PKG00260581-instructions.pdf

Ocean and Coastal Mapping Centers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 3

A. Program Objective 3 B. Program Priorities 3 C. Program Authority 5

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

III. Eligibility Information 6 A. Eligible Applicants 6 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 6 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) 11 D. Submission Dates and Times 12 E. Intergovernmental Review 12 F. Funding Restrictions 12 G. Other Submission Requirements 12

V. Application Review Information 13 A. Evaluation Criteria 13 B. Review and Selection Process 14 C. Selection Factors 14 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 15

VI. Award Administration Information 15 A. Award Notices 15 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 15 C. Reporting 19

VII. Agency Contacts 19 VIII. Other Information 19

Notice of Federal Funding Page 1 of 20

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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

Funding Opportunity Title: Ocean and Coastal Mapping Centers

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NOS-OCS-2020-2006381

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.400, Geodetic Surveys and Services (Applications of the National Geodetic Ref System)

Dates: Applications must be received by 5:00 pm, Eastern Time on May 22, 2020, by the Office of Coast Survey (OCS), NOS, NOAA. For applications submitted through Grants.gov APPLY, a date and time receipt indication is included and will be the basis of determining timeliness.

Facsimile transmission and electronic mail submission of applications will not be accepted.

We anticipate that a review of applications will be completed during June-July, 2020, and anticipate an Award Date of July 21, 2020.

All applications must be submitted in accordance with the guidelines below. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in proposals being returned to the submitter.

Funding Opportunity Description: The purpose of this notice is to solicit proposals for a single cooperative agreement between NOAA and an institution of higher learning. The Hydrographic Services Improvement Act and the Coastal and Ocean Mapping Integration Act has authorized NOAA to operate up to three joint-ocean and coastal mapping centers of excellence for the nation. These centers typically focus on coastal and ocean research, applied hydrography, disaster response, forecasting, remote sensing technologies, and graduate education.

The program priorities for this opportunity support NOAA's mission goal of “Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies” and the objective of “Safe, efficient and environmentally sound marine transportation.”

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

Through the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act, the United States Congress has authorized the creation, support, and maintenance of such joint centers as the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) deems appropriate or necessary to carry out the purposes of the Act. The Coastal and Ocean Mapping Integration Act has also authorized NOAA to operate up to three joint ocean and coastal mapping centers, which may be co-located with an institution of higher education as authorized by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11). These joint, ocean and coastal mapping centers serve as the primary ocean and coastal mapping centers of excellence for the nation.

B. Program Priorities

1. Research and Development

a. Multi-beam sonar integration into unmanned systems – There is a need for integration of hydrographic sensors onboard a platform of limited power and communications capability. The use of unmanned system operation can also include coastal and shoreline mapping and other data fusion ideas that have been proposed in order to quantify and characterize the oceanographic quantities of the surveyed area.

b. Geodetic observations – Precise positioning and modeling of water levels from GNSS observations. Outcomes of such a research support the development of separation values for the ellipsoid to tidal datums. If this technique proves viable, it will provide a new method for tidal measurement in offshore and remote areas that is less susceptible to vandalism and other hazards associated with a coastal stations. This research supports surveying on the ellipsoid and VDatum improvements.

2. Applied Hydrography for Coastal and Disaster Response

a. Innovative integration and engineering efforts of manned and unmanned systems – It is necessary for NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey to be able to collect data in domestic ports, shallow bays, “back waters,” etc., and remote areas requiring long endurance, such as the Arctic Ocean and numerous regions of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

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b. Operation of manned and unmanned systems in Disaster Response mode – Such operational research should be aligned with current (and planned) hydrographic operations from NOAA's Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (DRC). This can include Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) and operational logistics, such as transfer of data to a land station or processing in a cloud environment.

c. Visualization – As part of this operation research, there should be a component for the development of visualization tools for disaster response hydrographic data and other observations. These tools can support processing and provide better communication of the current status of a feature during and after a survey.

3. Forecasting and Remote Sensing Technologies

a. Nesting models to support navigation – Development of higher resolution model for near shore and in ports to support dynamic bathymetry, precision navigation, backscatter calibration, and surface currents.

b. Hydrographic surveying to coastal models – Develop a methodology to identify the sensitivity of bathymetry and bottom type on hydrodynamic models. Develop rules of thumb to understand which areas of bathymetry are likely to have larger effect on certain parameters in the models and impact they may have on the skill of the model.

c. Community engagement – Collaborating to develop high-resolution coastal models can be also used for creating a network of academic and government centers (e.g., National Water Center). Example of such an effort is the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) that is used to accelerate community-developed scientific and technological enhancements into the operational applications for numerical weather prediction.

4. Graduate Education and Professional Training

a. Category A (CAT-A) and specialized hydrographic trainings – Develop ocean and coastal mapping courses and teach them. These training classes should be available to personnel at academic centers, agencies with ocean and coastal mapping programs, civilian personnel, and to members of NOAA and Commissioned Officer Corps. All attendance costs for members of NOAA and Commissioned Officer Corps will be at NOAA's expense.

b. Seminars – Provide technical seminars, specialized conferences and workshops to train hydrographic and oceanographic professionals.

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c. Communication of new standards – Preparation and provision of capacity building in transition to the S-1xx decade.

d. Data processing and High Performance Computing – Extend collaborations with regional high performance computing centers to support coastal and ocean modelling and NOAA’s artificial intelligence initiatives. Design approaches for implementing workflows for data processing.

C. Program Authority

Authority for the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Centers Program is provided by 33 USC 3501(c).

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

The total funding amount available for this award, in the form of a cooperative agreement, is anticipated to be approximately $1,589,801 for the first year, with a maximum of $9,000,000 over the course of five years. There is no guarantee that funds will be available to make an award under this announcement or that any proposal will be selected for funding. If an applicant incurs any costs prior to receiving an award agreement signed by an authorized NOAA official, they do so at their own risk of these costs not being included in a subsequent award. In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for any proposal preparation costs.

B. Project/Award Period

This is a multi-year funding opportunity. Proposals should request funding for up to five years (60 months). This multi-year award may be funded incrementally on an annual basis, but once the cooperative agreement is awarded, the recipient will not compete for funding in the subsequent four years.

When the successful multi-year proposal is approved, funding initially will be provided for only the first year of the program. Funding in years two, three, four, and five is contingent upon availability of funds from Congress, satisfactory performance, and is at the sole discretion of the agency.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

Selected application(s) will be funded through a cooperative agreement since NOAA staff will be substantially involved in most aspects of the project. Substantial involvement

Notice of Federal Funding Page 5 of 20 may include, but is not limited to, activities such as hands-on technical or permitting assistance, support in developing protocols, tracking the progression of the removal efforts through site visits and progress report evaluation, discussing development of meaningful performance measures to assess project outcomes, and involvement in public meetings and events to highlight ocean and coastal mapping activities.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and state or local government agencies. The Office of Coast Survey, NOS, NOAA encourages proposals from any of the above institutions.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement is not required under this program.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

Not applicable

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

Applications are available through www.grants.gov. For applicants without internet access, contact Teresa Fleisher, NOAA/NOS/OCS/CSDL, 1315 East-West Highway; N/CS1, Room 6708; Silver Spring, Maryland 20910; phone: 240-847-8252; email:

Teresa.Fleisher@noaa.gov

B. Content and Form of Application

Applicants must follow the Letter of Intent (LOI) and full proposal application requirements stated in this announcement or LOIs and full proposal applications will not be considered.

1. Letters of Intent: The Letter of Intent (LOI) process is intended to provide potential funding applicants with information regarding the relevance of their project idea to the program objectives in advance of preparing a full proposal. The LOI should provide a concise description of the proposed work and its relevance to program objectives. An applicant may submit a full proposal without submitting an LOI.

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(a) The LOI must be no more than three pages, in length, not counting the cover page, using an 11- or 12-point font.

(b) The LOI must include the following information on a cover page: Identification of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey as the target of the LOI, proposal title, names and institutions of all principal investigators (PI), and specification of the Lead PI and contact information for that person.

(c) The LOI must contain a brief description of the intended effort and the benefits expected.

(d) The LOI must contain a brief description of the infrastructure and facilities available for support of the intended research and educational effort.

(e) The LOI must include a brief budget which summarizes how resources will be allocated [e.g., salaries, computing and communications, equipment, supplies, indirect charges, and travel].

All PIs will be notified whether a full proposal is encouraged or discouraged based on the review of their LOI. Even though a full proposal may be discouraged, a PI will not be precluded from submitting a full proposal.

2. Full Proposal: Full proposal applications must total no more than 60 pages (single-spaced, 11- or 12-point font and exclusive of appendices). The 60-page limit does not include the proposal title page, a table of contents if one is included, the project summary referenced below under item (2), and any appendices. Appendices should be limited to materials that directly support the main body of the proposal (e.g., detailed budget information, NEPA information, support letters, resumes, references, letters of collaboration, lists of data sources, sample curricula, equipment lists, and maps). Applicants should paginate their proposal and any appendices. Appendices may be paginated as stand-alone documents (individually) or collectively.

In addition to the required forms, all funding application packages must contain the following components:

(a) Title Page (Proposal Cover Sheet). Include proposal title, recipient institution, complete contact information for the Principal Investigator and Financial Representative, start and end dates of proposed project, funding type (cooperative agreement), funding

Notice of Federal Funding Page 7 of 20 request by year, and identification of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey as its aim.

(b) Project Summary. Provide a one- to three-page summary of the proposed project. The summary should be prepared to be readable to a broad audience and contain the following sections:

1. Project Name/Title

2. Primary Contact (name, address, phone, fax, e-mail)

3. Proposed funding over each year of the project

4. Recipient Institution

5. Principal Investigator and if applicable, Co-Principal Investigator, and other lead investigators (names and affiliated institutions or organizations)

6. Brief Project Summary including objectives and intended benefits

7. Partners (if any)

(c) Project Description: All project descriptions (proposals) must include the following sections:

1. Goal and Objective(s). Describe in the narrative the specific project goals to be addressed and objectives to be achieved. Where practicable, goals and objectives should be specific for each year of the work plan presented. Recipients will be required to submit semi-annual progress reports in which progress against these goals and objectives will be reported.

2. Background. Provide sufficient background information for NOAA and/or non- NOAA reviewers to independently assess the relevance of the proposed effort. Summarize the problem(s) to be addressed and the status of ongoing efforts to address the identified needs. Summarize the relationship of the proposed work to previous efforts and to NOAA hydrographic and ocean mapping missions.

3. Personnel. List the program personnel and briefly relate their background to their role in the proposed effort.

4. Equipment and Facilities. Describe the equipment and facilities available for carrying out the proposed work.

5. Proposed Research and Development Effort. Formulation of the proposed effort into subject area themes is encouraged. For each theme or work area, describe the research and development efforts to be carried out, and the approach to the effort. List the key investigators, partners, and staff and describe their roles. Summarize work leading up to the proposed effort. Identify potential obstacles to successful completion, and describe how those obstacles would be addressed. Describe the benefits of proposed effort in terms of societal goals and identify the beneficiaries of the proposed efforts. Explain how the benefits will reach the intended beneficiaries.

6. Data Management and Data Sharing. Clearly address data management and data sharing requirements, and the steps to be taken to achieve efficient and effective data access

Notice of Federal Funding Page 8 of 20 and archive that is compliant with federal regulations. Data sharing requirements are addressed in Section VI. B. of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

7. Education. Outline the goals and objectives of the educational component. Describe the proposed educational effort, summarizing the proposed curricula, listing the key individuals in the development and delivery of the educational program, and the role of the educational offering in the context of coastal and ocean research.

8. Benefits. Identify the users of the information derived from the work, and the benefits that will be achieved for those users, as well as society as a whole. Document how user needs are guiding the proposed work. Describe how the information from the project will be delivered to those users, and any special considerations or requirements for ensuring or improving the delivery of information.

9. Project Budget. Provide a budget description that follows the categories and formats in the NOAA grants package (Standard Form 424-A) and a brief narrative justification of the budget. Detailed budget information, such as a repeat of the information in Form SF-424A along with more details should be included in an appendix. In this appendix, the budget narrative also shall clearly identify the cost of separable elements of the proposed work.

(d) Appendices

1. Mandatory Detailed Budget Information, including budgets of subawards and contracts. Information should include the name of the entity receiving funds, the location of the entity receiving the funds (e.g., city, state, and Congressional district), the location of the entity receiving funds (city, state, and Congressional district), and the location of the primary place of performance under the contract/subaward.

Applicants must list, and describe the intended use of, equipment costing $5,000 or greater that will be purchased under the award. Specific information is required for year one.

When detailed information cannot reasonably be provided, more general information is acceptable for subsequent years. Applicants must provide a lease versus purchase analysis for any equipment $5,000 or greater. Decisions about equipment disposition are at the sole discretion of NOAA.

The budget narrative must also provide, to the extent possible, detailed information on travel, including costs, a description of anticipated travel, destinations, the number of travelers, and a justification of how the requested travel is directly relevant to the successful completion of the project. If actual trip details are unknown, applicants must state the basis for the proposed travel charges. Foreign travel must receive prior approval, and therefore, particularly for year one, wherever practicable should be included in the proposal to avoid having to request prior approval after the project starts. Applicants may factor in travel costs for participation in a NOAA Grants Management Division workshop for recipients as well as for meeting with NOAA staff and/or key project personnel, for relevant outreach activity, and for presenting research results and educational developments at national and

Notice of Federal Funding Page 9 of 20 international technical fora.

2. Resumes. Provide curriculum vitae (CV) for the Principal Investigator and any Co- Principal Investigator, and abbreviated CVs for other key personnel critical to the success of the project. Ensure that CVs address qualifications relevant to conducting the proposed work. For other than the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator, publication, presentation, and cruise listings should be limited to those in the last five years with up to five other relevant publications.

3. Letters of Collaboration. All supporting letters from partner organizations that are instrumental to the project shall be included in the application package. Letters must clearly indicate the level of commitment and/or collaboration. Letters of collaboration do not need original signatures.

4. 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 that are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities.

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).

Applicants are required to complete part of the Environmental Compliance Questionnaire for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Federal Financial Assistance Applicants (OMB Approval No.: 0648-0538) found on the NOAA NEPA website:

http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/questionnaire.pdf.

Answer all of the questions in sections A, B, C, D, E, and F (except F14.) for this NOFO.

Applicants should answer the NEPA questions to the best of their ability with as much detail as possible. If the applicant does not answer all of the questions indicated in this NOFO the application will be considered incomplete and not reviewed.

Some of the questions may overlap with material provided in other parts of the application. This overlap occurs because the answers to the questionnaire are provided to NOAA staff members who do not review the other parts of the application. If appropriate, the applicant may copy the information from other parts of the application and paste it into the answers to the questionnaire. Many questions have a "yes" or "no" response. If the response is "no," the applicant does not need to elaborate on their answer. If the response is "yes," the question will have a second part asking the applicant to provide more information.

A Paperwork Reduction Act Statement is found at the end of the NEPA questionnaire.

After the application is submitted, NOAA may require additional information to fulfill NEPA requirements. If NOAA determines that an environmental assessment is required, applicants may also be requested to assist in drafting the assessment. Applicants may also be

Notice of Federal Funding Page 10 of 20 required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying and implementing feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts of their proposal. The failure to do so shall be grounds for the denial of 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.

Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the NOAA NEPA website (http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/) including NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA (http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216_6.pdf) and the Council on Environmental Quality implementation regulations (http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/ceq_regulations/regulations.html).

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

Unless the applicant is an individual or Federal awarding agency that 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)), each applicant is required to: (i) be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. The Federal awarding agency may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time the Federal awarding agency 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.

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 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2dae4a7dcd5848a6364bb94d2d7786dd&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2subtitl eA.tpl

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D. Submission Dates and Times

The deadline for receipt of applications is 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time, on May 22, 2020.

Applications submitted through Grants.gov APPLY will be accompanied by a date and time receipt indication on them. If an applicant does not have Internet access, hard copy proposals will be accepted and date and time stamped when they are received. Hard copy applications arriving after the above deadline will be accepted for review only if the applicant can document that the application was provided to a delivery service that guaranteed delivery prior to the specified closing date and time and as long as the applications are received by Teresa Fleisher, Federal Program Officer, no later than 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time three business days following the closing date.

After electronic submission of the application through Grants.gov, the person submitting the application will receive within the next 24 to 48 hours two e-mail messages from Grants.gov updating them on the progress of their application. The first e-mail will confirm receipt of the application by the Grants.gov system, and the second will indicate that the application has either been successfully validated by the system prior to transmission to the grantor agency or has been rejected due to errors. After the application has been validated, this same person will receive another e-mail when the application has been downloaded by the federal agency.

E. Intergovernmental Review

An Intergovernmental Review is not applicable unless applications are submitted by state and local governments. Applications submitted by state and local governments are subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." Any applicant submitting an application for funding is required to complete item 16 on SF-424 regarding clearance by the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) established as a result of EO 12372. To find out about and comply with a State’s process under EO 12372, the names, addresses and phone numbers of participating SPOC’s are listed in the Office of Management and Budget’s home page at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html

F. Funding Restrictions

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

G. Other Submission Requirements

Applications should be submitted through Grants.gov, the Federal grants portal.

Electronic access to the full funding announcement for this program is available via the

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Grants.gov Web site: http://www.grants.gov.

If internet access is unavailable, paper applications (a signed original and two copies) should be submitted to the program official at the following address: Teresa Fleisher, Federal Program Officer; NOAA/NOS/OCS/CSDL; 1315 East West Highway; N/CS1, Room 6708;

Silver Spring, Maryland 20910; phone: 240-847-8252; email: Teresa.Fleisher@noaa.gov. No facsimile applications will be accepted.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

Once a full application has been received by NOAA, an initial administrative review is conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application.

Merit review is then conducted by peer reviewers. Applications will be peer-reviewed by a minimum of 3 individuals with expertise in hydrography, cartography, and geodesy, who will use the weighted evaluation criteria listed below, as evidenced by information in the application. Each reviewer will individually evaluate and rank proposals using the evaluation criteria provided below. The merit reviewers’ ratings are used to produce a rank order of the proposals.

1) Importance and/or relevance and applicability of proposed project to the program goals (25%): This ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, federal, regional, state, or local goals and priorities.

2) Technical/scientific merit (25%): This 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 this management activity.

3) Overall qualifications of applicants (20%): This ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project.

4) Project costs (20%): The Budget is evaluated to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time-frame. For this competition, the budget should reflect the ability of the work to be completed for the funding and timing proposed.

5) Outreach and education (10%): 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.

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B. Review and Selection Process

An initial administrative review of each proposal is conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application. All applications/proposals will then be evaluated and individually ranked in accordance with the assigned weights of the above evaluation criteria by a review panel consisting of three NOAA subject matter experts. The reviewers’ ratings are used to produce a rank order of the proposals. The Selection Official selects proposals after considering the reviews’ ratings and selection factors listed below. In making the final selections, the Selecting Official will award in rank order unless the proposal is 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 recommendation. The program officer may first make a recommendation to the Selecting Official applying the selection factors below. The Selecting Official shall award in 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 and distribution of funds

a. By research area

b. By project type

c. By type of institutions

d. By type of partners

e. Geographically

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 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) determination and draft necessary documentation before recommendations for funding are made to the NOAA Grants Officer.

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D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

The competitive selection process and subsequent notifications will be completed by July 21, 2020. Funds are expected to be awarded by approximately October 1, 2020, the start date that should be used on the Application for Federal Assistance (Form 424) for successful applications, unless otherwise directed by the NOAA Program Officer.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

Successful applicants may be asked to modify objectives, work plans, or budgets prior to final approval of an award. The exact amount of funds to be awarded, the final scope of activities, the project duration, and specific NOAA cooperative involvement with the activities of each project will be determined in pre-award negotiations among the applicant, the NOAA Grants Office, and NOAA program staff. Projects should not be initiated in expectation of federal funding until a notice of award document is received from the NOAA Grants Office.

The application recommended for funding by the selecting official will be forwarded to the NOAA Grants Management Division (GMD) by the Program Office. The applicant will be notified by the program office by e-mail that their application was recommended for funding. The applicant must be aware that the notification by the program office is NOT the official award notice. Official notification happens only when the applicant receives an award notice from the Grants Officer electronically.

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 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.

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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 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 TAX LIABILITY. In accordance with Section 523 of Division B and Sections 744 and 745 of Division E of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, (Pub. L. 113-235) or a future public law, an authorized representative of the selected applicant(s) will be required to provide certain pre-award representations regarding federal felony and federal criminal tax convictions, unpaid federal tax assessments, and delinquent federal tax returns. The form must be completed and submitted with grant applications for:

(a) all for-profit and non-profit organization applicants (Part I, and if required, Part II); and

(b) all non-Federal entity applicants anticipating receipt of $5 million or more in the current Federal Fiscal Year appropriated funding (Part II only). The form can be found at http://www.ago.noaa.gov/grants/forms.html.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT. NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals that are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities.

Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the 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.

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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 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 stabilityof 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.

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 accompaniedby machine-readable documentation (metadata), preferably based on widely used or international standards.

2. Proposals submitted inresponse 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 Office of Coast Survey (OCS) is one way to satisfy data sharing requirements; however, OCS is not obligated to accept all submissions

Notice of Federal Funding Page 17 of 20 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 publication by the journal.

INDIRECT COST RATE. An applicant with a current Federally-approved indirect cost rate that is proposing indirect costs in its budget should include a copy of the approved rate with its application. 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 Modified Total Direct Costs (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.

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.

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C. Reporting

Performance and Financial Reports - Recipients receiving funding will be required to submit semi-annual performance reports and copies of all products that are developed under the award. The specific information, products, or data contained in the performance report can be determined by the NOAA office responsible for the program and applicant in pre-award negotiations, or the recipient will submit performance reports according to the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions.

Performance reports must be submitted to the NOAA office responsible for the program within 30 days after each semi-annual performance period via NOAA Grants Online.

VII. Agency Contacts

Administrative Questions: Teresa Fleisher; NOAA/NOS/OCS/CSDL; 1315 East-West Highway; N/CS1, Room 6708; Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-3283; phone: 240-847-8252;

email: Teresa.Fleisher@noaa.gov

Technical Questions: Dr. Neil D. Weston; NOAA/NOS/OCS; 1315 East-West Highway;

N/CS1, Room 6611; Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-3283; phone: 240-847-8250; email:

Neil.D.Weston@noaa.gov

VIII. Other Information

A. Freedom of Information Act

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.

B. Grants.gov

1. Potential funding applicants must register with Grants.gov before any application materials can be submitted. An organization's one time registration process may take up to

Notice of Federal Funding Page 19 of 20 three weeks to complete so please allow sufficient time to ensure applications are submitted before the closing date. 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.)

2. The Grants.gov site contains directions for submitting an application, the application package (forms), and is also where the completed application is submitted.

Applicants using Grants.gov must locate the downloadable application package for this solicitation by the Funding Opportunity Number or the CFDA number (11.483). Applicants will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it off line, and then upload and submit the application via the Grants.gov site.

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