To support projects aimed at developing a science-based,
multi-dimensional approach that will allow for the maintenance or improvement
of environmental quality while at the same time allowing for economic growth.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Uses will be in the following Center areas: Coastal
Management Service (CMS): Coastal Fellowships \and Apprenticeships; Training
and Communications: Facilitation and mediation activities, training materials
development and dissemination of information; Coastal Information Service
(CIS): Integration and Development: Geographic information systems, tabular,
spatial database development; Landscape Characterization and Restoration:
Develop information and tools to support ecological characterizations and
restoration planning; Information Resources: To develop center metadata
storage, retrieval, processing and display methodologies or activities; Remote
Sensing: To generate, archive, interpret and validate aircraft, satellite and
other remotely sensed environmental data and derived products; Director's
Office: Coastal Management Decision Making Tools.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility:
Institutions of higher educations, hospitals, other nonprofits, commercial
organizations, foreign governments, organizations under the jurisdiction of
foreign governments, international organizations, and state, local and Indian
tribal governments.
Beneficiary Eligibility:
Institutions of higher educations, hospitals, other non-profits, commercial
organizations, foreign governments, organizations under the jurisdiction of
foreign governments, international organizations, and State, local and Indian
tribal governments.
Credentials/Documentation:
Proposals with statements of work and estimated budgets. Costs will be
determined in accordance with OMB Circulars Nos. A-21 for agreements with
education institutions, A-87 for State and local governments and A-122 for
nonprofit institutions.
Pre-application Coordination:
The standard application forms as furnished by the agency and required by 15
CFR Parts 14 and 24 must be used for this program. This program is eligible
for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated
as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the
process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the
State has selected the program for review.
Application Procedure:
Proposal are sent to the Coastal Services Center Program Manger and are
subject to the requirements of 15 CFR Parts 14 and 24, as applicable.
Award Procedure: Awards are
made on the basis of proposals evaluations, technical reviews, administrative
reviews, if applicable.
Deadlines: Contact the
regional office for application.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:
From 90 to 180 days from time of proposal submission.
Appeals: None.
Renewals: Extension
requests will be considered by CSC only if the recipient has submitted all
required performance reports. At least sixty days prior to the end of the
award, recipients must discuss with CSC expected reprogramming and extensions
requests. After preliminary negotiation on proposed projects and extensions,
formal written reprogramming and extension requests should be received by CSC
45 days prior to the end date of the award. CSC will not recommend approval
for any retroactive extension request (received after the end date of the
award). Recipients should make every effort to submit one extension request
for all projects needing an extension (when possible, multiple extension
requests should be avoided). With sufficient justification, CSC will recommend
approval of a six-month extension for the first extension request. First time
or cumulative extension requests for more than six months but less than 12
months, will need more compelling justification as to why the project was not
completed on time or could not be completed within the first six-month
extension. Although CSC discourages extensions of more than 12 months, CSC
will recommend approval in cases where the funds are already obligated.
Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is
at the total discretion of the Department.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements:
This program has no statutory formula.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:
1-3 years with funding approved annually on individual and group proposals.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: Financial status
reports are required quarterly. Performance reports are required semiannually.
Program status reports are required annually.
Audits: In accordance with
the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133 (Revised, June 24, 1997), recipients
that are States, Local Governments, Nonprofit Organizations (to include
Hospitals), and Institutions of Higher Learning shall be subject to the audit
requirements contained in the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C.
7501-7507). Commercial organizations shall be subject to the audit
requirements as stipulated in the award document.
Records: Records will be
retained in accordance with 15 CFR Parts 14 and 24 for institutions of higher
education, other non-profit organizations, and for State and local government.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification:
13-1450-0-1-306.
Obligations:
(Grants/Cooperative Agreements) FY 01 $5,400,000; FY 02 est $12,200,000; and
FY 03 est $4,500,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance: Proposals tend to range from $20,000 to $270,000.
In 2001, a grant was awarded to the University of
Maryland, Center for Environmental Science establishing three LabNet regional
portals at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), and the NOAA National
Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC). The data documentation and retrieval
system has been tested and approved for use as the underlying architecture for
the LabNet system. Partnerships have been started with two similar data
retrieval projects to expand the breadth of LabNet. These are the Southern
Association of Marine Laboratories (SAML) CASTNET system and the Harmful Algal
Blooms Observing System (HABSOS). In 2000, a grant was awarded to the West
Coast Inland Navigation District. The district has determined appropriate
locations to install tide gauges for correction of bathymetric data to the
mean lower low water tidal datum. They have taken steps to complete by April
30, 2002, a report and a CD-ROM about the enhancement and standardization of
field collection methods for bathymetric data for the coastal resource
management in southwest Florida waterways. In 1999, a grant was awarded to
Santa Monica Baykeeper. This grant helped the recipient survey, map and begin
the restoration of kelp at five separate sites in the Santa Monica Bay
(California). The recipient also developed a kelp education program for the
local school district and increased community awareness of the importance of
the kelp habitat through a kelp educational exhibit at a local museum and
through annual community KelpFest. In 1998, a cooperative agreement was
awarded to North Carolina Department of Coastal Management for a project
titled Coastal Hazard Mitigation. They developed an inventory of
orthophotographs for the project area and is about to complete a quality
check. In 1998, a cooperative agreement was awarded to the University of
Southern Mississippi where USM administers the coastal management fellowship
program. In the years 1999 and 2000, a total of 9 fellows were placed to work
at State coastal management agencies for two years.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
Department Administrative Order 203-36, dated may 15,
1985 (Department of Commerce Grants Administration) and also the NOAA Grants
and Cooperative Agreement Policy Manual.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office:
Jeffrey Payne, Program Manager, NOAA Coastal Services Center, 2234 South
Hobson Ave., Charleston, SC, 29405-2413. Telephone: (843) 740-1200.
In fiscal year 2001, grants and cooperative agreements
were awarded to: 1) A grant to Environmental Careers Organization to manage a
technical assistantship for the Pacific Island Coastal Zone Management (PICZ)
Programs. The primary goal of the program is to provide assistance to the PICZ
agencies on technical and management issues that directly relate to the
agencies needs and requirements while providing two-year assistantship
experiences to post-graduates. 2) A cooperative agreement with Circuit Rider
Productions, Inc. with the Center providing general project guidance and
technical support for the development of an environmental characterization
that will include spatial modeling, web-based GIS applications, and HTML
narrative. General project guidance and technical support will include
application of the Center's expertise in planning and developing
characterization projects and web design to assure the quality and
completeness of the products. Modeling support will include the development of
models or parts of models, and the technical review of analytical methods
embodied in models. Web-based GIS support will include the creation of needed
interactive mapping applications. 3) A grant with the University of
Wisconsin-Superior to help local land use officials understand the impact of
NPS and provide the support they need to engage in proactive, watershed-based
planning in the Western Lake Superior basin. This will be done by using NEMO
to provide the information, educational opportunities, and resources that will
enable local officials and community planners in the Lake Superior watershed
of Minnesota and Wisconsin to envision and then create an economically and
environmentally sustainable community.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
Proposals are subject to office evaluations, technical
reviews, administrative reviews, and externals reviews, if applicable, taking
into consideration primarily scientific merit and application to the goals of
NOAA and the Coastal Services Center.
