Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2001 / Notices 3991

Councils intend to consider public

comments received on the DEIS before

adopting final management measures for

a final FMP. The South Atlantic Council

intends to prepare a final environmental

impact statement (FEIS) in support of

the final FMP. The three Councils

would then submit the final FMP/FEIS

to NMFS for Secretarial review,

approval, and implementation under the

Magnuson-Stevens Act. During

Secretarial review, NMFS will file the

FEIS with EPA for announcement of a

final comment period on the FEIS

(again, through publication of a notice

in the Federal Register). This comment

period will be concurrent with the

Secretarial review period, during which

NMFS will invite public comment on

the final FMP and proposed

implementing regulations (Secretarial

review comment periods are announced

through publication in the Federal

Register). NMFS will consider all public

comment received during the Secretarial

review period, whether on the FMP,

FEIS, or proposed regulations, prior to

taking final agency action to approve,

disapprove, or partially approve the

FMP.

Copies of the draft FMP may be

obtained by contacting Kim Iverson at

the Council (see ADDRESSES).

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: January 10, 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–1378 Filed 1–16–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[Docket No. 000202023-1001-02; I.D.

No.110200C]

RIN 0648-ZA78

Announcement of Funding

Opportunity to Submit Proposals for

the Coastal Ecosystem Research

Project in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

AGENCY: Center for Sponsored Coastal

Ocean Research/Coastal Ocean Program

(CSCOR/COP), National Ocean Service

(NOS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Department of Commerce (DOC).

ACTION: Announcement of funding

opportunity for financial assistance for

project grants and cooperative

agreements.

SUMMARY: The purpose of this document

is to advise the public that CSCOR/COP

is soliciting 1-year and 2-year proposals

for modeling, monitoring and

retrospective studies of coastal

ecosystem research in the Northern Gulf

of Mexico (N-GOMEX). Funding is

contingent upon the availability of

Federal appropriations. It is anticipated

that projects funded under this

announcement will have an August 1,

2001, start date.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of

proposals at the COP office is 3 p.m,

EST, March 14, 2001. Note that latearriving applications provided to a

delivery service, on or before, March 13,

2001, with delivery guaranteed before 3

p.m.,EST, on March 14, 2001, will be

accepted for review if the applicant can

document that the application was

provided to the delivery service with

delivery to the address listed below (see

ADDRESSES) guaranteed prior to the

specified closing date and time; and in

any event, the proposals are received in

the COP office by 3 p.m. EST, no later

than two business days following the

closing date.

ADDRESSES: Submit the original and 10

copies of your proposal to Coastal

Ocean Program Office (N-GOMEX 2001),

SSMCι3, 9th Floor, Station 9700, 1315

East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD

20910. NOAA and COP Standard Form

Applications with instructions are

accessible on the COP Internet site

(http://www.cop.noaa.gov) under the

COP Grants Support Section, Part D,

Application Forms for Initial Proposal

Submission. Forms may be viewed, and

in most cases, filled in by computer. All

forms must be printed, completed, and

mailed to CSCOR/COP with original

signatures. Blue ink for original

signatures is recommended but not

required. If you are unable to access this

information, you may call CSCOR/COP

at 301-713-3338 to leave a mailing

request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Technical Information: Kenric Osgood,

N-GOMEX 2001 Program Manager, COP

Office, 301-713-3338/ext 135, Internet:

Kenric.Osgood@noaa.gov

Business Management Information:

Leslie McDonald, COP Grants

Administrator, 301-713-3338/ext 137,

Internet: Leslie.McDonald@noaa.gov

See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

under the heading, ELECTRONIC

ACCESS, for a listing of web sites

pertaining to period hypoxia in the

northern Gulf of Mexico.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

The following web sites furnish

results of studies concerning the

periodic hypoxia associated with the

northern Gulf of Mexico: http://

www.aoml.noaa.gov/ocd/necop/, for

results from the Nutrient Enhanced

Coastal Ocean Productivity (NECOP)

study and, http://www.nos.noaa.gov/

Products/pubs—hypox.html for Gulf of

Mexico hypoxia reports produced by the

Committee on Environment and Natural

Resources (CENR). Hard copies of

reports from these studies can be

obtained from the COP office.

A workshop report, U.S. GLOBEC

report No. 19, is available from the

following address or homepage: U.S.

GLOBEC Coordinating Office, UMCES,

Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, P.O.

Box 38, Solomons, MD 20688; Phone:

410-326-7370; Fax: 410-326-7341;

Internet: fogarty@usglobec.org and http:/

/www.usglobec.org.

A listing of ongoing projects in the

northern Gulf of Mexico funded by the

COP are provided within the COP

Internet Site at http://

www.cop.noaa.gov/projects/GMX.htm

Background

Program Description

For complete Program Description

and Other Requirements for the COP,

see the General Grant Administration

Terms and Conditions of the Coastal

Ocean Program published in the Federal

Register (65 FR 62706, October 19,

2000) and at the COP home page.

Coastal regions dominated by large

rivers are disproportionately important

to the biological production of the

world’s oceans, primarily because these

rivers carry large amounts of ‘‘new’’

nitrogen. An important river-dominated

coastal ecosystem in the U.S., which

supports high primary and secondary

production, is the one dominated by the

Mississippi River in the northern Gulf of

Mexico. Approximately 20 percent of

the U.S. commercial fishery landings by

dollar value are from the northern Gulf.

Major recreational fisheries also exist in

this region.

There is a strong relationship between

riverine inputs (especially nutrients)

and primary production, followed in

turn by zooplankton production and

fish production in a classic nutrientphytoplankton-zooplankton-fish (NPZF)

food web. Anthropogenic nitrogen

loadings from the Mississippi River to

the Gulf of Mexico have increased

dramatically during the past several

decades, which has led to changes in

the ecosystem of the northern Gulf,

including (1) an initial increase in

overall biological production; (2) the

annual development of an extensive

zone of bottom water hypoxia during

the summer stratified period; and (3) an

apparent shift from a balanced pelagic/

3992 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2001 / Notices

demersal fish community to one

significantly more dominated by pelagic

fisheries.

Several past and present programs

have studied the seasonal hypoxia

associated with the northern Gulf of

Mexico. Notably, from 1990 to 1997, the

COP supported a study on Nutrient

Enhanced Coastal Ocean Productivity

(NECOP); and the Committee on

Environment and Natural Resources

(CENR) recently completed an

integrated assessment of Gulf of Mexico

hypoxia. Results and reports of these

studies can be found on the web sites or

obtained from CSCOR/COP as listed

under ‘‘Electronic Access’’ in the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONsection of

this document.

A workshop was held in January 1999

to discuss relationships between the

Mississippi River, the production of

marine populations, and ecosystem

parameters in the Gulf of Mexico; and

to discuss how these relationships

might be affected by changes in weather

and climate. A report of the workshop,

U.S. GLOBEC report No. 19, is available

from the address or homepage provided

under ‘‘Electronic Access’’ in the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of

this document

This solicitation for proposals will

augment the initial phase of a program,

started in fiscal year 2000, to examine

the inter-relationships driving the

Mississippi River-dominated Gulf of

Mexico ecosystem. Abstracts of ongoing

studies funded by CSCOR/COP in the

northern Gulf of Mexico are available on

the COP internet site that is provided in

this document under ‘‘Electronuc

Access’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of this document.

The planned suite of studies will enable

improved predictions about future

effects of nutrient loading,

eutrophication, hypoxia, and climate

change on the Gulf of Mexico

ecosystem.

In order to fully develop a predictive

capability, a more intensive 5-7 year

program is being planned when

additional funding becomes available.

This complete program will include

monitoring, retrospective studies,

modeling and process field studies to

identify relationships among ecosystem

constituents.

The process studies will be nested

within monitoring efforts which identify

and measure important ecosystem

components, and retrospective and

modeling efforts which will place the

field measurements into broader

temporal and theoretical context.

The overall goal of the entire program

is to understand and ultimately predict

how changes in the physical, chemical

and biological environment, including

changes in climate, nutrient loading and

hypoxia, will affect populations of

marine animal species, especially

economically and ecologically

important species, in the northern Gulf

of Mexico. The projects conducted as a

result of this current solicitation for

proposals will help guide the evolution

of the future program.

Structure of the Research Program

CSCOR/COP intends to expand the

initial research program, which was

initiated in fiscal year 2000, with

additional projects. Possible types of

new projects include, in priority order,

modeling, monitoring and retrospective

studies. Subsequent announcements

may solicit further proposals in these

areas and for process field studies in the

region, depending on the outcome of the

proposed research solicited here and the

levels of future appropriated funding.

Modeling studies are needed to

provide a framework for studies in the

northern Gulf of Mexico. Modeling

activities will be used to guide further

program development and identify

important processes for the extensive

fieldwork anticipated to follow this

preliminary phase. Modeling studies

may include: models that simulate

impacts of varying nutrient flux on

productivity and trophic response in the

northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem,

including impacts to and responses of

commercially and recreationally

important fisheries; NPZF models;

physical-biological coupled models of

processes in the Gulf ecosystem

influenced by the Mississippi River

discharge, including transport and

population dynamics of key

zooplankton and fishery populations;

models of oceanographic and climate

influences on nutrients and their impact

on Gulf productivity; models of

biogeochemical cycling of nutrients

within the Gulf and its relationship to

the dynamics of organic carbon flux in

the Gulf; and models of water column

stability and hypoxic zone dynamics.

It is desirable for the modeling studies

to be integrative or designed so that they

can be fitted with other models to form

an integrative whole. The goal is to

build a predictive capability for the

northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.

Proposed monitoring studies should

provide calibration and validation data

for modeling activities, but not

duplicate ongoing activities. Monitoring

studies could include shipboard

surveys, multi-disciplinary mooring

observations, drifters, and analysis of

regional satellite data. Possible

monitoring activities responsive to this

announcement include physical or

chemical observations or biological

observations of distribution and

abundance of key species, and their

relation to hypoxia.

Proposed retrospective analyses

should provide quantitative and

detailed information on issues relevant

to the objectives listed in the recent

CENR reports. Examples include

retrospective analyses of biological data

concerning key animal populations;

retrospective analyses of the coupling

between transport and population

dynamics of key species; and

retrospective analyses of coupling

between climate, drainage basin, and

shelf oceanography. A better definition

of the past, current, and potential

impacts of hypoxia on both

commercially and ecologically

important species and ecosystems is

needed.

Part I: Schedule and Proposal

Submission

This announcement requests full

proposals only. The provisions for

proposal preparation provided here are

mandatory. Proposals received after the

published deadline or proposals that

deviate from the prescribed format will

be returned to the sender without

further consideration. Information

regarding this announcement,

additional background information, and

required Federal forms are available on

the COP home page.

Full Proposals

Applications submitted in response to

this announcement require an original

proposal and 10 proposal copies at time

of submission. This includes color or

high-resolution graphics, unusuallysized materials (not 8.5’’ x 11‘‘ or 21.6

cm x 28 cm), or otherwise unusual

materials submitted as part of the

proposal. For color graphics, submit

either color originals or color copies.

The stated requirements for the number

of proposal copies provide for a timely

review process. Facsimile transmissions

and electronic mail submission of full

proposals will not be accepted.

Required Elements

All recipients must follow the

instructions in the preparation of the

CSCOR/COP application forms

referenced later in this document in Part

II: Further Supplementary Information,

(10) Application forms. Each proposal

must also include the following seven

elements:

(1) Signed summary title page: The

title page should be signed by the

Principal Investigator (PI) and the

institutional representative. The

Summary Title page identifies the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2001 / Notices 3993

project’s title starting with the acronym

N-GOMEX 2001, a short title (less than

50 characters), and the lead PI’s name

and affiliation, complete address,

phone, FAX, and E-mail information.

The requested budget for each fiscal

year should be included on the

Summary Title page. Multi-institution

proposals must include signed

Summary Title pages from each

institution.

(2) One-page abstract/project

summary: The Project Summary

(Abstract) Form, which is to be

submitted at time of application, must

include an introduction of the problem,

rationale, scientific objectives and/or

hypotheses to be tested, and a brief

summary of work to be completed. The

prescribed COP format for the Project

Summary Form can be found on the

COP Internet site under the COP Grants

Support section, Part D.

The summary should appear on a

separate page, headed with the proposal

title, institution(s), investigator(s), total

proposed cost, and budget period. It

should be written in the third person.

The summary is used to help compare

proposals quickly and allows the

respondents to summariz e these key

points in their own words.

(3) Statement of work/project

description: The proposed statement of

work/project must be completely

described, including identification of

the problem, scientific objectives,

proposed methodology, relevance to the

program goals, and its scientific

priorities. The project description

section (including Relevant Results from

Prior Support) should not exceed fifteen

pages. Page limits are inclusive of

figures and other visual materials, but

exclusive of references and milestone

chart.

Project management should be clearly

identified with a description of the

functions of each PI within a team.

Environmental data must be submitted

to the NOAA National Oceanographic

Data Center. It is important to provide

a full scientific justification for the

research; do not simply reiterate

justifications presented in this

document. This section should also

include:

(a) The objective for the period of

proposed work and its expected

significance;

(b) The relation to the present state of

knowledge in the field and relation to

previous work and work in progress by

the proposing principal investigator(s);

(c) A discussion of how the proposed

project lends value to the program goals,

and

(d) Potential coordination with other

investigators.

(e) References cited: Reference

information is required. Each reference

must include the name(s) of all authors

in the same sequence in which they

appear in the publications, the article

title, volume number, page numbers,

and year of publications. While there is

no page limitation, this section should

include bibliographic citations only and

should not be used to provide

parenthetical information outside of the

15-page project description.

(4) Milestone chart: Provide time lines

of major tasks covering the duration of

the proposed project, up to 24 months.

(5) Budget and Application Forms:

Both NOAA and COP-specific

application forms may be obtained at

the COP Grants website. Forms may be

viewed, and in most cases, filled in by

computer. All forms must be printed,

completed, and mailed to CSCOR/COP;

original signatures in blue ink are

encouraged. If applicants are unable to

access this information they may call

the CSCOR/COP grants administrator

listed in the section FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

At time of proposal submission, all

applicants must submit the Standard

Form, SF-424 (Rev 7-97) Application for

Federal Assistance, to indicate the total

amount of funding proposed for the

whole project period. Applicants must

also submit a COP Summary Proposal

Budget Form for each fiscal year

increment. Multi-institution proposals

must include a Summary Proposal

Budget Form for each institution. Use of

this budget form will provide for a

detailed annual budget and for the level

of detail required by the COP program

staff to evaluate the effort to be invested

by investigators and staff on a specific

project. The COP budget form is

compatible with forms in use by other

agencies that participate in joint projects

with COP and can be found on the COP

home page under COP Grants Support,

Part D. All applications must include a

budget narrative and a justification to

support all proposed budget categories.

Ship time needs should be identified in

the proposed budget. The SF-424A,

Budget Information (Non-Construction)

Form, will be requested only from those

applicants subsequently recommended

for award.

(6) Biographical sketch: Abbreviated

curriculum vitae, two pages per

investigator, must be included with

each proposal. Include a list of up to

five publications most closely related to

the proposed project and up to five

other significant publications. A list of

all persons (including their

organizational affiliation), in

alphabetical order, who have

collaborated on a project, book, article,

or paper within the last 48 months must

be included. If there are no

collaborators, this should be so

indicated. Students, post-doctoral

associates, and graduate and

postgraduate advisors of the PI must

also be disclosed. This information is

needed to help identify potential

conflicts of interest or bias in the

selection of reviewers.

(7) Proposal format and assembly:

The original proposal should be

clamped in the upper left-hand corner,

but left unbound. The 10 copies can be

stapled in the upper left-hand corner or

bound on the left edge. The page margin

must be one inch (2.5 cm) at the top,

bottom, left and right, and the type face

standard 12 points size must be clear

and easily legible.

Part II: Further Supplementary

Information

(1) Program authorities: For a list of

all program authorities for the Coastal

Ocean Program, see General Grant

Administration Terms and Conditions

of the Coastal Ocean Program published

in the Federal Register (65 FR 62706,

October 19, 2000) and at the COP home

page. The specific authority cited for

this announcement is 33 U.S.C. 1442.

(2) Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance Number: 11.478 Coastal

Ocean Program and 47.050 for the

Directorate for Geosciences, National

Science Foundation.

(3) Program description: For complete

COP program descriptions, see General

Grant Administration Terms and

Conditions of the Coastal Ocean

Program published in the Federal

Register (65 FR 62706, October 19,

2000).

(4) Funding availability: Funding is

contingent upon the availability of

Federal appropriations. It is estimated

that approximately $400,000 per fiscal

year will be available for supporting

studies proposed by submissions to this

announcement. Priority for these funds

will be given to proposals that promote

balanced coverage of the science

objectives stated under SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION, Structure of the Research

Program.

If an application is selected for

funding, NOAA has no obligation to

provide any additional prospective

funding in connection with that award

in subsequent years. Renewal of an

award to increase funding or extend the

period of performance is based on

satisfactory performance and is at the

total discretion of the funding agency.

Publication of this document does not

obligate the COP to any specific award

or to any part of the entire amount of

funds available. Recipients and

3994 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2001 / Notices

subrecipients are subject to all Federal

laws and agency policies, regulations,

and procedures applicable to Federal

financial assistance awards.

(5) Matching requirements: None.

(6) Type of funding instrument:

Project Grants for non-Federal

applicants; interagency transfer

agreements or other appropriate

mechanisms other than project grants or

cooperative agreements for Federal

applicants.

(7) Eligibility criteria: For complete

eligibility criteria for the COP, see COP’s

General Grant Administration Terms

and Conditions annual document in the

Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October

19, 2000) and the COP home page.

Eligible applicants are institutions of

higher education, not-for-profit

institutions, international organizations,

state, local and Indian tribal

governments and Federal agencies. COP

will accept proposals that include

foreign researchers as collaborators with

a researcher who is affiliated with a U.S.

academic institution, Federal agency, or

other non-profit organization.

Applications from non-Federal and

Federal applicants will be competed

against each other. Proposals selected

for funding from non-Federal applicants

will be funded through a project grant

or cooperative agreement under the

terms of this notice. Proposals selected

for funding from NOAA employees shall

be effected by an intra-agency fund

transfer. Proposals selected for funding

from a non-NOAA Federal agency will

be funded through an inter-agency

transfer. PLEASE NOTE: Before nonNOAA Federal applicants may be

funded, they must demonstrate that they

have legal authority to receive funds

from another Federal agency in excess

of their appropriation. Because this

announcement is not proposing to

procure goods or services from

applicants, the Economy Act (31 USC

1535) is not an appropriate legal basis.

(8) Award period: Full proposals

should cover a project period of up to

2 years, with a start date of August 1,

2001. Multi-year project period funding

may be funded incrementally on an

annual basis; but once awarded, multiyear projects will not compete for

funding in subsequent years. Each

award shall require a Statement of Work

which represents substantial

accomplishments that can be easily

separated into annual increments if

prospective funding is not made

available, or is discontinued.

(9) Indirect costs: If indirect costs are

proposed, the total dollar amount of the

indirect costs proposed in an

application must not exceed the indirect

cost rate negotiated and approved by a

cognizant Federal agency prior to the

proposed effective date of the award.

(l0) Application forms: For complete

information on application forms for the

COP, see COP’s General Grant

Administration Terms and Conditions

document in the Federal Register (65 FR

62706, October 19, 2000); the COP home

page; and the information given under

Required Elements, paragraph (5)

Budget.

(11) Project funding priorities: For

description of project funding priorities,

see COP’s General Grant Administration

Terms and Conditions document in the

Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October

19, 2000) and at the COP home page.

(12) Evaluation criteria: For complete

information on evaluation criteria, see

COP’s General Grant Administration

Terms and Condition document in the

Federal Register (65 FR 62706, October

19, 2000) and at the COP home page.

(13) Selection procedures: For

complete information on selection

procedures, see COP’s General Grant

Administration Terms and Conditions

Document in the Federal Register (65

FR 62706, October 19, 2000) and at the

COP home page. All proposals received

under this specific Document will be

evaluated and ranked individually in

accordance with the assigned weights of

the above evaluation criteria by

independent peer mail review.

(14)Other requirements: For a

complete description of other

requirements, see COP’s General Grant

Administration Terms and Conditions

document in the Federal Register (65

FR 62706, October 19, 2000) and at the

COP home page.

(15) Pursuant to Executive Orders

12876, 12900 and 13021, 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.

(16) Applicants are hereby notified

that they are encouraged, to the greatest

practicable extent, to purchase

American-made equipment and

products with funding provided under

this program.

(17) Intergovernmental Review:

Applications under this program are not

subject to Executive Order 12372,

‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs.’’

(18) This notification involves

collection-of-information requirements

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act

(PRA). The use of Standard Forms 424,

424A, 424B, and SF-LLL has been

approved by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) under control

numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-

0040 and 0348-0046.

The following requirements have been

approved by OMB under control

number 0648-0384; a Summary Proposal

Budget Form (30 minutes per response),

a Project Summary Form (30 minutes

per response), a standardized format for

the annual Performance Report (5 hours

per response), a standardized format for

the Final Report (10 hours per

response), and the submission of up to

20 copies of proposals (10 minutes per

response). The response estimates

include the time for reviewing

instructions, searching existing data

sources, gathering and maintaining the

data needed, and completing and

reviewing the collection of information.

Send comments regarding these

requirements and the burden estimate,

or any other aspect of this collection of

information, including suggestions for

reducing this burden, to

Leslie.McDonald@noaa.gov. Copies of

these forms and formats can be found on

the COP home page under Grants

Support sections, Parts D and F.

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 Paperwork

Reduction Act, unless that collection

displays a currently valid OMB control

number.

Dated: January 10, 2001.

John Oliver

Director, Management and Budget Office,

National Ocean Service.

[FR Doc. 01–1381 Filed 1–16–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–JS–S