Q&A 4.pdf

DE-FOA-0003105

Questions and Answers

Amendment 00004 [Note some questions have pending responses that will be provided in an upcoming amendment]

Number Question Answer

1 Since FFRDCs cannot lobby are they required to submit an SF-LLL?

No, it is not required for FFRDCs.

2 Since FFRDCs will be funded through a field work proposal process is a budget justification required?

Yes, in addition to DOE Work Proposal for FFRDCs, if applicable (see DOE O 412.1A, FOA Attachment 2) for DOE and NNSA FFRDCs.

3 Are letters of commitment required for FFRDCs?

For DOE or NNSA FFRDCs - A letter from the cognizant DOE/NNSA Contracting Officer shall provide a written authorization and this authorization shall be submitted with the application:

The following wording is acceptable for the authorization:

Authorization is granted for the Laboratory to participate in the proposed project. The work proposed for the Laboratory is consistent with or complementary to the missions of the Laboratory and will not adversely impact execution of the DOE assigned programs at the Laboratory.

Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs- The federal agency sponsoring the FFRDC must authorize in writing the use of the FFRDC on the proposed project and this authorization must be submitted with the application.

The use of a FFRDC must be consistent with its authority under its award.

4 Under AOI 1 (CMM Supply Chain) can a responder apply to AOI 1B Phase II only thereby skipping Phase I as long as the technology has been demonstrated on a continuous bench scale basis?

Yes, an application can submit to AOI1B if they can demonstrate that they have successfully accomplished the bench scale and are ready to move forward to the pilot scale.

5 I am interested in developing technology specifically for better separation and processing. This is only one step of a complete process from feedstock to CMMs. It seems as if proposals to AOI 1A are expected to be for a complete process? Is this correct?

In most of the AOI’s we’re looking for more than a single step development. The one exception to this is AOI 3 but it comes with a caveat. Under this AOI, we’re not looking for marginal improvements to existing technologies. There have been in the past and may be future funding opportunities within DOE that focus on single step developments and/or marginal improvements to existing technologies.

6 Are rare earth element-free cathode materials for solid oxide electrolysis cells within the acceptable alternatives or substitutes within Area of Interest 4A?

Yes, if eliminating heavy REEs would be the focus of the effort. If only the more abundant La or Ce REEs are being eliminated, then a sound justification would have to be made in the application.

7 Can there be co-PIs? Yes, but each PI will have to meet the expectations and requirements for PIs in the FOA.

8 What are the requirements for a PI as far as how they are employed by the company applying for the project?

Is there a minimum number of hours they need to work for the company?

Are there other requirements?

Pt. 1-There are no requirements but their status or role within the company shall not interfere or subjugated the PI’s responsibilities as outlined in the FOA.

Pt. 2-No, but see answer to pt. 1.

Pt. 3-The FOA has several expectations and requirements of the PI, please review carefully.

9 Is there a minimum required percentage of work that the prime recipient must perform vs subrecipients?

There is no minimum requirement.

END OF AMENDMENT 00001 Q&A

10 Is there a minimum required percentage of work that the prime recipient must perform vs subrecipients?

There is no minimum requirement.

11 As our team is working on preparing a submission, we There are two tracking numbers for each submission. A have noted that the FOA has discrepancies between the required document table, the technical volume detail sections, and the templates provided on the grants.gov workspace. The FOA instructions are similar to many elements typically required in EERE FOAs while the attachments in the grants.gov workspace are more like those typically required of FOAs from FECM. Some of the specific discrepancies and questions include 1) the FOA states that a control number will be assigned in the workspace, but was not.

Grants.gov number, which is automatically assigned to every application submission.

And…

A control number. For the control number please use the prime recipient’s UEI. If the prime recipient is submitting multiple applications, use the prime recipients UEI with the suffix .2, .3 .4 ect. For example:

Application 1: ABC123DEF456 Application 2: ABC123DEF456.2 Application 3: ABC123DEF456.3

12 No SOPO template is provided to indicate the preferred format

A sample format will be provided in the FedConnect Announcement and Grants.gov.

13 Does the summary slide have a template? There is no template.

14 A location of work template has not been provided There is no template.

15 The SF424 is listed as a pdf file in the FOA table but is a webform on the grants.gov workspace;

Please see fillable forms here : SF-424 Family |

GRANTS.GOV

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Technology Maturation Plan is required in the FOA table but no details are provided in the text

See Response to 41 and amendment 0004.

17 Project Management Plan is listed as separate required document in the table but details are provided as part of the workplan section of the technical volume document

Please provide the Project Management Plan as a separate document.

18 Clarification on Cost-Share Exemption for Institutions of Higher Education: we are at an R1 university and if we request funding from 09/01/2024 to 08/31/2026, do we qualify for the cost sharing exemption available for the two-year period beginning on August 9, 2022? I am confused about the rules here.

Awards made to IHEs or Nonprofits during the 2-year extension are exempt from the cost share requirement in 2 CFR 910.130 for the period of performance of the award (base + any continuations included at time of award).

19 If a waste product generating less than 10 metric tons of Yes.

https://www.grants.gov/forms/sf-424-family.html https://www.grants.gov/forms/sf-424-family.html

(Amendment 00003) CM’s per year would be considered under the FOA?

20 Will the cost share waiver go through the entire project or will it end in July of 2024?

See answer 18

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Are supercapacitors in scope for this FOA? Yes.

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Can magnets can be proposed as part of AOI:5 for wind turbines (if we see this as one of the energy technologies) or are they completely excluded?

The magnets for wind turbines are outside of the scope of AOI:5.

23 Concerning the required control number referenced under IV. Application and Submission Information, A.

Application Process, please note that Grants.gov Workspace generates a Workspace ID number, however, it does not appear that a control number is generated within the submission portal. Will a control number be determined by the agency independently and sent out via email to the point of contact for the application?

See answer 11

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Please clarify the TRL requirements for AOI 4A and 4B.

It is unclear the TRL range expectations for AOI 4A and 4B.

We are not specifying specific TRL for in AOI 4A, but AOI 4B should end with a TRL 6 (pilot scale) project.

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Please clarify if the TRL requirement is for the technology pre-grant, or the TRL anticipated after grant performance.

Projects should achieve specified TRLs by the end of the projects. See Appendix E.

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With respect to assessing the TRL, should the focus be on the TRL of the alternative material itself, or a specific application of that material, or the proposed substitution pathway(s).

The proposed substitute pathway.

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Finally, there is a dangling clause at the end of the section AOI 4: Alternative Materials, simply reading "TRL 6". Please clarify.

AOI 4B should end with a TRL 6 (pilot scale) project.

END OF AMENDMENT 00002 Q&A

28 We would like some clarification regarding the cost share requirement waiver on pages 17 and 18. As a FFRDC we have generally never been able to provide cost share – so

Cost-sharing is not required for basic and applied research activities awarded under this FOA performed by Institutions of higher education, nonprofit the waiver does not seem to apply to us. The footnote (#19) on that page says that cost share is calculated based on the total cost of the project “…including FFRDC costs…” so there is no relief on the total cost share requirement. It would seem that the only change is that Universities may now be considered exempt from providing cost share – which has the effect of increasing the cost share burden on the industry partner(s). Is this the intent of this policy?

institutions (as defined in section 4 of the Stevenson- Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C.

3703)), or DOE/NNSA and Non-DOE FFRDCs National Laboratories.

29 Under AOI 1 (CMM Supply Chain), can we apply to both AOI 1A Phase I and AOI 1B Phase II? In another word, we need some additional work on Phase I, we would love to move on to Phase II afterword. Will that be two separated applications?

The plan for this funding opportunity is to advance the TRL of successful projects. It is expected for successful Phase I projects to an opportunity to move to Phase II.

A project can not apply/move to Phase II unless it has been demonstrated on a continuous/semicontinuous basis on a bench scale.

30 DE-FOA-0003105 states on page 17/18:

“Cost sharing is not required for institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations.

This waiver is granted per Section 10725 of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act, P.L. 117-167, which extends the cost share waiver pilot program enacted by Section 108 of the Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act, Public Law 115– 246 (Innovation Act) and provides an exemption for institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations from the 20% cost share requirement for R&D activities. The exemption is available for the two-year period beginning on August 9, 2022. Codified at 42 U.S.C. 16352.”

Can you please clarify the significance of the two-year period: Does it mean cost share is not required if the

See response to question 18.

performance period falls in the two year period, or the contracting to fund a project is completed within two years, or that the project proposal deadline falls within the two year timeline, or that another interpretation of the two year timeline is appropriate?

31 Is IPMP regarded as part of the proposal submission.

There is conflicting information.

“Applicants must submit an executed Intellectual Property Management Plan (IPMP) between the members of the consortia or project team.” (Appl Info - IV,C,xix)

Full Application Content Requirements includes IPMP (Appl Info - IV,C,i)

“Within 30 days of selection applicants must submit an executed IPMP between the members of the consortia or project team”. (Award Info - VI,B,x)

This is not required as part of the submission, but for selected applicants, the IPMP must be submitted during the negotiation process, before the project starts and funding is awarded.

32 Under AOI 1: CMM Supply Chain, does DOE view tire pyrolysis oil, waste tires, biomass, and/or natural gas as feedstocks of interest?

All feedstocks will be considered under this FOA.

33 Under AOI 1: CMM Supply Chain, does DOE view natural gas as a “conventional ore body”?

No.

34 Under AOI 1: CMM Supply Chain, we note that the feedstocks of particular interest are all metals-based. Is DOE interested in any non-metals-based feedstocks for this Area of Interest?

Since the FOA spans the inclusion of many feedstock sources and product outputs, it’s up to the applicant to justify why their particular proposal meets the requirement of pilot scale demonstration by the end of the project. See Appendix E for TRL descriptions.

35 Assume a project team is submitting to pilot project topic

1B. The team consists of a for profit businesses prime, an institution of higher learning sub-recipient, and a non-

In this situation the cost share is to be based on the portion of the total budget proposed by each for-profit entity and is required to be not less than 20% of the profit sub-recipient. Given the cost share exemptions for IHL and non-profits, how would we calculate the cost share? Would the prime be responsible for matching only its own allocation of the project cost, or would it be responsible for matching the entire project cost? Would the IHL or non-profit have any cost share requirement?

total allowable project costs of that entity. IHL or non-profits do not have a cost share requirement, nor is part of the cost share calculation for the for-profit entity.

36 It seems likely that when constructing and operating a pilot, the bulk of the cash expenditure comes in the first half of the project when designing and constructing the pilot facility, and the bulk of the cost share (resources to site and operate the plant) comes at the end of the project. Section III(B)(vi) appears to require a consistent cost share ratio, but the reality would be uneven - less cost share in the front, and more in the back. Can you comment on back-weighting the cost share? Would a proposal with a back-weighted budget be deemed noncompliant?

DOE may agree to front-load its cost-sharing such that the recipient cost-share percentage is below the statutory minimum in early budget periods, (or below the overall project cost-share ratio negotiated by the parties), with the expectation that the recipient will catch-up in later budget periods.

37 Regarding AOI 4B Phase II: If magnet and battery materials have been demonstrated at bench scale, are they excluded?

No exclusions for AOI 4B.

38 Regarding the cost share requirement: Are non-exempt institutions required to provide cost share in R&D projects, even if an exempt institution is the Prime Recipient? For example, if a university is the lead institution and is partnered with an FFRDC as a subrecipient, is the FFRDC required to provide 20% of its portion of the project budget as cost share? Or is the entire project team exempt from the cost share requirement?

The cost share requirement applies to for-profit sub awardees; however, the Prime Recipient, no matter its entity type, is legally responsible for contributing the entire required cost share. In your example, there would be no cost share as FFRDC would be exempt from the cost share requirement.

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Are projects involving the recovery and refinement of Uranium withing the scope of work for this FOA under topic 2 and 3?

Only in the case where Uranium would have to be a value-added product from a CMM containing feedstock.

40 I am just curious if manufacturing of graphite using coal Graphite is considered a critical material. As long as or carbon dioxide of interest to this solicitation? work is not funded under another Government solicitation it can be proposed.

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Can you please share the template or information that we need to cover in the "Technology Maturation Plan", which is a 15 page (limit) PDF to be submitted as per the table on page 26-27?

Technology Maturation Plan:

A technology maturation plan (TMP) is a planning tool that summarizes the necessary research and development (R&D) steps to advance the maturation of a specified technology to a targeted technology readiness level (TRL) and defines the key performance metrics that will be used to determine if the targeted TRL has been successfully achieved. A TMP also documents the current TRL of the specified technology, defines the ultimate commercial application of the technology, and conceptualizes a future commercialization pathway in terms of additional R&D, resources, and schedule. A TMP is a high-level summary document. It is not a collection of detailed test plans. The initial TMP is due 90 days after award and should be updated as needed throughout the project period of performance. A final TMP should be submitted at the completion of the project. (See FOA Amendment 0004)

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Can you please share the template or information that we need to cover in the "Project Management Plan", which is a 15 page (limit) PDF to be submitted as per the table on page 26-27?

The Project Management Plan:

The Project Management Plan (PMP) defines how the Applicant will execute, monitor, and control the project to accomplish the objectives. The specific contents, level of detail, and inclusion of subsidiary planning documents are tailored according to the needs of the project. Consequently, every PMP will be different based on the risk, visibility, and/or complexity of the project and the Recipient's established processes, procedures, and systems. The PMP should be formatted to include the following sections with each section that includes: executive summary; project organization and structure; risk management plan; milestone and milestone log; cost profile; project timeline; and success criteria.

The Recipient shall update the Project Management Plan 30 days after award and as necessary throughout the project to accurately reflect the current status of the project. Examples of when it may be appropriate to update the Project Management Plan include: (a) project management policy and procedural changes; (b) changes to the technical, cost, and/or schedule baseline for the project; (c) significant changes in scope, methods, or approaches; or (d) as otherwise required to ensure that the plan is the appropriate governing document for the work required to accomplish the project objectives. As the first task in the Statement of Project Objectives, successful Applicants will revise the version of the Project Management Plan that is submitted with their applications by including details from the negotiation process. This Project Management Plan will be updated by the Recipient as the project progresses, and the Recipient must use this plan to report scope, schedule, and budget variances. (See FOA Amendment 0004)

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We are a public university planning to apply for this FOA. Can we apply for multiple AOIs with this FOA?

Can we submit more than one application for the same

AOI?

If yes, do the PIs need to be different for each application? The FOA does not mention restrictions on the number of submissions per entity. Kindly clarify.

Yes, each application will be evaluated separately regardless if submitting in multiple or same AOI. Ther is no limit on submissions per entity.

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Can you please share the template or information that we need to cover in the "Environmental Considerations Summary", which has to be submitted as per the table on page 26-27 of the FOA

The Environmental Consideration Summary is not required for this FOA noted as N/A in table, since the proposals don’t involve new construction or modification of existing facilities.

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The table in the section “Full Application Content Requirements” lists two components (Environmental Considerations Summary, Technology Maturation Plan, Project Management Plan) for which there is no detailed guidance on form and content. Could you please provide some detail?

Are these sections required for all applications, or just applications submitted to AOIs 1B, 2B, 4B?

Environmental Considerations Summary not required for this FOA.

Technology Maturation Plan: See response to question 41.

Project Management Plan: See response to question 42

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Sections I.D and I.E of the FOA suggest that different components related to community benefits are required depending on the AOI, but Section IV.C does not clearly specify which components are required or optionally allowed, depending on the AOI. In particular, is the Community Partnership Documentation component required (or if not required, allowed) for applications to AOIs 1A, 2A, 3, 4A, 5?

The R&D Community Benefits Plan are not required for application to AOIs 1A, 2A, 3, 4A, and 5. The R&D Community Benefits Plans are required for applications to AOIs 1B, 2B, and 4B.

See Appendix G information on the R&D Community Benefits Plan content requirements.

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Is the intent that a full Statement of Projective Objectives is required for all applications at this time, or just for applications submitted to AOIs 1B, 2B, 4B, considering that most DOE FOAs for projects <$5M typically do not require a SOPO until the award negotiation stage.

The full statement of Project Objectives is required for all applications.

END OF AMENDMENT 00003 Q&A

48 We have three universities and one for profit company on our team. We intend to have one of the universities be the lead institution, therefore it seems we do not have a cost share requirement for our application. Is that correct?

Other entity types, including for-profit entities, whether prime recipients (lead organizations) or subawardees (team members), are required to provide not less than 20% cost share for both basic and applied R&D activities. This cost share is to be based on the portion of the total budget proposed by each for-profit entity and is required to be not less than 20% of the total allowable project costs of that entity.

49 If one university is the lead, do the other two universities and the for profit get classified as subrecipients such that the entire award and budget is managed only from the lead university?

Yes, that is correct. The Lead is considered the Prime Recipient and is the legally responsible entity for the agreement. Also, the Prime Recipient is solely responsible for managing cost share contributions by the Project Team and enforcing cost share obligation assumed by Project Team members in subawards or related agreements.

50 We are concerned with the short turnaround not giving us enough time to put together a quality proposal. Could you please consider 30 additional days? That would significantly increase the quality of our proposal

RESPONSE PENDING

51 Does AOI 1 cover the production of graphite from waste carbon emissions? How about the other AOIs?

RESPONSE PENDING

52 We are an IHE exempt from the cost share requirement but we will have subawardees who are for-profit organizations. Will our subawardees have to provide a cost share?

See response to question 35 and 38.

The cost share requirement flows down to for-profit entities.

53 We have a question about the subject FOA: we noticed the cost share exemption for universities and are wondering if this is flowed down to any subs on their project, including for-profit companies? Meaning if the university, who is exempt for the cost share requirement, is prime, are any subs, regardless of status, also exempt?

See response to question 35 and 38.

The cost share requirement flows down to for-profit entities.

54 If we are submitting to topic 2A then we submit the R&D Community Benefits Plan. What is not clear is if we are also supposed to submit a Community Benefits Plan Budget Justification (excel workbook) or if that is only for the other Community Benefits Plan: Job Quality and Equity, which is more involved. It is unclear in the RFP.

The Community Benefits Plan Budget Justification is not required for the R&D Community Benefits Plan.

55 The FOA says, "Cost sharing is not required for See response to question 35 and 38.

institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations." If an institute of higher ed or nonprofit leads a proposal but has industry subrecipients, does DOE expect that the industry subrecipients still provide the required cost share?

The cost share requirement flows down to for-profit entities.

56 The ideal scenario would be for us to apply for a grant and then be partnered with a prime is this what the teaming partner list is for?

The teaming partner list is to facility collaboration amongst interested entities.

END OF AMENDMENT 00004 Q&A