April 6, 2021 

AMENDED NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) 

for 

NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program - Public Safety Radio Data 

(PSIAP-PSRD) 

NIST is issuing this amendment (Amendment 1) to extend the application deadline. 

# 

NEW 

PAGE 

SECTION 

Executive 

Summary 

WHAT DOES 

THE 

AMENDMENT 

DO? 

Changes the 

Announcement 

Type from 

“Initial” to

“Amendment”.

THE NEW TEXT NOW READS: 

1 2 Announcement Type: Amendment 

2 2 and 

18 

Executive 

Summary 

and IV.4. 

Extends the 

application 

deadline. 

Applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 

11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. 

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NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) 

NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program - Public Safety Radio Data 

(PSIAP-PSRD) 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

• Federal Agency Name: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United 

States Department of Commerce (DoC) 

● Funding Opportunity Title: NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program 

– Public Safety Radio Data (PSIAP-PSRD) 

• Announcement Type: Amendment 

• Funding Opportunity Number: 2021-NIST-PSIAP-PSRD-01 

• Assistance Listing (CFDA Number): 11.609, Measurement and Engineering 

Research and Standards 

• Dates: Full Applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Applications received after this deadline will not 

be reviewed or considered. Paper applications will not be accepted. 

Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, that the 

Grants.gov system closes periodically for routine maintenance. Applicants should visit 

Grants.gov for information about any scheduled closures. 

NIST expects to complete its review, selection of successful applicants, and award 

processing by May 2021. NIST expects the earliest start date for awards under this 

NOFO to be June 2021. 

Applicants are strongly urged to read Section IV.2.b., Attachment of Required 

Documents, with great attention. Applicants should carefully follow the instructions and 

recommendations regarding attachments and use the Download Submitted Forms and 

Applications feature on www.Grants.gov to check that all required attachments were 

contained in their submission. Applications submitted without the required documents 

will not pass the Initial Administrative Review. 

When developing the submission timeline, please keep in mind that: (1) all applicants 

are required to have current registrations in the electronic System for Award 

Management (SAM.gov) and Grants.gov; (2) the free annual registration process in 

SAM.gov generally takes between three and five business days but can take more than 

three weeks; and (3) applicants will receive e-mail notifications over a period of up to 

two business days as the application moves through intermediate systems before the 

applicant learns via a validation or rejection notification whether NIST has received the 

application. (See Grants.gov for full information on application and notification through 

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Grants.gov). Please note that a federal assistance award cannot be issued if the 

designated recipient’s registration in SAM.gov is not current at the time of the award. 

• Application Submission Address: Applications must be submitted using Grants.gov. 

• Funding Opportunity Description: NIST’s Public Safety Radio Data (PSRD) grant 

program is seeking applications from eligible applicants for activities to collect and 

publish active Public Safety (PS) radio system transmission data related to the 

comparison of Land Mobile Radio (LMR) to Long Term Evolution (LTE). The collected 

data must be made publicly available for the conduct of research relevant to the 

comparison of LMR to LTE. The applicant must also propose a conduct of research 

related to the comparison of LMR to LTE. 

• Anticipated Amounts: In Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21), NIST anticipates funding 1 award 

for up to $1,000,000 with a project performance period of up to 2 years. 

• Funding Instrument: Grant. 

• Eligibility: Eligibility for the program listed in this NOFO is open to all non-Federal 

entities. Eligible applicants include accredited institutions of higher education; non-profit 

organizations; for-profit organizations incorporated in the United States; state, local, 

territorial, and Indian tribal governments; foreign public entities; and foreign 

organizations. Please note that individuals and unincorporated sole proprietors are not 

considered “non-Federal entities” and are not eligible to apply under this NOFO.

Although Federal entities are not eligible to receive funding under this NOFO, they may 

participate as unfunded collaborators. 

• Cost Sharing Requirements: Non-federal cost share is not required for awards issued 

pursuant to this NOFO. 

• Public Website, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Webinar: NIST has a 

public website (https://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr/funding-opportunities/grants-andcooperative-agreements/psiap-public-safety-radio-data) that provides information 

pertaining to this Funding Opportunity. NIST anticipates that a “Frequently Asked

Questions” section or other resource materials will be maintained and updated on the

website as needed to provide additional guidance and clarifying information that may 

arise related to this Funding Opportunity. Any amendments to this NOFO will be 

announced through Grants.gov. 

• Applicants must submit all questions pertaining to this funding opportunity via e- mail 

to pscr@nist.gov with ‘PSRD’ in the subject line. Questions submitted to NIST may be

posted on pscr.gov. Alternatively, applicants may ask questions during the 

informational public webinar as described in the next paragraph. 

NIST will host a webinar to provide general information regarding this NOFO, offer 

general guidance on preparing applications, and answer questions. Scheduling details 

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about the webinar will be available at pscr.gov. Proprietary technical discussions about 

specific project ideas will not be permitted during the webinar and NIST staff will not 

critique or provide feedback on specific project ideas while they are being developed 

by an applicant, brought forth during the webinar, or at any time before the deadline for 

all applications. However, general questions about the PSIAP, eligibility requirements, 

evaluation and award criteria, selection process, and the general characteristics of a 

competitive application will be addressed at the webinar and by e-mail to 

pscr@nist.gov, as described in the previous paragraph. There is no cost to attend the 

webinar, but participants must register in advance. Participation in the webinar is not 

required and will not be considered in the application review and selection process. 

Table of Contents 

I. Program Description.............................................................................................4 

II. Federal Award Information ..................................................................................5 

III. Eligibility Information...........................................................................................6 

IV. Application and Submission Information ............................................................6 

V. Application Review Information .........................................................................20 

VI. Federal Award Administration Information .......................................................24 

VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts ................................................................26 

VIII. Other Information ...........................................................................................27 

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT 

I. Program Description 

The statutory authority for the NIST PSIAP is 15 U.S.C. § 3706 and 47 U.S.C. § 1443. 

The NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program: Public Safety Radio Data 

(PSIAP-PSRD) Grant Program is seeking applications from eligible applicants for 

activities to collect digital and/or analog radio system usage data and make it available 

for LMR-to-LTE research. These goals, and specific technical areas of research in the 

PSIAP-PSRD program, are discussed in detail in Section I.4. of this NOFO. 

1. Background Information 

The Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division, housed within the 

NIST Communications Technology Laboratory, conducts research for the first 

responder community. In 2012, NIST was mandated by Congress to, among other 

things, “accelerate the development of mission critical voice for the nationwide

public safety broadband network”. PSCR conducted extensive stakeholder 

engagement starting in 2013 to address the requirements of the legislation, 

including hosting two roundtable events in 2016 and 2017 focused on Mission 

Critical Voice (MCV) with stakeholders from public safety, government, and 

industry. In addition to funding internal research addressing these areas, the 

PSIAP in 2017 awarded $14M for nine grants and cooperative agreements to 

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address aspects related to the MCV portfolio goals. More information about the 

MCV portfolio, PSIAP, and PSCR can be found at pscr.gov. 

Land mobile radio (LMR) to Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a primary focus of the 

MCV portfolio. To begin a transition from LMR to LTE, current LMR usage needs 

to be characterized. Characterization of current LMR usage will allow for the 

production of traffic models, which may be used for future telecommunications 

system deployments, ensuring appropriate placement and allocation of 

telecommunications resources. 

PS LMR transmission data is currently only publicly available in small, disparate 

datasets. The collection of, and access to, larger PS LMR usage datasets will 

facilitate research related to a transition from LMR to LTE. 

2. Overview 

The intent of this NOFO is for the award recipient to collect PS LMR usage data and 

make the datasets available for research related to the comparison of LMR to LTE. 

The award recipient will help achieve this by partnering with no less than two (2) 

public safety organizations (PSOs) located within the United States, of varying size 

or geographic location, for the collection of data necessary for conducting research 

relevant to the comparison of LMR to LTE. The award recipient will make the 

collected data publicly available for the conduct of such research. Applicants must 

also propose their own research related to the comparison of LMR to LTE as part of 

their application. 

3. Basic Competition Information 

Applicants must address all goals defined in Section I.4. 

The recipient’s Principal Investigator (PI) will be required to participate in the PSCR 

Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meetings (approximately five days) each 

calendar year during the term of the award to present research and meet with 

stakeholders from public safety, government, industry, and academia. Other 

essential project staff are encouraged to attend. Attendance at this event should be 

reflected in the project schedule and budget. 

4. Technical Program Goals 

A. Goal 1 – Collection and Publication of LMR Usage Data 

To conduct relevant and useful research related to the comparison of LMR to 

LTE, specific signal characteristics of PS radio transmissions, from varying 

geographic locations, as well as from governments and departments of 

varying sizes, must be collected and made publicly available for research 

purposes. 

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The PS radio usage datasets, obtained through partnerships with no less than 

two (2) PSOs within the United States of varying sizes or geographic location, 

must include, but are not limited to, transmit time and duration, frequency or 

channel, association of frequency or channel with operating unit type (e.g., 

fire, police, ems, etc.) (could be in the form of a frequency plan), and location 

of transmitting device. Data must be collected for at least two (2) weeks of 

uninterrupted system transmissions for all end-user/end-device transmissions 

of the LMR system. Only transmissions from end-user devices (i.e., handheld, 

mobile, and station devices) are required. Transmissions from other devices 

(e.g., repeater or relay) must be clearly identified as non-user transmissions. 

The removal of any personally identifiable information (PII) and Controlled 

Unclassified Information (CUI), such as law enforcement sensitive 

information, must be completed by the award recipient or the PSO, provided 

all necessary data (mentioned in previous paragraph) are not altered or 

modified in any way. Only signal characteristics and device location 

information should be captured in the dataset. No data from or about people 

should be included in the dataset. 

The award recipient must provide a detailed schematic, or other appropriate 

design document, of the radio systems, including a description of each 

component as it is relevant to the required data. 

If a partnering PSO is not the radio system owner, the PSO must obtain 

authorization to collect and provide the required dataset to the award 

recipient. For example, if a state or local government is the owner of the radio 

system, either the PSO must obtain authorization to collect and use the data, 

or the award recipient may also partner with the radio owner. In the latter 

scenario, the partnering PSO and partnering radio system owner will be 

considered a single PSO partner for the purposes of geography and size 

diversity. 

B. Goal 2 – Research Relevant to the Comparison of LMR to LTE 

To advance the migration from LMR to LTE, the awardee must propose and 

conduct research relevant to the comparison of LMR to LTE. Characterization 

of current LMR usage will be accepted. No research with human subjects will 

be funded. 

II. Federal Award Information 

1. Funding Instrument 

The funding instrument used in this program will be a grant. 

2. Multi-Year Funding Policy 

When an application for a multi-year award is approved, funding will usually be 

provided for only the first year of the project. If a project is selected for funding, NIST 

has no obligation to provide any additional funding with that award. Continuation of 

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an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is at the sole 

discretion of NIST. Continued funding will be contingent upon satisfactory 

performance, continued relevance to the mission and priorities of the Public Safety 

Communications Research Division, and the availability of funds. Under this NOFO, 

NIST may elect to fully fund awards or to fund awards in accordance with the MultiYear Funding policy. 

3. Funding Availability 

In FY21, NIST anticipates funding 1 award for up to $1,000,000 with a project 

performance period of up to 2 years. 

III. Eligibility Information 

1. Eligible Applicants 

Eligibility for the program listed in this NOFO is open to all non-Federal entities. 

Eligible applicants include accredited institutions of higher education; non-profit 

organizations; for-profit organizations incorporated in the United States; state, local, 

territorial, and Indian tribal governments; foreign public entities; and foreign 

organizations. Please note that individuals and unincorporated sole proprietors are 

not considered “non-Federal entities” and are not eligible to apply under this NOFO. 

Although Federal entities are not eligible to receive funding under this NOFO, they 

may participate as unfunded collaborators. 

NIST will only consider one application per applicant; however, an applicant entity 

may be proposed as a sub-recipient, contractor, or unfunded collaborator within 

applications submitted by other entities. 

2. Cost Sharing or Matching 

Matching funds are not required. However, voluntary committed cost-share (e.g., inkind contributions from partners) may be included in project budgets and will be 

considered as part of the selection factors in Section V.2. of this NOFO. 

IV. Application and Submission Information 

1. Address to Request Application Package 

The application package is available at Grants.gov under Funding Opportunity 

Number 2021-NIST-PSIAP-PSRD-01. 

2. Content and Form of Application Submission 

a. Required Forms and Documents. The Application must contain the following: 

(1) SF-424 (R&R), Application for Federal Assistance. The SF-424 (R&R) 

must be signed by an authorized representative of the applicant 

organization. 

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For SF-424 (R&R), Items 5, 14, and 19, use the Zip Code + 4 format (##### -

####) when addresses are called for. 

For SF-424 (R&R), Item 17, the list of certifications and assurances is 

contained in the SF-424B (item (3) below). 

SF-424 (R&R), Item 18. If the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form 

(item (6) below) is applicable, attach it to field 18. 

(2) Research & Related Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed). The budget 

should reflect anticipated expenses for the full term of the project, 

considering all potential cost increases, including cost of living adjustments. 

The budget should be detailed in these categories: 

A. Senior/Key Person; 

B. Other Personnel; 

C. Equipment Description; 

D. Travel; 

E. Participant/Trainee Support Costs 

F. Other Direct Costs; 

G. Direct Costs (automatically generated); 

H. Indirect Costs; 

I. Total Direct and Indirect Costs (automatically generated); 

J. Fee (not relevant to this competition); 

K. Total Costs and Fee (automatically generated); 

L. Budget Narrative and Justification document (item (8) below) should be 

attached to field L. 

A separate detailed R&R Budget must be completed for each budget period 

during the proposed award (e.g., annual basis). To add additional budget 

periods (e.g., year 2), click “Add Period” embedded at the end of the form.

Information regarding the Research & Related Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed) 

is available in the R&R Family Section of Grants.gov. 

(3) SF-424B, Assurances – Non-Construction Programs (if applicable). The 

SF-424B is required for all applicants that have not updated their System for 

Award Management (SAM.gov) entity registration since February 2, 2019 to 

include the Federal financial assistance certifications and representations 

(certs and reps). If an applicant has updated their SAM.gov entity registration 

since February 2, 2019 to include the certifications and representations, then 

the SF-424B is not required. 

(4) CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying. Enter “2021-NIST-PSIAPPSRD-01” in the Award Number field. Enter the title of the

application, or an abbreviation of that title, in the Project Name 

field. 

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(5) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable). 

(6) Project Narrative. The Project Narrative is a word-processed document of no 

more than twenty (20) pages (double-spaced between lines), which is 

responsive to the program description and the evaluation criteria. 

The projective narrative should contain the following information: 

a. Cover Page. The cover page should include: 

i. The name, address and contact information of the applicant 

institution, partner organizations, and the principal investigator; 

ii. The project title; 

iii. Any statements regarding confidentiality; and 

iv. A summary of the project in approximately three to five sentences 

using plain language that can be understood by a general, lay 

audience. 

b. Table of Contents. 

c. Project Description. This is a detailed description of the proposed project 

and its potential impacts. This section should include for each participating 

PSO a detailed description of the: 

i. Deployed digital radio system, including all relevant hardware (HW) 

and software (SW) components; 

ii. Additional digital radio system HW and/or SW, not currently owned 

and deployed by the partner PSOs, needed to accomplish the goals 

of this NOFO. Costs of additional HW and SW must be included in 

the Research & Related Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed), budget 

narrative and justification; and 

iii. Proposed research project relevant to the comparison of LMR to 

LTE. 

d. Project Execution. This is a detailed description of the plan to execute 

the project. Applicants should note that all information regarding costs are 

to be addressed in the Budget Narrative and Justification (see Section 

IV.3.a(8) of this NOFO). This section should include: 

i. A summary of the overall approach to executing the award and how 

the schedule, deliverables, milestones, and risk management will 

maximize the applicant's chances of achieving the goals of this 

NOFO; 

ii. A detailed project schedule (Gantt chart or similar) for the entire 

award period; 

iii. A deliverable summary table identifying all deliverables, a 

description of each, and due dates; 

iv. A milestone summary table identifying all milestones, a description 

of each, due dates, and clear, measurable criteria to verify 

milestone completion; and 

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v. A risk summary table identifying major risks during each phase of 

the award and mitigation strategies. 

e. Qualifications. This is a detailed description of the applicant's relevant 

qualifications, experience, and resources for successfully completing the 

requirements of this NOFO. This section should include: 

i. Qualifications of the individuals, teams, and organizations that will 

be executing or supporting the proposed project relative to the 

program goals; and 

ii. Access to the necessary staff, equipment, facilities, support, and 

resources to accomplish the proposed objectives. 

f. Resumes of Key Personnel must be included. Resumes are not included 

in the page count of the Project Narrative. Resumes included as part of 

the application must be a maximum of two pages each. Additional pages 

beyond the two pages per resume will not be considered during the 

evaluation of the application. 

g. IP Ownership. If applicable, include any disclosures required pursuant to 

Section VI.2.f. of this NOFO. 

(7) Budget Narrative and Justification. 

There is no set format for the Budget Narrative and Justification. The 

Budget Narrative and Justification must be attached to the Research & 

Related Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed). The written justification should 

include the necessity and the basis for the cost. Proposed funding levels 

must be consistent with the project scope, and only allowable costs should 

be included in the budget. Information on cost allowability is available in the 

Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 

Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200 

(http://go.usa.gov/SBYh), which apply to awards in this program. 

The Budget Narrative does not count against the twenty (20) page limit of the 

Project Narrative. 

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Budget Narrative 

evaluation criteria. It will also be reviewed to determine if all costs are 

reasonable, allocable, and allowable under 2 C.F.R. Part 200 Subpart E, 

Cost Principles. 

Information needed for each category is as follows: 

A. Senior/Key Person – At a minimum, the budget justification should 

include the following: name, job title, commitment of effort on the proposed 

project in terms of average number of hours per week or percentage of 

time, salary rate, total direct charges on the proposed project, description 

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of the role of the individual on the proposed project and the work to be 

performed. 

Fringe benefits should be identified separately from salaries and wages 

and based on rates determined by organizational policy. The items 

included in the fringe benefit rate (e.g., health insurance, parking, etc.) 

should not be charged under another cost category. 

B. Other Personnel - Data is requested at the project role level, and 

not at the individual level for Other Personnel. The budget justification 

should include the following: job title, commitment of effort on the 

proposed project in terms of average number of hours per week or 

percentage of time, salary rate, total direct charges on the proposed 

project, description of the role of the position on the proposed project and 

the work to be performed. 

Fringe benefits should be identified separately from salaries and wages 

and based on rates determined by organizational policy. The items 

included in the fringe benefit rate (e.g., health insurance, parking, etc.) 

should not be charged under another cost category. 

C. Equipment Description – Equipment is defined as an item of 

property that has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more (unless the 

organization has established lower levels) and an expected service life of 

more than one year. The budget justification should list each piece of 

equipment, the cost, and a description of how it will be used and why it is 

necessary to the successful completion of the proposed project. Please 

note that any general use equipment (computers, etc.) charged directly to 

the award should be allocated to the award according to expected usage 

on the project. Applicants should provide at least two (2) quotes, if 

available, for equipment costing $25,000 or more. If two (2) quotes are 

not available, please provide a statement as to why two (2) quotes are not 

available. Any items that do not meet the threshold for equipment can be 

included under the Materials and Supplies line item in Section F, Other 

Direct Costs. 

D. Travel - For all travel costs, required by the recipient to complete 

the project, including attendance at any relevant conferences, the budget 

justification for travel should include the following: destination; names or 

number of people traveling; dates and/or duration; mode of transportation, 

lodging and subsistence rates; and description of how the travel is directly 

related to the proposed project. For travel that is yet to be determined, 

please provide best estimates based on prior experience. If a destination 

is not known, an approximate amount may be used with the assumptions 

given for the location of the meeting. 

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E. Participant/Trainee Support Costs – Participant support costs are 

stipends, subsistence allowances, travel, and registration fees paid to or 

on behalf of participants or trainees, who are not employees of your 

organization, for conferences or training projects. The budget justification 

should indicate the names or number of participants or trainees, a 

description and calculation of costs per person, a description and date of 

the event, and a description of why the cost is necessary for the 

successful completion of the proposed project. 

F. Other Direct Costs – For costs that do not easily fit into the other cost 

categories, please list the cost, and the breakdown of the total costs by 

quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity of the cost for the completion 

of the proposed project. Only allowable costs can be charged to the 

award. 

Each subaward or contractual cost should be treated as a separate item in 

the Other Direct Costs category. Describe the services to be provided and 

the necessity of the subaward or contract to the successful performance of 

the proposed project. Contracts are for obtaining goods and services. 

Subawardees perform part of the project scope of work. For each 

subaward, applicants must provide budget detail justifying the cost of the 

work performed on the project. 

G. Total Direct Costs – (automatically generated) 

H. Indirect Costs – Commonly referred to as Facilities & 

Administrative Costs, Indirect Costs are defined as costs incurred by the 

applicant organization that cannot otherwise be directly assigned or 

attributed to a specific project. For more details, see Section IV.2.b.(9) of 

this NOFO. 

I. Total Direct and Indirect Costs - (automatically generated) 

J. Fee – Not relevant to this competition. 

K. Total Costs and Fee (automatically generated) 

(8) Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. If indirect costs are included in the 

proposed budget, provide a copy of the approved negotiated 

agreement if this rate was negotiated with a cognizant Federal audit 

agency. If the rate was not established by a cognizant Federal audit 

agency provide a statement to this effect. If the successful applicant 

includes indirect costs in the budget and has not established an 

indirect cost rate with a cognizant Federal audit agency, the applicant will be 

required to obtain such a rate in accordance with Section B.06 of the 

Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and 

Conditions, dated November 12, 2020. 

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Alternatively, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f), applicants that have 

never received a negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge indirect 

costs to an award pursuant to a de minimis rate of 10 percent of modified 

total direct costs (MTDC), in which case a negotiated indirect cost rate 

agreement is not required. Applicants proposing a 10 percent de minimis rate 

pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f) should note this election as part of the 

budget portion of the application. Please be aware that Foreign applicants 

will be limited to use of the de minimis rate and will not have the opportunity 

to negotiate an indirect cost rate with NIST. 

(9) Subaward Budget Form. The Research & Related Subaward Budget 

Attachment Form is required if sub-recipients and contractors are included in 

the application budget. 

Instructions for completing subaward budget forms are available by visiting 

the R & R Family section of the Grants.gov Forms Repository and scrolling 

down to the R & R Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form and selecting 

“Instructions.”

(10) Letters of Commitment. (if applicable) 

Letters of Commitment must be submitted by all funded and unfunded 

entities that will have an active role in executing the activities outlined in the 

Technical Proposal, including all partnering PSOs. If a PSO does not own 

their radio system then a Letter of Commitment must also be submitted by 

the radio system owners. Letters of Commitment must address the specific 

services and/or products to be used in the project; the level of participation, 

qualifications of the personnel who will be actively involved; and how 

successful completion of this project would positively impact their profession 

or community. Letters of Commitment must also specify any voluntary 

committed cost-share, if applicable. Letters of Commitment must be signed 

by an individual with sufficient authority to legally bind the organization to its 

commitment. 

Letters of Commitment will be evaluated in accordance with the 

Qualifications evaluation criteria (see Section V.1.c.) of this NOFO). Letters 

of commitment do not count against the twenty (20) page limit of the 

Technical Proposal. 

(11) Data Management Plan. 

Consistent with NIST Policy 5700.001, Managing Public Access to Results of 

Federally Funded Research, and NIST Order 5701.002, Managing Public 

Access to Results of Federally Funded Research,” applicants proposing

1 https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2018/06/19/final_p_5700.pdf 

2 https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2019/11/08/final_o_5701_ver_2.pdf 

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projects that include the conduct of research must include a Data 

Management Plan (DMP). 

All applications for activities that will generate scientific data using NIST 

funding are required to adhere to a DMP or explain why data sharing and/or 

preservation are not within the scope of the project. For the purposes of the 

DMP, NIST adopted the definition of “research data” at 2 C.F.R. §

200.315(e)(3). 

The DMP must include, at a minimum, a summary of proposed activities that 

are expected to generate data; a summary of the types of data expected to 

be generated by the identified activities; a plan for storage and maintenance 

of the data expected to be generated by the identified activities, including 

after the end of the award’s period of performance; and a plan describing

whether and how data generated by the identified activities will be reviewed 

and made available to the public. 

A template for the DMP, an example DMP, and the rubric against which the 

DMP will be evaluated for sufficiency is available at 

https://www.nist.gov/open. An applicant is not required to use the template 

as long as the DMP contains the required information. 

If an application stands a reasonable chance of being funded and the DMP is 

determined during the review process to be insufficient, the program office 

may reach out to the applicant to resolve deficiencies in the DMP. If an 

award is issued prior to the deficiencies being fully rectified, the award will 

include a Specific Award Condition (SAC) stating that no research activities 

shall be initiated or costs incurred for those activities under the award until 

the NIST Grants Officer amends the award to indicate the SAC has been 

satisfied. 

Reasonable costs for data preservation and access may be included in the 

application. 

(12) Current and Pending Support Form. Any application that includes 

investigators, researchers, and key personnel must identify all sources of 

current and potential funding, including this proposal. Any current project 

support (e.g., Federal, state, local, public or private foundations, etc.) must be 

listed on this form. The proposed project and all other projects or activities 

requiring a portion of time of the Principal Investigator (PI), co-PI, and key 

personnel must be included, even if no salary support is received. The total 

award amount for the entire award period covered, including indirect costs, 

must be shown as well as the number of person-months per year to be 

devoted to the project, regardless of the source of support. Similar information 

must be provided for all proposals already submitted or that are being 

submitted concurrently to other potential funders. 

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Applicants must complete the Current and Pending Support Form, using 

multiple forms as necessary to account for all activity for each individual 

identified in the PI, co-PI and key personnel roles. A separate form should be 

used for each identified individual. 

Applicants must download the Current and Pending Support Form from the 

NIST website at https://www.nist.gov/oaam/grants-managementdivision/current-and-pending-support and reference the guidance provided as 

it contains information to assist with accurately completing the form. 

(13) Research and Related Other Project Information. Answer the 

highlighted questions and use this form to attach the Project Narrative 

(item (5) above), the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (item (7) above), 

the Data Management Plan (item (10) above), and the Current and Pending 

Support Form (item (11 above). Instructions for 

completing the Research and Related Other Project Information can 

be found at Instructions R&R Other Project Information. 

Please note that the Project Summary/Abstract is not relevant to this 

competition. However, Grants.gov requires an attachment to field 7 of 

the Research and Related Other Project Information form to 

successfully pass through Grants.gov. Please attach a document to 

field 7 stating, “A Project Summary/Abstract is not relevant to this

competition”.

There are no separate documents required for field 9, “Bibliography &

References Cited’; or for field 10, “Facilities & Other Resources;” or for field 

11, “Equipment”. Any details relating to these topics should be included in 

other documents and forms, if and as specified in this NOFO. 

(14) Attachment of Required Documents 

Items IV.2.a.(1) through IV.2.a.(4) above are part of the standard application 

package in Grants.gov and can be completed through the download 

application process. 

Item IV.2.a.(5), the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form, is an 

optional application form which is part of the standard application package in 

Grants.gov. If item IV.2.a.(5), the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities 

form is applicable to this proposal, attach it to field 18 of the SF-424 (R&R), 

Application for Federal Assistance. 

Item IV.2.a.(6), the Project Narrative, should be attached to field 8 (Project 

Narrative) of the Research and Related Other Project Information form by 

clicking on “Add Attachment”.

Item IV.2.a.(7), the Budget Narrative and Justification, should be attached to 

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field L (Budget Justification) of the Research and Related Budget (Total Fed + 

Total Non-Fed) form by clicking on “Add Attachment”.

Items IV.2.a.(8), the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, IV.2.a.(11), the Data 

Management Plan, and IV.2.a.(12), the Current and Pending Support Form, 

must be completed and attached by clicking on “Add Attachments” found in

item 12 (Other Attachments) of the Research and Related Other Project 

Information form. 

Item IV.2.a.(9), Letters of Commitment, should be attached by clicking on 

“Add Attachments” found in item 12 (Other Attachments) of the Research and

Related Other Project Information form. 

Item IV.2.a.(10), the Subaward Budget Form(s), if applicable to the 

submission, should be attached to the Research & Related Subaward Budget 

(Total Fed + Non-Fed) Attachment(s) Form in the application package. 

Following these directions will create zip files which permit transmittal of the 

documents electronically via Grants.gov. 

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions to ensure 

the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from 

Grants.gov indicates only that an application was transferred to a system. It 

does not provide details concerning whether all attachments (or how many 

attachments) transferred successfully. Applicants will receive a series of email messages over a period of up to two business days before learning 

whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application.

Applicants are strongly advised to use Grants.gov’s “Download Submitted

Forms and Applications” option to check that their application’s required

attachments were contained in their submission. 

After submitting the application, check the status of your application here: 

CHECK APPLICATION STATUS. If any, or all, of the required attachments 

are absent from the submission, follow the attachment directions found 

above, resubmit the application, and check again for the presence of the 

required attachments. 

If the directions found at 

https://www.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm#t=GetStarted%2FGetStarted 

.htm are not effective, please contact the Grants.gov Help Desk immediately. 

If calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-

518-4726. If calling from a place outside the United States or a U.S. territory, 

please call 606-545-5035. E-mails should be addressed to 

support@grants.gov. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help Desk will be 

available around the clock every day, with the exception of Federal holidays. 

Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after 

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Federal holidays. 

Applicants can track their submission in the Grants.gov system by following 

the procedures at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjamz). It can take up 

to two business days for an application to fully move through the Grants.gov 

system to NIST. 

NIST uses the Tracking Numbers assigned by Grants.gov, and does not 

issue Agency Tracking Numbers. 

b. Application Format 

(1) Paper, Email, and Facsimile (fax) Submissions. Will not be accepted. 

(2) Figures, Graphs, Images, and Pictures. Should be of a size that is easily 

readable or viewable and may be displayed in landscape orientation. Any 

figures, graphs, images, or pictures will count toward the page limits for the 

Project Narrative. 

(3) Font. Easy to read font (10-point minimum). Smaller type may be used in 

figures and tables but must be clearly legible. 

(4) Page Limit. See the table below: 

Section Page Limit Required or Optional 

Cover Page 1 Required 

Table of Contents 1 Optional 

Project Narrative 20 Required 

Data Management Plan 2 Required 

Letter of Commitment from Partnering 

PSOs (2 or more) 

1 (per 

PSO) 

Required 

Proposed Project Timeline with PSOs 3 Required 

(5) Page Limit Exclusions: 

SF-424 (R&R), Application for Federal Assistance; 

SF-424B, Assurances – Non-Construction Programs; 

CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying; 

SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities; 

Budget Narrative and Justification; 

Research & Related Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed); 

Research and Related Other Project Information; 

Indirect Cost Rate Agreement; 

Letters of Commitment; 

Data Management Plan; 

Subaward Budget Form; 

Current and Pending Support Form 

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(6) Page Layout. The Project Narrative must be in portrait orientation. 

(7) Page size. 21.6 centimeters by 27.9 centimeters (8 1⁄2 inches by 11 inches). 

(8) Page numbering. Number pages sequentially. 

(9) Application language. English. All documents must be in English, including 

but not limited to the initial application, any additional documents submitted in 

response to a NIST request, all reports, and any correspondence with NIST. 

(10) Typed document. All applications, including forms, must be typed; 

handwritten forms will not be accepted. 

c. Application Replacement Pages. Applicants may not submit replacement pages 

and/or missing documents once an application has been submitted. Any 

revisions must be made by submission of a new application that must be received 

by NIST by the submission deadline. 

d. Pre-Applications. Pre-applications will not be accepted under this NOFO. 

e. Certifications Regarding Federal Felony and Federal Criminal Tax 

Convictions, Unpaid Federal Tax Assessments and Delinquent Federal Tax 

Returns. In accordance with Federal appropriations law, an authorized 

representative of the selected applicant(s) may be required to provide certain preaward certifications regarding federal felony and federal criminal tax convictions, 

unpaid federal tax assessments, and delinquent federal tax returns. 

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM). 

Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. part 25, applicants and recipients are required to: (i) be registered 

in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier in its 

application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current 

information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or 

plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency, unless otherwise excepted 

from these requirements pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 25.110. NIST will not make a Federal 

award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity 

identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the 

requirements by the time that NIST is ready to make a Federal award pursuant to this 

NOFO, NIST may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal 

award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another 

applicant. 

4. Submission Dates and Times 

Applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern 

Time, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. NIST will consider the date and time recorded by 

Grants.gov as the official submission time. Applications received after this deadline will 

not be reviewed or considered. Paper applications will not be accepted. 

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Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, that the 

Grants.gov system closes periodically for routine maintenance. Applicants should visit 

Grants.gov for information about any scheduled closures. 

When developing the submission timeline, please keep in mind that: (1) all applicants 

are required to have current registrations in the electronic System for Award 

Management (SAM.gov) and Grants.gov; (2) the free annual registration process in the 

SAM.gov generally takes between three and five business days but can take more than 

three weeks; and applicants will receive e-mail notifications over a period of up to two 

business days as the application moves through intermediate systems before the 

applicant learns via a validation or rejection notification whether NIST has received the 

application. (See Grants.gov for full information on application and notification through 

Grants.gov.) Please note that a Federal assistance award cannot be issued if the 

designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is 

not current at the time of the award. 

5. Intergovernmental Review 

Applications under this Program are not subject to Executive Order 12372. 

6. Funding Restrictions 

Profit or fee is not an allowable cost. 

7. Other Submission Requirements 

a) Applications must be submitted at Grants.gov. 

i) Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions to 

ensure that all attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A 

receipt from Grants.gov indicating an application is received does not 

provide information about whether attachments have been received. For 

further information or questions regarding applying electronically for the 

2021-NIST-PSIAP-PSRD-01 announcement, contact the Grants.gov Help 

Desk at 800-518-4726. 

ii) Applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the 

approaching due date before logging on and reviewing the instructions for 

submitting an application through Grants.gov. The Grants.gov registration 

process must be completed before a new registrant can apply 

electronically. The typical registration process takes three to five business 

days. If problems are encountered, the registration process can take two 

weeks or more. Applicants must have a valid unique entity identifier 

number and must maintain a current registration in the Federal 

government’s primary registrant database, the System for Award 

Management (https://www.sam.gov/), as explained on the Grants.gov 

Web site. After registering, it may take several days or longer from the 

initial log-on before a new Grants.gov system user can submit an 

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application. Only individuals authorized as organization representatives 

will be able to submit the application, and the system may need time to 

process a submitted application. Applicants should save and print the 

proof of submission they receive from Grants.gov. If problems occur while 

using Grants.gov, the applicant is advised to (a) print any error message 

received and (b) call Grants.gov directly for immediate assistance. If 

calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 

800-518-4726. If calling from a place other than the United States or a 

U.S. territory, please call 606-545-5035. Assistance from the Grants.gov 

Help Desk will be available around the clock every day, except for Federal 

holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day 

after Federal holidays. For assistance using Grants.gov, the applicant may 

also contact support@grants.gov. 

iii) To find instructions for submitting an application on Grants.gov, applicants 

should refer to the “Applicants” tab in the banner just below the top of the

Grants.gov home page. Clicking on the “Applicants” tab produces two

exceptionally useful sources of information, Applicant Actions and 

Applicant Resources, which applicants are advised to review. 

Applicants will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to 

two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic 

system has received its application. 

Applicants should pay close attention to the guidance under Grants.gov 

“Applicant FAQs,” as it contains information important to successful 

submission, including essential details on the naming conventions for 

attachments to applications. 

All applicants should be aware that adequate time must be factored into 

applicants’ schedules for delivery of their application. Applicants are 

advised that volume on Grants.gov may be extremely heavy leading up to 

the deadline. 

The application must be both received and validated by Grants.gov. The 

application is “received” when Grants.gov provides the applicant a

confirmation of receipt and an application tracking number. If an applicant 

does not see this confirmation and tracking number, the application has 

not been received. After the application has been received, it must still be 

validated. During this process, it may be “validated” or “rejected with

errors”. To ascertain whether the application was rejected with errors and 

the reasons for the rejection, the applicant must log in to Grants.gov, 

select “Applicants” from the top navigation, and select “Track my 

application” from the drop-down list. If the status is “rejected with errors,”

the applicant may still seek to correct the errors and resubmit the 

application before the deadline. If the applicant does not correct the errors, 

the application will not be forwarded to NIST by Grants.gov. 

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Refer to important information in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and 

Times, to help ensure the application is received on time. 

(b) Amendments. Any amendments to this NOFO will be announced through 

Grants.gov. Applicants may sign up on Grants.gov to receive amendments by email or may request copies by e-mail from pscr@nist.gov. 

V. Application Review Information 

1. Evaluation Criteria 

The evaluation criteria that will be used in evaluating applications and their assigned 

weights are as follows (subcriteria will be weighted approximately evenly in all 

categories): 

Criteria Basis Points Weight Total Points / 100 

Technical Merit Project Description 10 4 40 

Project Execution Project Execution, 

Budget Narrative 10 4 40 

Qualifications Qualifications 10 2 20 

a. Technical Merit 

Reviewers will evaluate the: 

(1) Extent to which the proposal demonstrates a clear understanding of the 

dataset and research requirements. 

(2) Extent to which the approach is likely to produce datasets containing the 

required data. 

(3) Extent to which the publication of the dataset meets the requirements of 

this NOFO. 

(4) Extent to which the proposal is likely to produce research outcomes 

relevant to the comparison of LMR to LTE. 

(5) Extent to which the partnering PSOs represent geographic and size 

diversity. 

b. Project Execution 

Reviewers will evaluate the: 

(1) Extent to which the project management approach is clearly described 

and supports the objectives of this NOFO. 

(2) Feasibility, sufficiency, clarity, and appropriateness of the schedule, 

deliverables, milestones, and identified risks for achieving the goals of the 

program. 

(3) Extent to which the budget narrative reflects reasonable costs. 

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c. Qualifications 

Reviewers will evaluate the: 

(1) Relevance and sufficiency of the qualifications of the individuals, teams, 

and organizations that will be executing or supporting the data collection, 

storage, and publication, and the likelihood that they will be able to fulfill 

the objectives of this NOFO. 

(2) Applicant's demonstrated success in collecting transmission and location 

data from digital radio systems. 

(3) Applicant’s access to the necessary staff, equipment, facilities, support, 

and resources to accomplish the proposed objectives. 

(4) Level of participation by project team members as evidenced by their 

integration in the project execution and the Letters of Commitment. 

2. Selection Factors 

a. The Selection Factors for this competition are: 

(1) Results of the merit reviewers’ evaluations.

(2) The availability of funding. 

(3) Whether the project duplicates other projects funded by NIST or other 

Federal agencies. 

(4) Alignment with the NOFO objectives. 

(5) Regional diversity. 

3. Review and Selection Process 

Proposals, reports, documents and other information related to applications 

submitted to NIST and/or relating to financial assistance awards issued by NIST will 

be reviewed and considered by Federal employees, or non-Federal personnel who 

have entered into conflict of interest and confidentiality agreements covering such 

information, when applicable. 

a. Initial Administrative Review of Applications. Applications received by the 

deadline will be reviewed to determine eligibility, completeness, and 

responsiveness to this NOFO and to the scope of the stated program objectives. 

Applications determined to be ineligible, incomplete, and/or nonresponsive may 

be eliminated from further review. However, NIST, in its sole discretion, may 

continue the review process for an application that is missing non-substantive 

information, the absence of which may easily be rectified during the review 

process. 

b. Full Review of Eligible, Complete, and Responsive Applications. 

Applications that are determined to be eligible, complete, and responsive will 

proceed for full reviews in accordance with the review and selection process 

below: 

(1) Merit Review. At least three (3) objective reviewers, who may be Federal 

employees or non-Federal personnel, with appropriate professional and 

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technical expertise relating to the topics covered in this NOFO, will 

evaluate and score each eligible, complete, and responsive application 

based on the evaluation criteria. While every application will have at least 

three (3) reviewers, applications may have more than three (3) reviewers if 

specialized expertise is needed to evaluate an application. During the 

review process, the reviewers may discuss the applications with each 

other, but scores will be determined on an individual basis. Based on the 

numerical average of the reviewers’ scores, a rank order will be prepared

and provided to the Selecting Official for further consideration. T 

(2) Selection. The Selecting Official, the PSCR Division Chief or designee, will 

make final award recommendations to the NIST Grants Officer. The 

Selecting Official shall generally select and recommend the most 

meritorious application for an award based upon the rank order of the 

applications. The Selecting Official retains the discretion to select and 

recommend an application out of rank order based on the Selection 

Factors. 

NIST reserves the right to negotiate the budget costs with any applicant 

selected to receive an award, which may include requesting that the 

applicant removes certain costs. Additionally, NIST may request that 

successful applicants modify objectives or work plans and provide 

supplemental information required by the agency prior to award. NIST also 

reserves the right to reject an application where information is uncovered 

that raises a reasonable doubt as to the responsibility of the applicant. NIST 

may select some, all, or none of the applications, or part(s) of any 

application. The final approval of selected applications and issuance of 

awards will be by the NIST Grants Officer. The award decisions of the NIST 

Grants Officer are final. 

c. Federal Awarding Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants. After 

applications are proposed for funding by the Selecting Official, the NIST Grants 

Management Division (GMD) performs pre-award risk assessments in 

accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.205, which may include a review of the financial 

stability of an applicant, the quality of the applicant’s management systems, the

history of performance, and/or the applicant’s ability to effectively implement 

statutory, regulatory, or other requirements imposed on non-Federal entities. 

In addition, prior to making an award where the total Federal share is expected to 

exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $250,000), NIST GMD will 

review and consider the publicly available information about that applicant in the 

Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). An 

applicant may, at its discretion, review and comment on information about itself 

previously entered into FAPIIS by a Federal awarding agency. As part of its 

review of risk posed by applicants, NIST GMD will consider any comments made 

by the applicant in FAPIIS in making its determination about the applicant’s 

integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards. 

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Upon completion of the pre-award risk assessment, the Grants Officer will make 

a responsibility determination concerning whether the applicant is qualified to 

receive the subject award and, if so, whether appropriate specific conditions that 

correspond to the degree of risk posed by the applicant should be applied to an 

award. 

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Date 

Review of applications, selection of successful applicants, and award processing is 

expected to be completed by May 2021. The earliest start date for awards under this 

NOFO is expected to be June 2021. 

5. Additional Information 

a. Safety. Safety is a top priority at NIST. Employees and affiliates of award 

recipients who conduct project work at NIST will be expected to be safetyconscious, to attend NIST safety training, and to comply with all NIST safety 

policies and procedures, and with all applicable terms of their guest research 

agreement. 

b. Notification to Unsuccessful Applicants. Unsuccessful applicants will be 

notified by e-mail and will have the opportunity to receive a debriefing after the 

opportunity is officially closed. Applicants must request within 10 business days 

of the email notification to receive a debrief from the program office. The program 

office will then work with the unsuccessful applicant in arranging a date and time 

of the debrief. 

c. Retention of Unsuccessful Applications. Unsuccessful applications will be 

retained in accordance with the General Record Schedule 1.2/021. 

VI. Federal Award Administration Information 

1. Federal Award Notices. Successful applicants will receive an award package from 

the NIST Grants Officer. 

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 

a. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit 

Requirements. Through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101, the Department of Commerce 

adopted Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 

Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, which apply to awards in 

this program. Refer to http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4. 

b. Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and 

Conditions. The Department of Commerce will apply to each award in this 

program, the Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions in effect on 

the date of award. The current version is dated November 12, 2020. Refer to 

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Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding Agency Contacts, Grant Rules and 

Regulations, if you need more information. 

c. Pre-Award Notification Requirements. The Department of Commerce will 

apply the Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative 

Agreements dated December 30, 2014 (79 FR 78390), accessible at 

http://go.usa.gov/hKkR. Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding 

Agency Contacts, Grant Rules and Regulations, for more information. 

d. Funding Availability and Limitation of Liability. Funding for the program listed 

in this NOFO is contingent upon the availability of appropriations. NIST or the 

Department of Commerce will not responsible for application preparation costs, 

including but not limited to if this program fails to receive funding or is cancelled 

because of agency priorities. Publication of this NOFO does not oblige NIST or 

the Department of Commerce to award any specific project or to obligate any 

available funds. 

e. Collaborations with NIST Employees. If an applicant proposes collaboration 

with NIST, the statement of work should include a statement of this intention, a 

description of the collaboration, and prominently identify the NIST employee(s) 

involved, if known. Any collaboration by a NIST employee must be approved by 

appropriate NIST management and is at the sole discretion of NIST. Prior to 

beginning the merit review process, NIST will verify the approval of the proposed 

collaboration. Any unapproved collaboration will be stricken from the application 

prior to the merit review. Any collaboration with an identified NIST employee that 

is approved by appropriate NIST management will not make an application more 

or less favorable in the competitive process. 

f. Use of Government-Owned Intellectual Property. If the applicant anticipates 

using any Government-owned intellectual property to carry out the work 

proposed, the applicant should identify such intellectual property. This 

information will be used to ensure that no Federal employee involved in the 

development of the intellectual property will participate in the review process for 

that competition. In addition, if the applicant intends to use Government-owned 

intellectual property, the applicant must comply with all statutes and regulations 

governing the licensing of Federal government patents and inventions, described 

in 35 U.S.C. §§ 200-212, 37 C.F.R. Part 401, 2 C.F.R. §200.315, and in Section 

C.03 of the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and 

Conditions, dated November 12, 2020. Questions about these requirements may 

be directed to the Chief Counsel for NIST, (301) 975-2803, 

nistcounsel@nist.gov. 

Any use of government-owned intellectual property by a recipient of an award 

under this announcement is at the sole discretion of the Federal Government and 

will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis if a project is deemed meritorious. 

The applicant should indicate within the statement of work whether it already has 

a license to use such intellectual property or whether it intends to seek one. 

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If any inventions made in whole or in part by a Federal employee arise in the 

course of an award made pursuant to this NOFO, the United States Government 

may retain its ownership rights in any such invention. Licensing or other 

disposition of Federal Government’s rights in such inventions will be determined 

solely by the Federal Government, and include the possibility of the Federal 

Government putting the intellectual property into the public domain. 

3. Reporting 

a. Reporting Requirements. The following reporting requirements described in 

Sections A.01, Reporting Requirements, of the Department of Commerce Financial 

Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, dated November 12, 2020, apply to 

awards in this program: 

(1) Financial Reports. Each award recipient will be required to submit an SF425, Federal Financial Report on a semi-annual basis for the periods ending 

March 31 and September 30 of each year. Reports will be due within 30 days 

after the end of the reporting period to the NIST Federal Program Officer, 

Grants Officer and Grants Specialist named in the award documents. A final 

financial report is due within 90 days after the end of the project period. 

(2) Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). Each award recipient will 

be required to submit a RPPR to the Federal Program Officer, NIST Grants 

Officer and Grants Specialist named in the award documents on a semiannual basis for the periods ending March 31 and September 30 of each 

year. Reports will be due within 30 days after the end of the reporting period. 

The RPPR shall conform to the requirements in 2 C.F.R. § 200.328 

(http://go.usa.gov/xkVgP) and Department of Commerce Financial Assistance 

Standard Terms and Conditions, Section A.01. 

A final RPPR shall be submitted within 90 days after the expiration date of the 

award, and publication citation information as well as links to publicly 

available data shall be submitted as soon as they become available. 

(3) Patent and Property Reports. From time to time, and in accordance with the 

Uniform Administrative Requirements and other terms and conditions 

governing the award, the recipient may need to submit property and patent 

reports. 

(4) Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters. In accordance with section 

872 of Public Law 110-417 (as amended; see 41 U.S.C. 2313), if the total 

value of a recipient’s currently active grants, cooperative agreements, and

procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceeds 

$10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of an 

award made under this NOFO, then the recipient shall be subject to the 

requirements specified in Appendix XII to 2 C.F.R. Part 200, 

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http://go.usa.gov/cTBwC, for maintaining the currency of information reported 

to SAM that is made available in FAPIIS about certain civil, criminal, or 

administrative proceedings involving the recipient. 

b. Audit Requirements. The Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard 

Terms and Conditions, Section D.01, and 2 C.F.R. Part 200 Subpart F, adopted by 

the Department of Commerce through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101, require any non-Federal 

entity (i.e., including non-profit institutions of higher education and non-profit 

organizations) that expends Federal awards of $750,000 or more in the recipient’s 

fiscal year to conduct a single or program specific audit in accordance with the 

requirements set out in the Subpart. Additionally, unless otherwise specified in the 

terms and conditions of the award, entities that are not subject to Subpart F of 2 

C.F.R. Part 200 (e.g., for-profit commercial entities) that expend $750,000 or more in 

DOC funds during their fiscal year must submit to the Grants Officer either: (i) a 

financial related audit of each DOC award or subaward in accordance with Generally 

Accepted Government Auditing Standards; or (ii) a project specific audit for each 

award or subaward in accordance with the requirements contained in 2 C.F.R. § 

200.507. Applicants are reminded that NIST, the Department of Commerce Office of 

Inspector General, or another authorized Federal agency may conduct an audit of an 

award at any time. 

c. Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. In accordance 

with 2 C.F.R. Part 170, all recipients of a Federal award made on or after October 1, 

2010, are required to comply with reporting requirements under the Federal Funding 

Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law No. 109-282). In general, 

all recipients are responsible for reporting sub-awards of $25,000 or more. In 

addition, recipients that meet certain criteria are responsible for reporting executive 

compensation. Applicants must ensure they have the necessary processes and 

systems in place to comply with the reporting requirements should they receive 

funding. Also see the Federal Register notice published September 14, 2010, at 75 

FR 55663 available here http://go.usa.gov/hKnQ. 

VII.Federal Awarding Agency Contacts 

Questions should be directed to the following: 

Subject Area Point of Contact 

Programmatic and Technical Questions E-mail: pscr@nist.gov with ‘PSRD’ in 

subject line 

Technical Assistance with Grants.gov 

Submissions 

grants.gov 

Phone: 800-518-4726 

E-mail: support@grants.gov 

Grant Rules and Regulations Grants Officer: Scott McNichol 

Phone: 303-497-3444 

E-mail: scott.mcnichol@nist.gov 

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VIII. Other Information 

1. Personal and Business Information 

The applicant acknowledges and understands that information and data contained in 

applications for financial assistance, as well as information and data contained in 

financial, performance and other reports submitted by applicants, may be used by the 

Department of Commerce in conducting reviews and evaluations of its financial 

assistance programs. For this purpose, applicant information and data may be 

accessed, reviewed and evaluated by Department of Commerce employees, other 

Federal employees, and also by Federal agents and contractors, and/or by non-Federal 

personnel, all of whom enter into appropriate conflict of interest and confidentiality 

agreements covering the use of such information. As may be provided in the terms and 

conditions of a specific financial assistance award, applicants are expected to support 

program reviews and evaluations by submitting required financial and performance 

information and data in an accurate and timely manner, and by cooperating with 

Department of Commerce and external program evaluators. In accordance with 2 

C.F.R. § 200.303(e), applicants are reminded that they must take reasonable measures 

to safeguard protected personally identifiable information and other confidential or 

sensitive personal or business information created or obtained in connection with a 

Department of Commerce financial assistance award. 

In addition, Department of Commerce regulations implementing the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552, are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4, Public 

Information. These regulations set forth rules for the Department regarding making 

requested materials, information, and records publicly available under the FOIA. 

Applications submitted in response to this Federal Funding Opportunity may be subject 

to requests for release under the Act. If an application contains information or data that 

the applicant deems to be confidential commercial information that should be exempt 

from disclosure under FOIA, that information should be identified, bracketed, and 

marked as Privileged, Confidential, Commercial or Financial Information. In accordance 

with 15 CFR § 4.9, the Department of Commerce will protect from disclosure 

confidential business information contained in financial assistance applications and 

other documentation provided by applicants to the extent permitted by law. 

2. Public Website and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

NIST PSCR has a public website, https://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr/fundingopportunities/grants-and-cooperative-agreements/psiap-public-safety-radio-data, that 

provides information pertaining to this Funding Opportunity2 . NIST anticipates that a 

“Frequently Asked Questions” section or other resource materials will be maintained

and updated on the website as needed to provide additional guidance and clarifying 

information that may arise related to this Funding Opportunity. Any amendments to this 

NOFO will be announced through Grants.gov. 

3 Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding Agency Contacts, Programmatic and Technical Questions, 

if more information is needed. 

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Applicants must submit all questions pertaining to this funding opportunity in writing to 

pscr@nist.gov with ‘PSRD’ in the subject line. Questions submitted to NIST may be 

posted on pscr@nist.gov. Alternatively, applicants may ask questions during the 

informational public webinar as described in the next paragraph. 

3. Webinar Information Session: 

NIST will host a webinar to provide general information regarding this NOFO, offer 

general guidance on preparing applications, and answer any questions. Proprietary 

technical discussions about specific project ideas will not be permitted and NIST staff 

will not critique or provide feedback on specific project ideas while they are being 

developed by an applicant or brought forth during the webinar or at any time before the 

deadline for all applications. However, questions about the 2021-NIST-PSIAP-PSRD-01 

eligibility requirements, evaluation and award criteria, selection process, and the general 

characteristics of a competitive application can be addressed at the webinar and by email to pscr@nist.gov as described in the previous paragraph. There is no cost to attend 

the webinar, but participants must register in advance. Participation in the webinar is not 

required and will not be considered in the application review and selection process. 

Additional information on the 2021-NIST-PSIAP-PSRD-01 and webinar is available at 

https://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr/funding-opportunities/grants-and-cooperativeagreements/psiap-public-safety-radio-data. 

. 

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