NOAA-NWS-NWSPO-2022-2006968 NOFO Report.pdf

Collaborative Science, Technology, and Applied Research (CSTAR) Program

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 3

A. Program Objective 3 B. Program Priorities 4 C. Program Authority 4

II. Award Information 4 A. Funding Availability 4 B. Project/Award Period 5 C. Type of Funding Instrument 5

III. Eligibility Information 5 A. Eligible Applicants 5 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 5 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 5

IV. Application and Submission Information 6 A. Address to Request Application Package 6 B. Content and Form of Application 6 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 8 D. Submission Dates and Times 9 E. Intergovernmental Review 9 F. Funding Restrictions 9 G. Other Submission Requirements 9

V. Application Review Information 10 A. Evaluation Criteria 10 B. Review and Selection Process 11 C. Selection Factors 11 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 12

VI. Award Administration Information 12 A. Award Notices 12 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 12 C. Reporting 16

VII. Agency Contacts 16 VIII. Other Information 17

Notice of Federal Funding Page 1 of 17

NOTICE OF 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-2022-2006968

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

Dates: Letters of Intent (LOIs) submitted by Principal Investigators (PIs) must be received by email no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Thursday, September 30, 2021. Response letters to PIs will be sent from NOAA via email around 2 weeks after the LOI deadline. Full application packages must be submitted through Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 19, 2021. Expected project start date is May 1, 2022.

Funding Opportunity Description: Through the Collaborative Science, Technology, and Applied Research (CSTAR) Program, the NWS Office of Science and Technology Integration (OSTI) is soliciting proposals to conduct research and development activities. The CSTAR Program represents an 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, social and behavioral sciences.

These activities will engage university researchers and students in applied research of interest to the operational meteorological community. The focus of this announcement is on research and development topics related to the improvement of weather, water, and climate services to historically underserved and socially vulnerable communities. There is one grant competition under this announcement valued at approximately $800,000 for five to seven new projects.

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

The objective of the Collaborative Science, Technology and Applied Research (CSTAR) Program is to improve the overall effectiveness of forecasts and warnings by addressing science and technology research priorities through collaborative research efforts between the National Weather Service (NWS) and academic institutions that have expertise in environmental, social and behavioral sciences. These activities engage university researchers and students in applied research of interest to the operational meteorological community.

The NOAA/NWS warning and forecast mission has benefitted significantly from a strong partnership with investigators in the non-Federal academic research community.

The theme of this funding announcement is improving weather, water, and climate services to historically underserved and socially vulnerable communities. It is well known that underserved and disadvantaged populations are disproportionately impacted by extreme weather events, and are at greater risk for experiencing negative health impacts related to threats such as extreme rainfall, extreme temperatures, winter precipitation, extreme wind events, tropical cyclones, fire weather, and severe weather. The NWS vision of building a Weather-Ready Nation can only be fully successful when NWS forecasts, warnings, and community engagement reaches a broader range of Americans in underserved or disadvantaged communities.

Despite accurate predictions, decision making at the community, business, and individual level is complex and can bring confusion, underestimation of risk, and inequity. Service delivery to the most underserved and vulnerable is extremely challenging, as distrust, ineffective or unavailable communications, and cultural/societal differences act as obstacles to optimizing the effectiveness of forecasts and warnings. NOAA/NWS aims to improve capabilities to both better support decision makers who serve these communities, as well as to improve services available to them directly. Low income housing, homelessness, physical disabilities, and language barriers are some of the realities that increase vulnerability. To offset these vulnerabilities, NWS products, services, and partnerships need to strengthen individual, business, and community resilience in an equitable approach. Improved service delivery based on a better understanding of community needs and challenges will result in protective action taken, lives saved, and a reduced disruption to livelihoods.

NOAA/NWS is seeking research proposals focused on developing methodologies, metrics, risk assessments, and/or enhanced services to improve service to historically underserved

Notice of Federal Funding Page 3 of 17 and socially vulnerable communities. This includes research on improved communication methods to better inform special-interest populations with unique needs, such as the elderly, inner-city communities and underserved rural areas. It also includes research on how people’s interest in, access to, and interpretation of weather information, as well as their decisions and actions in response, are affected by factors such as their specific social or physical context, prior experiences, or cultural background.

B. Program Priorities

Improving weather, water, and climate services to historically underserved and socially vulnerable communities (HUSVCs). This may include:

a. Developing innovative methodologies to assess and understand the needs, vulnerabilities, and challenges of HUSVCs with respect to extreme events to ensure NWS products and services save lives and reduce disruption to livelihoods

b. Developing methods of communicating risk communication in ways that improve user comprehension, reception, and response in HUSVCs

c. Incorporating social and behavioral science knowledge and practices to effectively communicate forecast confidence, uncertainty, and impact-based historical context to HUSVCs

d. Identifying and enhancing NWS services for HUSVCs that are at greater risk for experiencing negative impacts related to extreme weather events such as heat, tornadoes and hurricane landfalls

e. Conducting economic valuation studies to assess the benefits of reducing service equity gaps to HUSVCs

f. Developing methodologies to assess human behavior and response to weather forecasts and events

g. Developing meaningful metrics to gage the success of NWS education and outreach efforts to HUSVCs

C. Program Authority

Public Law 115-25 Weather Research and Forecasting Act of 2017, 15 U.S.C. 8512(c).

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

The total funding amount available is estimated to be $800,000 per year. Funding of any proposal is contingent upon the availability of these funds. Individual annual awards are limited to a maximum of $150,000 total per year for no more than three years. It is

Notice of Federal Funding Page 4 of 17 anticipated that approximately 5-7 awards will be provided.

B. Project/Award Period

Projects are to be conducted for a 1-year, 2-year, or 3-year period, with an anticipated start date of May 1, 2022 unless otherwise directed. When a proposal for a multi-year award is approved, funding may 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 1) satisfactory progress as presented in regular written performance reports in relation to the stated goals of the proposal to address specific science needs and priorities of the NWS; and

2) the availability of funds.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

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

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are United States institutions of higher education.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

No cost sharing is required under this announcement.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

Collaboration with PIs at different institutes is allowed, but there must be a single application from a lead university with sub-awards to any participants from other institutions. Other arrangements will not be considered. Proposals should clearly state the role of each PI in the project. Federal government employees and federal contractors are not allowed to be listed as PIs or receive funding, although collaboration between the academic community and NOAA within the project is required. While an eligible institution may submit more than one application, the Selecting Official may require that proposals be combined to increase the cost-benefit to the public. Only one proposal per principal investigator or co-principal investigator at a given institution may be funded.

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IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

The standard application package for full proposals is available through Grants.gov.

There is no similar official application package for Letters of Intent (LOIs) other than the requirements identified in Section IV.B.1.

B. Content and Form of Application

1. Letter of Intent (LOI) The purpose of the LOI process is to provide information to potential applicants on the relevance of their proposed project in advance of preparing a full application. For this announcement, PIs are encouraged, but not required, to submit a pre-application by email in the form of a LOI for each planned project. The LOI should identify a targeted priority area outlined in Section I.B., include the principal and co-investigator(s) names and institution(s), summarize anticipated project scope and yearly budget, and be no more than 2 pages in length. LOI's will be reviewed by the Program Office. All PIs will be notified through email by the Federal Program Officer whether a full proposal is encouraged or discouraged about 2 weeks after the LOI due date. Full applications will be encouraged only for LOIs deemed relevant to the program objectives and priorities specified in this announcement. Even though a proposal may be discouraged, a PI is not precluded from submitting a full proposal.

2. Full Proposal A complete and full proposal must contain all of the following information. Failure to include all mandatory information will result in rejection of the proposal. Proposals should total no more than 25 pages in length, single spaced including the title page and abstract. It is strongly recommended that Times New Roman 12 point font, or an equivalent, be used.

Federally mandated forms, indirect cost-rate agreements, and any letters of support are not included within the page count, but all other information must be included. May 1, 2022 should be used as the proposal start date on all forms. The application elements listed below are required before an award can be made, and should be submitted as a part of the application package via Grants.gov.

The aforementioned application elements are as follows:

(a) Title Page. The title page must be officially authorized by the institutional representative.

All PIs and the institutional representative should be identified by full name, title, organization, telephone number, email address and mailing address. The title page should clearly indicate the priority area(s) being addressed, and the federal funding requested for each annual period.

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(b) Abstract Page. A one-page abstract must be included and contain an introduction of the problem, rationale, and a brief summary of research activities to be completed. The abstract should appear on a separate page, headed with the proposal title, the institution's investigators, total proposed cost, and budget period.

(c) 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. This section should be a brief summary and should not exceed two pages total.

(d) Project Description. The proposed project must be completely described, including identification of the problem; scientific objectives; proposed methodology; relevance to the program priorities outlined in Section I.B.; potential operational applicability and/or technology transfer; scientific merit; and cost effectiveness of research. The benefits of the proposed project to the general public and the scientific community should be discussed. A year-by-year summary of the proposed work must be included.

(e) Budget and Proposed Budget Justification. The body of the proposal should include an itemized budget table breaking out total and annual budgets (if multi-year) corresponding with the project description. In order to fully evaluate the appropriateness of costs, all applications must include a detailed budget narrative and justification to support all proposed budget categories for each project year. The budget narrative must be consistent with the budget table and should be broken out and detailed using the same budget categories as the SF-424A budget form. The information in the budget narrative must be consistent with and justify the budget figures on the SF-424A.

Applicants requesting an approved Federal indirect cost rate are required to submit a copy of their current and signed indirect cost rate agreement with the application package in order to support the rate used to budget. See Section VI.B. for more information on indirect cost rates.

(f) 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.

(g) Current and Pending Support. For each investigator requesting funding, 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.

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(h) Proposals submitted in response to this NOFO must include a Data Management Plan (up to 2 pages). See Section VI.B. for additional information on what the plan should contain.

(i) Letters of support are encouraged but not required.

(j) The full proposal package includes the information described above as well the following required federal forms: (1) Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424); (2) Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A): For multi-year proposals, pay careful attention to show the yearly budget breakout on the SF-424A; (3) Certification Regarding Lobbying (CD-511); (4) Assurances - Non Construction Programs (SF-424B); (5) Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL). Current versions of these forms are available on Grants.gov.

(k) This announcement does not require any National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) questions to be answered as part of the application. This will be done after project selection if NOAA needs additional information beyond what is described in the proposal package.

For additional information on NEPA, see Section VI.B.

C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

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, 31 U.S.C. 6101 note, to the extent applicable, any proposal awarded in response to this announcement will be required to use the System for Award Management (SAM), which may be accessed online at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/.

Each applicant (unless the applicant is excepted from those requirements under 2 CFR 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the Federal awarding agency under 2 CFR 25.110(d)) is required to: (i) Be registered in SAM before submitting an application; (ii) Provide a valid unique entity identifier in the application; and (iii) 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 NOAA (or any other Federal awarding agency).

NOAA may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements. If an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time NOAA is ready to make a Federal award, the Federal awarding agency may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

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In order to submit an application through Grants.gov, an applicant must register for a Grants.gov user ID and password. Note that this process can take between three to five business days or as long as four weeks if all steps are not completed correctly. To avoid delays, applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the approaching application deadline before registering, logging in, reviewing the application instructions, and applying. Organizations that are already registered with Grants.gov do not need to re-register.

D. Submission Dates and Times

Letters of Intent (LOIs) must be received by e-mail to christopher.hedge@noaa.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Thursday, September 30, 2021. NOAA determines whether an LOI has been submitted before the deadline by the date and time on the email. LOIs received after the deadline will not be reviewed, but PIs are still permitted to submit a full proposal. It is expected that response letters to all PIs who submitted LOIs by the due date will be sent via e-mail around 2 weeks after the LOI deadline.

Complete application packages must be submitted through Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 19, 2021. The date and time receipt indication from Grants.gov will be the basis of determining timeliness. Applications received after that time will be rejected and will not be reviewed.

E. Intergovernmental Review

Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order 12372.

F. Funding Restrictions

Funding beyond the first year will be dependent upon satisfactory performance and the continued availability of funds. NOAA is not responsible for proposal preparation costs.

NOAA cannot, under this NOFO, fund any research in which the applicant proposes to develop or deliver to NOAA any tangible product other than research results as reported in standard semiannual and final reports. NOAA can neither fund nor accept any award deliverable that would be more appropriately funded through a procurement mechanism, such as software modules that the recipient might wish that NOAA would use for its operational forecasting mission. However, NOAA may possibly pursue such follow-on contract mechanisms with the recipient after the award ends, if warranted. Therefore, do not propose to provide NOAA any deliverable other than the semi-annual and final reports.

G. Other Submission Requirements

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Letters of Intent (LOIs) are not required, but must be submitted by email to christopher.hedge@noaa.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Thursday, September 30, 2021 in order to receive an email response from the program office about 2 weeks thereafter. Complete application packages must be submitted through Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 19, 2021.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

Applicants are required to address in their proposal the criteria described in this section, which serves as the fundamental basis for reviewing, scoring, and ranking of the proposals.

The evaluation criteria and weighting of the criteria are as follows (for a total of 100 points):

1. Importance/Relevance and Applicability of Proposed Projects to Program Goals (35 points): This criterion ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to the stated priorities. For the CSTAR Program, this includes:

a. How well does the proposal address one or more of the science priorities listed in Section I.B.?

b. What is the likelihood that the proposed science activities can improve operational meteorological services?

c. Does the proposal identify an appropriate degree of collaboration with one or more NOAA operational unit throughout the project?

d. Can the proposed research activities, if successful, be transferred to forecast operations by NOAA in a reasonable time frame?

e. Does the proposal include a data sharing plan for the project progress and results? Per the NOAA Data Sharing Directive, data management plans will be evaluated as part of the proposal review process.

2. Technical/Scientific Merit (30 points): 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. This includes:

a. Are the proposal methods and proposed solution technically sound and achievable?

b. What is the intrinsic scientific value and maturity of the subject and the proposed study as they relate to the specific science priorities identified in Section I.B.?

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

3. Overall Qualification of Applicants (20 points): This criterion ascertains whether the

Notice of Federal Funding Page 10 of 17 applicant possesses the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project. This includes:

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

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

c. Are researchers likely to maintain effective and appropriate interactions with NOAA scientists throughout the course of the proposed research project?

4. Project Costs (15 points): This criterion evaluates the budget to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time frame. This includes:

a. Are the requested costs realistic, reasonable, allowable, necessary and commensurate with the project needs and time period?

b. Has the applicant proposed cost-efficient ways of accomplishing the project?

c. What is the appropriateness and reasonableness of the budget relative to the benefits to be gained?

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

B. Review and Selection Process

Once a full application has been received, an administrative review will first be conducted to determine compliance with all submission requirements, completeness of the application, and responsiveness to the NOAA priorities in Section I.B. If all requirements are satisfied and the application is responsive to the NOAA priorities, the application will move to the next stage of review. If not, the application will be rejected and the PIs will be notified. Each proposal will be evaluated and individually ranked in accordance with the assigned weights of the above evaluation criteria by an independent peer panel review. At least 3 subject matter experts may be used in this process. The merit reviewers' ratings are used to produce a rank order of the proposals. The Selecting Official selects proposals after considering the rank order and selection factors listed in Section V.C. Any application considered for funding may be required to address issues raised in the evaluation of the application by the reviewers, Program Office, Selecting Official, and/or Grants Officer before a selection recommendation decision is made and/or before an award is made.

C. Selection Factors

The Selecting Official shall award in the rank order of the review unless the applications are 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) geographic area; 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 or other federal

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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 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 an institution may submit more than one application, the Selecting Official may limit the awards to only one per institution.

D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

Applicants should use May 1, 2022 as the proposed start date.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

After completion of the review process, applicants will receive notification from the NWS Program Office that the application has either been recommended or not recommended for funding to the NOAA Grants Management Division. Notices of recommendation for funding are not an authorization to initiate the project. Official notification of funding of the grant award, signed by a NOAA Grants Officer, will occur typically two to three months later (if approved) and is the only official approval document that authorizes the project to begin.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PRE-AWARD NOTIFICATION

REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS - 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 at:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-12-30/pdf/2014-30297.pdf.

UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, COST PRINCIPLES, AND AUDIT

REQUIREMENTS. Through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101, the Department of Commerce adopted Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, which apply to awards in this program.

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DOC TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Successful applicants who accept a NOAA award under this solicitation will be bound by Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions. This document will be provided in the award package in NOAA’s Grants Online system at http://www.ago.noaa.gov and at http://go.usa.gov/hKbj.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY - Funding for programs listed in this notice is contingent upon the availability of appropriations. Applicants are hereby given notice that funds may not have been appropriated for the programs listed in this notice. In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for proposal preparation costs. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA). NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities. Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the following NOAA NEPA website: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216_6.pdf, and the Council on Environmental Quality implementation regulations, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/NEPA-40CFR1500_1508.pdf. 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 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. 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.

REVIEW OF RISK - After applications are proposed for funding by the selecting official, the Grants Office will perform administration reviews. These may include assessments of the financial stability of an applicant and the quality of the applicant’s management systems, Notice of Federal Funding Page 13 of 17 history of performance, and the applicant’s ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other requirements imposed on non-Federal entities. Special conditions that address any risks determined to exist may be applied. Applicants may submit comments to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) about any information included in the system about their organization for consideration by the awarding agency.

DATA SHARING PLAN -

1. Environmental data and information collected or created under NOAA grants or cooperative agreements must be made discoverable by and accessible to the general public, in a timely fashion (typically within two years), free of charge or at no more than the cost of reproduction, unless an exemption is granted by the NOAA Program. Data should be available in at least one machine-readable format, preferably a widely-used or open-standard format, and should also be accompanied by machine-readable documentation (metadata), preferably based on widely used or international standards.

2. Proposals submitted in response to this announcement must include a Data Management Plan of up to two pages describing how these requirements will be satisfied. Administrative and National Policy Requirements, below for additional information on what the plan should contain. The Data Management Plan should be aligned with the Data Management Guidance provided by NOAA in the Announcement. The contents of the Data Management Plan (or absence thereof), and past performance regarding such plans, will be considered as part of proposal review. A typical plan should include descriptions of the types of environmental data and information expected 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; methods for providing data access; approximate total volume of data to be collected;

and prior experience in making such data accessible. The costs of data preparation, accessibility, or archiving may be included in the proposal budget unless otherwise stated in the Guidance. Accepted submission of data to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is one way to satisfy data sharing requirements;

however, NCEI is not obligated to accept all submissions and may charge a fee, particularly for large or unusual datasets.

3. NOAA may, at its own discretion, make publicly visible the Data Management Plan from funded proposals, or use information from the Data Management Plan to produce a formal metadata record and include that metadata in a Catalog to indicate the pending availability of new data.

4. Proposal submitters are hereby advised that the final pre-publication manuscripts of scholarly articles produced entirely or primarily with NOAA funding will be required to be submitted to NOAA Institutional Repository after acceptance, and no later than upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made publicly available by NOAA one year after

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MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS - The Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to increasing the participation of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), i.e., Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian institutions, and institutions that work in underserved communities.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (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, 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.

INDIRECT COST RATE - 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. 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, MD 20910 lamar.revis@noaa.gov.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT, OTHER FORMS of HARASSMENT or SEXUAL ASSAULT - NOAA will not tolerate sexual harassment, other forms of harassment or sexual assault within the agency, at awardee organizations, or anywhere NOAA-funded science and education are conducted. As a primary funding agency of fundamental and applied science research in the U.S., NOAA is committed to promoting safe, productive research and education environments for current and future scientists and engineers. NOAA considers the PI and any co-PI identified on a NOAA award to be in positions of trust. The PI and co-PI and all award personnel must comport themselves in a responsible and accountable manner during the performance of award activities whether at the grantee organization, online, or conducted outside the organization, such as at field sites, or facilities, or during conferences and workshops.

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The many U.S. institutions of higher education and other organizations that receive NOAA funds are responsible for fully investigating complaints and for compliance with federal non-discrimination laws, regulations and executive orders. In support of this position, NOAA has taken steps to bolster our commitment to a safe research environment, including development and implementation of an award term and condition that requires NOAA to be notified: 1) of any findings/determinations regarding the PI or co-PI that demonstrate a violation of awardee codes of conduct, policies, regulations or statutes relating to sexual harassment, other forms of harassment, or sexual assault; or 2) if the awardee places, or has placed, the PI, or co-PI on administrative leave or imposes, or has imposed, an administrative action relating to a finding or investigation of a violation of awardee policies, codes of conduct, statutes or regulations relating to sexual harassment, other forms of harassment, or sexual assault. New awards funded in FY21 and beyond will have this special award condition (SAC) in the award terms and conditions.

NOAA expects all research organizations to establish and maintain clear and unambiguous standards of behavior to ensure harassment-free workplaces wherever science is conducted.

A community effort is essential to eliminate sexual and other forms of harassment in science and to build a scientific workspace where people can learn, grow and thrive.

C. Reporting

Award recipients will be required to submit project performance (technical) and financial reports via NOAA’s Grants Online system. Progress reports are required on a semi-annual schedule and must be submitted no later than 30 days following the end of each 6-month period from the start date of the award. A comprehensive final project performance report is due 90 days after the award expiration. Copies of all submitted reports will become the property of the U.S. Government. All dissemination of results, including publications and written or oral presentations supported by this funding opportunity, should acknowledge NOAA/NWS and the CSTAR Program.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, 31 U.S.C. 6101 note, includes a requirement for awardees of applicable Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards. All awardees of applicable grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Sub-award Reporting System (FSRS) available at https://www.fsrs.gov/ on all sub-awards over $25,000.

Refer to 2 CFR Parts 170.

VII. Agency Contacts

For questions about this announcement, contact Christopher Hedge, CSTAR Program Manager, via email at christopher.hedge@noaa.gov.

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VIII. Other Information

None.

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