Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 103 / Monday, June 1, 2009 / Notices 26213 

other law, for rules relating to public 

property, loans, grants, benefits or 

contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)), a Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis is not required and 

has not been prepared for this notice, 5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq. 

Dated: May 26, 2009. 

Patrick D. Gallagher, 

Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. E9–12667 Filed 5–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

[Docket No.: 090306286–9288–01] 

Recovery Act National Institute of 

Standards and Technology 

Construction Grant Program 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST), Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds. 

SUMMARY: The National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) 

announces that it will hold a NIST 

Construction Grant Program 

competition under the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

and is soliciting proposals for financial 

assistance. 

DATES: A Letter of Intent is required and 

must be received no later than 3 p.m. 

Eastern Time, Thursday, June 25, 2009. 

A corresponding full proposal must be 

received no later than 3 p.m. Eastern 

Time, Monday, August 10, 2009. 

Review, selection, and grant award 

processing is expected to be completed 

in February 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Letters of Intent may only 

be submitted by paper to: National 

Institute of Standards and Technology; 

100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4701; 

Gaithersburg, MD 20899–4701. Full 

proposals may be submitted by paper 

and electronically. Paper Submissions: 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology; 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 

4701; Gaithersburg, MD 20899–4701. 

Electronic submissions: 

www.grants.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barbara Lambis at 301–975–4447 or by 

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Additional Information. The full 

Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) 

announcement for this request for 

proposals contains detailed information 

and requirements for the program. 

Proposers are strongly encouraged to 

read the FFO in developing proposals. 

The full FFO announcement text is 

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

on the NIST Recovery Act Web site at 

http://www.nist.gov/recovery. 

Statutory Authority. The statutory 

authority for this program is the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Pub. L. 111– 

5, 123 Stat. 115). 

CFDA 11.618, NIST Construction Grant 

Program 

Program Description. The American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Recovery Act) (Pub. L. 111–5, 123 Stat. 

115) appropriated $180 million to NIST 

‘‘for a competitive construction grant 

program for research science buildings.’’ 

Additional information on the program 

was provided on page 418 of the 

Conference Report to accompany House 

Report 111–16 (Feb. 12, 2009), which 

indicated that ‘‘* * * $180,000,000 

shall be for the competitive construction 

grant program for research science 

buildings, including fiscal year 2008 

and 2009 competitions.’’ 

Consistent with the Conference 

Report language NIST intends to issue 

grant awards for approximately $60 

million to unfunded meritorious 

proposals submitted under the fiscal 

year 2008 competition and issue grant 

awards for approximately $120 million 

under a new fiscal year 2009 

competition. 

The goals and objectives of the 

program are to provide competitively 

awarded grant funds for research 

science buildings through the 

construction of new buildings or 

expansion of existing buildings. For 

purposes of this program, ‘‘research 

science building’’ means a building or 

facility whose purpose is to conduct 

scientific research, including 

laboratories, test facilities, measurement 

facilities, research computing facilities, 

and observatories. In addition, 

‘‘expansion of existing buildings’’ 

means that space to conduct scientific 

research is being expanded from what is 

currently available for the supported 

research activities. 

Consistent with Section 3 of the 

Recovery Act, the projects undertaken 

through this program will result in the 

preservation of jobs and the promotion 

of economic recovery; the provision of 

investments needed to increase 

economic efficiency by spurring 

technological advances; and the 

investment in infrastructure that will 

provide long-term economic benefits. 

Activities will be commenced as quickly 

as possible while ensuring prudent 

management. 

Unallowable/Ineligible Projects 

The following projects are 

unallowable/ineligible under this 

program: 

a. Projects to construct or expand a 

building not intended for performing 

research or that will predominately be 

equipped with routine office equipment 

and/or lecture/classroom furnishings. 

b. Projects to construct facilities that 

will primarily benefit undergraduate 

research training programs, rather than 

the creation of new graduate level 

research programs, or expanding 

existing graduate level research 

programs. 

c. Projects to construct facilities that 

will primarily benefit the education of 

the general public rather than support 

research activities. 

d. Projects that include tasks for 

constructing shell space that will not be 

completed into research space within 

the grant will have these tasks removed. 

Unallowable/Ineligible Costs 

The following items, regardless of 

whether they are allowable under the 

Federal cost principles, are unallowable 

under this program: 

a. Any equipment used for research or 

otherwise that is not an integral part of 

the building’s structure, e.g., MRI, 

portable air conditioners, etc. 

b. Costs or charges associated with 

routine maintenance, operation, interior 

decorating, or landscaping of any 

building. 

c. Purchase of land. 

d. Costs incurred prior to award are 

not eligible for reimbursement or as cost 

share. 

Limit on Proposals per Applicant. 

Proposals are limited to one per 

applicant organization. Distinct 

academic campuses (that award their 

own degrees, have independent 

administrative structures, admission 

policies, alumni associations, etc.) 

within multi-campus systems qualify as 

separate institutions. 

Funding Availability. Approximately 

$120 million is available for new grants 

for the FY 2009 competition. NIST 

anticipates funding 8–12 projects with 

Federal shares in the $10 million–$15 

million range with a project period of 

performance of up to five (5) years, 

although there is an expectation that 

most of the projects will be completed 

prior to five years. The anticipated start 

date will be one month after the award 

is made. The period of performance 

depends on the construction schedule 

proposed. 

Eligibility Criteria. U.S. institutions of 

higher education and non-profit 

organizations are eligible to apply. 

26214 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 103 / Monday, June 1, 2009 / Notices 

Cost-Sharing Requirements. Although 

cost sharing is not required, NIST 

encourages cost sharing in order for a 

proposal to be competitive, and it will 

be considered as part of the Selection 

Factors. A cost share of 25% would be 

viewed favorably, 50% even more 

favorably. 

The purchase of land cannot be used 

as cost sharing. See also section IV.6. 

Funding Restrictions of the Federal 

Funding Opportunity. 

Evaluation Criteria. The evaluation 

criteria that will be used in evaluating 

proposals are as follows: 

a. Scientific and technical merit of the 

proposed use of the facility and the 

need for Federal funding (50 percent). 

This criterion addresses the 

intellectual merit and broader impacts 

of the proposed use of the facility; the 

strategic research directions planned 

with the facility and how well the plan 

is conceived and organized; what the 

facility will enable in terms of the 

advancement of knowledge and 

understanding within a specific field(s) 

or across different fields; the 

qualifications of the proposed key 

researchers (individuals or teams) 

which will use the facility, as well as 

the management team that will lead 

them; the potential for targeted impacts 

resulting from the use of the facility that 

are unlikely to be achieved with the 

current infrastructure, such as what 

transformative or creative concepts may 

expand the science and technology 

knowledge base; the extent to which the 

facility will enhance collaborations 

within and outside of the institution; 

and the need for Federal funding due to 

a lack of alternative funding sources, 

specifically what other sources were 

pursued. 

b. The quality of the design of the 

research science building (25 percent). 

This criterion addresses the quality of 

the design information provided for the 

building/facility to establish that the 

design has the ability to meet the safety, 

physical, environmental, experimental/ 

research (e.g. unique environmental 

controls—vibration, humidity, 

temperature, etc.), and operational (e.g. 

utilities and circulation of people) 

requirements of the science and 

technology activities the building/ 

facility is expected to support. It also 

addresses whether or not preliminary 

drawings and plans, together with 

appropriate estimates, of in-house or 

vendor costs, are complete, in progress, 

or planned. Furthermore, it addresses 

the rationale for and summary 

specifications of the building/facility, 

including location, size, configuration, 

environmental controls for research 

space, utility needs, gross and/or 

assignable square footage, assignments 

of square footage to research- and nonresearch-related activities (e.g. routine 

administrative office space, conference 

rooms, classrooms etc.), and the 

assigned purpose by areas. 

c. Adequacy of the detailed Project 

Management Plan for construction of 

the research science building/facility 

(25 percent). The program will evaluate 

the following four aspects of the Project 

Management Plan: 

(1) Project Scope and Requirements: 

This criterion addresses the 

description and organization of project 

work packages (project tasks/elements) 

in a clear and complete Work/Task 

Breakdown Structure (WBS) approach 

that comprises the total scope of the 

building/facility project from inception 

through commissioning of the facility, 

including descriptions of each work 

package and its associated subtasks, the 

relationship between the work packages 

and their associated subtasks, 

consolidated into a unified project 

scope description that will be used by 

project management key personnel 

throughout the project management lifecycle to identify and monitor project 

progress, as well as link and track work 

packages and subtasks to the budget and 

schedule plans addressed in c.(2) below. 

In addition, this criterion addresses 

which work packages are proposed to be 

within, before or after the project 

period. The project period covers only 

the Federal and the allowable auditable 

cost share portion of the project. 

(2) Adequacy of the Proposed Project 

Time Schedule and Linkage to the 

Budget, including the Clarity of the 

Budget and the Budget Narrative: 

This criterion addresses the time 

schedule for implementing the work 

packages and associated subtasks 

described within the WBS addressed in 

c.(1) above, and how the budget costs 

associated with the work packages 

correctly sum up to each of the cost 

categories of the SF–424C by project 

year. 

(3) Capability to Manage the Project: 

This criterion addresses the approach 

planned for project management 

monitoring and risk control during the 

life of the award, from kick-off through 

close-out, which may include tools, 

techniques and processes (manual and 

automated systems). It also addresses an 

analysis of potential project risks (e.g. 

timing, cost and/or scope changes), 

where in the schedule risk(s) may be 

expected, and how the risk(s) may be 

mitigated through specific control 

mechanisms, and the planning/control 

decisionmaking process to implement 

the control mechanisms. Finally, it 

addresses the management plan for 

direction and implementation of the 

project, including capability 

descriptions of the performing 

organizations and experience 

summaries for the manager with 

fiduciary project responsibility, the 

project manager, and other key project 

personnel as appropriate. 

(4) Soundness of the Financial 

Commitments to Implement the Project 

Management Plan: 

This criterion addresses the current 

and any pending commitments required 

for the building/facility to be 

constructed, commissioned and become 

fully operational, including any risk(s) 

associated with finalizing funding 

commitments and the organizational 

name/contact that has the fiduciary 

authority over the funding 

commitments. 

Letters of Intent 

Each eligible organization can submit 

only one Letter of Intent in response to 

this solicitation. A Letter of Intent, in 

paper form only, is mandatory and must 

be received by NIST no later than 3 p.m. 

Eastern Time, Thursday, June 25, 2009. 

If a full proposal is submitted to NIST 

from an applicant who did not submit 

the required Letter of Intent, the full 

proposal will be rejected and not 

reviewed. It is expected that the Letter 

of Intent, which is to provide an 

overview of responsible personnel and 

estimated costs, will be reviewed for 

eligibility, and whether or not the 

project complements one or more of the 

program priorities. NIST will send an 

acknowledgement of the Letter of Intent 

to all applicants who timely submit a 

Letter of Intent. The information 

required in a Letter of Intent is provided 

in the full FFO announcement for this 

request for proposals. 

Each applicant organization may only 

submit one Letter of Intent. Submission 

of multiple Letters of Intent from one 

applicant organization is not allowed. If 

more than one Letter of Intent is 

received from the same applicant 

organization, NIST will acknowledge 

each Letter of Intent received from the 

same applicant organization and 

provide notice that if more than one full 

proposal is received from the same 

applicant organization at the time of full 

proposal submission, all full proposals 

from that same applicant organization 

will be rejected without review. 

Selection Process 

An initial administrative review of 

timely received full proposals will be 

conducted to determine compliance 

with requirements and completeness. 

Responsive and complete proposals will 

be considered further. Proposals that are 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 103 / Monday, June 1, 2009 / Notices 26215 

nonresponsive and/or incomplete will 

be eliminated. Each of the remaining 

proposals will receive a minimum of 

three independent reviews, which will 

include written evaluations and scores, 

based on the evaluation criteria. 

Reviews concerning evaluation criteria 

b. and c. above may be performed by 

non-Federal Engineers or Architects. No 

consensus advice will be given by the 

reviewers. The individual proposal 

evaluations and scores will be 

considered by an Evaluation Board(s) (a 

committee made up of Federal 

employees). This Board(s) will present 

rankings in numerical order and 

funding recommendations based on the 

evaluation criteria to a Selecting Official 

for further consideration. In making 

final selections, the Selecting Official 

(Chief Facilities Management Officer, 

NIST) will select funding recipients 

based upon the Evaluation Board’s rank 

order of the proposals and the selection 

factors. The selection of proposals by 

the Selecting Official is final and cannot 

be appealed. NIST reserves the right to 

negotiate the cost and scope of the 

proposed work with the applicants that 

have been selected to receive awards. 

This may include requesting that the 

applicant delete from the scope of work 

a particular task that is deemed by NIST 

to be inappropriate for support (or of a 

lower priority compared with 

competing uses of funds) against the 

evaluation criteria or selection factors. 

NIST also reserves the right to reject a 

proposal where information is 

uncovered that raises a reasonable doubt 

as to the responsibility of the applicant. 

The final approval of selected proposals 

and award of grants will be made by the 

NIST Grants Officer. The award 

decision of the NIST Grants Officer is 

final and cannot be appealed. 

Applicants may not submit 

replacement and/or revised pages and/ 

or documents for any portion of a 

proposal once that portion has been 

submitted unless specifically requested 

by NIST. 

One copy of each incomplete, 

nonresponsive, or non-selected proposal 

will be retained for three (3) years for 

record keeping purposes and the other 

two (2) copies will be destroyed. After 

three (3) years the remaining copy will 

be destroyed. 

Selection Factors. The Selecting 

Official shall recommend proposals for 

award based upon the Evaluation 

Board’s rank order of the proposals, and 

may select a proposal out of rank based 

on one or more of the following 

selecting factors: a. Degree to which the 

project complements one or more 

programs of DoC’s three science 

organizations’ science and technology 

program priorities (see Program 

Priorities below), including the amount 

and quality of experience that the 

institution that will use the facility has 

had with novel research. 

b. Ability of a project to fulfill 

objectives of the Recovery Act, as 

described in the Program Description 

above: preservation of jobs and the 

promotion of economic recovery; 

provision of investments needed to 

increase economic efficiency by 

spurring technological advances; and 

investing in infrastructure that will 

provide long-term economic benefits, 

through activities that will commence as 

quickly as possible while ensuring 

prudent management. 

c. Degree to which the applicant 

proposes an early construction start date 

and/or is close to or has awarded a 

construction contract for the facility. For 

example, an early start date for 

construction of a ready to proceed 

project may be considered more 

favorably than a project that requires a 

longer time to complete design 

requirements. 

NIST will emphasize the selection of 

projects that are ready to proceed and 

will thereby stimulate local economies 

through the creation or retention of jobs 

in U.S. jurisdictions, as well as yield 

significant program benefits. Projects 

that are ready to proceed are generally 

those where feasibility studies and/or 

other baseline information required for 

a design to commence are completed, 

where required consultations and 

permits, if not in-hand, are either in 

progress or where there is reasonable 

assurance provided that they can be 

attained quickly, and where National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or 

equivalent analysis and any 

environmental permits and 

authorizations are finished or can be 

expeditiously completed, so that 

projects can be implemented shortly 

after funding is made available. The 

adequacy of information needed to 

assess compliance with and to make a 

determination under NEPA, as 

described below, may be considered. 

d. Assuring a balance/distribution of 

projects across the program priorities 

(see Program Priorities below). 

e. Availability of Federal funds. 

f. Experience or potential of 

promoting national impacts through 

research outcomes, training, cooperation 

with Federal programs, and/or 

opportunities for visiting researchers. 

g. Credibility of plans to transition to 

operational status (i.e., staffing and 

equipping the research science building, 

and operational readiness). 

h. Degree to which the project 

considers and incorporates green/ 

sustainable design practices. 

i. Although cost sharing is not 

required, the degree to which the 

applicant is proposing cost share will be 

considered. (A cost share of 25% would 

be viewed favorably; 50% even more 

favorably.) 

j. Whether this project duplicates 

other projects funded by DoC or other 

Federal agencies. 

k. Applicant’s prior Federal award 

performance. 

Program Priorities 

All applicable fields of science that 

complement one or more programs of 

DoC’s three science organizations: NIST, 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), and the 

National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration (NTIA). 

Specifically, these include science 

related to measurements, oceans and 

atmosphere, and telecommunications. 

More information about those programs 

can be found on the agencies’ Web sites 

(www.nist.gov, www.noaa.gov, and 

www.ntia.doc.gov). 

Proposals are only required to link to 

the program priorities of one of the three 

DoC science organizations. Proposals 

that address program priorities of more 

than one organization are not 

considered to be more competitive. 

Executive Order 12372 

(Intergovernmental Review of Federal 

Programs). Proposals under this 

program are not subject to Executive 

Order 12372. 

Administrative Procedure Act and 

Regulatory Flexibility Act. Prior notice 

and comment are not required under 5 

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

relating to public property, loans, 

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

553(a)). Because prior notice and an 

opportunity for public comment are not 

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

other law, the analytical requirements of 

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

et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis is not 

required and has not been prepared. 

E.O. 13132 (Federalism). This notice 

does not contain policies with 

Federalism implications as defined in 

Executive Order 13132. 

E.O. 12866 (Regulatory Planning and 

Review). This notice is determined to be 

not significant under Executive Order 

12866. 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

the law, no person is required to, nor 

shall any person be subject to a penalty 

for failure to, comply with a collection 

of information subject to the 

26216 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 103 / Monday, June 1, 2009 / Notices 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA), unless that 

collection of information displays a 

currently valid Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) Control Number. 

This notice contains collection-ofinformation requirements subject to the 

PRA. The use of Form S NIST–1101, 

NIST Construction Grant Program 

Budget Narrative, NIST–1101A, NIST 

Construction Grant Program Budget 

Narrative, and NIST–1101B, NIST 

Construction Grant Program Details on 

Unallowable Project Costs, has been 

approved under OMB Control No. 0693– 

0055; and SF–424, Application for 

Federal Assistance, SF–424C, Budget 

Information—Construction Programs, 

SF–424D, Assurances—Construction 

Programs, and SF–LLL, Disclosure of 

Lobbying Activities, have been 

approved by OMB under the respective 

control numbers 4040–0004, 4040–0008, 

4040–0009, and 0348–0046. 

Security Interest. Grant recipients will 

be required to execute a security interest 

or other statement of NIST’s interest in 

the property (building), acceptable to 

NIST, which must be perfected and 

placed on record in accordance with 

local law. This security interest will 

provide that, for the estimated useful 

life of the building (20 years), the 

recipient will not sell, transfer, convey, 

or mortgage any interest in the real 

property improved in whole or in part 

with Federal funds made available 

under the award, nor shall the recipient 

use the property for purposes other than 

the purposes for which the award was 

made, without the prior written 

approval of the Grants Officer. Such 

approval may be withheld until such 

time as the recipient first pays to NIST 

the Federal share of the property as 

provided in 15 CFR Part 14. 

DoC Pre-Award Notification 

Requirements. The Department of 

Commerce Pre-Award Notification 

Requirements for Grants and 

Cooperative Agreements, which are 

contained in the Federal Register Notice 

of February 11, 2008 (73 FR 7696–01), 

are applicable to this solicitation. 

Employer/Taxpayer Identification 

Number and Dun and Bradstreet Data 

Universal Numbering System 

On the form SF–424 items 8.b. and 

8.c., the applicant’s 9-digit Employer/ 

Taxpayer Identification Number (EIN/ 

TIN) and 9-digit Dun and Bradstreet 

Data Universal Numbering System 

(DUNS) number must be consistent with 

the information on the Central 

Contractor Registration (CCR) 

(www.ccr.gov) and Automated Standard 

Application for Payment System 

(ASAP). For complex organizations with 

multiple EIN/TIN and DUNS numbers, 

the EIN/TIN and DUNS numbers MUST 

be the numbers for the applying 

organization. Organizations that provide 

incorrect/inconsistent EIN/TIN and 

DUNS numbers may experience 

significant delays in receiving funds if 

their proposal is selected for funding. 

Please confirm that the EIN/TIN and 

DUNS number are consistent with the 

information on the CCR and ASAP. 

National Environmental Policy Act. 

The Department must analyze the 

potential environmental impacts, as 

required by the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant 

projects or proposals which are seeking 

Recovery Act funding. General 

information on compliance with NEPA 

can be found at the following Web sites: 

http://www.nepa.noaa.gov, and the 

Council on Environmental Quality’s 

(CEQ) NEPAnet, http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/ 

nepa/nepanet.htm. 

Consequently, as part of an 

applicant’s proposal, and under their 

description of their program activities, 

applicants are required to provide 

detailed information on the activities to 

be conducted, safety concerns, 

locations, site characteristics, 

surrounding environment, species and 

habitat that might be affected, 

construction activities, and any 

environmental concerns that may exist 

(e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous 

or toxic chemicals, impacts to 

endangered and threatened species, or 

any social, economic or cultural impacts 

to the surrounding environment) in 

accordance with the required NIST– 

1101B, NIST Construction Grant 

Program Environmental Compliance 

Questionnaire. 

It is the applicant’s responsibility to 

obtain all necessary Federal, state, and 

local government permits and approvals 

where necessary for the proposed work 

to be conducted. Applicants are 

expected to design their projects so that 

they minimize the potential for adverse 

impacts to the environment. Applicants 

will also be required to cooperate with 

the Department in identifying feasible 

measures to reduce or avoid any 

identified adverse environmental 

impacts of their proposed project. The 

failure to do so will be grounds for not 

awarding a grant. 

Documentation of requests/ 

completion of required environmental 

authorizations and permits, including 

the Endangered Species Act, if 

applicable, should be included in the 

proposal. Applications will be reviewed 

to ensure that they contain sufficient 

information to allow Department staff to 

conduct a NEPA analysis so that 

appropriate NEPA documentation, 

required as part of the proposal, can be 

submitted to the NIST Grants and 

Agreements Management Division along 

with the recommendation for funding 

for selected applications. 

Applicants proposing activities that 

cannot be covered by a Program 

Environmental Assessment (PEA) and 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) or whose activities are not 

covered under another agency’s NEPA 

compliance procedures that can be 

analyzed and adopted for use by the 

Department, will be informed after the 

technical review stage to determine if 

NEPA compliance and other 

requirements can otherwise be 

expeditiously met so that a project can 

proceed within the timeframes 

anticipated under the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

If additional information is required 

after an application is accepted, funds 

can be withheld by the Grants Officer 

under a special award condition 

requiring the recipient to submit 

additional environmental law 

compliance information sufficient to 

enable the Department to make an 

assessment on any impacts that a project 

may have on the environment. 

Notification of Recovery Act 

Requirements. Recovery Act limitations 

are applicable to the projects funded 

under this Notice. Recipients must 

comply with the following three 

provisions of the Recovery Act, as 

applicable, and any other terms required 

by the Act or that may be added to the 

recipient’s award pursuant to guidance 

implemented by the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

a. Buy American Recovery Act 

Provision. Unless waived by DoC, none 

of the funds appropriated or otherwise 

made available by ARRA, may be used 

for a project for the construction, 

alteration, maintenance, or repair of a 

public building or public work unless 

all of the iron, steel, and manufactured 

goods used in the project are produced 

in the United States. This provision 

shall be applied in a manner consistent 

with United States obligations under 

international agreements. 

b. Davis-Bacon Act. Under Section 

1606 of the ARRA, projects using ARRA 

funds require the payment of not less 

than the prevailing wages under the 

Davis-Bacon Act to ‘‘all laborers and 

mechanics employed by contractors and 

subcontractors on projects funded 

directly by or assisted in whole or in 

part by and through the Federal 

Government.’’ 

c. False Claims Act. Each recipient or 

sub-recipient awarded funds under the 

ARRA shall promptly refer to an 

appropriate inspector general any 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 103 / Monday, June 1, 2009 / Notices 26217 

credible evidence that a principal, 

employee, agent, contractor, subgrantee, subcontractor, or other person 

has submitted a false claim under the 

False Claims Act or has committed a 

criminal or civil violation of laws 

pertaining to fraud, conflict of interest, 

bribery, gratuity, or similar misconduct 

involving those funds. 

Ensuring Responsible Spending of 

Recovery Act Funds. The agency intends 

to implement this program in 

compliance with Office of Management 

and Budget guidance on the President’s 

Memorandum for the Heads of 

Executive Departments and Agencies of 

March 20, 2009. Ensuring Responsible 

Spending of Recovery Act Funds, 74 FR 

12531 (Mar. 25, 2009), when such 

guidance becomes available. 

Best Practices to Promote Equality of 

Opportunity. Pursuant to OMB 

Guidance (see, e.g., ‘‘Updated 

Implementing Guidance for the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009,’’ April 3, 2009) and 

consistent with the Recovery Act and 

other applicable laws, DoC encourages 

recipients to implement best practices to 

promote equality of opportunity, to 

provide opportunities for small and 

disadvantaged businesses, including 

veteran-owned small businesses and 

service disabled veteran-owned small 

businesses, and to follow sound labor 

practices. 

Reporting. Award Recipients shall 

provide access to information that is 

required to assess the project’s progress 

throughout the project life cycle. The 

following reports are required: 

a. Technical Performance Reports. 

Award Recipients shall submit a 

technical performance report in 

triplicate (an original and two copies) 

on a calendar quarter basis for the 

periods ending March 31, June 30, 

September 30, and December 31, or any 

portion thereof. Reports are due no later 

than 30 days following the end of each 

reporting period. A final technical 

performance report shall be submitted 

within 90 days after the expiration date 

of the award. Two copies of the 

technical performance reports shall be 

submitted to the Project Manager and 

the original report to the NIST Grants 

Officer. Technical performance reports 

shall contain information as prescribed 

in 15 CFR 14.51. 

b. Financial Reports. For recipients 

under this program, Article A.01 of the 

DoC Financial Assistance Standard 

Terms and Conditions dated March 

2008 is revised as follows: 

Award Recipients shall submit a 

Federal Financial Report (SF–425) in 

triplicate (an original and two copies) 

on a calendar quarter basis for the 

periods ending March 31, June 30, 

September 30, and December 31, or any 

portion thereof. Reports are due no later 

than 30 days following the end of each 

reporting period. A final SF–425 shall 

be submitted within 90 days after the 

expiration date of the award. All SF– 

425s shall be submitted to the NIST 

Grants Officer. 

c. Recovery Act Reports—Job Creation 

and Retention. As set out in Sec. 1512(c) 

of the Recovery Act, no later than ten 

(10) days after the end of each calendar 

quarter, any recipient that received 

funds under the Recovery Act from 

NIST must submit a report to NIST that 

contains the following four items: 

(1) The total amount of Recovery Act 

funds received from NIST. 

(2) The amount of Recovery Act funds 

received that were obligated and 

expended to projects or activities. This 

reporting will also include unobligated 

allotment balances to facilitate 

reconciliations. 

(3) A detailed list of all projects or 

activities for which recovery funds were 

obligated and expended, including: 

(a) The name of the project or activity; 

(b) A description of the project or 

activity; 

(c) An evaluation of the completion 

status of the project or activity; 

(d) An estimate of the number of jobs 

created and the number of jobs retained 

by the project or activity; and 

(e) For infrastructure investments 

made by State and local governments, 

the purpose, total cost, and rationale of 

the agency for funding the infrastructure 

investment with funds made available 

under this Act, and name of the person 

to contact at the agency if there are 

concerns with the infrastructure 

investment. 

(4) Detailed information on any 

subcontracts or subgrants awarded by 

the recipient to include the data 

elements required to comply with the 

Federal Funding Accountability and 

Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109– 

282), allowing aggregate reporting on 

awards below $25,000 or to individuals, 

as prescribed by the Director of the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). 

Recipients that must report 

information in accordance with 

paragraph (4) above must register with 

the Central Contractor Registration 

database (http://www.ccr.gov/) or 

complete other registration 

requirements as determined by the 

Director of OMB. Section 1512(d) 

further requires that no later than thirty 

(30) days after the end of each calendar 

quarter, NIST must make the 

information in reports submitted under 

section 1512(c) of the Recovery Act as 

outlined above publicly available by 

posting the information on a Web site. 

OMB Memo M–09–10, ‘‘Initial 

Implementing Guidance for the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009,’’ which can be accessed at 

http://www.recovery.gov/, provides 

information on requirements for Federal 

agencies under the Recovery Act. 

Additional guidance may be 

forthcoming related to responsibilities 

of recipients of grants and cooperative 

agreements under the Recovery Act. 

Reporting requirements are described 

in the Department of Commerce 

Financial Assistance Standard Terms 

and Conditions dated March, 2008, 

found on the Internet at: http:// 

oamweb.osec.doc.gov/docs/GRANTS/ 

DOC%20STCsMAR08Rev.pdf. 

The references to Financial Reporting 

Form SF–269 in the DoC Standard 

Terms & Conditions, A.01 and B.01, are 

hereby replaced with the SF–425, 

‘‘Federal Financial Report,’’ as required 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) (73 FR 61175, October 

15, 2008). As authorized under 15 CFR 

14.52 and 24.41, the OMB approved SF– 

425 shall be used in the place of the SF– 

269 and SF–272 under the uniform 

administrative requirements and 

elsewhere under awards in this program 

where such forms are referenced. 

Dated: May 26, 2009. 

Patrick Gallagher, 

Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. E9–12664 Filed 5–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XP00 

Small Takes of Marine Mammals 

Incidental to Specified Activities; 

Open-water Marine Survey Program in 

the Chukchi Sea, Alaska, During 2009– 

2010 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; proposed incidental take 

authorization; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS has received an 

application from Shell Offshore Inc. and 

Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc., collectively 

known as Shell, for an Incidental 

Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take 

marine mammals incidental to an openwater marine survey program, which 

includes shallow hazards and site