Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 41 / Thursday, March 1, 2001 / Notices 12933

Dated: February 21, 2001.

LaVerne Y. Stringfield,

Director, Office of Federal Advisory

Committee Policy.

[FR Doc. 01–4908 Filed 2–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

[Program Announcement 01021]

Strategies for Improving Health Risk

Communication Related to Military

Deployments Among Military

Personnel, Veterans, Their Family

Members, and Their Health Care

Providers; Notice of Availability of

Funds

A. Purpose

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) announces the

availability of fiscal year (FY) 2001

funds for a grant program for

developing, implementing, and

evaluating strategies for improving

health risk communication related to

military deployments among military

personnel, veterans, their family

members, and their health care

providers. CDC is committed to

achieving the health promotion and

disease prevention objectives of

‘‘Healthy People 2010,’’ a national

activity to reduce morbidity and

mortality and improve the quality of

life. This announcement is related to the

focus area of Environmental Health.

For a conference copy of the ‘‘Healthy

People 2010,’’ visit the internet site:

http://www.health.gov/healthypeople.

The purpose of this program is to

enhance interagency efforts to protect

the health of deployed military

personnel, veterans, and their families

through improved health risk

communication efforts that are timely,

understandable, and effective. This

should be accomplished through the

development, implementation, and

evaluation of strategies for

communicating health risk information

related to military deployments. This

may include, but is not limited to the

following types of studies:

a. Assessment of optimal strategies,

methods or tools for conveying health

information to deployed military

personnel, veterans, their families, and

their health care providers;

b. Evaluation of the impact of various

health risk communication strategies on

attitudes regarding risk, knowledge of

health issues and outcomes, health and

illness behaviors, and the prevention of

ill-defined, symptom-based conditions

such as those seen among Gulf War

veterans;

c. Evaluation of patient and health

care provider acceptance and attitudes

about various risk communication tools

and assessment of how these tools

impact upon patient-provider

communication.

For additional information, see

Addendum II of this announcement,

Background Information.

B. Eligible Applicants

Applications may be submitted by

public and private nonprofit and forprofit organizations and by governments

and their agencies; that is, universities,

colleges, research institutions, hospitals,

other public and private nonprofit and

for-profit organizations, State and local

governments or their bona fide agents,

federally recognized Indian tribal

governments, Indian tribes, or Indian

tribal organizations, and small,

minority, or women-owned businesses.

Note: Public Law 104–65 states that an

organization, described in section 501(c)(4) of

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, that

engages in lobbying activities is not eligible

to receive Federal funds constituting an

award, grant, cooperative agreement,

contract, loan, or any other form.

C. Availability of Funds

Approximately $800,000 is available

in FY 2001 to fund up to three awards.

It is expected that the average award

will be $260,000, ranging from $200,000

to $400,000. It is expected the awards

will begin on or about September 1,

2001, and will be made for a 12-month

budget period within a project period of

up to three years. Funding estimates

may change.

Continuation awards within an

approved project period will be made

on the basis of satisfactory progress as

evidenced by required reports and the

availability of funds.

Use of Funds

The budget should include a request

for travel funds for key staff to

participate in at least 3 planning

meetings in either Atlanta or

Washington DC per year (or clearly

specify that the organization will

provide required travel funds from other

sources).

D. Program Requirements

The following are requirements for

this program:

1. Develop and pilot test the study

protocol and data collection

instruments.

2. Ensure that appropriate cognitive,

behavioral, and human factors variables

are included in the project’s

experimental design and analyses.

3. Provide time lines for completing

all components of the study.

4. Assure and maintain the

confidentiality of all study participants.

5. Conduct the analysis,

interpretation, presentation, and

reporting of the study findings.

6. Establish appropriate partnerships

to ensure the successful completion of

the study. This may include, but is not

limited to, partnerships with state or

local health departments, communitybased or professional organizations,

local veterans’ or military service

organizations, and other veterans and

military groups.

E. Application Content

Use the information in the Program

Requirements, Other Requirements, and

Evaluation Criteria sections to develop

the application content. Your

application will be evaluated on the

criteria listed, so it is important to

follow them in laying out your program

plan.

F. Submission and Deadline

Submit the original and five copies of

PHS–398 (OMB No. 0925–0001. (Adhere

to instructions in the ERRATA

Instruction Sheet for PHS–398). Forms

are available in the application kit. On

or before May 2, 2001, submit the

application to the Grants Management

Specialist identified in the ‘‘Where to

Obtain Additional Information’’ section

of this announcement.

Deadline: Applications shall be

considered as meeting the deadline if

they are either: (a) received on or before

the deadline date, or (b) sent on or

before the deadline date and received in

time for orderly processing. (Applicants

must request a legibly dated U.S. Postal

Service postmark or obtain a legibly

dated receipt from a commercial carrier

or U.S. Postal Service. Private metered

postmarks shall not be acceptable as

proof of timely mailing.)

Late Applications: Applications

which do not meet the criteria in (a) or

(b) above are considered late

applications, will not be considered,

and will be returned to the applicant.

G. Evaluation Criteria

Each application will be evaluated

individually against the following

criteria by an independent review group

appointed by CDC.

1. Background and Need (10 Points)

The extent to which the applicant has

provided adequate background

information justifying the need for the

research, and his or her ability to

12934 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 41 / Thursday, March 1, 2001 / Notices

conduct this or similar research. This

should include the following: (a)

Description of the scientific basis for the

research (including an understanding of

the role of symptom-based conditions in

military and civilian populations),

identification of the knowledge gaps

which the research is intended to fill,

and the expected outcome of the

research; (b) description of the

problems, complexities, and

partnerships that will be required to

carry out the research; and (c)

description of the applicant’s current

and previous experience conducting

health risk communication research

and/or research with military

populations and their family members.

2. Goals and Objectives (20 Points)

a. The extent to which the applicant

has included goals and objectives which

are relevant to the purpose of the

proposal and feasible to be

accomplished during the project period,

and the extent to which the goals and

objectives are specific and measurable.

b. The extent to which the proposed

goals and objectives are relevant for

enhancing federal efforts to improve

deployment-related health risk

communication.

3. Proposed Plan (50 Points)

a. The extent to which the applicant

provides a detailed description of

proposed activities which are likely to

achieve each objective and overall

program goal. This should include a

reasonable and complete time line for

implementing all activities; designation

of responsibility for each action

undertaken; and a description of data

management and quality assurance

procedures, data analysis plans, and

methods to evaluate and assess the

cognitive, behavioral, and human

factors aspects of the risk

communication activities

b. The extent to which the applicant

has adequately described the key

communication elements that will form

the basis of the research. This should

include a description of targeted

audience(s), plans for developing

messages and selecting channels for

message delivery, expected

communication objectives,

implementation and monitoring plans,

and methods of evaluation.

c. The extent to which the applicant

documents the establishment of internal

and external partnerships, the adequacy

of plans for maintaining these

partnerships, the appropriateness of the

described partners, and the degree to

which these partnerships will ensure

the successful and timely completion of

the research. The applicant provides

meaningful letters of support from

identified partners.

d. The degree to which the applicant

has met the CDC policy requirements

regarding the inclusion of women,

ethnic, and racial groups in the

proposed research. This should include

the proposed plan for inclusion of both

sexes and racial and ethnic minority

populations for appropriate

representation, the proposed

justification when representation is

limited or absent, a statement as to

whether the design of the study is

adequate to measure differences when

warranted, and a statement as to

whether the plans for recruitment and

outreach of study participants include

the process of establishing partnerships

with community(ies) and recognition of

mutual benefits.

4. Management and Staffing Plan (20

Points)

The extent to which proposed

staffing, organizational structure, staff

experience and background, job

descriptions and curricula vitae for both

proposed and current staff indicate

ability to carry out the purposes of the

research.

5. Budget and Justification (Not Scored)

The extent to which the budget is

reasonable, adequately justified, and

consistent with the intended use of the

grant funds. All budget categories

should be itemized.

6. Human Subjects (Not Scored)

The extent to which the applicant

adequately addresses the requirements

of Title 45 CFR Part 46 for the

protection of human subjects.

H. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements:

Provide CDC with original plus two

copies of:

1. Semi-annual progress reports;

2. Financial status report, no more

than 90 days after the end of the budget

period; and

3. Final financial and performance

reports, no more than 90 days after the

end of the project period.

Send all reports to the Grants

Management Specialist identified in the

‘‘Where to Obtain Additional

Information’’ section of this

announcement.

The following additional

requirements are applicable to this

program. For a complete description of

each, see Addendum I in the application

kit.

AR–1—Human Subjects Requirements

AR–2—Requirements for Inclusion of

Women and Racial and Ethnic

Minorities in Research

AR–7—Executive Order 12372 Review

AR–9—Paperwork Reduction Act

Requirements

AR–10—Smoke-Free Workplace

Requirements

AR–11—Healthy People 2010

AR–12—Lobbying Restrictions

AR–14—Accounting System

Requirements

AR–15—Proof of Non-Profit Status

I. Authority and Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance Number

This program is authorized under

sections 301 and 317 of the Public

Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. sections

241 and 247b, as amended). The Catalog

of Federal Domestic Assistance number

is 93.283.

J. Where To Obtain Additional

Information

This and other CDC announcements

may be downloaded through the CDC

home page on the internet at: http://

www.cdc.gov (click on funding). Please

refer to Program Announcement

Number 01021 when requesting

information.

To receive additional written

information and to request an

application kit, call 1–888–GRANTS4

(1–888–472–6874). You will be asked to

leave your name and address, and will

be instructed to identify the

announcement number of interest.

If you have questions after reviewing

the contents of all the documents,

business management technical

information may be obtained from:

Sharron Orum, Grants Management

Specialist, Grants Management Branch,

Procurement and Grants Office, Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention,

2920 Brandywine Road, Room 3000,

Atlanta, GA 30341–4146, Telephone

number: 770–488–2716.

For program technical assistance,

contact: Drue H. Barrett, Ph.D., Chief,

Veterans’ Health Activity Working

Group, Office of the Director, Division

of Environmental Hazards and Health

Effects, National Center for

Environmental Health, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, 1600

Clifton Road, Mail Stop E–19, Atlanta,

GA 30333, Telephone number: 404–

639–4862, Email address: dhb1@cdc.gov

Dated: February 23, 2001.

John L. Williams,

Director, Procurement and Grants Office,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC).

[FR Doc. 01–4936 Filed 2–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P