2018 JFSP GRIN FOA FINAL.docx

[Attachment B]

FOA L18AS00006

JFSP Announcement No. FA-FON0018-001 Page 21 Graduate Research Innovation

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE:

BLM-National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) (1 Task Statement)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER:

L18AS00006

JFSP Announcement No. FA-FON0018-001

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE:

Request for Applications Issued: April 13, 2018

CFDA NUMBER & TITLE:

15.232 – Wildland Fire Research & Studies Program

LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY:

FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1976 (FLPMA), 43 USC §1737 (b), Public Law 94-579

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS:

May 30, 2018, 5:00 p.m. MST

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT

for Federal Financial Assistance

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Rev 6-2016

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

1. Authority This Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Federal Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity is being announced under the following legislative authority:

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), 43 USC §1737 (b), Public Law 94-579

2. Description of Program and/or Project

a. Background: 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. The Department of Interior is also represented by the Office of Wildland Fire.

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

b. Objectives: 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 a task statement in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

The Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) award is for current master and doctoral students enrolled at colleges or universities within the United States in the field of wildland fire and related physical, biological, and social sciences to enhance student exposure to the management and policy relevance of their research to achieve beneficial outcomes of funded work.

The Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) task statement aligns with the Secretary priority:

Creating a conservation stewardship legacy second only to Teddy Roosevelt,

a. Utilize science to identify best practices to manage land and water resources and adapt to changes in the environment by:

Soliciting proposals to provide science-based information to ensure the health and safety of public and other lands, protection of life, critical infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources, through cost-efficient and effective fuels and fire management and fire prevention strategies.

In addition, the task statements directly and indirectly support the three goals of the 2014 National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (“Cohesive Strategy”):

3. Program/Project Strategic Goals

a. Enhance student exposure to and interaction with fire and fuels managers, develop appreciation and understanding of fire and fuels managers information and research needs, and augment already planned and funded master or doctoral research to develop information and/or products useful to managers.

b. The JFSP is interested in understanding the science needs of decision-makers, which provides an opportunity for students to enhance their understanding of how science can be used to inform fire-related policy. As a result, these awards are intended to enable graduate students to conduct research that will supplement and enhance the quality, scope, or applicability of their thesis or dissertation to develop information and products useful to managers and decision-makers.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

1. Award Instrument

In accordance with the Legislative Authority, a cooperative agreement for non-federal awards will be used and substantive Bureau of Land Management (BLM) involvement will consist of the following:

· The BLM Program Officer (PO) will collaborate with the recipient's Project Manager/Principal Investigator (RPM/PI) to manage technical execution of the project, recommended changes to objectives or technical execution.

· The JFSP program office is in contact with Principal Investigators to ensure projects are progressing according to the submitted proposals including occasional field trips and meetings with Project Manager/Principal Investigator.

· Responsibility for project management, control, and direction will be shared by the recipient and the BLM, however the BLM will have the right to intervene by modifying the project management plan if the project is not staying on schedule and/or technical issues arise.

5. Anticipated Start Date Late-August to Mid-September 2018

7. No Obligation to Award The BLM is under no obligation to award funds for this project. Only BLM Grants Management Officers (GMO) may obligate funds for financial assistance.

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants The JFSP encourages proposals from all eligible parties and partners under any Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) program.

· CESUs are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. If a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, indirect costs are limited to a rate of no more than 17.5 percemt of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's Federal Agency-approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA).

· Funds will be awarded through a university, tribal government, non-governmental organization (NGO) or federal agency.

· Proposals with a PI from states or that have any international funding, also must identify a funding cooperator from the United States to receive and process the funds.

· Proposals with a university, tribal government, 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.

· Proposals that include 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. Any funds awarded to a federal agency will be issued under a Interagency agreement.

JFSP will enter into only one agreement per project with the PI institution or the funding cooperator institution.

· The PI institution or funding cooperator institution will be responsible for entering into sub-agreements with collaborating institutions.

· Budgets must be reviewed and approved by the institution’s Budget contact and Agreements contact prior to proposal submission. If a funding cooperator is involved, the Agreements contact and Budget contact must be from the funding cooperator’s institution.

· If the funding cooperator is from the Forest Service, the cooperator must be from a Forest Service research station. Work with your station funding cooperator to ensure you meet the station requirements for submission.

· JFSP will not provide additional funds to cover budget errors discovered after the proposal submission deadline.

· The end date and indirect costs for all sub-awards must match the end date and indirect costs in the original funding award document. The PI’s institution should take into account any potential delays anticipated in executing sub-agreements when proposing project timelines. (See funding cooperator flowchart below)

a. Provide a valid DUNS number (Dun & Bradstreet Universal Numbering System) on its application. DUNS numbers are nine-digit numbers established and assigned by Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. (D&B) to uniquely identify business entities. DUNS numbers may be obtained free of charge from Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., at: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform or by calling them at (877) 930-5228.

b. Be registered in SAM (System for Award Management, www.SAM.gov) before submitting its application. SAM is the Official U.S. Government system that consolidated the capabilities of CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS. There is no fee to register at this site. Register in the System for Award Management (SAM) at: http://www.sam.gov.

c. Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which the applicant has an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal awarding agency

4. Other Restrictions

JFSP has an approved indirect cost rate deviation that limits proposals to a maximum of twenty (20) percent of the direct costs for each institution. Proposals requesting funds for indirect rates higher than twenty (20) percent will not be considered. This memo can be found on the JFSP website at this link: http://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_signed.pdf. 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 total costs.

Unrecovered indirect costs can be used as contributed funds in the budget.

5. Scientific Integrity Scientific integrity is vital to Department of the Interior (DOI) activities under which scientific research, data, summaries, syntheses, interpretations, presentations, and/or publications are developed and used. Failure to uphold the highest degree of scientific integrity will result not only in potentially flawed scientific results, interpretations, and applications but will damage DOI’s reputation and ability to uphold the public’s trust. All work performed must comply with the DOI Scientific Integrity Policy posted to http://www.doi.gov, or its equivalent as provided by the proposer’s organization or applicable State law.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Proposal Submission and Agency Contact All proposals must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. MST May 30, 2018, using the electronic submission process provided on the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov). Proposals should not be submitted through Grants.gov. No exceptions are allowed to this closing date and time.

All proposals must meet all requirements in this FOA (see especially Section D.6 below). Proposals that do not meet all requirements in this section will not be considered for funding.

Direct questions to:

Administrative questions:

Becky Jenison, Program Analyst Phone: 208-387-5958 Email: bjenison@blm.gov

Task statement questions:

2. Steps to Create and Complete a JFSP Proposal Multiple steps are necessary to create a JFSP proposal, some of which are dependent on prior steps. Proposals must be submitted electronically via the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov). For full list of requirements see Section D.6 below.

Step 1 – PI establishes profile, updates password

Step 2 – PI initiates proposal (select task, receive proposal #, enter proposal title)

Step 3 – Enter contacts (all contacts establish profiles, update passwords; PI assigns roles). Once the PI enters a contact they will have access to sign into the database and access the proposal

Step 4 – Proposal development (templates, requirements)

Step 5 – Complete budget (template, narrative)

Step 6 – Attach all documents (proposal body, literature cited, budget, budget narrative, data management plan, CVs, list of acronyms (optional), support letters (optional)

Step 7 – PI enters final details (project location, budget summary, start/end dates, abstract, task statement relevancy, and project category)

Step 8 – Budget Contact and Agreements Contact certify review of budget and budget narrative

Step 9 – PI submits proposal (you must convert to Final Draft status first before hitting the Submit Proposal Button)

Notes

· Many steps can be in progress concurrently

· All information, including attachments, can be saved as Draft and edited later

3. Task Statement Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) Award The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) invites current master and doctoral students enrolled at colleges or universities within the US in the field of wildland fire and related physical, biological, and social sciences to apply for a Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) award. The purpose of a GRIN award is to enhance student exposure to the management and policy relevance of their research to achieve beneficial outcomes of funded work.

Specific objectives related to management are to enhance student exposure to and interaction with fire and fuels managers, develop appreciation and understanding of fire and fuels managers information and research needs, and augment already planned and funded master or doctoral research to develop information and/or products useful to managers. The JFSP also is interested in understanding the science needs of decision-makers, which provides an opportunity for students to enhance their understanding of how science can be used to inform fire-related policy. As a result, these awards are intended to enable graduate students to conduct research that will supplement and enhance the quality, scope, or applicability of their thesis or dissertation to develop information and products useful to managers and decision-makers. Proposals must demonstrate relevance to fire, fuels, or resource management and include means to directly communicate with managers, when applicable, regarding project outcomes.

Proposals must be directly related to the mission and goals of JFSP to be considered. Applicants are encouraged to search the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov) to learn more about the scope of JFSP activities. In addition, proposals must directly address management- or policy-related questions related to one or more of the following topic areas:

· Fuels management and fire behavior

· Emissions and air quality

· Fire effects and post-fire recovery

· Relative impacts of prescribed fire versus wildfire

· Human dimensions of fire

Proposals on topics not listed above will not be reviewed.

Proposals must describe new, unfunded work that extends ongoing or planned research that is the subject of a thesis or dissertation that has been approved by the graduate student’s advisory committee. For example, GRIN funding might allow a graduate student to add an additional related area of inquiry to an already planned thesis project. Proposals that are unconnected to ongoing or planned research, or that appear to describe an entire thesis/doctoral project rather than an add-on, will not be funded. In addition, students that previously received a GRIN award are not eligible for additional GRIN awards. Only one GRIN proposal per student will be accepted.

Proposals must be authored by the student and must be reviewed and submitted by the student’s advisor, who acts as the formal Principal Investigator (PI) for the project. A letter of recommendation from the student’s advisor is required, and the letter must indicate that the student’s thesis/dissertation topic has been approved by the student’s advisory committee. If the student cannot complete the project, the student’s advisor (project PI) must return unspent funds to JFSP. The student must be listed as a Student Investigator on the proposal.

In addition, letters of support from managers, when applicable, are encouraged.

Funds are intended for student use and support. Funds cannot be used for faculty salary. Funding can be used to conduct a significant field or laboratory data collection campaign; to complete a comprehensive synthesis, modeling, or data analysis; to conduct a policy analysis; or to develop an appropriate application or tool for fire and fuels managers. Appropriate budget items include: graduate student stipend, field or laboratory assistance, research equipment or materials, and travel. Funds cannot be used for student tuition. Each award is capped at $25,000, including university indirect costs as described in the proposal instructions.

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of student qualifications, scientific merit, relevance to managers/decision-makers, extent to which the proposed work extends or enhances an approved thesis or dissertation, and feasibility of the proposed work (see Section E, Application Review Information). details the review process.

Recipients of the GRIN award are expected to produce at least one management/policy-oriented tool or summary guide based on the funded project. Awardees also are expected to present their work at one regional, national, or international fire conference or workshop. Finally, the awardee is expected to write an acceptable final report for the JFSP prior to the project end date. These are one-time awards, and no supplemental funds will be granted.

4. Budget and Funding Policy

a) Funding Cooperator Proposal may require a funding cooperator. See Section C above.

b) Indirect Costs The JFSP recognizes that agencies and organizations participating in the program need to recover reasonable indirect costs. Budget feasibility (cost effectiveness) of the individual projects, however, is a determining factor in the final selection process. JFSP has an approved indirect cost rate deviation that limits proposals to a maximum of twenty (20) percent of the direct costs for each institution. Proposals requesting funds for indirect rates higher than twenty (20) percent will not be considered. This memo can be found on the JFSP website at this link: http://www.firescience.gov/documents/BLM_Iindirect_cost_rate_exception_signed.pdf 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.

If your organization has never had a NICRA, the BLM Grants Management Officer (GMO) may allow an indirect cost rate of up to 10% of your base modified total direct costs (MTDC). MTDC includes all salaries and wages, fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and subgrants and subcontracts up to the first $25,000 of each. Include the computational basis for the indirect expense pool and corresponding allocation base for your rate.

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 total costs. (See indirect cost example below)

Unrecovered indirect costs can be used as contributed funds in the budget.

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

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

2. Lead institution

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 typically 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

c) Small Business Innovation Research (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 for which the funds are transferred to a Forest Service institution and subsequently a portion of the total budget is awarded to a non-federal entity through a sub-agreement or sub-contract may be required to pay the prevailing rate of the total funds awarded externally to the SBIR program. PI’s should check with their Agreements contact to determine if this applies to your proposal and to determine the current rate.

d) Equipment Policy Investigators are encouraged to contribute equipment (see 2 CFR Part 200.313) to conduct studies funded by JFSP from existing equipment inventories. Contributed equipment should be included as “contributed costs” in JFSP budget spreadsheets and on the budget tab.

If necessary equipment is not available, JFSP will partially or fully fund equipment needed to conduct research funded by JFSP. In no case will JFSP pay more than $5,000 for a piece of equipment. If a new piece of equipment costing more than $5,000 is needed for the proposed project, proposal investigators are expected to contribute the remaining costs in excess of $5,000.

This criterion is to be applied for each and every piece of equipment.

e) Salary Policy Funds are intended for the funded graduate student use and support, including, if necessary, hiring undergraduate students to assist in field or laboratory work. Funds cannot be used for faculty salary. Stipends are acceptable costs, but tuition and other university fees will not be funded.

f) Budget The budget spreadsheet and narrative must be reviewed by the Budget contact and Agreements contact to ensure all costs have been included and the budget is correct including indirect charges. JFSP will not provide additional funds to cover errors discovered after the proposal submission deadline.

Budget spreadsheet must use the provided template and have a separate worksheet for each institution requesting or contributing funds, including all sub-agreements and contracted costs over $10,000. Identify all work that will be accomplished, including a breakdown of all tasks to be completed, and provide a detailed budget estimate in accordance with 2 CFR Parts 200.317 through 200.326. Contracted indirect costs and fees are subject to the indirect rate exception. Contracted costs under $10,000 must still be explained in detail in the budget narrative but do not require a separate worksheet in the budget template.

Budget narratives must have the level of detail provided in the example in the budget narrative template. Lump sum costs are not acceptable in any category, without a detail breakdown of how the costs were determined. Funded proposals will be closely scrutinized for allowable and reasonable costs before an award is issued. The JFSP also reserves the right to negotiate final budget numbers based on the final approved work scope.

The Budget contact and Agreements contact must sign in to the JFSP system and certify the budget is correct and that they understand their role in receiving funds and facilitating agreements. Proposals cannot be submitted by the PI if both contacts have not completed this task in the database. (See screen print below)

Proposals will be funded via cooperative agreement, Inter-agency agreement or agency budget transfer. Budget contact and agreements contact must ensure that budgets have the correct indirect rates for your circumstances.

The JFSP does not fund projects that are, or should be, funded internally from existing accounts (such as routine agency monitoring) or operational portions (such as the installation of fuels treatments or development of fire management plans) of other projects.

Funding is usually distributed in late summer or early fall. Budgets should be planned with timing in mind.

5. Data Management Plan (DMP)

It is the intent of JFSP that all data collected, generated, or compiled through JFSP funds are of high quality and made freely available to others within a reasonable time period. The JFSP recognizes that preparation of data and metadata for publication is a time consuming process. Adequate funds to support this work should be included in proposal budgets.

A Data Management Plan must be attached as a separate document and is limited to two pages maximum. The DMP will be considered in the proposal review process. See the DMP template and instructions for further details.

Investigators must select a data repository well suited for long-term archival, publication, and data sharing of data collected, generated, or compiled through JFSP funding. The JFSP recommends use of the Forest Service Research & Development (R&D) data archive (http://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/). To discuss the archive’s services, please contact archivist Dave Rugg (drugg@fs.fed.us) or associate archivist Laurie Porth (lporth@fs.fed.us).

The Forest Service R&D data archive will provide the central metadata catalog for all JFSP projects. Submission of metadata to be provided ultimately to the Forest Service R&D data archive will be required as part of final report submission, regardless of final data repository used. The JFSP will review the metadata to ensure that all required information is provided (including a pointer to the intended archival location of the data). Final reports will not be considered completed until these metadata have been reviewed and accepted. Failure to meet the preceding submittal requirements may affect eligibility to submit for consideration future JFSP proposals.

Submission of the associated data sets to the chosen repository should occur within six months of metadata submittal. For submittals to the Forest Service R&D data archive, Forest Service R&D will work with the PI to ensure final acceptability of the metadata and associated data sets. No matter the chosen repository, the PI is responsible for ensuring that final metadata are provided to Forest Service R&D. For all collected, generated, or compiled data PIs must ensure that they are evaluated for errors, as well as subjected to data proofing and validation procedures, prior to submittal. The PI is responsible for keeping the metadata in the official catalog current over time.

It is JFSP’s policy that PIs can limit release of data sets for up to two years following submission of the final report for publication and quality assurance purposes. At the end of this period, all data sets should be made publicly available.

6. Additional Application Requirements Proposals must meet all of the following requirements to be considered. Incomplete proposals will not be considered. No exceptions will be made to either the submission deadline or other submission requirements.

a) 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. Proposals can be created in the database at any time and saved as a draft for submission any time prior to the closing date and time.

· A JFSP database login and password is required to submit a proposal (see section b below). Requests for profiles will be processed in approximately 24 hours.

· The Budget contact must sign into the system and certify the budget is correct before the proposal can be submitted. Note that the PI will not be able to complete this task for the Budget contact. The PI must assign this contact on the contact tab before the Budget contact can sign in to complete this process.

· The Agreements contact must sign into the system and certify the budget is correct before the proposal can be submitted. Note that the PI will not be able to complete this task for the Agreements contact. The PI must assign this contact on the contact tab before the Agreements contact can sign in to complete this process.

· 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 Final 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.

b) Profiles

· All contacts must have a profile in the JFSP database that must be entered on the contacts tab by the PI.

· Proposals cannot be submitted if all required contacts (see Contacts below) are not entered on the contacts tab by the PI.

· It can take up to 24 hours to get a profile created. It is advisable to request profiles early in the process.

· To request a profile or password reset go to the JFSP website and click on the sign in link in the upper right hand corner of the page. Use the appropriate link for requesting a password reset or requesting a new user registration.

c) Contacts Proposals may be required to have the following contacts (see Section H. Other Information for definitions to understand the role of each contact) assigned to a proposal:

· Principal Investigator (required, only one Principal Investigator can be assigned)

· Student Investigator (required)

· Funding Cooperator (may be required, see Section C)

· Budget Contact (required); in some cases this may be the same as the Agreements contact

· Agreements Contact (required); in some cases this may be the same as the Budget Contact

· Co-PIs and Collaborators (options) It is the PI’s responsibility to ensure all correct contacts are entered into the proposal database. Please read Section Section H. Other Information for definitions carefully to ensure you have the correct contact from the correct institution listed.

d) Confirmation Page When the PI submits the proposal they will receive a confirmation page. It is highly recommend that PIs save or print that page for their records. If this confirmation page is not received the proposal has not been submitted correctly. It is the responsibility of the PI to ensure the proposal has been submitted correctly by the closing date and time.

e) Abstract Proposers must cut and paste the three sub-sections of the Overview section in the proposal template (Problem Statement, Objectives, and Benefits) into the Abstract field in the Details tab of the JFSP database. The Abstract will become the publicly accessible description of the project.

f) Task Statement Relevancy Proposers must cut and paste the fourth sub-section of the Overview section in the proposal template (Task Statement Relevancy) into the Task Statement Relevancy field in the Details tab.

g) Attachments All required documents and templates must be attached before the proposal can be submitted. All attachments except the budget must be attached as an adobe pdf document; the budget template is in an Excel format. The PI should ensure that no loss of information occurred upon conversion to a pdf document. Attachments over the page limits cannot be submitted. All information in a template must be included as part of that attachment and must be within the page limit. Extraneous materials (e.g., extra graphs and text) are not permitted and will not be reviewed.

Required attachments for all proposals must use templates provided to be considered:

· Proposal body

· Literature cited

· Budget spreadsheet (Excel spreadsheet, include a separate worksheet for each institution or contract requesting funding greater than $10,000)

· Budget narrative (explanation of specific budget assumptions and costs)

· Data Management Plan (see below)

· Letter from student’s advisor (see task description)

· CurriculumVitae (CV) for PIs, Student Investigator, and Co-PIs (two pages maximum for each person; include relevant publications)

Additional attachments:

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

· List of acronyms (optional, but recommended)

· Specific to a task statement (check this year’s task statement for additional requirements, if any)

h) Data Management Plan All proposals are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP) using the instructions, template, and example provided (See Section D.5) above).

i) Budget Budget summary numbers summarized by institution type requesting funds must be entered in the JFSP database on the Budget tab. The budget spreadsheet and budget narrative must be attached on the attachments tab using the spreadsheet template provided.

Proposals cannot be submitted without completing these required fields and attachments. Do not edit spreadsheet formulas and formatting without first contacting Becky Jenison (bjenison@blm.gov).

j) Task Statement Intent Proposals that do not clearly and directly meet the intent of the GRIN task statement will not be forwarded to peer review or considered for funding. The PI for a proposal that does not meet the intent of the task statement will receive a rejection notice by early January. In addition, PIs should ensure they are submitting their proposal for the correct task statement in the JFSP database.

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

l) Page Limits Attachments exceeding the page limits cannot be submitted. Check the page limit in the template and JFSP database. Everything required as part of the template is included in the page limit.

m) 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.

n) Signatures Handwritten signatures are not required. When Principal Investigators (PIs) submit proposals they will be prompted to enter 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 the requirements of their respective roles.

o) Indirect Costs Proposals must follow JFSP indirect cost guidelines. (See Section C.4 above)

p) Contributed Costs See Section C.4 above.

q) Support Letters Support letters are encouraged, but not required. Support letters are useful if they show understanding of the proposed work and the letter 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.

r) 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.

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

The Government reserves the right to reject any and all proposals that do not meet the requirements of this funding opportunity announcement and are determined to be outside the scope of the authority under which this announcement is posted.

The evaluation process will consist of the following four screening levels:

1. First Level Screening --Basic Eligibility

b. Applications must satisfy basic eligibility screening requirements to be considered for further review.

Note: The relevancy check includes assessing whether the proposal (1) responds to the intent of the task statement and (2) falls within JFSP’s mission to support fundamental and applied research and science delivery. The relevancy check is a threshold review and if determined not to be relevant, no further evaluation of the proposal will occur.

2. Second Level Evaluation -- Merit Review Evaluation via External Peer Review

Review Criteria Note: Review criteria are not arithmetically scored or weighted. Applicants, however, should note that the scientific merit criterion is given particular attention. Proposals that do not receive strong scientific merit reviews are unlikely to be funded.

Student Qualifications

· Academic (Note: undergraduate and graduate GPA must be on the student’s C.V.)

· Work experience

· Research experience

Scientific Merit

· Potential contribution to scientific understanding

· Merit of hypothesis, question, or objective

· Tied to state of the science

· Well described and appropriate methods

· Creativity

Management/Policy Relevance and Science Delivery

· Utility of results to managers/decision-makers

· Communication with managers

· Effective delivery of project outcomes to end users

Linkage to Ongoing or Planned Thesis or Dissertation

· Ongoing or planned thesis or dissertation clearly described

· Proposed work extends and enhances thesis/dissertation

Feasibility

· Administrative adequacy

· Budget

· Skills and qualifications

· Schedule

· Barriers to execution and contingencies

· Necessary manager/scientist and scientist/scientist relationships

3. Third Level Review -- Program Review

The JFSP Office and Governing Board assess the external peer review. The Board makes selection decisions based on the peer review and programmatic priorities.

4. Fourth Level Review -- Pre-award Clearance and Approvals

Following the described preceding, three-level review process above, BLM also will complete a business evaluation and determination of responsibility. During these evaluations the Grants Management Officer will evaluate variables such as:

a. Risk Management. The BLM uses a risk-based approach to evaluate the risk posed by the supporting applicants’ projects before it awards Federal funds.

2) Budget review is based on the following:

If the results of all pre-award reviews and clearances are satisfactory, an award of funding will be made once the agreement is finalized. If the BLM determines that a Federal award will be made, special conditions that correspond to the degree of risk assessed may be applied to the Federal award

If the results of pre-award reviews and clearances are unsatisfactory, consideration of funding for the project may be withdrawn.

4. Application Selection Process

a. Applications eligible for merit review will be evaluated by an peer review panlassembled to review, rate, and recommend applications to the JFSP Governing Board for final selection using the above evaluation criteria

b. Reviews are treated as confidential documents. Once award decisions are made, applicants will be able to see reviews through the JFSP proposal database.

F. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

1. Federal Award Notices

a. Any award made from this announcement will be based on the application submitted to, and as approved by, the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and will be regulated by OMB's Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

b. Acceptance. Acceptance is defined as the start of work, drawing down of funds, or accepting the award via electronic means. Costs may not be incurred before the effective date listed on the award. Acceptance of a Federal Financial Assistance award from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, carries with it the responsibility to be aware of, and comply with, the administrative and national policy requirements and terms and conditions of award.

2. Reporting

Periodic submission of Federal Financial reports (SF-425) and Performance/Progress reports, will be required under this financial assistance agreement. Submission of financial and performance/progress reports may be required either quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.

3. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

a. Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements. By accepting additional Federal funding under the current Federal assistance, your organization agrees to abide by the applicable OMB Guidance for Grants and Agreement in the expenditure of Federal funds and performance under this program. OMB guidance is available at the following web site: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=954b81d94bf127c6de3c76a3c99d8d9f&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2subtitleA.tpl

b. Administrative Requirements.

1) 2 CFR Part 200 Subparts A through D - Uniform Administrative Requirements and Cost Principles.

2) 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F - Audit Requirements. Non-Federal entities that expend $750,000.00, or more, in federal awards in a single year shall have a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year in accordance with the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C. 7501-7507) and revised OMB Circular A-133, available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_default.

3) Indirect Facilities and Administration (F&A) Costs.

(a) 2 CFR Part 200.414 - Indirect (F&A) Costs

(b) 2 CFR, Appendix III to Part 200 - Indirect (F&A) Costs Identification and Assignment, and Rate Determination for Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs)

(c) Appendix IV to Part 200 - Indirect (F&A) Costs Identification and Assignment, and Rate Determination for Nonprofit Organizations

(d) Appendix V to Part 200 - State/Local Government-wide Central Service Cost Allocation Plans

(1) The provisions of 2 CFR 200.414(c) require Federal agencies to accept federally negotiated indirect cost rates. The BLM has applied the following policies, procedures and general decision-making criteria for deviations from negotiated Indirect Cost Rates for financial assistance programs and agreements.

(2) Distribution Basis. For all deviations to the Federal negotiated indirect cost rate, including statutory, regulatory, programmatic, and voluntary, the basis of direct costs against which the indirect cost rate is applied must be:

(i) The same base identified in the recipient’s negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, if the recipient has a federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement; or

(ii) The Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) base in cases where the recipient does not have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement or, with prior approval of the Awarding Agency, when the recipient's federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement base is only a subset of the MTDC (such as salaries and wages) and the use of the MTDC still results in an overall reduction in the total indirect cost recovered. MTDC is the base defined by 2 CFR 200.68, "Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC)."

(iii) In cases where the recipient does not have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, under no circumstances will the Department use a modified rate based upon Total Direct Cost or other base not identified in the federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement or defined within 2 CFR 200.68. The purpose of this restriction is to ensure that the reduced rate is applied against a base that does not include any potentially distorting items (such as pass-through funds, subcontracts in excess of $25,000, and participant support costs) and is based on the requirements outlined in 2 CFR 200.68; 2 CFR 200.414(f); 2 CFR 200 Appendix III, Section C.2.; 2 CFR 200 Appendix IV, Section B.3.f.; and Appendix VII, Section C.2.c.

(3) Indirect Cost Rate Reductions Used as Cost-Share. Instances where the recipient elects to use a rate lower than the federally negotiated indirect cost rate, and uses the balance of the unrecovered indirect costs to meet a cost-share or matching requirement required by the program and/or statute, are not considered a deviation from 2 CFR 200.414(c) as the federally negotiated indirect cost rate is being applied under the agreement in order to meet the terms and conditions of the award.

c. Program Legislation and/or Regulations.

4. Standard Award Terms and Conditions

a. Code of Federal Regulations/Regulatory Requirements, as applicable (contact your program officer with any questions regarding the applicability of the following):