oppNOAA-OAR-SG-2018-2005457-cfda11.417-cid2698279-instructions.pdf

National Sea Grant College Program 2018-19 Special Projects

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 6

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) 6 D. Submission Dates and Times 7 E. Intergovernmental Review 7 F. Funding Restrictions 7 G. Other Submission Requirements 7

V. Application Review Information 8 A. Evaluation Criteria 8 B. Review and Selection Process 8 C. Selection Factors 9 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 10

VI. Award Administration Information 10 A. Award Notices 10 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 10 C. Reporting 13

VII. Agency Contacts 14 VIII. Other Information 14

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: National Sea Grant College Program 2018-19 Special Projects

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2018-2005457

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.417, Sea Grant Support

Dates: Full applications may be submitted until 11:59 PM Eastern time September 30, 2019, if there are open competitions. Funding decisions will be made on a rolling basis depending on when applications are solicited, and when appropriate funding becomes available. Projects may be funded with appropriations from fiscal year 2018, 2019 or later, if appropriate funds are available.

Funding Opportunity Description: The purpose of this notice is to request proposals for special projects consistent with the focus areas outlined in the National Sea Grant College Program’s (Sea Grant) strategic plan, and to provide the general public with information and guidelines on how Sea Grant will select proposals and administer Federal assistance under this announcement.

This announcement is a mechanism to encourage research or other projects that are not normally funded through Sea Grant national competitions.

This opportunity is open only to Sea Grant Programs. Section III of this announcement describes eligibility requirements in more detail.

Funding has not yet been made available to support applications submitted to this Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO), but such funding may become available during the year. Section II.A. below describes individual competition announcements that will be used to announce when funding is available, any restrictions or requirements such as cost share, and other funding details. Awards will be made under this FFO only to applications that are responsive to individual competition announcements; unsolicited applications will not be reviewed.

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

Sea Grant's mission is to enhance the practical use and conservation of coastal, marine and Great Lakes resources in order to create a sustainable economy and environment. By regulation it is charged with increasing the understanding, assessment, development, management, utilization, and conservation of the Nation’s ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources by providing assistance to promote a strong educational base, responsive research and training activities, broad and prompt dissemination of knowledge and techniques, and multidisciplinary approaches to environmental problems. [33 USC 1121 et seq.] Sea Grant strategic focus areas are:

- Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture

- Resilient Communities and Economies

- Healthy Coastal Ecosystems

- Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development This competition seeks to support research, outreach, or education projects that will further one or more of the following Sea Grant goals:

SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE GOALS:

- Fisheries, aquaculture, and other coastal and freshwater natural resources supply food, jobs, and economic and cultural benefits.

- Natural resources are sustained to support fishing communities and industries, including commercial, recreational, subsistence fisheries, and aquaculture.

RESILIENT COMMUNITIES AND ECONOMIES GOALS:

- Coastal communities use their knowledge of changing conditions and risks to prepare for and adapt to extreme weather and environmental events, economic disruptions, and other threats to community well-being.

- Water resources are sustained and protected to meet existing and emerging needs of the communities, economies, and ecosystems that depend on them.

HEALTHY COASTAL ECOSYSTEM GOALS:

- Habitat, ecosystems, and the services they provide are protected, enhanced, and/or restored.

- Land, water, and living resources are managed by applying sound science, tools, and services to sustain ecosystems.

ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:

- An environmentally literate public that reflects the range of diversity of the nation’s coastal communities is informed by lifelong formal and informal opportunities.

- A diverse and skilled workforce is engaged and enabled to address critical local, regional, and national needs.

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These Sea Grant focus areas and goals support the mission goals in the NOAA Next Generation Strategic Plan:

- Climate Adaptation and Mitigation

- Weather-Ready Nation

- Healthy Oceans

- Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies The NOAA Next Generation Strategic Plan is available at:

http://www.performance.noaa.gov/ngsp/

B. Program Priorities

NOAA's priority under this announcement is to support projects that address critical issues that require a more rapid response than can be accommodated by the normal Sea Grant planning and competition cycle to be most effective.

C. Program Authority

33 U.S.C. 1121 et seq.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

Direct appropriations are not currently available for applications submitted under this announcement. Funding of any applications submitted under this announcement is subject to the availability of appropriations and to NOAA’s selection process as described in this announcement and any individual competition announcements. Funds from Fiscal Year 2018, 2019 or subsequent years (if and when available) may be used to support selected applications.

Funding availability may change during the time this competition is open. When updated information about funding becomes available, individual competition announcements will be sent by electronic mail to eligible applicants, and posted under "2018-19 Special Projects Competition" on the Sea Grant website at http://seagrant.noaa.gov/Funding.

Individual competition announcements will include the following, as applicable and available:

- a unique identifying competition title;

- the source and anticipated amount of funding available;

- the expected time period during which preliminary proposals (if any) and full applications will be considered for this funding;

- whether the funding requires matching funds, and if so, how much;

- any geographic or other restrictions placed on the use of the funds;

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- any special submission requirements;

- whether the use of the funds is limited to addressing one or more particular goals listed in section I.A.; and

- any deviations from the procedures set out in this Federal Funding Opportunity announcement.

B. Project/Award Period

In general, proposed projects should have a start date of no sooner than 90 days after the application submission due date. The start date must be on the first day of a month, and the end date must be on the last day of a month. Unless otherwise noted in the individual competition announcement, projects may have a duration of up to one year.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

Selected applicants will receive either a grant or a cooperative agreement depending on whether there is substantial involvement by NOAA. Examples of substantial involvement may include collaboration in research, participation in selection of key personnel, or approval of key stages in the project before subsequent steps are undertaken. Please contact the individuals listed under Section VII, Agency Contacts, with questions about grants or cooperative agreements.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are: Sea Grant Programs (Sea Grant Colleges, Institutions, or Coherent Area Programs), the National Sea Grant Law Center, and the National Sea Grant Library. Individual competition announcements may restrict eligibility to a subset of these applicants.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

Depending on the availability and source of funds, funds for applications under individual competition announcements may have non-Federal matching fund requirements.

It is expected that most of the funds that might be available will have a non-Federal match requirement of 50% of the Federal request, as required by the Sea Grant Act at 33 USC 1124(a). However, some competitions may offer funds that have other matching requirements, or no matching requirement.

As noted in Section II.A., above, individual competition announcements will specify the source of funds and whether they have a matching requirement. Applications will only be considered for support if they meet the match requirements of the individual competition

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C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility none

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

Applications are available through Grants.gov, and can be searched for using Funding Opportunity Number NOAA-OAR-SG-2018-2005457. Certain required or optional forms described in section IV.B. below are available at:

http://seagrant.noaa.gov/insideseagrant/Forms-and-Templates.

B. Content and Form of Application

Unless there is specific information otherwise in an individual competition announcement described in Section II.A., the minimum requirements for any application package to this FFO are:

- SF-424 - Application for Federal Assistance

- SF-424A - Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs

- SF-424B - Assurances – Non-Construction Programs

- CD-511 - Certifications Regarding Lobbying

- a Sea Grant 90-2 form (OMB Control No. 0648-0362),

- a Project Description of not more than 15 pages, containing as appropriate:

(1) Introduction/background/justification:

(2) Project objectives

(3) General work plan and milestones

(4) Anticipated outcomes

(5) Coordination with other program elements

(6) References and literature citations

(7) Short CVs (no longer than 2 pages) for each principal and co-principal investigator

- a Sea Grant 90-4 form (OMB Control No. 0648-0362), and

- a Budget narrative, justifying the expenses proposed Depending on the nature of the project, other information such as NOAA’s Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire (OMB Control No. 0648-0538) may be required.

In addition, if the project generates environmental data, a Data Sharing Plan will be required.

See the data sharing paragraph in Section VI.B. below for more information.

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

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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/. Applicants are also required to use the Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System, as identified in OMB guidance published at 2 CFR Parts 25, which may be accessed at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr25_main_02.tpl.

D. Submission Dates and Times

See Section II.A., Funding Availability, for information on obtaining individual funding announcements. In any case, applications will not be accepted after 11:59 PM Eastern time September 30, 2019.

E. Intergovernmental Review

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

F. Funding Restrictions

1. There is no direct level of Congressional funding available for this opportunity.

Funding of any project is completely at the discretion of NOAA, and is subject to available appropriations, including any restrictions present on the funds used. Funds available in FY 2018, 2019 or subsequent years (if available) may be used to fund applications in response to this Opportunity.

2. The Sea Grant Act at 33 USC 1124(d)(2) states:

“No payment under any grant or contract under this section may be applied to:

(A) the purchase or rental of any land; or

(B) the purchase, rental, construction, preservation, or repair of any building, dock, or vessel;

except that payment under any such grant or contract may be applied to the short-term rental of buildings or facilities for meetings which are in direct support of any Sea Grant Program or project and may, if approved by the Secretary, be applied to the purchase, rental, construction, preservation, or repair of non-self-propelled habitats, buoys, platforms, and other similar devices or structures, or to the rental of any research vessel which is used in direct support of activities under any Sea Grant Program or project.”

G. Other Submission Requirements

All proposals should be submitted through www.Grants.gov (Grants.gov). Use Grants.gov Federal Funding Opportunity number NOAA-OAR-SG- 2018-2005457. At the

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 7 of 14 time of this writing, NOAA understands that all eligible applicants have internet access. In the event an eligible applicant loses internet access or is without sufficient internet capacity to upload their application to Grants.gov, they must contact the Agency Contact listed in Section VII for instructions on alternative submission methods.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

Unless specified otherwise in an individual competition announcement described in Section II.A., all evaluation criteria have equal weights.

1. IMPORTANCE AND/OR RELEVANCE AND APPLICABILITY OF THE PROPOSED

PROJECT TO THE MISSION GOALS:

This criterion assesses whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, federal, regional, state, or local activities: i.e., how does the proposed activity enhance NOAA and Sea Grant strategic focus areas and mission goals? This includes how well the proposed activity addresses the goals of the individual competition announcement, and any geographic, programmatic, or other restrictions placed on available funds.

2. TECHNICAL/SCIENTIFIC MERIT:

This measures whether the approach is technically sound, if the methods are appropriate, and whether there are clear project goals and objectives.

3. OVERALL QUALIFICATIONS OF APPLICANTS:

This evaluates whether the applicant possesses the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project.

4. PROJECT COSTS:

The budget is analyzed to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time-frame.

5. OUTREACH AND EDUCATION:

This criterion reviews whether the project provides a focused and effective education and outreach strategy regarding NOAA’s mission to protect the Nation’s natural resources, Sea Grant's strategic focus areas, and the goals of the individual competition announcement.

B. Review and Selection Process

1. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS CHECK. Upon receipt of a complete application, an initial administrative review will be conducted to determine whether it meets the minimum eligibility requirements, compliance with requirements of this Federal Funding Announcement and the individual competition announcement, and any restrictions on available funding. This review includes determining whether or not:

a. Statutory authority exists to provide financial assistance for the project or organization;

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b. A complete application package has been submitted by an eligible applicant;

c. The Project Description addresses one or more of Sea Grant goals listed in Section I.A.;

d. Funding has been announced for projects to support activities described in the application, and the application meets the requirements specified in the individual competition announcement, including whether match is required.

If an application is found to meet these requirements, it will be subjected to a technical review, as described below. If an application does not meet the above requirements, it will be rejected.

2. TECHNICAL REVIEW. Applications that meet minimum requirements will be assessed according to the evaluation criteria described in Section V.A. above. The technical review will be conducted by at least three independent technical reviewers against the criteria provided in Section V.A. above. Reviewers will rate the criteria on a five-point scale (1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Good, 4=Very Good, 5=Excellent) or equivalent, and provide comments supporting those ratings.

The overall rating of each application in each of the criteria will be determined by calculating the average or median of the individual reviewer ratings, or establishing a consensus rating among all reviewers. The application will not be evaluated by consensus unless all reviewers are Federal employees, and the competition manager determines that the application can be better evaluated by consensus than by calculating ratings from the individual scores of each reviewer. To be considered for funding, an application will need to have an overall rating of “Good” or better in at least four evaluation criteria, and no overall “Poor” rating in any criterion.

C. Selection Factors

The results of the merit review ratings shall be provided in rank order to the Selecting Official for final funding recommendations. The Selecting Official shall award in rank order unless he or she justifies selecting an application out of rank order based upon one or more of the following factors:

1. Availability of funding

2. Balance and distribution of funds:

a. Geography,

b. Type of institution,

c. Type of partner,

d. Research area, or

e. Project type

3. Duplication of other projects funded or considered for funding by NOAA or other Federal agencies, including projects previously selected under this announcement, and other applications being concurrently evaluated under this announcement.

4. Program priorities and policy factors as given in Section I.B

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5. The 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.

Consequently, awards may not necessarily be made to the highest-scored applications.

Investigators may be asked to answer questions; and/or modify objectives, work plans, and/or budgets (including overall funding level) to address the issues raised by the reviewers, the competition manager, the Selecting Official, or the Grants Officer before an award is made. Subsequent administrative processing will be in accordance with current NOAA grants procedures.

D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

Subject to the availability of funds, awards are expected to be made two to four months after the application due date given in the individual competition announcement described in Section II.A. Applications received after June 1 might not be awarded in the same fiscal year.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

Successful applicants will receive notification that the application has been recommended for funding to the NOAA Grants Management Division. This notification is not an authorization to begin performance of the project. Official notification of funding, signed by the NOAA Grants Officer, is the authorizing document that allows the project to begin. Notification will be issued to the Authorizing Official and the Principle Investigator of the project electronically via Grants Online or in hard copy. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified that their proposal was not selected for recommendation.

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 online 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

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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. Refer to http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4.

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 yet 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.

UNPAID OR DELINQUENT TAX LIABILITY. Certifications Regarding Federal Felony and Federal Criminal Tax Convictions, Unpaid Federal Tax Assessments and Delinquent Federal Tax Returns. In accordance with Federal appropriations law, an authorized representative of the selected applicant(s) may be required to provide certain pre-award certifications regarding federal felony and federal criminal tax convictions, unpaid federal tax assessments, and delinquent federal tax returns.

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

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 11 of 14 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 administrative reviews, including an assessment of risk posed by the applicant under 2 C.F.R. 200.205. These may include assessments of the financial stability of an applicant and the quality of the applicant’s management systems, 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 (if the project generates environmental data). 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. 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

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Repository after acceptance, and no later than upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made publicly available by NOAA one year after publication by the journal.

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, or lamar.revis@noaa.gov.

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), 5 U.S.C 552, are found at 15 C.F.R.

Part 4, 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 the applicant, 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 to the state Sea Grant Program for reporting requirements. These reports are to be submitted electronically, unless the recipient can prove he does not have Internet access, in which case hard copy submissions may be accepted; however, no facsimiles will be accepted. After consultation between the applicant(s) and the state Sea Grant Program staff, reports are to be submitted electronically by state Sea Grant Program staff via Grants Online.

State Sea Grant Programs also are required to use the National Sea Grant Planning Implementation Evaluation Reporting (PIER) System to communicate with the National Sea Grant Office on activities relating to this award. This includes tracking progress and impacts, in addition to performance metrics. Successful applicants will be asked to provide

Federal Funding Opportunity Page 13 of 14 performance progress information in a form compatible with this system. If a proposal is selected and funded, information about the project and investigator(s) will be recorded in the PIER system, and can be made public.

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

Special Projects Competition Manager, NOAA R/SG, National Sea Grant Office, 1315 East-West Highway, Rm 11839, Silver Spring, MD 20910, telephone 301-734-1066; via electronic mail at oar.hq.sg.competitions@noaa.gov. Write “attention Special Projects” in the subject line.

VIII. Other Information

Information provided in successful applications will be maintained in the Sea Grant PIER project database and may be made available to the public.

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