noaa-nmfs-nefsc-2016-2004537 ffo report.pdf

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set Aside

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2016-2004537

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.454, Unallied Management Projects

Dates: Complete proposals/applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. EDT on 9/21/2015. Proposals received after the established deadline will be rejected and returned to the sender without consideration. For proposals submitted through Grants.gov, a date and time receipt indication will be the basis of determining timeliness. The proposal must be validated by Grants.gov in order to be considered timely. PLEASE NOTE: It may take Grants.gov up to two

(2) business days to validate or reject the application. Please keep this in mind in developing your submission timeline.

For those not having access to the Internet, one signed original and two hard copy applications must be postmarked or received by the established due date for the program at the following address: Cheryl A. Corbett, NMFS, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, ATTN: Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside Program. Use of U.S.

mail or another delivery service must be documented with a receipt. (Note that late-arriving hard copy proposals provided to a delivery service on or before 5:00 p.m. on the closing date for applications will be accepted for review if the applicant can document that the proposal was provided to the guaranteed delivery service by the specified closing date and time and if the proposal is received by Northeast Fisheries Science Center no later than 5 p.m., two business days following the closing date.)

No facsimile or electronic mail proposals will be accepted. January 1, 2016 should be used as the proposed start date on proposals, unless otherwise directed by the Program Officer.

Funding Opportunity Description: NMFS, with assistance from the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), is soliciting proposals for 2016 - 2018 that address Atlantic Herring RSA research priorities. Proceeds from the sale of research quota are used to pay for research costs and to compensate fishing vessel owners that harvest RSA quota. No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, proceeds generated from the sale of RSA quota will be used to fund research activities and/or harvest set-aside quota.

Projects funded under the Atlantic Herring RSA Program must enhance the knowledge of Atlantic herring fishery resources or contribute to the body of information on which Council management decisions are made. Priority will be given to proposals that investigate research priorities identified by the Council, which are detailed under the Program Priorities section of this announcement.

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

The Atlantic Herring RSA Program was created by the Council as a vehicle to fund research projects that address research priorities concerning the Atlantic herring fishery through the sale of research quota. The Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan has a provision through which 0 to 3 percent of the sub-ACL (annual catch limit) for each management area (1A, 1B, 2, 3) may be set aside to fund research. Projects funded through the RSA program must enhance understanding of the herring fishery resource or contribute to the body of information on which management decisions are made.

B. Program Priorities

Priority shall be given to funding research proposals in the following areas identified as research priorities by the Council for the 2016-2018 fishing years. The priorities are not listed in order of importance.

2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program Research Priorities

1. Atlantic herring portside sampling

Develop and/or demonstrate a portside sampling program.

2. River herring bycatch avoidance

Develop and/or demonstrate methods that will enable river herring bycatch avoidance in the Atlantic herring fishery.

3. Electronic monitoring

Investigate the feasibility of electronic video monitoring in the Atlantic herring fishery as a means to document vessel fishing and catch processing operations.

4. Stock Structure / Spatial Management

a. Investigate mixing of the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank Atlantic herring resource with the Scotian shelf Atlantic herring resource.

b. Investigate whether Atlantic herring form contingents, and if schools segregate based on size, age, and spawning location.

c. Evaluate assumptions for developing spatial allocations (sub-ACLs) based on different stock structure models.

5. Availability and Detectability of Atlantic herring in Surveys and the Fishery

a. Investigate whether predation potential (e.g., cod) or school size affects the location of Atlantic herring in the water column.

b. Investigate whether the distribution of thermal habitat affects the availability of Atlantic herring to the survey or to the fishery.

6. Fishery acoustic indices

Develop and/or conduct a fishery-independent abundance survey using commercial vessels and fishery acoustics.

7. Volume to Weight Conversion

a. Investigate sources and magnitude of variability of herring catch volume to weight conversions made by vessel captains and dealers.

b. Investigate density-dependent growth/trade-off with reproduction and the potential effect on volume to weight conversions.

C. Program Authority

Statutory authority for this program is provided under 303(b)(11), 402(e), and 404(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C.1853(b)(11), 16 U.S.C. 1881a(e), and 16 U.S.C. 1881(c), respectively. Statutory authority for entering into cooperative agreements and other financial agreements with non-profit organizations is found at 15 U.S.C. 1540.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Funds generated from RSA landings shall be used to cover the cost of the research activities, including vessel costs, and to compensate vessel owners for expenses incurred during the harvest of the set-aside quota. For example, the funds may be used to pay for gear modifications, monitoring equipment, additional provisions (e.g., fuel, ice, food for scientists), or the salaries of research personnel. The Federal Government is not liable for any costs incurred by the researcher or vessel owner should the sale of RSA quota not fully reimburse the researcher or vessel owner for his/her expenses. Any additional funds generated through the sale of set-aside landings, above the cost of the research activities, shall be retained by the vessel owner as compensation for the use of his/her vessel.

The Council is currently developing harvest specifications for the 2016-2018 fishing years, which include annual RSA sub-ACLs If RSA is not allocated then RSA awards will not be made under this solicitation. This funding opportunity was published prior to the implementation of 2016-2018 specifications to ensure sufficient time to conduct this competition before the start of the 2016 fishing year (January 1, 2016) and to avoid lost opportunity to harvest RSA and begin research activities.

To apply for set-aside quota, applicants must submit a budget that is based solely on monetary needs, which includes funds necessary to execute the research plan and funds necessary to compensate vessel owners harvesting set-aside quota. Upon project selection, NMFS will negotiate with successful applicants on the specific RSA award. Priority will be given primarily to the higher technically ranked proposal, although additional factors such as management relevance, individual project needs, and cost effectiveness may be considered during negotiations. NMFS will establish a common price estimate, based on the best and most recent data available at the time of negotiations, to determine the amount of set-aside necessary to cover research and compensation fishing expenses.

B. Project/Award Period

The research project may encompass all or part of the 2016, 2017, and/or 2018 fishing years. The Herring FMP currently requires that all RSA must be caught by the end of the fishing year from which the RSA was derived. For example, 2016 RSA must be harvested by December 31, 2016. Proposals requesting RSA harvest prior to the 2016 or after the 2018 fishing year will not be considered.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

Proposals selected for funding will be funded through a grant or cooperative agreement depending upon the amount of collaboration, participation, or involvement by NOAA in the conduct of the research project. Examples of substantial involvement may include but are not limited to involvement and/or collaboration between NOAA scientists and a recipient scientist in the conduct of the research project. Funding for contractual arrangements for services or products for delivery to NOAA is not available under this notice.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

1. Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education, hospitals, other nonprofits, commercial organizations, individuals, and state, local, and Native American tribal governments. Federal agencies and institutions are not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this notice. Additionally, employees of any Federal agency or Regional Fishery Management Council are ineligible to submit an application under this program.

However, Council members who are not Federal employees may submit an application.

2. DOC/NOAA supports cultural and gender diversity and encourages women and minority individuals and groups to submit applications to the RSA program. In addition, DOC/NOAA is strongly committed to broadening the participation of historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and institutions that work in underserved areas. DOC/NOAA encourages proposals involving any of the above institutions.

3. DOC/NOAA encourages applications from members of the fishing community and applications that involve fishing community cooperation and participation.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

None required.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

1. Research proposals for the 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program must be received within the application submission period to be eligible for consideration.

2. Proposals for different and distinct projects must be submitted separately in accordance with the format requirements in Section IV.B. Multiple stand-alone projects in the same proposal will not be accepted.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

Application information is available at http://www.grants.gov. Electronic copies of the Standard Forms for submission of research proposals may be found on the Internet in a PDF (Portable Document Format) version at http://www.ago.noaa.gov/acquisition/standard.html.

Delays may be experienced when registering with grants.gov near the end of a solicitation period. Therefore, NOAA strongly recommends that you do not wait until the application deadline date to begin the application process through grants.gov. Applicants without Internet access may contact Cheryl Corbett, NMFS, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, by phone 508-495-2070, fax 508-495-2004, or email cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov. To apply for this NOAA Federal Funding Opportunity, go to http://www.grants.gov, and use the following funding opportunity #:

NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2016- 2004537.

B. Content and Form of Application

Should an applicant wish to include a coversheet with his/her proposal, the coversheet should summarize key information already contained with the proposal which includes the program name, date, applicant name, project title, project duration, principal investigator(s), program priorities addressed, and funds requested broken down by research, compensation, and total value.

Applicants must adhere to the provisions under "Applications" and the six requirements under "Required Elements" by the application deadline. Failure to follow these provisions will result in proposals being returned to the applicant without review.

1. Applications

a. Applications submitted under the 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program must include a Standard Form 424 (Application for Federal Assistance), including a detailed budget using Standard Form 424A, (Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs), Standard Form 424B (Assurances--Non-Construction Programs), and Commerce Department Form CD-511 (Certification Regarding Lobbying Activities). These forms are available at http://www.ago.noaa.gov/ago/acquisition/standard.cfm. They should be submitted through the www.grants.gov website. Applicants submitting hard copies must include one signed original and two signed unbound copies of the application (including supporting information).

b. The Standard Form SF424 must include the estimated monetary value of the entire project, including the cost of compensation fishing and research project costs. This value must be recorded under item 18. Estimated Funding (e)"Other" on the SF424.

c. The Standard Form SF424A must report the total value under "Non-Federal."

d. Applicants must identify the specific research priority or priorities to which they are responding. If the proposal addresses more than one priority, it should list the priority that most closely reflects the objectives of the proposal first. Each application must address only one research investigation. If an application does not fulfill a priority category, it must be clearly stated in the application. Applicants should not assume prior knowledge on the part of NMFS as to the relative merits of the project described in the application.

2. Required Elements

Proposals should be limited to 12 pages, excluding item "e" below. The format may vary, but must include:

a. A narrative project description to include project goals and objectives. Funding objectives should be simple and understandable, as specific and quantitative as possible, addressing the locations and sample procedures as well as quantitative methods with justifications, and attainable within the time, funding, and resources available.

Proposals should be accomplishment-oriented and identify specific performance measures and how investigators anticipate research results being used in the management arena to enhance the understanding of the fishery resource being studied or contributing to the body of information on which management decisions are made (see Section I. B.). The main body of the narrative should be a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and include: (1) Project design and management, including who is responsible for business and financial management, field work, analysis of data, and reporting, expected products, and participants other than applicant; (2) project duration (starting on the first day of the month and ending on the last day of the month); (3) names and affiliations of the principal investigator(s) (PI); (4) contribution and relevance of the proposed work; and (5) a summary of the existing state of knowledge related to the project;

b. A detailed budget based solely on monetary needs, which includes funds necessary to execute the research plan and funds necessary to compensate vessel owners harvesting set-aside quota. Upon project selection, NMFS will negotiate with successful applicants on the specific RSA award. Priority will be given primarily to the higher technically ranked proposal, although additional factors such as individual project needs and cost effectiveness may be considered during negotiations. NMFS will establish a common Atlantic herring price estimate, based on the best and most recent data available, to determine the amount of set-aside necessary to cover research and compensation fishing expenses. The budget must include a breakdown of research costs including labor, vessel contracts, permits, equipment, supplies, and overhead, as applicable. The proposal must state how the proceeds from the sale of compensation fishing activities, including those derived from incidental catch, will be divided between the vessel and the applicant. Proposals must provide a description of the safeguards that will be used to ensure that the set-aside quota award will not be exceeded;

In addition to requesting set-aside to generate funds, applicants should request set-aside quota for research purposes where applicable. For example, if a research plan entails landing fish for research purposes; such fish should be included in the overall set-aside request. If an applicant chooses to request set-aside strictly for research purposes it should be clearly stated in the application.

c. A list of any Federal regulations that the applicant needs to have waived and a brief justification for such a waiver;

d. Each proposal must identify the activities for the vessels participating in the project, including research and compensation fishing activities. All vessel(s) selected by the applicant to participate in the study should be listed in the proposal, if possible;

e. Supporting documents, including resumes, letters of intent for vessels to participate in research activities, coordination with state fisheries agencies, and any relevant contracts;

f. As part of this application process, questions from The Environmental Compliance Questionnaire for NOAA Federal Financial Assistance Applicants, OMB Approval Number 0648-0538, must be answered and submitted with the application. These questions include:

A1-A3, A11, A12, B1, C1, D1-D3, E1, E4, F1-3, F10-F13, H1-H24, H26, H27-31. This form is located at http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/grants.html. Failure to complete all of the indicated questions will result in the application being considered incomplete.

C. Submission Dates and Times

Complete proposals/applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. EDT on 9/21/2015. Proposals received after the established deadline will be rejected and returned to the sender without consideration. For proposals submitted through Grants.gov, a date and time receipt indication will be the basis of determining timeliness. The proposal must be validated by Grants.gov in order to be considered timely. PLEASE NOTE: It may take Grants.gov up to two (2) business days to validate or reject the application. Please keep this in mind in developing your submission timeline.

For those not having access to the Internet, one signed original and two hard copy applications must be postmarked or received by the established due date for the program at the following address: Cheryl A. Corbett, NMFS, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, ATTN: Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside Program. Use of U.S. mail or another delivery service must be documented with a receipt.

(Note that late-arriving hard copy proposals provided to a delivery service on or before 5:00 p.m. on the closing date for applications will be accepted for review if the applicant can document that the proposal was provided to the guaranteed delivery service by the specified closing date and time and if the proposal is received by Northeast Fisheries Science Center no later than 5 p.m., two business days following the closing date.)

No facsimile or electronic mail proposals will be accepted.

D. Intergovernmental Review

Applicants will need to determine if their state participates in the intergovernmental review process. This information can be found at the following website:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html. This information will assist applicants in providing either a Yes or No response to Item 16 of the Application Form, SF-424, entitled. "Application for Federal Assistance."

E. Funding Restrictions

1. The research project period may encompass all or part of the 2016-2018 herring fishing years (January 1 – December 31). Proposals to fund research started before final approval of the project for RSA awards are eligible for consideration, but any project expense incurred prior to the final determination is done solely at the researcher’s risk.

2. The Federal Government shall not be liable for any costs incurred in the conduct of the project. Any additional funds, generated through the sale of the fish harvested under the research quota, above the cost of the research activities, shall be retained by the vessel owner as compensation for use of his/her vessel.

F. Other Submission Requirements

1. Applications should be submitted through www.grants.gov. If an applicant does not have Internet access, hard copies should be sent to NMFS, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543. Mark proposals Attention—"2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside Program."

2. NOAA employees (whether full-time, part-time, or intermittent) are not permitted to assist in the preparation of an application, except that staff may provide information on program goals, funding priorities, application procedures, and completion of application forms. Since this is a competitive program, NMFS and NOAA employees will not provide assistance in conceptualizing, developing, or structuring proposals, or write letters of support for an application. However, the Council or NMFS contact person may provide assistance to researchers who are seeking vessels to participate in the collection of set-aside species or directly in research projects. NMFS, in consultation with the Council, may decide to hold a meeting with the public to discuss general topics concerning past RSA program accomplishments and ways to enhance communications on funding priorities and associated potential study methods. Meetings will be publicized through NMFS, Council mailing lists, and websites.

3. Permits and Approvals

a. Vessels participating in the Atlantic Herring RSA Program must obtain the appropriate vessel documentation consistent with experimental fishing regulations at 50 CFR

600.745 and 50 CFR 648.12. Vessels conducting certain types of research activities that require relief from fishery regulations may be required to obtain an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) or other permit. EFP application guidance is available from the Sustainable Fisheries Division, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

b. Under previous Atlantic Herring RSA programs, and consistent with the Scallop, Monkfish, and Mid-Atlantic RSA programs, grant recipients requested and received exemptions from Federal management area restrictions and possession limits to facilitate compensation fishing. However, applicants should be aware that such requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed to be approved. If an exemption from Federal regulations is proposed, a list of the specific regulations to be exempted and a brief justification for each regulation to be exempted must be included. Should an applicant submit a request for an EFP to NMFS, the completed application should be received by NMFS at least 60 days before the requested start date of the proposed research.

c. Grant recipients must obtain compensation fishing permits from NMFS prior to initiating compensation fishing if compensation fishing activities will conflict with Federal regulations.

d. Projects may not have more than 50 vessels authorized to conduct compensation fishing at any given time, unless sufficient rationale can demonstrate that more than 50 vessels are needed. In addition, principal investigators and project coordinators should be aware that it may take NMFS up to 4 weeks to process requests to revise the list of vessels that are authorized to conduct compensation fishing.

e. Proposals must include written acknowledgements of coordination with all cooperators or partners identified in the proposal. Cooperators include fisheries agencies of those states where RSA quota may be landed, or in whose waters the project is expected to conduct operations.

f. It is the responsibility of applicants to obtain any required state authorizations.

NOAA cannot guarantee that state agencies will accede to any particular request. Contact information for state fishery management agencies is available from NMFS.

g. Successful projects that are designed to generate data that will ultimately be merged with other governmental databases will be required to submit the data in electronic form in accordance with protocols of the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) and/or other database formats as may be required by NMFS.

To apply for this NOAA Federal Funding Opportunity, please submit applications through http://www.grants.gov and use the following funding opportunity number NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2013-2003767. Applicants who do not have Internet access may submit their application to Cheryl A. Corbett, NMFS, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

The technical reviewers identified by NMFS to evaluate proposals submitted in response to this Federal Funding Opportunity (see Section V.B.) will evaluate proposals by assigning scores up to the maximum indicated for each of the following criteria:

1. Importance and/or relevance and applicability of the proposed project: This criterion ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, Federal, regional, state, or local activities. Provide a clear definition of the problem, need, issue, or hypothesis to be addressed. The proposal should describe its relevance to RSA program priorities. If not directly related to priorities listed in this solicitation, provide justification why the proposed project should be considered. (20 points)

2. Technical/scientific merit: This criterion assesses whether the approach is technically sound and/or innovative, if the methods are appropriate, and whether there are clear project goals and objectives. Special emphasis shall be given to proposals that foster and improve cooperative interactions with NMFS. A clear definition of the approach to be used including description of field work, theoretical studies, and laboratory analysis to support the proposed research is important. Activities that take place over a wider versus narrower geographical range, where appropriate, are preferred. (30 points)

3. Overall qualifications of the project: This criterion assesses whether the applicant, and team members, possess the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project. This includes demonstration of support, cooperation and/or collaboration with the fishing industry, and qualifications/experience of project participants. Where appropriate, unified versus separate stand-alone proposals on related projects involving multiple principal investigators are preferred. For proposals involving multiple vessels harvesting RSA, special attention will be given to specification of safeguards to ensure that the authorized RSA allocation will not be exceeded. (15 points)

4. Project costs: This criterion evaluates the budget to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time frame. Cost-effectiveness of the project is considered. (25 points)

5. Outreach and education: This criterion assesses whether the project involves a focused and effective education and outreach strategy regarding NOAA's mission to protect the Nation's natural resources. This includes identification of anticipated benefits, potential users, likelihood of success, and methods of disseminating results. Where appropriate, data generated from the research must be formatted in a manner consistent with NMFS and the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) databases. A copy of this format is available from NMFS. (10 points)

B. Review and Selection Process

Following completion of the technical evaluation as described above, NMFS will convene a management review panel, including Council members and technical experts, to review and individually critique the scored proposals to enhance NOAA's understanding of the proposals as they relate to the program priorities enumerated in Section I.B. above. Initial successful applicants may be required, in consultation with NMFS, to further refine/modify the study methodology as a condition of project approval. No consensus recommendations will be made by the management review panel.

C. Selection Factors

The program officer will make recommendations to the Selecting Official based on technical ranking and management reviews. The Selecting Official shall award in the rank technical order unless the proposal is justified to be selected out of rank order based upon one or more of the following factors:

1. Availability of funding

2. Balance/distribution of funds:

a. Geographically

b. By type of institutions

c. By type of partners

d. By research areas

e. By project types

3. Whether this project duplicates other projects funded or considered for funding by NOAA or other Federal agencies.

4. Program priorities and policy factors.

5. Applicant's prior award performance.

6. Partnerships and/or participation of targeted groups.

7. Adequacy of information necessary to conduct a National Environmental Policy Act analysis and determination.

Key program policy factors (see 4 above) to be considered by the Selecting Official are:

(1) The time of year the research activities are to be conducted; (2) the ability of the proposal to meet the experimental fishery requirements discussed under the Permits and Approvals section of this document; (3) redundancy of research projects; and (4) logistical concerns.

Therefore, the highest scoring projects may not necessarily be selected for an award. All approved research must be conducted in accordance with provisions approved by NOAA.

D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

Award announcements are expected 6 months following the deadline for this announcement.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

Successful applicants will receive notification that their application has been recommended for selection to the NOAA Grants Management Division. This notification is not an authorization to begin project operations. Official notification of selection, signed by the NOAA Grants Officer, is the authorizing document that allows a project to begin.

Notifications will be issued to the Authorizing Official and the Principal Investigator of the project. Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified electronically .

To enable the use of a universal identifier and to enhance the quality of information available to the public as required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, to the extent applicable, any proposal awarded in response to this announcement will be required to use the Central Contractor Registration and Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System and be subject to reporting requirements, as identified in OMB guidance published at 2 CFR Parts 25, 170 (2013).

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi‐bin/text‐idx?SID=1ccffb4c1d4de03addd6a041113460f9&mc=true&nod e=se2.1.200_1300&rgn=div8

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register notice of December 30, 2014 (79 FR 78390) are applicable to this solicitation and may be accessed online at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-12-30/pdf/2014-30297.pdf.

Applicants should furnish sufficient information to assist proposal reviewers in assessing the potential environmental consequences of supporting the project. NOAA National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) staff must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by NEPA, for applicant projects or proposals that are seeking NOAA federal assistance opportunities, including special fishing privileges. Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the following websites: www.nepa.noaa.gov , www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216_6.pdf , and the Council on Environmental Quality implementation http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/ceq_regulations/regulations.html. Consequently, applicants are required to provide, under the description of program activities, detailed information on the activities to be conducted. This shall include locations, sites, species and potentially effected habitat, possible construction activities, and any environmental concerns which 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, etc.). Applicants may be requested to assist NOAA in drafting an Environmental Assessment if it is determined such an assessment is required.

Applicants will also be required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying and implementing feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts associated with their proposed research activities. Failure to do so shall be grounds for rejecting an application. In some cases, if additional information is required after an application is selected, set-aside quota can be withheld by the NOAA 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

2. To enable the use of a universal identifier and to enhance the quality of information available to the public as required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, to the extent applicable, any proposal awarded in response to this announcement will be required to use the Central Contractor Registration and Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System and be subject to reporting requirements, as identified in OMB guidance published at 2 CFR Parts 25, 170 (2010), http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr170_main_ 02.tpl

3. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 includes a requirement for awardees of applicable Federal grants to report information about first-tier sub-awards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY 2011 or later. All awardees of applicable grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Sub-award Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.FSRS.gov on all sub-awards over $25,000.

C. Reporting

1. Recipients will be required to submit the following financial and performance (technical) reports. These reports are to be submitted electronically unless the recipient does not have internet access, in which case, hard copy submissions will be accepted. A final Federal Financial Report (SF-425) is required to be submitted to the Grants Officer.

a. The SF425 must report $0.00 on every line item and the comment section should state: This is an RSA grant award which has no federal dollars associated with it. The final accounting information has been submitted with the final report.

2. Performance or progress reports are required to be submitted to the NOAA Program Officer semi-annually. These reports will be due no later than 30 days following the end of each 6-month period from the start date of an award. The progress reports must include, in addition to an update on the status of the research, documentation of all fish caught by vessels participating in the project, including catch by vessels operating under a Letter of Acknowledgment. The final report is due no later than 90 days after the award expiration.

The format of the final report may vary, but the report must contain:

a. A brief summary of the completion report (200-word or less abstract);

b. A description of the issue/problem that was addressed;

c. A detailed description of methods of data collection and analyses;

d. A discussion of results and any relevant conclusions presented in a format that is understandable to a non-technical audience. This should include benefits and/or contributions to management decision-making;

e. A list of entities, firms, or organizations that actually performed the work, and a description of how the work was accomplished;

f. A detailed final accounting of all the fish landed, fish sold, and if applicable, the disbursement of any additional funds generated through the sale of set-aside landings above the cost of the research activities; and

g. Data from research projects must be submitted in electronic format with appropriate documentation to NMFS as requested. All raw data collected under grants issued as a result of this solicitation belongs to and shall remain the property of the Federal Government.

Grantees will be required to collect, assimilate, maintain and transmit any and all raw data in a format and timeframe that may be specified by NMFS. Partial submissions of the final report will not be accepted. If any of the required elements of the final report are omitted in the original submission, the Federal Program Officer (FPO) shall reject the final report until all requirements have been satisfied.

h. An electronic version of the final report must be submitted in a format suitable for posting on the web, including all tables, figures and maps. Currently the preferred format is PDF (Portable Document Format), although an alternative format may be specified by NMFS or the MAFMC webmaster.

i. Principal Investigators must anticipate being requested to provide an oral presentation to the New England Fishery Management Council on the results of their research.

3. Vessels operating under an Exempted Fishing Permit or conducting compensation fishing must report each trip to NMFS via the vessel monitoring system in accordance with the instructions provided by NMFS. If the grant recipient or vessel operator does not meet the terms and conditions of these permits, these permits may be revoked by NMFS.

Additionally, non-compliance with these reporting requirements could be cause for not awarding future NOAA projects.

VII. Agency Contacts

Questions about the Council and the development of the Atlantic Herring RSA program, should be directed to Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, by phone at 978-465-0492, or fax at 978-465-3116. For grant related questions or questions about RSA program administration contact Cheryl A. Corbett, NMFS, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, or by phone at 508-495-2070, or fax at 508-495-2004, or via e-mail at cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov.

Compensation fishing, research permitting, and regulation questions should be directed to Ryan Silva, Cooperative Research Liaison, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office by phone 978-281-9326, or via e-mail at ryan.silva@noaa.gov.

VIII. Other Information

Limitation of Liability

In no event shall NOAA or DOC be responsible for application/proposal preparation costs. Publication of this announcement does not obligate NOAA to award any specific project or to provide special fishing privileges. Recipients and subrecipients (subcontractors) are subject to all Federal laws and agency policies, regulations, and procedures application to Federal financial assistance awards.

Freedom of Information Act

DOC regulations implementing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4, "Public Information," which sets forth rules for DOC to make requested materials, information, and records publicly available under the Act. Applications submitted in response to this Federal Funding Opportunity may be subject to requests for release under FOIA. In the event that an application contains information or data that the applicant deems to be confidential commercial information which is exempt from disclosure under FOIA, the applicant should identify and bracket such information or data, marking it as "Privileged, Confidential, Commercial, or Financial Information- Limited Use." Based on these markings, the confidentiality of the contents of those pages will be maintained to the extent permitted by law.

The Data/Information Sharing Plan

Environmental data and information, collected and/or created under NOAA grants/cooperative agreements must be made visible, accessible, and independently understandable to general users, free of charge or at minimal cost, in a timely manner (typically no later than two (2) years after the data are collected or created), except where limited by law, regulation, policy or by security requirements.

1. Unless otherwise noted in this federal funding announcement, a Data/Information Sharing Plan of no more than two pages shall be required as part of the Project Narrative. A typical plan may include the types of environmental data and information to be created during the course of the project; the tentative date by which data will be shared; the standards to be used for data/metadata format and content; policies addressing data stewardship and preservation; procedures for providing access, data, and security; and prior experience in publishing such data. The Data/Information Sharing Plan will be reviewed as part of the NOAA Standard Evaluation Criteria, Item 1 -- Importance and/or Relevance and Applicability of Proposed Project to the Mission Goals.

2. The Data/Information Sharing Plan (and any subsequent revisions or updates) will be made publicly available at time of award and, thereafter, will be posted with the published data.

3. Failing to share environmental data and information in accordance with the submitted Data/Information Sharing Plan may lead to disallowed costs and be considered by NOAA when making future award decisions.