noaa-nws-nwspo-2016-2004564 ffo report.pdf

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): National Weather Service (NWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: Collaborative Science, Technology, and Applied Research (CSTAR) Program

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NWS-NWSPO-2016-2004564

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.468, Applied Meteorological Research

Dates: Proposals must be received by www.grants.gov, postmarked, or provided to a delivery service by 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on October 30, 2015. Use of U.S. mail or another delivery service must be documented with a receipt. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted.

Please note: Validation or rejection of your application by Grants.gov may take up to 2 business days after submission. Please consider this process in developing your submission timeline.

Funding Opportunity Description: The CSTAR Program represents an NOAA/NWS effort to create a cost-effective transition from basic and applied research to operations and services through collaborative research between operational forecasters and academic institutions which have expertise in the environmental sciences. These activities will engage researchers and students in applied research of interest to the operational meteorological community and will improve the accuracy of forecasts and warnings of environmental hazards by applying scientific knowledge and information to operational products and services. The CSTAR Program addresses NOAA's Mission Goal 3: Weather Ready Nation.

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

The long term objective of the Collaborative Science, Technology and Applied Research (CSTAR) Program is to improve the overall forecast and warning capabilities of the operational hydrometeorological community by addressing science and technology research priorities through collaborative research efforts between the National Weather Service (NWS) and academic institutions which have expertise in the environmental sciences.

These activities engage researchers and students in applied research of interest to the operational meteorological community. The research theme of this FFO focuses on the application of new science, data, and technologies for the provision of improving: lead time and accuracy of forecasts and warnings for high impact weather, water, and climate events;

impact-based decision support services (IDSS) and the application and integration of physical and social sciences for improving messaging of weather, water, and climate hazards; and water resource information for decision support and situational awareness on various temporal and spatial scales.

B. Program Priorities

The NWS identifies the following topic areas as having the highest priorities for research. A proposal must address at least one of these scientific research topics.

Proposals must clearly specify which primary science priorities are being addressed.

Principal investigators (PIs) must clearly address the science and technology transfer process contained within the proposal. This should include specific plans for direct interactions with personnel at operational NWS units, including NOAA Testbeds, NCEP Centers, National Water Center, Weather Forecast Offices (WFO’s), River Forecast Centers (RFC’s), Center Weather Service Units (CWSU’s), and regional NWS offices. The focus of the proposals should be on high-impact events, and have the potential to be applied on a national scale. While the detailed logistics of operational implementation will typically be beyond the scope of these projects, the proposals should address potential pathways for transition to operations, including training activities for operational staff as appropriate. Principal Investigators are encouraged to access the CSTAR Community within the NOAA Virtual Laboratory to enhance collaboration and share publication links to project activities and results. Link: https://vlab.ncep.noaa.gov/group/cstar-projects/home

The program priorities for this funding opportunity are:

1. Improving the lead time and accuracy of forecasts and warnings for high impact weather, water and climate events. This may include:

a. Utilizing of convection-allowing models and a storm scale ensemble system to advance Warn on Forecast capabilities.

b. Improving application of numerical weather prediction information in the forecast and warning process at various time scales.

c. Improving the use of ensemble predictions systems to: enable more effective forecaster assessment of uncertainty and historical context of potential high impact events; and develop probabilistic hazard information.

d. Developing improved surface analyses using data fusion to aid in the identification/characterization of high impact events in complex terrain; this can include rain, snowfall and terrain driven wind events.

2. Improving IDSS (Impact-Based Decision Support Services) and the application and integration of physical and social sciences for improving messaging of weather, water, and climate hazards. This may include:

a. Developing innovative methodologies to communicate probabilistic hazard information to a wide variety of users.

b. Incorporating social science knowledge and practices into operations to more effectively communicate forecast confidence, uncertainty, and impact-based historical context, and identifying potential improvements to warning systems to make them more effective.

3. Improving water resource information for decision support and situational awareness on various temporal and spatial scales. This may include:

a. Broadening the application of ensemble forecast systems to aid in assessing and communicating uncertainty information for water resources users. This could involve forcing such as precipitation or snowmelt, or flow/water level forecast information on various temporal and special scales.

b. Evaluating the application of point-based probabilistic QPF (PQPF) over large watersheds. Current operational PQPFs have demonstrated reliability in comparison to point accumulations, but applying PQPFs for multiple watersheds results in positive volumetric bias as distance from headwater catchment increases. An appropriate methodology for applying point-PQPF over large watersheds is necessary.

The names, affiliations, and phone numbers of relevant focal points are provided.

Prospective applicants should communicate with these focal points for further information on priorities. Questions and answers will be made available on the program website. Focal points cannot assist in the conceptual design of a project and cannot recommend specific elements for inclusion in a proposal. Applicants must submit completed proposals to the NOAA/NWS through the grants.gov portal rather than to individual focal points.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

• Kenneth Johnson, NOAA/NWS/Eastern Region Scientific Services Division, 631-244 0136, or by email at kenneth.johnson@noaa.gov.

• Gregory Patrick, NOAA/NWS/Southern Region Scientific Services Division, 682-703-3719, or by email at gregory.patrick@noaa.gov.

• Jeffrey Craven, NOAA/NWS/Central Region Scientific Services Division, 816 268 3140, or by email at jeffrey.craven@noaa.gov

• Andy Edman, NOAA/NWS/Western Region Scientific Services Division, 801-524-5131, or by email at andy.edman@noaa.gov.

• Carven Scott, NOAA/NWS/Alaska Region Environmental and Scientific Services Division, 907-271-5131, or by email at carven.scott@noaa.gov

• Bill Ward, NOAA/NWS/Pacific Region Environmental Scientific Services Division, 808-532-6415, or by email at bill.ward@noaa.gov

• James Yoe, NOAA/NWS/NCEP, 301-683-3515, or by email at james.g.yoe@noaa.gov

• Sam Contorno, NOAA/NWS/National Water Center, 205-347-1313, or by email at samuel.contorno@noaa.gov

C. Program Authority

Authority for the CSTAR program is provided by the following: 15 U.S.C. 313; 49 U.S.C. 44720 (b); 33 U.S.C. 883d; 15 U.S.C. 2904; 15 U.S.C. 2934.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

The total funding amount available for proposals is anticipated to be approximately $700,000. However, there is no appropriation of funds at this time and no guarantee that there will be. Individual annual awards in the form of cooperative agreements are limited to a maximum of $150,000 per year for no more than three years. We anticipate making 4-6 awards.

B. Project/Award Period

This program announcement is for projects to be conducted by university investigators for a 1-year, 2-year, or 3-year period, with an anticipated start date of May 1, 2016 unless otherwise directed. When a proposal for a multi-year award is approved, funding will initially be provided for only the first year of the program. If an application is selected for initial funding, the NWS has no obligation to provide additional funding in connection with that award in subsequent years. Funding for each subsequent year of a multi-year proposal is at the discretion of the NWS. It will be contingent upon satisfactory progress in relation to the stated goals of the proposal to address specific science needs and priorities of the NWS and the availability of funds. Applications must include a scope of work and a budget for the entire award period.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

The funding instrument for extramural awards will be a cooperative agreement since one or more NOAA/NWS component, such as forecast offices, NCEP service centers, or regional headquarters will be substantially involved in implementation of the project.

Examples of substantial involvement may include, but are not limited to, proposals for collaboration between NOAA scientists and a recipient scientist and/or contemplation by NOAA of detailing Federal personnel to work on proposed projects. NOAA/NWS believes its warning and forecast mission will benefit significantly from a strong partnership with outside investigators. Current program plans assume the total resources provided through this announcement will support extramural efforts through the broad academic community.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education and federally funded educational institutions such as the Naval Postgraduate School. This restriction is needed because the results of the collaboration are to be incorporated in academic processes which ensure academic multidisciplinary peer review as well as Federal review of scientific validity for use in operations. Federal applicants must demonstrate that they have legal authority to receive funds from another federal agency in excess of their appropriation. Because this announcement is not proposing to procure goods or services from applicants, the Economy Act (31 U.S.C. 1535) is not an appropriate legal basis.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

No cost sharing is required under this program.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

Collaboration with PIs at different universities is allowed, but there must be a single application from a lead university with subawards to the participants from other institutions.

Other arrangements will not be considered. At least one of the PIs within this program must be a full, assistant, or associate college or university professor with substantial documented involvement in the proposal. Proposals should clearly state the role of each PI in the project. Except for researchers who are associate, assistant, or full professors at the Naval Postgraduate School or other federally funded educational institutions, federal government employees are not allowed to be listed as PIs or receive funding, although collaboration between the academic community and NOAA within the project is required.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

The standard application package is available at http://www.grants.gov. For applicants without internet access, an application package may be received by contacting Christopher Hedge, NOAA/NWS, 1325 East-West Highway, Room 15328, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, Phone: 301-427-9242, email: christopher.hedge@noaa.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application

Proposals should total no more than 30 pages in length, single spaced. It is strongly recommended that Times New Roman 12 point font, or an equivalent, be used. Federally mandated forms, tables of contents, and any letters of support are not included within the page count, but all other information must be included.

Multi-year proposals up to a maximum of three years will be considered; however, funding beyond the first year will be dependent upon satisfactory performance and the availability of funds. May 1, 2016, is to be used as the proposed start date on proposals unless otherwise directed by the NOAA Program Officer.

The application elements listed below are required before an award can be made.

This program does not require any NEPA questions to be answered as part of the application.

Failure to submit elements 1, 4, and 5 by the deadline will result in the application not being reviewed if the omissions are not corrected prior to the deadline. The program office will make an effort to notify the applicant of any omissions, but there is no guarantee this can occur prior to the application deadline. The aforementioned application elements are as follows:

1. Title Page. The title page must be officially authorized by the institutional representative. The PIs and institutional representative should be identified by full name, title, organization, telephone number, and address. It is requested that the title page clearly indicate which project areas are being addressed and the total amount of requested Federal funds be listed for each budget period.

2. Abstract Page. An abstract should be included and should contain an introduction of the problem, rationale, and a brief summary of work to be completed. The abstract should appear on a separate page, headed with the proposal title, institution's investigators, total proposed cost, and budget period.

3. Results from Prior Research. The results of relevant projects supported by NOAA and other agencies should be described, including their relation to the currently proposed work. Reference to each prior research award should include the title, agency, award number, PIs, period of award, and total award. The section should be a brief summary and should not exceed two pages total.

4. Project description. The proposed project must be completely described, including identification of the problem; scientific objectives; proposed methodology; relevance to the priorities of NWS Regions or NCEP service centers; operational applicability; scientific merit; proposed technology transfer; past collaborations with operational hydrometeorologists; cost effectiveness of research; and the program priorities listed above.

Benefits of the proposed project to the general public and the scientific community should be discussed. A year-by-year summary of proposed work must be included.

5. Budget and Proposed Budget Justification. Applicants must submit a Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance, including a detailed budget using the SF 424A, Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs. (The forms are available on grants.gov.) Pay careful attention to show the yearly budget breakout on the SF 424A for multi-year proposals. In addition, the body of the proposal should include a separate table showing total and annual budgets (if multi-year) corresponding with the project description.

Additional text to justify expenses should be included as necessary.

6. Certification Regarding Lobbying. Applicants must submit a form CD-511. (The forms are available on grants.gov.)

7. Vitae. Abbreviated curriculum vitae are sought with each proposal. Reference lists should be limited to all publications in the last three years with up to five other relevant papers.

8. Current and Pending Support. For each investigator, submit a list which includes project title, supporting agency with grant number, investigator months, dollar value, and duration. Requested values should be listed for pending support.

C. Submission Dates and Times

Proposals must be received by www.grants.gov, postmarked, or provided to a delivery service by 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on October 30, 2015. Use of U.S. mail or another delivery service must be documented with a receipt and the package should be delivered within 5 business days. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted. Please note:

Validation or rejection of your application by Grants.gov may take up to 2 business days after submission. Proposals received after the delivery deadlines will be rejected/returned to the sender without further consideration. Please consider this process in developing your submission timeline.

D. Intergovernmental Review

Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.

E. Funding Restrictions

Funding beyond the first year will be dependent upon satisfactory performance and the continued availability of funds.

F. Other Submission Requirements

Proposals should be submitted through www.grants.gov. For those organizations without internet access, proposals may be sent to Christopher Hedge, CSTAR Program Manager, NOAA/NWS, 1325 East-West Highway, Room 15328, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910.

Federally funded educational institutions such as the Naval Postgraduate School may submit proposals by email to christopher.hedge@noaa.gov.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria and weighting of the criteria are as follows:

1. Importance/Relevance and Applicability of Proposal (35 percent): This criterion ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, federal, regional, state, or local activities. For the CSTAR competition this includes:

a. What is the likelihood of the proposed science activities to improve operational hydrometeorological services?

b. Are proposed research activities easily transferred to forecast operations in a reasonable time frame?

c. What is the degree of collaboration with multiple operational units throughout the project?

d. What is the level of planning by researchers to integrate results into operations successfully and efficiently?

2. Technical/Scientific Merit (30 percent): 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. For the CSTAR competition this includes:

a. What is the intrinsic scientific value and maturity of the subject and the study proposed as they relate to the specific science priorities?

b. Were focused scientific objectives and strategies, including data management considerations, project milestones, and timelines used?

3. Overall Qualification of Applicants (20 percent): This criterion ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project. For the CSTAR competition this includes:

a. Do PIs clearly document past scientific collaborations with operational meteorologists?

b. Have past interactions been successful?

c. Are researchers likely to maintain effective and consistent interactions with operational forecasts throughout the course of the proposed research program?

d. Have researchers demonstrated the ability to conduct successful research?

4. Project Costs (15 percent): This criterion evaluates the budget to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time-frame. For the CSTAR competition this includes:

a. Do researchers demonstrate the ability to leverage other resources?

b. Is there a high ratio of operationally useful results versus proposed costs?

5. Outreach and Education (0 percent): This criterion assesses whether the project provides a focused and effective education and outreach strategy regarding NOAA's mission to protect the Nation's natural resources. The CSTAR competition does not use this criterion.

B. Review and Selection Process

An initial administrative review/screening is conducted to determine compliance with requirements/completeness. All proposals will be evaluated and individually ranked in accordance with the assigned weights of the above evaluation criteria by an independent peer panel review. Three to ten NOAA experts, primarily representing NWS Regions and Centers, may be used in this process. The merit reviewers' ratings are used to produce a rank order of the proposals. The Selection Official selects proposals after considering the peer panel reviews and selection factors listed below. In making the final selections, the Selecting Official will award in rank order unless the proposal is justified to be selected out of rank order based upon one or more of the selection factors.

C. Selection Factors

The Merit review ratings shall provide a rank order to the Selecting Official for final funding recommendations. The Selecting Official shall award in the rank 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 by a) geographical balance, b) type of institutions, c) type of partners, d) research areas, and e) project types.

3. Duplication of other projects funded or considered for funding by NOAA/federal agencies.

4. Program priorities and policy factors.

5. Applicant's prior award performance.

6. Partnerships with/Participation of targeted groups.

7. Adequacy of information necessary for NOAA staff to make a NEPA determination and draft necessary documentation before recommendations for funding are made to the Grants Officer.

Regarding Selection Factor 2b, while a university may submit more than one application, the selecting official may limit the awards to only one per university.

D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

Subject to the availability of funds, review of proposals will occur during November and December 2015, and funding should begin during May of 2016 for most approved projects.

May 1, 2016, should be used as the proposed start date on proposals, unless otherwise directed by the Program Officer.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

Successful applicants will receive notification that the application has been recommended for funding by the NOAA Grants Management Division. This notification is not an authorization to begin performance of the project. Official notification of funding from the NOAA Grants Officer is the authorization that allows the project to begin.

Notification will be issued to the Authorizing Official and the PI of the project either electronically or in hard copy. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified that their proposals were not selected for recommendation.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements: Administrative and national policy requirements for all Department of Commerce awards are contained in 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). A copy of the notice may be obtained at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/search.html.

2. Limitation of Liability: In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for application preparation costs. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

3. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities.

Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the following NOAA NEPA website: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/daos/216-6.htm, and the Council on

Environmental Quality implementation regulations, http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm. Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under their description of their program activities, applicants are required to provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted, locations, sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist (e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, introduction of non-indigenous species, impacts to endangered and threatened species, aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef systems). In addition to providing specific information that will serve as the basis for any required impact analyses, applicants may also be requested to assist NOAA in drafting of an environmental assessment, if NOAA determines an assessment is required. Applicants will also be required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts of their proposal.

The failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting an application. In some cases if additional information is required after an application is selected, funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer under a special award condition requiring the recipient to submit additional environmental compliance information sufficient to enable NOAA to make an assessment on any impacts that a project may have on the environment.

4. Data 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 security requirements.

a. Unless otherwise noted in the federal funding announcement, a Data/Information Sharing Plan of no more than two pages shall be required. A typical plan should include descriptions of the types of environmental data and information 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, sharing, 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.

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

c. 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.

5. Unpaid or delinquent tax liability: In accordance with current Federal appropriations law, NOAA will provide a successful corporate applicant a form to be completed by its authorized representatives certifying that the corporation has no Federally-assessed unpaid or delinquent tax liability or recent felony criminal convictions under any Federal law.

6. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 includes a requirement for awardees of applicable Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards 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 Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.FSRS.gov on all subawards over $25,000.

7. 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& node=se2.1.200_1300&rgn=div8

8. If an applicant has not previously established an indirect cost rate with a Federal agency they may choose to negotiate a rate with the Department of Commerce or use the de minimis indirect cost rate of 10% of MTDC (as allowable under 2 C.F.R. §200.414). The negotiation and approval of a rate is subject to the procedures required by NOAA and the Department of Commerce Standard Terms and Conditions Section B.06. The NOAA contact for indirect or facilities and administrative costs is:

Lamar Revis, Grants Officer

NOAA Grants Management Division

1325 East West Highway

9th Floor

Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 lamar.revis@noaa.gov

9. FOIA- In the event that an application contains information or data that you do not want disclosed prior to award for purposes other than the evaluation of the application, you should mark each page containing such information or data with the words "Privileged, Confidential, Commercial, or Financial Information - Limited Use" at the top of the page to assist NOAA in making disclosure determinations. DOC regulations implementing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are found at 5 U.S.C 552, which sets forth rules for DOC to make requested materials, information, and records publicly available under FOIA.

The contents of funded applications may be subject to requests for release under the FOIA.

Based on the information provided by you, the confidentiality of the content of funded applications will be maintained to the maximum extent permitted by law.

C. Reporting

Award recipients will be required to submit financial and performance (technical) reports. These reports are to be submitted electronically through the NOAA Grants Online system on a semi-annual basis unless the recipient does not have internet access, in which case hard copy submissions will be accepted. All financial reports are routed directly to the NOAA Grants Officer. Performance reports are routed to the NOAA Program Officer.

VII. Agency Contacts

The point of contact is Christopher Hedge, NOAA/NWS; 1325 East-West Highway, Room 15328; Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-3283, or by phone at 301-713-3557 ext. 182, by fax to 301-713-1253, or via email at christopher.hedge@noaa.gov.

VIII. Other Information

To use grants.gov, applicants must have a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). Allow a minimum of five days to complete the CCR registration. [Note: Your organization's Employer Identification Number (EIN) will be needed on the application form.] Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the application deadline data to begin the application process through grants.gov.