2013-2-conference-support.pdf

BLM/JFSP Project Announcement No. FA-FON-13-0002

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Fire and Aviation Directorate

National Interagency Fire Center

Lead Agency for the Joint Fire Science Program

Joint Fire Science Program The Joint Fire Science Program provides funding for scientific studies to address problems associated with managing wildland fuels, fires, and fire-impacted ecosystems.

Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for FY 1998 and subsequent years

(P.L. 105-83; H.R. Report 105-163)

PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT No. FA-FON0013-0002

Conference Support Announcement (1 Task Statement)

CFDA No. 15.232

ISSUE DATE: September 27, 2012

JFSP Funding Opportunity Notice (FON) 2013-2

CLOSING DATE & TIME

November 16, 2012 5:00 p.m. MST

NOTE: JFSP will not accept any requests for conference support in FY13 outside this FON.

Contact Information:

John Cissel Becky Jenison

Program Manager Administrative Analyst

Phone: (208) 387- 5349 Phone: (208) 387- 5958

E-mail: jcissel@blm.gov E-mail: bjenison@blm.gov

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Table of Contents 2

SECTION I. Funding Opportunity Description 4

A. Legislative Authority 4

B. Project Background Information 4

C. Program/Project Objective 4

D. Statement of Joint Objectives/Project Management Plan 4

E. Period of Project 4

SECTION II. Award Information 4

A. Expected Number of Awards 4

B. Estimated Total Program Funding 4

C. Award Ceiling 4

D. Assistance Instrument 4

SECTION III. Eligibility Information 4

A. Eligible Applicants 4

B. Funding Cooperator 4

C. Cost Sharing or Matching 6

SECTION IV. Application and Submission Information 6

A. Proposal Submission and Agency Contact 6

B. Task Statement 6

C. Budget and Funding Policy 6

1. Funding Cooperator 6

2. Indirect Cost 7

3. SBIR Costs 9

4. Salary Policy 9

5. Budget 9

D. Additional Application Requirements 10

1. Proposal Submission 10

2. Contacts 10

3. Confirmation Page 10

4. Attachments 10

5. Budget 11

6. Task Statement Intent 11

7. Format 11

8. Page Limits 11

9. Project Location 11

10. Signatures 11

11. Indirect Costs 11

12. In-Kind Contributions 11

13. Support Letters 12

14. Salary Justifications 12

15. Past-Due Projects 12

SECTION V. Application Review and Evaluation Information 12

SECTION VI. Definitions 13

SECTION I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Legislative Authority: Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for

FY 1998 and subsequent years (P.L. 105-83; H.R. Report 105-163).

B. Project Background Information: The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) is a partnership of six federal wildland management and research agencies with a need to address problems associated with managing wildland fuels, fires, and fire-impacted ecosystems. The partnering agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and five bureaus in the

U.S. Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Geological Survey.

For further background on the JFSP, those considering submitting proposals are encouraged to visit our website at www.firescience.gov.

C. Program/Project Objective: The U.S. Congress directed the Department of the Interior and the USDA Forest Service to develop a Joint Fire Science Program and Plan to prioritize and provide sound scientific studies to support land management agencies. Current priorities are identified as task statements in this Funding Opportunity Notice (FON).

D. Statement of Joint Objectives/Project Management Plan: The JFSP Governing Board and

Program Manager will establish an oversight relationship with the Principal Investigator on each funded project. Projects will be required, at a minimum, to provide a written progress report annually.

E. Period of Project: Conferences must be scheduled within two years of the FON closing date.

SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Expected Number of Awards: Approximately 3-5

B. Estimated Total Program Funding: Approximately $50,000

C. Award Ceiling: $10,000

D. Assistance Instrument: To be determined at a later date by the JFSP

SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants: The JFSP encourages proposals from all interested parties. All selected awardees must provide a valid Dun & Bradstreet number (D&B). You can reactivate or obtain this at http://www.dnb.com or by calling 800-333-0505. There is a federal agency link on the Central

Contractor Registration system (CCR) at http://www.ccr.gov .

B. Funding Cooperator: JFSP will enter into only one agreement with the PI institution or the funding cooperator agency. Budgets must be reviewed by your budget contact and your grants and agreements contact prior to proposal submission.

Funds will be awarded through a federal agency, a university, or a non-governmental organization

(NGO). Proposals that included budgeted funds to be spent by a federal agency and that do not have a federal PI must list a funding cooperator from the federal agency requesting funds.

http://www.firescience.gov/ http://www.dnb.com/ http://www.ccr.gov/

Similarly, proposals with a university or NGO PI that do not include funding for federal agencies do not need a funding cooperator and funds will route through the PI’s institution.

All proposals with a PI from other organizations, e.g., states or private business, or have any international funding, must also identify a funding cooperator to receive and process the funds. If the funding cooperator is from the Forest Service, the cooperator must be from a Forest Service research station. The grant contact and budget contact must be from the funding cooperator’s institution.

Proposals where the PI or funding cooperator is an employee of a university or NGO will be funded directly by an award document (e.g., a cooperative agreement) between JFSP and the PI’s institution. The institution will be required to respond to a second non-competitive posting on grants.gov to initiate funding.

Upon receipt of a fully executed award document, the institution receiving funds from JFSP will be responsible for all sub-award transactions to cooperators or contractors related to the project. The end date and indirect costs for all sub-awards must match the end date and indirect costs in the original funding award document.

(See funding cooperator flowchart below)

C. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program has no matching requirements. However, in-kind contributions are desired and are an evaluation factor.

SECTION IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Proposal Submission and Agency Contact

All proposals must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. November 16, 2012, using the electronic submission process provided on the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov). Proposals should not be submitted in Grants.gov. There will be no exceptions to this closing date and time.

All proposals must meet all requirements in this FON (see especially Section IV. E below).

Proposals that do not meet all requirements in this section will not be considered for funding.

Proposals must be submitted for the appropriate task statement being addressed. The proposal will be reviewed and its merits judged in the context of this one task statement only.

Questions should be directed to:

Administrative questions: Task statement questions:

Becky Jenison, Administrative Analyst John Cissel, Program Manager

Joint Fire Science Program Joint Fire Science Program

National Interagency Fire Center National Interagency Fire Center

3833 S Development Ave 3833 S Development Ave

Boise ID 83705 Boise ID 83705

Phone: 208-387-5958 Phone: 208-387-5349

Email: bjenison@blm.gov Email: jcissel@blm.gov

B. Task Statement

1. Conference Support

The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) invites proposals for co-sponsorship of regional, national, or international conferences. International conferences must show a demonstrated benefit to fire or fuels management in the U.S. Proposals must identify how the planned conference will support the JFSP mission. Proposals are limited to $5,000 for regional conferences, and $10,000 for national or international conferences. Conferences must be scheduled within two years of the FON closing date to be eligible.

Investigators should note that the total pool of funds for JFSP conference support is tightly limited. Proposals that show a substantial commitment of funds from other partners will be favored. Proposals should demonstrate that JFSP funds will be used to reduce conference registration costs.

Catering or other food service costs cannot be funded by JFSP. Proposers should make every effort to keep catering and registration charges to a minimum.

C. Budget and Funding Policy

1. Funding Cooperator

Proposal may require a funding cooperator. See Section III.B above.

http://www.firescience.gov/ mailto:bjenison@blm.gov mailto:jcissel@blm.gov

2. Indirect Costs

The JFSP Governing Board recognizes the need of agencies and organizations participating in the program to recover reasonable indirect costs. However, cost effectiveness of the individual projects is a determining factor in the final selection process. Indirect rates for JFSP proposals are limited to a maximum of twenty (20) percent of the direct costs. The maximum indirect rate that a funding cooperating institution may charge for pass-through costs is ten (10) percent.

Proposals with indirect rates higher than twenty (20) percent will not be considered. Proposal funding through a federal funding cooperator must reflect either the prevailing indirect rate for the cooperating federal agency or the JFSP maximum limit of twenty (20) percent, whichever is less.

Pass-through costs are charged only by the PI institution or funding cooperator institution for administrative costs associated with managing sub-agreements. Pass-through costs are limited to ten (10) percent of the sub-agreement direct charges.

Each institution is allowed to charge no more than twenty (20) percent indirect charges on their direct charges.

(See indirect cost example below)

Indirect costs example

Scenario

The PI is from a university or federal agency (lead institution)

Co-PI is from a cooperating university or NGO (cooperating institution)

The calculated expenses in the budget for the lead institution are $200,000 (salary, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, etc.)

The calculated expenses in the budget for the cooperating institution are $40,000

Calculation of indirect costs

1. Cooperating institution

Maximum allowed indirect costs (20%)

$40,000 * 0.20 = $8,000

Total budget for cooperating institution

$40,000 + $8,000 = $48,000

Note: If there are multiple cooperating institutions this calculation would be performed for each institution.

2. Lead institution

Maximum allowed indirect costs (20%) on own budget

$200,000 * 0.20 = $40,000

Maximum allowed pass-through indirect costs (10%) on cooperating institution budget

$48,000 * 0.10 = $4,800

Total budget for lead institution

$200,000 + $40,000 + $4,800= $244,800

3. Total budget = $244,800 + $48,000 = $292,800

Points of emphasis

Lead institutions can include pass-through costs for each cooperating institution in their budget

Pass-through costs are calculated based on the total budget for each cooperating institution, including the indirect costs calculated by the cooperating institution

Cooperating institutions do not include pass-through costs in their budgets

Institutions should use their negotiated indirect cost rates with their cooperating institutions, but cannot exceed JFSP maximums

3. SBIR Costs

Certain proposals may be required to pay a percentage of the project’s costs into the Small

Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Proposals where the funds are transferred to a

Forest Service institution and subsequently award a portion of the total budget to a non-federal entity through a sub-agreement or sub-contract may be required to pay 2.5% of the total funds awarded externally to the SBIR program. Check with your budget contact to determine if this applies to your proposal.

4. Salary Policy

Normally, salaries of permanent full-time federal employees are expected to be provided by their agencies. This is also true of university faculty on 12-month tenure-track appointments.

These employees are already fully funded by their institutions. However, the Governing Board recognizes there can be unique situations where the Governing Board may agree to fund the salary of permanent employees.

A detailed justification for funding the salary of permanent employees must be included in the proposal to be considered for funding. The justification should indicate all sources of funding, including other pending projects and associated full-time equivalent (FTE) for the permanent position for which salary funding is requested. The justification must be signed by the supervisor of the individual requesting salary.

You must use the format found on the attachments tab for the certification. In addition, permanent employee salary costs must be explicitly identified in the project budget. The

Governing Board requires no special justification (other than a brief description of the need for the position in the budget justification section of the proposal) for funding part-time, temporary, term employees, post-doctoral employees, graduate, or undergraduate students. Stipends are normally funded, but tuition fees will not be funded.

5. Budget

Budgets must be reviewed by your budget contact and your grants and agreements contact to ensure all costs have been included and the budget is correct. JFSP will not provide additional funds to cover errors discovered after the proposal submission deadline.

Proposals will be funded via Inter-agency agreement or cooperative agreement (with the exception of proposals with BLM PI’s or funding cooperators).

Funding is usually distributed in late summer; please plan budgets accordingly

(See proposal timeline below).

D. Additional Application Requirements

Proposals must meet all of the following requirements to be considered. Incomplete proposals will not be considered. There will be no exceptions to either the submission deadline or other submission requirements. If you have questions about these requirements, please contact the JFSP

Program Office for clarification (Becky Jenison 208-387-5958, or John Cissel 208-387-5349).

1. Proposal Submission

Proposals must be submitted electronically via the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov).

Proposals should not be submitted in Grants.gov. Hard copy, email, or facsimile proposals will not be accepted.

Proposers must have a JFSP database login and password to submit a proposal.

Requests for access will be processed in approximately 24 hours.

Only the PI can submit the proposal.

Proposals can be saved in the JFSP system and submitted prior to the closing date and time. Submitted proposals can be reverted back to final draft by the PI prior to the closing date. If you revert a proposal back to draft you must resubmit the proposal before the closing date and time.

The JFSP proposal submittal system will not allow proposals to be submitted after the closing date and time.

2. Contacts

Proposals may be required to have the following contacts (see Section VI. Definitions to understand the role of each contact) assigned to a proposal:

Principal Investigator (Required, only one Principal Investigator can be assigned)

Funding Cooperator (may be required, see Section III.B. funding cooperator)

Budget Contact (required)

Grants and Agreements Contact (required)

Co-PIs and Collaborators (options)

3. Confirmation Page

When you submit your proposal you will receive a confirmation page. We highly recommend that you save or print this page for your records.

4. Attachments

You should receive an email from the JFSP Program Office letting you know that your proposal has either been forwarded for review, or rejected for not meeting administrative requirements.

If you do not receive this confirmation page you have not submitted your proposal correctly. If you do not receive this email by the end of December, you should fax or email your confirmation to Becky Jenison at bjenison@blm.gov or fax: 208-387-5960.

All required documents and required templates must be attached before the proposal is submitted. All attachments except the budget must be attached as a pdf document; the budget template is in an Excel format. Attachments over the page limit cannot be submitted. All information in a template must be included as part of that attachment and must be within the http://www.firescience.gov/ mailto:bjenison@blm.gov page limit. Extraneous materials (e.g., extra graphs and text) are not permitted and will not be reviewed.

Required attachments for all proposals

Proposal body

C.V.s (PI: two- page maximum, Co-PI(s): one- page maximum)

Budget spreadsheet (Excel spreadsheet, includes a separate worksheet for each institution requesting funding)

Budget narrative (bullet statements explaining specific budget assumptions and costs)

Additional attachments

Letter(s) of support (optional, but recommended)

Salary justification (may be required, see below)

Specific to a task statement (check the applicable task statement for additional requirements)

5. Budget

Budget summary numbers must be input in the JFSP database on the budget tab. The budget detail must be attached on the attachments tab using the spreadsheet template provided.

Proposals cannot be submitted without completing these required fields and attachments.

6. Task Statement Intent

Proposals that do not clearly and directly meet the intent of the task statement selected will not be considered for funding. Please make sure you are submitting your proposal for the correct task statement.

7. Format

Proposals not following the required template will not be considered. Proposals must use an 11 point font or larger. Additional guidance is included in the beginning of each template.

8. Page Limits

Attachments exceeding the page limit cannot be submitted. Page limits may vary by task statement and attachment; check the page limit in the template and JFSP database for each specific task statement. Everything in the template is included in the page limit.

9. Project Location

Project location fields must be completed on the location tab for a proposal to be successfully submitted. Instructions are listed on the project location tab.

10. Signatures

Handwritten signatures are not required. When Principal Investigators (PIs) submit proposals they will be prompted to input their password. By typing in the password and submitting a proposal, PIs are certifying that all contacts on the proposal have reviewed the proposal and understand what their role requires.

11. Indirect Costs

Proposals must follow JFSP indirect cost guidelines. (See Section III.B above)

12. In-Kind Contributions

See Section III.C above.

13. Support Letters

Support letters are encouraged, but not required. Support letters are useful if they show understanding of the proposed work and the author articulates how the work will benefit them.

Support letters that appear to be ghost-written by the PI or are form letters are much less useful.

If submitted, letters must be combined into one pdf document and attached on the attachments tab. Support letters sent by hard copy or email directly to JFSP will not be considered.

14. Salary Justifications

Salary justifications may be required (see Section IV. C above).

15. Past-Due Projects

No proposals will be considered if the work includes a PI or Co-PI who is a PI or Co-PI on a

JFSP project that is past due as of the closing date of this announcement. See the JFSP website for the complete JFSP past-due and extension request policy.

SECTION V. APPLICATION REVIEW AND EVALUATION INFORMATION

Overview

Proposals will be reviewed by the Program Office with a recommendation to the JFSP

Governing Board.

Review Criteria

Relevancy

Does the proposal describe the importance of the conference to the fire and land management community?

Does the proposal describe the importance of the conference to the science community?

Does the PI clearly describe past success in managing similar previous conferences?

Administrative

Does the proposal clearly describe an ability to garner additional sponsorships or in-kind contributions?

Does the proposal clearly express how the funding will be used?

SECTION VI. DEFINITIONS

Funding Opportunity Notice (FON): The official label for the Joint Fire Science Program method of requesting project proposals. The FON includes task statements for which proposals are sought, instructions for proposal submission, and related information.

Principal Investigator (PI): The individual identified in a proposal who is the research lead for the project. This individual is responsible for coordinating all research related activities and will be the primary science contact for the project. In addition the PI is responsible for communicating and coordinating with Co-PIs and others on the research team. The PI is responsible to JFSP for completion of the project.

Funding Cooperator: The funding cooperator receives funds from JFSP and is responsible for distributing funds to other cooperators. A funding cooperator is only required if the PI is non-federal and a federal institution is requesting funding, or if the work is being completed through a private business, or requests international funding. The funding cooperator is responsible for coordinating with the PI, the grants and agreements contact, and the budget contact on administrative activities for this project. The funding cooperator will be one of the primary contacts for the project and should stay informed and involved in project activities.

Budget Contact: Budget contact must be from the institution receiving funds from JFSP. This person is responsible for ensuring the budget details are correct prior to proposal being submitted and agrees to receive funds and facilitate the transfer of funds, if necessary. Budget contact must be from the institution receiving funds from JFSP. If a federal agency is requesting funds the budget contact must be from the federal cooperating agency.

Grants and Agreements Contact: Person from institution receiving funds from JFSP that is responsible for facilitating the receipt of funds and the execution of any agreements or contracts necessary for a proposal if it is selected for funding. If a federal agency is requesting funds the grants and agreements contact must be from the federal cooperating agency.

Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI): The individual(s) identified in a proposal who will work with the research lead on the project and makes a substantial contribution to the project. Co-PIs are responsible for communicating and coordinating with the PI.

Indirect Costs: Those costs that are a percentage of the total cost used to pay for overhead/administrative costs attributable to a specific research project. Examples include the costs of operations and maintenance such as janitorial, phone, and clerical services. The Joint Fire

Science Program recognizes two types of indirect costs: 1) “in-house” costs incurred by the agency, institution, or unit completing the research; and 2) “pass-through” costs associated with sub-awarding project funds to another agency, institution, or entity for the purpose of completing research or science delivery.

Joint Fire Science Program Governing Board: An appointed 10-person Board representing the

JFSP partnering agencies. The Board provides strategic direction and oversight to JFSP, identifies important research questions, selects proposals for funding, supervises the JFSP Program Manager, and conducts related business.

Science Exchange and Application: The exchange of information, materials, models and other research deliverables to end users, along with adequate information and training to apply the deliverables. Examples of active methods include workshops, training sessions, guided field tours, conferences, meetings, and symposia. Examples of passive methods include published papers and websites. A combination of active and passive methods is preferred. Collaboration with the regional JFSP Knowledge Exchange Consortia is recommended.

Task Statement: A specific area of interest identified in the FON, for which project applications are sought.