Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 2007

AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice; reopening of competition solicitation.

SUMMARY:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service publishes this notice to reopen the competitive solicitation for the Chesapeake Bay Cooperative Science Program which was originally published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2006. The solicitation period was reopened to provide the public more time to submit proposals.

DATES:

The new deadline for the receipt of proposals is 5 p.m. Eastern Time on March 26, 2007 for both electronic and paper applications.

ADDRESSES:

The address for submitting Proposals electronically is: http://www.grants.gov/ . (Electronic submission is strongly encouraged). Paper submissions should be sent to the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, 410 Severn Avenue, Suite 107, Annapolis, MD 21403.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Derek Orner, 410-267-5676, derek.orner@noaa.gov; or Peter Bergstrom, 410-267-5665, peter.bergstrom@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This program was originally solicited in the Federal Register on December 27, 2006 (71 FR 77726), as part of the December, 2006 NOAA Omnibus

solicitation. The original deadline for receipt of proposals was 5 p.m., EST, on March 12, 2007. NOAA reopens the solicitation period to provide the public more time to submit proposals as severe weather conditions adversely affected the ability of potential applicants to submit applications. All applications that are submitted between March 12, 2007, and March 19, 2007 will be considered timely. All other requirements published in the December 27, 2006 solicitation notice are applicable and remain the same.

Limitation of Liability

Funding for programs listed in this notice is contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year 2007 funds. In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for proposal preparation costs if these programs fail to receive funding or are cancelled because of other agency priorities. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

Universal Identifier

Applicants should be aware that they are required to provide a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number during the application process. See the October 30, 2002, Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 210, pp. 66177-66178, for additional information. Organizations can receive a DUNS number at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number request line at 1-866-705-5711 or via the internet ( http://www.dunandbradstreet.com ).

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities. Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the following NOAA NEPA website: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/ , including our NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216_6_TOC.pdf , and the Council on Environmental Quality implementation regulations, http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm . Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under their description of their program activities, applicants are required to provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted, locations, sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist (e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, introduction of non-indigenous species, impacts to endangered and threatened species, aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef systems).

In addition to providing specific information that will serve as the basis for any required impact analyses, applicants may also be requested to assist NOAA in drafting of an environmental assessment, if NOAA determines an assessment is required. Applicants will also be required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts of their proposal. The failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting an application. In some cases if additional information is required after an application is selected, funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer under a special award condition requiring the recipient to submit additional environmental compliance information sufficient to enable NOAA to make an assessment on any impacts that a project may have on the environment.

The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register notice of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389), are applicable to this solicitation.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This document contains collection-of-information requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, SF-LLL, and CD-346 has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the respective control numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-0001. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Executive Order 12866

This notice has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

It has been determined that this notice does not contain policies with Federalism implications as that term is defined in Executive Order 13132.

Administrative Procedure Act/ Regulatory Flexibility Act

Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required by the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for rules concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, and contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). Because notice and opportunity for 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. 601 et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not been prepared.