VI. Award Administration Information
A. Award Notices
It is anticipated that applicants will be notified of their recommendation or rejection for funding by the end of February 2009 via email. The graduate student’s advisor and the research coordinator at the student’s host reserve will be copied on this correspondence. NOAA’s Grants Management Division is the only entity authorized to provide a grant award. Therefore, once the applicant’s above-mentioned federal financial assistance forms have been submitted and approved, NOAA’s Grants Management Division will make the grant award to the applicant by June 1, 2009.
B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements
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 February 11, 2008 (73 FR 7696) are applicable to this section.
Limitation of Liability
In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for proposal preparation costs if these programs fail to receive funding or are cancelled because of other agency priorities. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals which are seeking NOAA Federal funding opportunities. Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the following NOAA NEPA Web site: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/ NAO216_6_TOC.pdf, and the Council on Environmental Quality implementation regulations, http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm. 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 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.
The terms and conditions of NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve Graduate Research Fellowship awards are described in Appendix 2 of this announcement.
C. Reporting
Applicants selected for funding will submit semi-annual performance reports via NOAA’s online system at https://grantsonline.rdc.noaa.gov through the institution’s Office of Sponsored Research. Reports shall be submitted 30 days after the completion of every six month period after the project start date and a final performance report shall be submitted via https://grantsonline.rdc.noaa.gov 90 days after the project period ending date. Please note that recipients who do not submit final reports within one year after the award end date may put their institution at risk for receiving future awards. Recipients will be provided with the guidelines for these reports upon receiving the award. These guidelines are also located in Appendix 2 of this announcement and can be accessed online at http://nerrs.noaa.gov/Fellowship/ApplicationG.html. Financial status reports are also required every six months. These reports should be submitted by the recipient to NOAA’s Grants Management Division.
For more information contact Alison Krepp.
