26836 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[Docket No. 010412091–1091–01; I.D.

040501D]

RIN 0648–ZB05

Financial Assistance for Research and

Development Projects in Chesapeake

Bay to Strengthen, Develop and/or

Improve the Stock Conditions of the

Chesapeake Bay Fisheries

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

SUMMARY: A total of up to $1,315,000 in

Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 funds is available

through the NOAA/NMFS Chesapeake

Bay Office to assist institutions of higher

education, hospitals, other nonprofits,

commercial organizations, foreign

governments, organizations under the

jurisdiction of foreign governments,

international organizations, state, local

and Indian tribal governments in

carrying out research and development

projects that address various aspects of

Chesapeake Bay fisheries (commercial

and recreational), including coastal and

estuarine research, monitoring, and

assessment; fisheries research and stock

assessments; data management; and,

multiple species interactions through

cooperative agreements. About $425,000

of the base amount is available to

initiate new projects in FY 2001, as

described in this announcement. It is

the intent of the NOAA Chesapeake Bay

Office to continue with several existing

relationships and to make awards

through this program for projects

pending acceptable scientific review.

These projects include multispecies

monitoring program designs, and hard

clam and oyster stock assessments.

NMFS issues this document to set forth

how to apply for financial assistance

and how NMFS will determine which

applications will be selected for

funding.

DATES: Applications for funding under

this program must be received by 5 p.m.

eastern daylight savings time on June

14, 2001. Applications received after

that time will not be considered for

funding. No applications will be

accepted by facsimile machine

submission.

ADDRESSES: Send completed

applications to: Derek Orner, National

Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA

Chesapeake Bay Office, 410 Severn

Avenue, Suite 107A, Annapolis, MD

21403.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Derek Orner, 410/267–5660; or e-mail:

derek.orner@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

A. Authority. The Fish and Wildlife

Act of 1956, as amended, at 16 U.S.C.

753 (a), authorizes the Secretary of

Commerce (Secretary), for the purpose

of developing adequate, coordinated,

cooperative research and training

programs for fish and wildlife resources,

to continue to enter into cooperative

agreements with colleges and

universities, with game and fish

departments of the several states, and

with non-profit organizations relating to

cooperative research units. The

Departments of Commerce (DOC),

Justice, State, the Judiciary, and Related

Agencies Appropriations Act of 2001

makes funds available to the Secretary.

B. Catalog of Federal Assistance

(CFDA). The research to be funded is in

support of the Chesapeake Bay Studies

(CFDA 11.457), under the Chesapeake

Bay Stock Assessment Committee

(CBSAC).

C. Program Description. CBSAC was

established in 1985 to plan and review

Baywide resource assessments,

coordinate relevant actions of state and

federal agencies, report on fisheries

status and trends, and determine, fund

and review research projects. The

program implements a Baywide plan for

the assessment of commercially,

recreationally, and selected ecologically

important species in the Chesapeake

Bay. In 1988, CBSAC developed a

Baywide Stock Assessment Plan, in

response to provisions in the

Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1987. The

Plan identified that key obstacles to

assessing Bay stocks was the lack of

consistent, Baywide, fishery-dependent

and fishery-independent data. Research

projects funded since 1988 have focused

on developing and improving fisheryindependent surveys and catch statistics

for key Bay species, such as striped

bass, oysters, blue crabs and alosids.

Stock assessment research is essential,

given the recent declines in harvest and

apparent stock condition for many of

the important species of the Chesapeake

Bay.

D. Funding Availability. This

document describes how interested

persons can apply for funding under the

Chesapeake Bay Studies Program, and

how funding decisions will be made.

Funding for projects depends on an

allocation of funds by Congress for the

NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office in Fiscal

Year (FY) 2001. This solicitation

announces that funding of up to

$1,375,000 may be available through the

Chesapeake Bay Studies Program. This

announcement does not guarantee that

sufficient funds will be available to

make awards for all selected

applications submitted under this

program.

II. Funding Priorities

A. In developing a research proposal,

applicants should address one or more

of the following funding priorities:

(1) Stock Assessment Research—

Consideration for funding will be given

to applications that address the

following stock assessment research and

management priorities for the

Chesapeake Bay. These priorities are not

listed in any particular order:

(a) Assessments of the abundance,

productivity, distribution, and

exploitation patterns of important

Chesapeake Bay finfish and shellfish

resources. Proposals may include

research on life history characteristics,

stock-recruitment relationships, and

schedules of vital rates. Descriptions of

stock structure, demographics and

spatial distribution would also be

appropriate. It is anticipated that

proposals will combine analyses of

existing fishery-dependent and fisheryindependent data. Proposals focusing on

soft clams are particularly encouraged.

(b) Blue Crab Recreational Survey—

Projects should:

i. Review the work previously

conducted on the development of

methods for conducting a Baywide

recreational survey;

ii. Implement on a Baywide scale

based on earlier work;

iii. Provide reliable estimates of

recreational catch, fishing effort, catch

rates, size composition, and sex ratios

for all components of the blue crab

recreational fisheries.

(c) Blue Cab Stock Assessment

Analyses—Projects should:

i. Provide analyses which may

corroborate the results of the lengthbased estimates of fishing mortality

rates (current estimates based on 120

mm or greater carapace width) and

investigations into the relative

exploitation rates on peeler size blue

crabs.

ii. Provide analyses of the trends in

relative exploitation rates on blue crab,

according to major gear types used in

the commercial fishery.

iii. Develop methods for estimation of

Baywide commercial fishing effort and

conduct a pilot study to test the

methods.

iv. Design and develop an integrated

Baywide blue crab mark and recapture

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices 26837

study that will provide information on

growth, natural mortality, fishing

mortality, size selectivity, catchability,

reporting rates and the distribution of

harvest among the fisheries. Results

should be informative with respect to

the reproductive frequency of female

crabs, and longevity. Recognizing the

scope of this project, subcomponents

that will help in contributing to the

development of a Baywide framework

for this project will be accepted. Projects

proposing tagging of adult female crabs

utilizing external tags, and projects

proposing tagging of both male and

female crabs including the development

and use of internally anchored tags

which persist through the molting

process are both encouraged.

(d) Design of a method/survey to

estimate the Baywide abundance of

oysters in Chesapeake Bay. The purpose

of this survey will be to track progress

towards achieving the Chesapeake Bay

Program goal of increasing the oyster

population ten-fold by the year 2010.

The investigators should take into

consideration existing state surveys and

other work that already fulfill various

data needs.

(e) Improvement or implementation of

the collection of fishery-dependent data

within Chesapeake Bay. Projects can

involve either the commercial and/or

recreational components of the fishery.

Projects should focus on collecting

biological data (size, sex, age, diet), and

catch and effort data from Baywide

harvests of significant finfish and

shellfish fisheries to provide accurate,

statistically representative information

on the spatial and temporal

characteristics of the harvest. Proposals

may involve designs for port-sampling

of landings, or on-board analysis of the

catch, analysis of intercepts and

telephone surveys. Proposals that

document information on by-catch

would be relevant.

The proposals should recognize

current efforts to collect biological data

from Bay fisheries and attempt to define

the optimal, regional (Maryland,

Potomac River Fisheries Commission,

and Virginia jurisdictions) sampling

program. Proposals focusing on the blue

crab commercial fishery are particularly

encouraged.

(2) Multispecies Management or

Research—The Chesapeake Bay is a

complex and dynamic ecosystem that

supports many fisheries that are

economically important both regionally

and nationally. To date, these resources

have been managed on a single species

basis. While the single species approach

has served us well, the existence of both

biological and technical (by-catch)

interactions in most Chesapeake Bay

fisheries points to the need to move

toward a wider, multispecies

perspective. This viewpoint was

wholeheartedly endorsed at a workshop

of regional, national and international

scientists held to address the potential

utility of multispecies approaches to

fisheries management in the Chesapeake

Bay (STAC Publication 98-002,

www.chesapeake.org). The ultimate

objective of this research and

monitoring is to lead to the

development of an ecosystem plan for

Chesapeake Bay fisheries, within which

the rational exploitation of individual

species can be determined.

Consideration for funding will be

given to applications that address the

following multispecies management and

research priorities for the Chesapeake

Bay. It should be realized that certain

priorities may require a larger funding

commitment, although the priorities are

not listed in any implied order:

(a) Fishery-independent Surveys.

Plan, develop and initiate coordinated

Baywide surveys to regularly estimate

species abundances, trends and

biological characteristics (e.g., age/size

structure, recruitments, growth and

mortality rates, food habitats) for

economically and ecologically

important key species. Proposals within

this task may:

i. Review and assess existing fishery

independent sampling programs

conducted by regional agencies to

evaluate their potential applicability to

the Chesapeake Bay. This may include

evaluation of the use of fixed and

random sampling protocols, with or

without stratification, and the sampling

characteristics of different gear types.

ii. Develop and initiate a Baywide,

coordinated, fishery-independent

survey that may include multiple gear,

such as benthic and midwater trawling,

and hydroacoustics to characterize the

status and trends in the abundance,

distribution and characteristics of key

Chesapeake Bay finfish and shellfish.

(b) Retrospective Analyses. Document

and quantify multispecies interactions

among economically and ecologically

important finfish and shellfish within

the Chesapeake Bay. The proposed work

should lead to the identification of the

‘strong’ interactions within the

Chesapeake Bay fisheries system. Work

may involve analysis of commercial and

recreational catch and effort data, the

analysis of the patterns of diets and

energy flows within the fisheries

system, or multivariate analyses of

abundance relationships within the

fisheries system and their relationship

to environmental and habitat

characteristics.

(c) Multispecies Assessment /

Ecosystem Modeling. Apply and assess

alternative multispecies fisheries

models to the Chesapeake Bay fisheries

systems. The submitted proposal should

detail the development of a multispecies

or ecosystem model focusing on core

Chesapeake Bay species. Examples of

possible approaches include, but are not

limited to: multispecies biomass

dynamic, multispecies yield per recruit,

Multi species virtual population

analysis, multispecies bioenergetics,

spatial-physical predator-prey, trophic

production and ecosystem simulation

models. Model approaches should seek

to predict constraints and patterns in

the fisheries production of the

Chesapeake Bay system.

III. How To Apply

A. Eligible applicants. Eligible

applicants are institutions of higher

education, hospitals, other nonprofits,

commercial organizations, foreign

governments, organizations under the

jurisdiction of foreign governments,

international organizations, state, local

and Indian tribal governments. Federal

agencies or institutions are not eligible

to receive Federal assistance under this

notice.

B. Duration and Terms of Funding.

Under this solicitation, NMFS will fund

Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment

Research Projects as 12-month

cooperative agreements. The

cooperative agreement has been

determined to be the appropriate

funding instrument because of the

substantial involvement of NMFS in:

1. Developing program research

priorities;

2. Evaluating the performance of the

program for effectiveness in meeting

regional goals for Chesapeake Bay stock

assessments;

3. Monitoring the progress of each

funded project;

4. Holding periodic workshops with

investigators; and

5. Working with recipients to prepare

annual reports summarizing current

accomplishments of the Chesapeake Bay

Stock Assessment Committee.

Project dates should be scheduled to

begin no later than 1 October 2001.

Cooperative agreements are approved on

an annual basis but may be considered

eligible for continuation beyond the first

project and budget period subject to the

approved scope of work, satisfactory

progress, and availability of funds at the

total discretion of NMFS. However,

there are no assurances for such

continuation. Publication of this notice

does not obligate NMFS to award any

specific cooperative agreement or to

26838 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices

obligate any part of the entire amount of

funds available.

C. Cost-sharing Requirements.

Applications must reflect the total

budget necessary to accomplish the

project, including contributions and/or

donations.

D. Format. 1. Applications for project

funding must be complete and must

follow the format described. Applicants

must identify the specific research

priority or priorities to which they are

responding. For applications containing

more than one project, each project

component must be identified

individually using the format specified

in this section. If an application is not

in response to a priority, it should so

state. Applicants should not assume

prior knowledge on the part of NMFS as

to the relative merits of the project

described in the application.

Applications must not be bound and

must be one-sided. All incomplete

applications will be returned to the

applicant. Applicants are required to

submit 1 signed original and 2 copies of

the proposal.

2. Applications must be submitted in

the following format:

(a) Cover sheet: An applicant must use

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) Standard Form 424 (revised 4/

92) as the cover sheet for each project.

Applicants may obtain copies of these

forms from the NOAA Grants

Management Division, the NOAA

Chesapeake Bay Office (see

ADDRESSES) or from the NOAA Grants

website, http://www.rdc.noaa.gov/

grants.

(b) Project summary: Each proposal

must contain a summary of not more

than one page that provides the

following:

(1) Project title.

(2) Project status (new).

(3) Project duration (beginning and

ending dates).

(4) Name, address, and telephone

number of applicant.

(5) Principal Investigator(s) (PI).

(6) Project objectives.

(7) Summary of work to be performed.

(8) Total Federal funds requested.

(9) Cost-sharing to be provided from

non-Federal sources, if any. Specify

whether contributions are projectrelated cash or in-kind.

(10) Total project cost.

(c) Project description— (including

results from prior support): Each project

must be completely and accurately

described. The main body of the

proposal should be a clear statement of

the work to be undertaken and should

include: objectives for the period of the

proposed work and the expected

significance; relation to longer-term

goals of the PI’s project; and relation to

other work planned, anticipated, or

underway under Federal Assistance.

The project description must not exceed

15 pages in length. Visual materials,

including charts, graphs, maps,

photographs and other pictorial

presentations are not included in the 15-

page limitation. If an application is

awarded, NMFS will make all portions

of the project description available to

the public for review; therefore, NMFS

cannot guarantee the confidentiality of

any information submitted as part of

any project, nor will NMFS accept for

consideration any project requesting

confidentiality of any part of the project.

Each project must be described as

follows:

(1) Identification of problem(s):

Describe the specific problem to be

addressed (see section II).

(2) Project objectives: The project

description must identify the following

three project objectives: 1. Identify the

specific priority listed earlier in the

solicitation to which the proposed

projects respond, if any; 2. Identify the

problem/opportunity you intend to

address and describe its significance to

the fishing community; and 3. State

what you expect the project to

accomplish.

If you are applying to continue a

project previously funded under the

Chesapeake Bay Studies Program,

describe in detail your progress to date

and explain why you need additional

funding.

Objectives should be:

(a) Simple and easily understandable.

(b) As specific and quantitative as

possible.

(c) Clear with respect to the ‘‘what

and when’’ and should avoid the ‘‘how

and why.’’

(d) Attainable within the time, money,

and human resources available.

(e) Use action verbs that are

accomplishment oriented.

(3) Results from Prior Chesapeake Bay

Studies Support: If any PI or co-PI

identified on the project has received

Chesapeake Bay Studies (CBSAC)

support in the past 5 years, information

on the prior award(s) is required. The

following information must be

provided:

(a) The NOAA award number, amount

and period of support;

(b) The title of the project;

(c) Summary of the results of the

completed work, including, for a

research project, any contribution to the

development of human resources in

science/biology;

(d) Publications resulting from the

award;

(e) Brief description of available data,

samples, physical collections and other

related research products not described

elsewhere; and

(f) If the proposal is for renewed

support, a description of the relation of

the completed work to the proposed

work.

(4) Need for Government Financial

Assistance: Demonstrate the need for

assistance. Any appropriate database to

substantiate or reinforce the need for the

project should be included. Explain

why other funding sources cannot fund

all the proposed work. List all other

sources of funding that are or have been

sought for the project.

(5) Benefits or Results Expected:

Identify and document the results or

benefits to be derived from the proposed

activities.

(6) Project Statement of Work: The

Statement of Work is the scientific or

technical action plan of activities that

are to be accomplished during each

budget period of the project. This

description must include the specific

methodologies, by project job activity,

proposed for accomplishing the

proposal’s objective(s).

Investigators submitting proposals in

response to this announcement are

strongly encouraged to develop interinstitutional, inter-disciplinary research

teams in the form of single, integrated

proposals or as individual proposals

that are clearly linked together. Such

collaborative efforts will be factored into

the final funding decision.

Proposals should exhibit familiarity

with related work that is completed or

ongoing. Where appropriate, proposals

should be multi-disciplinary.

Coordinated efforts involving multiple

eligible applicants or persons are

encouraged.

Each Statement of Work must include

the following information:

(a) The applicant’s name.

(b) The inclusive dates of the budget

period covered under the Statement of

Work.

(c) The title of the proposal.

(d) The scientific or technical

objectives and procedures that are to be

accomplished during the budget period.

A detailed set of objectives and

procedures to answer who, what, how,

when, and where. The procedures must

be of sufficient detail to enable

competent workers to be able to follow

them and to complete scheduled

activities.

(e) Location of the work.

(f) A list of all project personnel and

their responsibilities.

(g) A milestone table that summarizes

the procedures (from item III.D.2.c(5)(d))

that are to be attained in each project

month covered by the Statement of

Work. Table format should follow

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices 26839

sequential month rather than calendar

month (i.e. Project period Month 1,

Month 2... versus October, November ...)

(7) Federal, State and Local

Government Activities: List any

programs (Federal, state, or local

government or activities, including Sea

Grant, state Coastal Zone Management

Programs, NOAA Oyster Disease

Research Program, the state/Federal

Chesapeake Bay Program, etc.) this

project would affect and describe the

relationship between the project and

those plans or activities.

(8) Project Management: Describe how

the project will be organized and

managed. Include resumes of principal

investigators. List all persons directly

employed by the applicant who will be

involved with the project. If a

consultant and/or subcontractor is

selected prior to application

submission, include the name and

qualifications of the consultant and/or

subcontractor and the process used for

selection.

(9) Monitoring of Project

Performance: Identify who will

participate in monitoring the project.

(10) Project Impacts: Describe how

these products or services will be made

available to the fisheries and

management communities.

(11) Evaluation of Project: The

applicant is required to provide an

evaluation of project accomplishments

at the end of each budget period and in

the final report. The application must

describe the methodology or procedures

to be followed to determine technical

feasibility, or to quantify the results of

the project in promoting increased

production, product quality and safety,

management effectiveness, or other

measurable factors.

(12) Total Project Costs: Total project

costs is the amount of funds required to

accomplish what is proposed in the

Statement of Work, and includes

contributions and donations. All costs

must be shown in a detailed budget. A

standard budget form (SF-424A) is

available from the offices listed and on

the internet (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will

not consider fees or profits as allowable

costs for grantees. Additional cost detail

may be required prior to a final analysis

of overall cost allowability, allocability,

and reasonableness. The date, period

covered, and findings for the most

recent financial audit performed, as well

as the name of the audit firm, the

contact person, and phone number and

address, must be also provided.

d. Supporting Documentation:

Applicants should provide any

additional documents necessary to

establish the assertions made in their

proposals and to assist the reviewers in

understanding how the project would

address the identified problem or issue.

The total volume of such additional

documentation must not exceed 20

pages.

IV. Review Process and Criteria

A. Initial Evaluation of Applications.

Applications will be reviewed by NOAA

to assure that they meet all requirements

of this announcement, including

eligibility and relevance to the

Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment

Research Program. Proposals that do not

support the technical and management

priorities of the Chesapeake Bay, as

defined in section II.A., will not be

considered for funding.

B. Consultation with Experts in the

Field of Stock Assessment Research. For

applications meeting the requirements

of this solicitation, NMFS will conduct

a technical evaluation (via mail) of each

project. This review normally will

involve experts from both NOAA and

non-NOAA organizations. All comments

submitted to NMFS will be taken into

consideration in the technical

evaluation of projects. Reviewers will be

asked to score and comment based on

the following four criteria (total of 100

possible points):

1. Problem description and

conceptual approach for resolution,

especially the applicant’s

comprehension of the problem(s),

familiarity with related work that is

completed or ongoing, and proposed

method of resolving the problem(s) (30

points).

2. Soundness of project design/

technical approach, especially whether

the applicant provided sufficient

information to technically evaluate the

project (35 points).

3. Project management and experience

and qualifications of personnel(15

points).

4. Justification and allocation of the

proposed budget(20 points).

C. Review Panel. NMFS will convene

a review panel consisting of at least

three regionally recognized experts in

the scientific and management aspects

of stock assessment research.

Each individual panel member will:

1. Provide independent review based

on the same criteria and scoring as the

technical review.

2. Provide a numerical score and

suggestions for modifications (i.e.,

budget, personnel, technical approach,

etc.).

The review panel will collectively:

1. Discuss all review comments,

incorporating the evaluation provided

by the technical reviewers.

2. Numerically rank the submitted

applications in recommended funding

order.

D. Funding Decision. After

applications have been evaluated and

ranked numerically for funding by the

review panel, the Chief of the NOAA/

NMFS Chesapeake Bay Office, in

consultation with the Assistant

Administrator (AA) for Fisheries,

NOAA, will determine which project or

projects will be recommended for

funding based upon the technical

evaluations and panel review

comments, and determine the amount of

funds available for the program. The

review panel’s numerical ranking will

be the primary consideration for

deciding which of the proposals will be

selected for funding. In making the final

selections, NOAA/NMFS may consider

costs, geographical distribution, interjurisdictional and inter-institutional

collaboration and duplication with

other federally funded projects.

Accordingly, numerical ranking is not

the sole factor in deciding which

proposals will be selected for funding.

The Chief of the NOAA/NMFS

Chesapeake Bay Office will prepare a

written justification for any

recommendations for funding that fall

outside the ranking order, or for any

cost adjustments. The exact amount of

funds awarded to each project will be

determined in preaward negotiations

between the applicant, the Grants

Office, and the NOAA/NMFS

Chesapeake Bay Office staff. Potential

grantees should not initiate projects in

expectation of Federal funding until an

award document signed by an

authorized NOAA official has been

received.

V. Administrative Requirements

A. Obligations of the applicant

1. Periodic Workshops—Investigators

will be expected to attend one or two

workshops with other Stock Assessment

Research Program researchers to

encourage interdisciplinary dialogue

and collaboration.

2. Primary Applicant Certifications—

All primary applicants must submit a

completed Form CD-511, ‘‘Certifications

Regarding Debarment, Suspension and

Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free

Workplace Requirements and

Lobbying,’’ and the following

explanations are hereby provided:

a. Nonprocurement Debarment and

Suspension—Prospective participants

(as defined at 15 CFR 26.105) are subject

to 15 CFR part 26, ‘‘Nonprocurement

Debarment and Suspension,’’ and the

related section of the certification form

prescribed earlier applies;

26840 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices

b. Drug-free Workplace—Grantees (as

defined at 15 CFR part 26.605) are

subject to 15 CFR part 26, subpart F,

‘‘Governmentwide Requirements for

Drug-Free Workplace (Grants),’’ and the

related section of the certification form

prescribed above applies;

c. Anti-lobbying—Persons (as defined

at 15 CFR 28.105) are subject to the

lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352,

‘‘Limitation on use of appropriated

funds to influence certain Federal

contracting and financial transactions,

and the lobbying section of the

certification form prescribed above

applies to applications/bids for grants,

cooperative agreements, and contracts

for more than $100,000, and loans and

loan guarantees for more than $150,000.

d. Anti-lobbying Disclosure—Any

applicant who has paid or will pay for

lobbying using any funds must submit

an SF-LLL, ‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying

Activities,’’ as required under 15 CFR

part 28, appendix B.

3. Lower Tier Certifications—

Recipients shall require applicants/

bidders for subgrants, contracts,

subcontracts, or other lower tier covered

transactions at any tier under the award

to submit, if applicable, a completed

Form CD-512, ‘‘Certifications Regarding

Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility

and Voluntary Exclusion-Lower Tier

Covered Transactions and Lobbying’’

and disclosure form SF-LLL,

‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.’’

Form CD-512 is intended for the use of

recipients and should not be transmitted

to DOC. SF-LLL submitted by any tier

recipient or subrecipient should be

submitted to DOC in accordance with

the instructions contained in the award

document.

B. Other requirements. 1. Federal

Policies and Procedures—Recipients

and subrecipients are subject to all

Federal laws and Federal and DOC

policies, regulations, and procedures

applicable to Federal financial

assistance awards.

The Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (DOC/NOAA) is

strongly committed to broadening the

participation of Historically Black

Colleges and Universities, Hispanic

Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges

and Universities in its educational and

research programs. The DOC/NOAA

vision, mission, and goals are to achieve

full participation by Minority Serving

Institutions (MSI) in order to advance

the development of human potential, to

strengthen the nation’s capacity to

provide high-quality education, and to

increase opportunities for MSIs to

participate in and benefit from Federal

Financial Assistance programs. DOC/

NOAA encourages all applicants to

include meaningful participation of

MSIs.

2. Indirect Cost Rates—The budget

may include an amount for indirect

costs if the applicant has an established

indirect cost rate with the Federal

Government. The total dollar amount of

the indirect costs proposed in the

application under this program must not

exceed the indirect cost rate negotiated

and approved by a cognizant Federal

agency prior to the proposed effective

date of the award. However, the Federal

share of the indirect costs may not

exceed 25 percent of the total proposed

direct costs. Applicants with indirect

costs above 25 percent may use the

amount above the 25 percent level as

cost sharing. If the applicant does not

have a current negotiated rate and plans

to seek reimbursement for indirect costs,

documentation necessary to establish a

rate must be submitted within 90 days

of receiving an award.

3. Past Performance—Unsatisfactory

performance under prior Federal awards

may result in an application not being

considered for funding. In addition, any

recipient and/or researcher who is past

due for submitting acceptable progress

reports on any previous project funded

under this program may be ineligible to

be considered for new awards until the

delinquent reports are received,

reviewed and deemed acceptable by

NMFS.

4. Financial Management

Certifications/preaward Accounting

Survey—Successful applicants, at the

discretion of the NOAA Grants Officer,

may be required to have their financial

management systems certified by an

independent public accountant as being

in compliance with Federal standards

specified in the applicable Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

Circulars prior to execution of the

award. Any first-time applicant for

Federal grant funds may be subject to a

preaward accounting survey by the DOC

specified in the applicable OMB

Circulars/Code of Federal Regulations

prior to execution of the award.

5. Delinquent Federal Debts—No

award of Federal funds shall be made to

an applicant who has an outstanding

delinquent Federal debt until either:

(a) The delinquent account is paid in

full;

(b) A negotiated repayment schedule

is established and at least one payment

is received; or

(c) Other arrangements satisfactory to

DOC are made.

6. Name Checks—Potential recipients

may be required to submit an

‘‘Identification-Application for Funding

Assistance’’ (Form CD-346), which is

used to ascertain background

information on key individuals

associated with the potential recipient.

All non-profit and for-profit applicants

are subject to a name check review

process. Name checks are intended to

reveal if any key individuals associated

with the applicant have been convicted

of, or are presently facing, criminal

charges such as fraud, theft, perjury, or

other matters that significantly reflect

on the applicant’s management honesty

or financial integrity. Applicants will

also be subject to credit check reviews.

7. False Statements—A false

statement on the application is grounds

for denial or termination of funds and

grounds for possible punishment by a

fine or imprisonment as provided in 18

U.S.C. 1001.

8. Preaward Activities—If applicants

incur any costs prior to an award being

made, they do so solely at their own risk

of not being reimbursed by the

Government. Notwithstanding any

verbal or written assurance that may

have been received, there is no

obligation on the part of DOC to cover

preaward costs.

9. Purchase of American-made

Equipment and Products—Applicants

are hereby notified that they will be

encouraged, to the greatest extent

practicable, to purchase American-made

equipment and products with funding

provided under this program in

accordance with Congressional intent as

set forth in the resolution contained in

Pub. L. 103-317, sections 607(a) and (b).

10. Other—If an application is

selected for funding, DOC has no

obligation to provide any additional

funding in connection with that award.

Renewal of an award to increase

funding or extend the period of

performance is at the total discretion of

DOC.

Cooperative agreements awarded

pursuant to pertinent statutes shall be in

accordance with the Fisheries Research

Plan (comprehensive program of

fisheries research) in effect on the date

of the award.

Classification

This action has been determined to be

‘‘not significant’’ for purposes of

Executive Order 12866.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), prior

notice and and opportunity for public

comment are not required under the

Administrative Procedure Act for this

notice concerning grants, benefits, and

contracts. Therefore, a regulatory

flexibility analysis is not required for

purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility

Act.

This notice contains collection-ofinformation requirements subject to the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices 26841

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The

use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, and

SF–LLL have been approved by OMB

under their respective control numbers

0348–0043, 0348–0044, and 0348–0046.

Notwithstanding any other provision of

law, no person is required to respond to

nor shall any person be subject to a

penalty for failure to comply with a

collection of information subject to the

requirements of the PRA unless that

collection-of-information displays a

currently valid OMB control number.

Dated: May 9, 2001.

William T. Hogarth,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries

[FR Doc. 01–12219 Filed 5–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 050701D]

New England Fishery Management

Council; Public Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery

Management Council (Council) is

scheduling a public meeting of its Skate

Oversight Committee in May, 2001.

Recommendations from the committee

will be brought to the full Council for

formal consideration and action, if

appropriate.

DATES: The meeting will held on

Wednesday, May 30, 2001, at 9:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Radisson Airport Hotel, 2081 Post

Road, Warwick, RI 02886; telephone:

(401) 739–7000.

Council address: New England

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water

Street, Newburyport, MA 01950;

telephone: (978) 465–0492.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

J. Howard, Executive Director, New

England Fishery Management Council;

(978) 465–0492. Requests for special

accommodations should be addressed to

the New England Fishery Management

Council (see ADDRESSES).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

committee will review the Skate Plan

Development Team Report. The agenda

will include finalization of draft Skate

Fishery Management Plan alternatives

for public hearings for Council approval

at the June 13-14, 2001 Council meeting;

alternatives may include specifications

for a skate permit and catch reporting

system, prohibitions on the possession

of certain skate species, management

measures for the bait and/or wing

fishery, possession limits, modification

of regulations pertaining to the current

southern New England skate exemption

areas, gear restrictions, and/or any other

appropriate measures. The committee

will also discuss a control date for skate

fishing.

Although non-emergency issues not

contained in this agenda may come

before this group for discussion, those

issues may not be the subject of formal

action during this meeting. Action will

be restricted to those issues specifically

listed in this notice and any issues

arising after publication of this notice

that require emergency action under

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens

Act, provided the public has been

notified of the Council’s intent to take

final action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul

J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5

days prior to the meeting dates.

Dated: May 10, 2001.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–12216 Filed 5–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

COMMITTEE FOR THE

IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE

AGREEMENTS

Request for Public Comment on Short

Supply Request Under the United

States–Caribbean Basin Trade

Partnership Act (CBTPA)

May 11, 2001.

AGENCY: Committee for the

Implementation of Textile Agreements

(CITA).

ACTION: Request for public comments

concerning a request for a determination

that microfilament fabric of continuous

polyester and nylon filaments with

average size of 0.02 to 0.8 decitex

cannot be supplied by the domestic

industry in commercial quantities in a

timely manner under the CBTPA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Janet Heinzen, International Trade

Specialist, Office of Textiles and

Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce,

(202) 482–3400.

SUMMARY: On May 8, 2001 the Chairman

of CITA received a petition on behalf of

The Freudenberg Nonwovens Group

alleging that microfilament fabric of

continuous polyester and nylon

filaments with average size of 0.02 to 0.8

decitex, classified in subheading

5603.11.0090, 5603.12.0090,

5603.13.0090 or 5603.14.9090 of the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTSUS), cannot be

supplied by the domestic industry in

commercial quantities in a timely

manner. It requests that the President

proclaim that apparel articles of such

fabrics be eligible for preferential

treatment under the CBTPA. CITA

hereby solicits public comments on this

request, in particular with regard to

whether microfilament fabric of

continuous polyester and nylon

filaments with average size of 0.02 to 0.8

decitex can be supplied by the domestic

industry in commercial quantities in a

timely manner. Comments must be

submitted by May 30, 2001 to the

Chairman, Committee for the

Implementation of Textile Agreements,

Room 3001, United States Department

of Commerce, 14th and Constitution,

NW., Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Section 213(b)(2)(A)(v)(II) of the

Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, as

added by Section 211(a) of the CBTPA;

Section 6 of Executive Order No. 13191 of

January 17, 2001.

BACKGROUND: The CBTPA provides

for quota- and duty-free treatment for

qualifying textile and apparel products.

Such treatment is generally limited to

products manufactured from yarns or

fabrics formed in the United States or a

beneficiary country. The CBTPA also

provides for quota- and duty-free

treatment for apparel articles that are

both cut (or knit-to-shape) and sewn or

otherwise assembled in one or more

CBTPA beneficiary countries from fabric

or yarn that is not formed in the United

States or a CBTPA beneficiary country,

if it has been determined that such

fabric or yarn cannot be supplied by the

domestic industry in commercial

quantities in a timely manner and the

President has proclaimed such

treatment. In Executive Order No.

13191, the President delegated to CITA

the authority to determine whether

yarns or fabrics cannot be supplied by

the domestic industry in commercial

quantities in a timely manner under the

CBTPA and directed CITA to establish

procedures to ensure appropriate public

participation in any such determination.

On March 6, 2001, CITA published

procedures that it will follow in

considering requests. (66 FR 13502).