

vertebrate animals in research plans and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 31, 2009 / Notices 14531 

required documentation is available in 

the TIP Guidelines and Documentation 

Requirements for Research Involving 

Human & Animal Subjects located at 

http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html or 

by calling 1–888–847–6478. 

Executive Order 12372 

(Intergovernmental Review of Federal 

Programs). Proposals under this 

program are not subject to Executive 

Order 12372. 

Administrative Procedure Act and 

Regulatory Flexibility Act. Prior notice 

and comment are not required under 5 

U.S.C. 553, or any other law, for rules 

relating to public property, loans, 

grants, benefits or contracts (5 U.S.C. 

553(a)). Because prior notice and an 

opportunity for public comment are not 

required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any 

other law, the analytical requirements of 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis is not 

required and has not been prepared. 

E.O. 13132 (Federalism). This notice 

does not contain policies with 

Federalism implications as defined in 

Executive Order 13132. 

E.O. 12866 (Regulatory Planning and 

Review). This notice is determined to be 

not significant under Executive Order 

12866.. 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

the law, no person is required to, nor 

shall any person be subject to penalty 

for failure to, comply with a collection 

of information, subject to the 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA), unless that 

collection of information displays a 

currently valid Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) Control Number. 

This notice contains collection-ofinformation requirements subject to the 

PRA. The use of Form NIST–1022, 

Standard Form-424 (R&R), SF–424B, 

SF–LLL, Research and Related Other 

Project Information Form, and CD–346 

has been approved by OMB under the 

respective control numbers 0693–0050, 

4040–0001, 4040–0007, 0348–0046, 

4040–0001, and 0605–0001. 

Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements. Department of Commerce 

Pre-Award Notification Requirements 

for Grants and Cooperative Agreements, 

73 FR 7696–05 (Feb. 11, 2008), apply to 

this solicitation. On the form SF–424 

(R&R) item 3. Organization DUNS and 

item 6. Employer Identification (EIN) or 

(TIN), the applicant’s 9-digit Dun and 

Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) and the applicants 9- 

digit Employer Identification Number 

(EIN) or Taxpayer Identification Number 

(TIN) must be consistent with the 

information on the Central Contractor 

Registration (CCR) (http://www.ccr.gov) 

and Automated Standard Application 

for Payment System (ASAP). For 

complex organizations with multiple 

DUNS and EIN or TIN numbers, the 

DUNS and EIN or TIN numbers MUST 

be the numbers for the applying entity. 

Entities that provide incorrect/ 

inconsistent DUNS and EIN or TIN 

numbers may experience significant 

delays in submitting their proposals 

through Grants.gov and receiving funds 

if the proposal is selected for funding. 

Dated: March 25, 2009. 

Patrick Gallagher, 

Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. E9–7192 Filed 3–30–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Proposed Information Collection; 

Comment Request; Atlantic Highly 

Migratory Species Recreational 

Landings Reports 

AGENCY: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork and 

respondent burden, invites the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

take this opportunity to comment on 

proposed and/or continuing information 

collections, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before June 1, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments 

to Diana Hynek, Departmental 

Paperwork Clearance Officer, 

Department of Commerce, Room 7845, 

14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20230 (or via the 

Internet at dHynek@doc.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument and instructions should be 

directed to Margo Schulze-Haugen, 

(301) 713–2347 or Margo.SchulzeHaugen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

Recreational catch reporting provides 

important data used to monitor catches 

of Atlantic highly migratory species 

(HMS) and supplements other existing 

data collection programs. The data 

collected through this program are 

currently used for both domestic and 

international fisheries management and 

stock assessment purposes. 

Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) catch 

reporting provides real-time catch 

information used to monitor the 

recreational BFT fishery. Under the 

Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 

(ATCA, 16 U.S.C. 971), the United 

States is required to implement 

recommendations of the International 

Commission for the Conservation of 

Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), as necessary 

and appropriate, including a specified 

BFT quota. This program supports BFT 

quota monitoring and scientific research 

authorized under ATCA and the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(MSFMCA, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 

Recreational anglers are required to 

report specific information regarding 

their catch after they land a BFT. 

Atlantic billfish and swordfish are 

managed internationally by ICCAT and 

nationally under ATCA and the 

MSFMCA. This collection provides 

information needed to monitor the 

recreational limit established by ICCAT 

for Atlantic blue and white marlin, and 

the recreational catch of North Atlantic 

swordfish, which is applied to the 

ICCAT established U.S. quota. This 

collection also provides information on 

recreational landings of West Atlantic 

sailfish which is unavailable from 

established monitoring programs. The 

collection of sailfish catch information 

is authorized under MSFCMA for 

purposes of stock management. 

II. Method of Collection 

Respondents reporting BFT landings 

in all states (including the United States 

Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth 

of Puerto Rico) other than Maryland or 

North Carolina may use either an 

Internet Web site or an interactive voice 

response (IVR) telephone system. The 

respondents reporting Atlantic marlin, 

West Atlantic sailfish, or North Atlantic 

swordfish in all states (including the 

United States Virgin Islands and the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) other 

than MD or NC may use either an 

Internet Web site or a toll-free telephone 

number. In MD and NC, a paper 

reporting system is used for all of the 

aforementioned species. Respondents in 

MD and NC must submit a landing card 

at a state reporting station. The states 

that participate in a landing card 

program must submit weekly reports 

and one annual report to NOAA to 

summarize landings and results to date. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0328. 

Form Number: None. 


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