27636 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 97 / Friday, May 18, 2001 / Notices

DATES: Written comments and

recommendations for the proposed

collections of information must be

mailed to the OMB Desk Officer, on or

before June 18, 2001. If you anticipate

that you will be submitting comments,

but find it difficult to do so within the

period of time allowed by this notice,

please advise the OMB Desk Officer of

your intention to make a submission as

soon as possible. The Desk Officer may

be telephoned at (202) 395–7318. In

addition, please notify the DOE contact

listed in this notice.

ADDRESSES: Address comments to the

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget, New Executive Office Building,

Washington, DC 20503. Persons

submitting comments to OMB are

requested to send a copy to Dr. Judith

D. Foulke, U.S. Department of Energy,

Office of Worker Protection Policy and

Programs (EH–52), Office of

Environment, Safety and Health, 19901

Germantown Road, Germantown, MD

20874–1290.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for copies of the Department’s

Paperwork Reduction Act Submission

and other information should be

directed to Ms. Susan L. Frey, U.S.

Department of Energy, Director, Records

Management Division, Office of Records

and Business Management (SO–312),

Office of the Chief Information Officer,

Germantown, MD 20874–1290. Ms. Frey

can be contacted by telephone at (301)

903–3666 or e-mail at

Susan.Frey@hq.doe.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

package contains: (1) Current OMB No.

1910–5105; (2) Package Title:

Occupational Radiation Protection; (3)

Summary: Request for a three-year

extension without change, which covers

mandatory responses; (4) Purpose: The

recordkeeping and reporting

requirements that comprise this

information collection will permit DOE

and its contractors to provide

management control and oversight over

health and safety programs concerning

worker exposure to ionizing radiation;

(5) Type of Respondents: 50 DOE

management and operating contractors;

(6) Estimated Number of Burden Hours:

50,000.

Statutory Authority: Sections 3507(h)(1) of

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.

L. No. 104–13) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Issued in Washington, DC on May 10,

2001.

Susan L. Frey,

Director, Records Management Division,

Office of Records and Business Management,

Office of the Chief Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–12540 Filed 5–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Science; Office of Science

Financial Assistance Program Notice

01–26: Program for Ecosystem

Research (PER)

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE).

ACTION: Notice inviting grant

applications.

SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and

Environmental Research (OBER) of the

Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department

of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its

interest in receiving applications for

research grants in the Program for

Ecosystem Research (PER). Applications

should describe research projects that

address the scientific aims of PER.

Applications for research on carbon

sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems

were solicited under an earlier

announcement (Carbon Sequestration

Research Program; Notice 00–09), and

applications for research on terrestrial

ecosystem carbon cycle and carbon

balance were solicited under another

earlier announcement (Terrestrial

Carbon Processes (TCP) Notice 00–12).

Applications for research on those

topics will not be considered by PER.

DATES: Potential applicants are strongly

encouraged (but not required) to submit

a preapplication for programmatic

review. The deadline for

preapplications is July 2, 2001. A

response to the preapplications will be

communicated to the principal

investigators by July 9, 2001.

The deadline for receipt of formal

applications is 4:30 p.m., EST, August

13, 2001, to be accepted for merit review

and to permit timely consideration for

award in early Fiscal Year 2002. An

original and seven copies of the

application must be submitted.

Applicants are requested not to submit

multiple applications using more than

one delivery or mail service.

ADDRESSES: If submitting a

preapplication, it should be sent as

ASCII text attached to an e-mail to

Karen.Carlson@science.doe.gov, using

an e-mail subject line of ‘‘PER

preapplication.’’

Formal applications, referencing

Program Notice 01–26, should be sent

to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of

Science, Grants and Contracts Division,

SC–64, 19901 Germantown Road,

Germantown, MD 20874–1290, ATTN:

Program Notice 01–26. This address

must also be used when submitting

applications by U.S. Postal Service

Express Mail or any other commercial

overnight delivery service, or when

hand-carried by the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Jeffrey S. Amthor, Environmental

Sciences Division, SC–74, Office of

Biological and Environmental Research,

U.S. Department of Energy, 19901

Germantown Road, Germantown, MD

20874–1290, telephone (301) 903–2507,

e-mail: Jeff.Amthor@science.doe.gov,

fax: (301) 903–8519. The full text of

Program Notice 01–26, is available via

the Internet at the following URL:

http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/

grants/grants.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE has

responsibility for developing energy

resources, technologies, and policies to

provide for the nation’s energy needs in

a manner that will maintain, protect,

and enhance environmental quality.

Complementary to this commitment,

and as part of the U.S. Global Change

Research Program, DOE also addresses

the question of how ecosystems respond

and adjust to global and regional

changes in atmospheric composition

and related climate changes associated

with energy production and use.

The mission of PER is to improve the

scientific basis for predicting or

detecting effects of simultaneous

changes in climate and atmospheric

composition on terrestrial ecosystems

and their component organisms and

processes. Ecosystem processes and

components of importance to humanity

are of special concern. Climatic and

atmospheric changes of key interest

include (but need not be limited to):

Warming (and changes in diurnal,

seasonal, and interannual temperature

cycles), changes in precipitation and

evapotranspiration (e.g., intensification

of the hydrologic cycle), changes in

frequency and/or magnitude of extreme

weather events and patterns, and rising

atmospheric carbon dioxide and ozone

concentrations. (Hereafter, these climate

and atmospheric changes are referred to

as ‘‘environmental changes’’). Effects of

factors such as human land use and

introduction and spread of invasive

species on ecosystem structure and

function are of programmatic interest

only to the extent that they interact with

(modify impacts of) environmental

changes on terrestrial ecosystems, not as

stand-alone factors influencing

ecosystems and their component

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 97 / Friday, May 18, 2001 / Notices 27637

processes. Study of coastal ecosystems

is presently outside the purview of PER.

Program objectives are to improve

scientific understanding of how and

why (or if):

(1) Terrestrial ecosystems and their

component organisms are affected by

and respond to multiple environmental

changes; and

(2) Underlying biological and/or

ecological processes in terrestrial

ecosystems are controlled or modified

by multiple environmental changes.

PER is interested in both experimental

research (in the laboratory or field as

appropriate to the research objectives)

and modeling that considers both

(either) direct and indirect effects of

environmental changes on terrestrial

ecosystems, their components, their

processes, and their structures.

Experimental research based on

underlying theory, and modeling that

considers ecological hierarchies (i.e.,

multi-level or mechanistic modeling),

are most relevant, as are considerations

of multiple environmental changes.

Ecosystem responses to environmental

changes of special interest include: (1)

Adjustments at the ecosystem scale,

such as changes in the organized

hierarchy of ecosystem processes,

structures, biological diversity, and/or

succession, and (2) adjustments at the

organismal scale that are manifested at

the ecosystem scale, including

physiological, biochemical, and/or

genetic changes that may facilitate (or

hinder) ecosystem homeostasis.

Goals of PER research are to (1)

determine and quantify cause-and-effect

relationships between environmental

changes and the structure and

functioning of terrestrial ecosystems,

including adjustments at the ecosystem

level and the biological/ecological

controls on the cause-and-effect

relationships, and (2) develop and test

methods of integrating biotic responses

to environmental changes up to levels of

organization as high as whole

ecosystems. Mathematical modeling can

play an important role in attaining these

goals, but such modeling must involve

new empirically based science.

Modeling projects must either introduce

new theories into existing models, and/

or critically evaluate and improve

existing models with independent

experimental data. PER modeling must

go beyond simply making predictions of

ecosystem responses to environmental

change scenarios; it must develop and/

or test hypotheses concerning causeand-effect relationships between

environmental changes and terrestrial

ecosystem structure and functioning.

The main theme defining PER goals is

the mechanistic understanding and

quantification of ecosystem-scale

responses to ongoing and potential

future environmental changes, with an

emphasis on multiple changes.

Applications should succinctly

articulate the choice of environmental

factors to be studied and the magnitude

of changes considered. Those choices

might be related to physically based

models of the future climate system

and/or models and projections of the

chemical characteristics of the future

atmosphere. Time scales of decades to a

century are appropriate.

When appropriate, use of existing

DOE facilities and sites for ecosystem

research is encouraged. Such facilities/

sites include the National

Environmental Research Parks (NERPs)

located at DOE facilities throughout the

country (see http://www.pnl.gov/nerp/

nerpmap.gif), free-air CO2 enrichment

(FACE) sites (see http://

cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/programs/FACE/

face.html), and DOE’s Atmospheric

Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program

site in Oklahoma (see http://

www.arm.gov/).

Applications focusing primarily on

ecosystem carbon exchange or carbon

balance, or directed at carbon

sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems,

are not appropriate for PER. Such

applications should be directed to the

DOE OBER Terrestrial Carbon Processes

(TCP) and the Carbon Sequestration

Research programs, respectively.

Concise applications will aid the

evaluation process. The technical

portion of each application should

clearly state links between proposed

research and the PER mission,

objectives, and goals. Background

material (e.g., literature review) in the

technical portion of each application

should be only long enough to

demonstrate familiarity with the subject

and to critically define the need for the

proposed research. The complete

technical portion of each application

should not exceed 20 double-spaced

pages with at least 1-inch margins using

a 10-point (or larger) font. Figures and

tables are included in this page limit,

though the font size in tables and figures

may be smaller, as long as all material

is fully legible. A one-page, singlespaced summary should precede the

technical portion of the application.

Applications exceeding these limits may

be returned with a request for

compliance to these standards, but the

deadline will not be extended.

Applications submitted to continue

existing PER-sponsored research should

devote one to one and a half pages of the

technical portion of the application to a

succinct description of the earlier/

ongoing research and results, including

a statement of the project funding start

date. An appendix must be included

listing all refereed publications from the

project, papers accepted for publication,

and papers submitted for publication

(not draft manuscripts). This appendix

(which will not count against the 20-

page limit) may take the form of an

annotated bibliography, with a one or

two sentence description of the

significance of each paper listed after

each citation. Similarly, applications for

new research from principal

investigators previously supported by

PER (or by TECO through DOE) may

devote one to one and a half pages of the

technical portion of the application to a

succinct description of the earlier

research and results, including a

statement of the project(s) funding start

and end dates. An appendix (which will

not count against the 20-page limit)

listing all refereed publications

(published, accepted for publication,

and submitted for publication) from the

earlier project(s) may be included.

The technical portion of each

application should end with a brief,

clear time line of proposed work and a

concise listing of responsibilities of each

investigator.

The technical portion of the

application should be followed by a list

of scientific references cited in the

technical portion. The references-cited

section will not count against the 20-

page limit.

Applications must include a

curriculum vita for each principal and

co-principal investigator (two pages

maximum per investigator). The vitae

should specify previous research and

publications (if any) related to the

proposed research. The vitae are not

part of the technical portion of the

application.

Program Funding

It is anticipated that approximately

$1.8 million will be available for

multiple awards to be made in early FY

2002, contingent on availability of

funds. Applications may request project

support for up to three years, with outyear support contingent on availability

of funds, progress of the research, and

programmatic needs. Previous awards

have been in the range from $80,000 to

$250,000 per year, with some larger

awards made in exceptional cases,

including coordinated multiinstitutional projects. DOE may

encourage collaboration among

prospective investigators to promote

joint applications or joint research

projects by using information obtained

in the preapplications or other forms of

communication.

27638 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 97 / Friday, May 18, 2001 / Notices

Preapplication

A preapplication is strongly

encouraged. The preapplication should

contain a title, address, telephone, fax

and e-mail address of the Principal

Investigator, and consist of 500 words or

less of narrative outlining the proposed

research objectives and methods.

Include a list of proposed principal

investigators and their institutions at the

end of the narrative. Responses to

preapplications, encouraging or

discouraging formal applications, will

generally be communicated within 7

days of receipt. Notification of a

successful preapplication is not an

indication that an award will be made

in response to the formal application.

Merit Review

Applications will be subjected to

formal merit review (peer review) and

will be evaluated against the following

criteria which are listed in descending

order of importance codified at 10 CFR

605.10(d):

1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of

the Project;

2. Appropriateness of the Proposed

Method or Approach;

3. Competency of Applicant’s

Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed

Resources; and

4. Reasonableness and

Appropriateness of the Proposed

Budget.

The evaluation will include program

policy factors such as the relevance of

the proposed research to the terms of

the announcement and the agency’s

programmatic needs. Note, external peer

reviewers are selected with regard to

both their scientific expertise and the

absence of conflict-of-interest issues.

Non-federal reviewers may be used, and

submission of an application constitutes

agreement that this is acceptable to the

investigator(s) and the submitting

institution.

Submission Information

Information about the development

and submission of applications,

eligibility, limitations, evaluation,

selection process, and other policies and

procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part

605, and in the Application Guide for

the Office of Science Financial

Assistance Program. Electronic access to

the Guide and required forms is made

available via the World Wide Web at:

http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/

grants/grants.html. DOE is under no

obligation to pay for any costs

associated with the preparation or

submission of applications if an award

is not made.

In addition, for this notice, the

research description should not exceed

20 pages, exclusive of attachments, must

include detailed budgets, form DOE F

4620.1, for each year of support

requested, and must contain a one-page

abstract or summary of the proposed

research. On the SC grant face page,

form DOE F 4650.2, in block 15, also

provide the PI’s phone number, fax

number and e-mail address.

Attachments should include curriculum

vitae for all key personnel, a listing of

all current and pending federal support,

and letters of intent when collaborations

are part of the proposed research.

Curriculum vitae should be submitted

in a form similar to that of NIH or NSF

(two pages maximum), see for example:

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

fkit.htm#forms-9.

For researchers who do not have

access to the World Wide Web, please

contact Karen Carlson, Environmental

Sciences Division, SC–74, U.S.

Department of Energy, 19901

Germantown Road, Germantown, MD

20874–1290, phone: (301) 903–3338,

fax: (301) 903–8519, e-mail:

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

copies of background material

mentioned in this solicitation.

(The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number for this program is 81.049, and the

solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR

part 605.)

Issued in Washington, DC May 9, 2001.

John Rodney Clark,

Associate Director of Science for Resource

Management.

[FR Doc. 01–12539 Filed 5–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[FE Docket No. PP–197, DOE/EIS–0307]

Notice of Reopening Scoping Period

and Schedule for Public Scoping

Meetings; Public Service Company of

New Mexico

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: DOE announces that it is

reopening the scoping period and will

hold additional public scoping meetings

for the environmental impact statement

(DOE/EIS–0307) that is being prepared

in connection with an application for a

Presidential permit field by Public

Service Company of New Mexico

(PNM). PNM has applied for a

Presidential permit to construct electric

transmission lines across the U.S.-

Mexico border. DOE is preparing an EIS,

with the U.S. Forest Service as a

cooperating agency, because together

they have determined that the issuance

of a DOE Presidential permit and/or

issuance of a Forest Service ‘‘Special

Use Permit’’ would constitute major

Federal actions that may have a

significant impact upon the

environment within the meaning of the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (NEPA). The purpose of this notice

is to open a new scoping period to

obtain comments on the five alternative

corridors proposed to be analyzed in the

EIS. These alternative corridors have

been derived from the eight study

corridors that were the subject of

previous scoping periods.

DATES: DOE invites interested agencies,

organizations, and members of the

public to submit comments or

suggestions to assist in identifying

significant environmental issues not

previously identified and in

determining the appropriate scope of

the EIS. This new scoping period starts

with the publication of this notice in the

Federal Register and will continue until

June 22, 2001. Written and oral

comments will be given equal weight

and DOE will consider all comments

received or postmarked by June 22,

2001, in defining the scope of the EIS.

Comments received or postmarked after

that date will be considered to the

extent possible.

Dates, times and locations for the

public scoping meetings are:

1. June 12, 2001, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Rio

Rico Resort, 1069 Camino Caralampi,

Rio Rico, Arizona.

2. June 13, 2001, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.,

Marana High School, Marana, Arizona.

Requests to speak at a public scoping

meeting(s) should be received by the

NEPA Document Manager, Mrs. Ellen

Russell, at the address indicated below

on or before June 7, 2001. Requests to

speak may also be made at the time of

the scoping meeting(s). However,

persons who submitted advance

requests to speak will be given priority

if time should be limited during the

meeting.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or

suggestions on the scope of the EIS and

requests to speak at the scoping

meeting(s) should be addressed to: Mrs.

Ellem Russell, NEPA Document

Manager, Office of Fossil Energy (FE–

27), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington DC 20585–0350; phone

202–586–9624, facsimile: 202–287–

5736, or by electronic mail at

Ellen.Russell@hq.doe.gov. Comments

that relate exclusively to activities on or

impacts to lands under the control of

the U.S. Forest Service may also be

transmitted directly to Jerry Conner,

Coronado National Forest, 300 W.