£EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA/600/9-90/040
September 1990
Solicitation for
Research Grant
Proposals-1991
Exploratory
Research Grants
Introduction
The U S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through
its Office of Exploratory Research (OER), is seeking grant
applications to conduct exploratory environmental research in
biology, health, chemistry, physics, engineering, or
socioeconomics. Investigations are sought in these research
disciplines which focus on any aspect of pollution identification,
characterization, abatement or control, or address the effects of
pollutants on human health or the environment In addition,
research is sought on environmental policy and its social and
economic consequences.
This solicitation only concerns the research grants
administered by EPA's Office of Exploratory Research, and
outlines procedures for receiving grant assistance from that
office
In addition to this general annual solicitation, applications
are sought periodically through more narrowly defined proposal
requests, referred to as Requests for Applications (RFA).
While this document does not contain any RFA solicitations, it
does provide a preannouncement of tentative RFA titles and
approximate issue dates for each proposed RFA
Application Procedure
General Grants Program
Application forms, instructions, and other pertinent
information for assistance programs are available in the EPA
Research Grants Application/Information Kit. Interested
investigators should review the materials in this kit before
preparing an application for assistance The kits are available
from:
Grants Operations Branch
Grants Administration Division (PM-216F)
U.S Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202)382-5266
or
Office of Exploratory Research (RD-675)
U S Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202)382-7445
Proposed projects must be investigative research.
Proposals will not be accepted that are state-of-the-art or
market surveys, development of proven concepts, or the
preparation of materials and documents, including process
designs or instruction manuals.
Fully developed research grant applications, prepared in
accordance with instructions in the Application for Federal
Assistance Form SF-424, should be sent to the Grants
Operations Branch at the above address. One copy of the
application with original signatures plus eight copies are
required Informal, incomplete or unsigned proposals will not
be considered.
The following special instructions apply to all applicants
responding to this solicitation:
Applications must be identified by printing "OER-91" in the
upper right hand corner of Application Form SF-424. The
absence of this identifier from an application may lead to
delayed processing or misassignment of the application
The project narrative section of the application must not
exceed twenty-five 81/2x11 inch, consecutively numbered
pages of standard type (10-12 characters per inch),
including tables, graphs and figures For purposes of this
limitation, the "project narrative section" of the application
consists of the following items in the Application/Information
Kit:
(1) Description of Project
(2) Objectives
(3) Results or Benefits Expected
(4) Approach
(5) General Project Information
(6) Quality Assurance (if needed)
Attachments and appendices for the narrative section in
excess of the 25 page limitation will not be forwarded to
reviewers. The SF-424 and other forms, itemized budget,
resumes, and abstract are not included in the 25 page
limitation.
Resumes must not exceed two pages for each principal
investigator and should focus on education, positions held and
most recent or related publications
A one page abstract should be included with the application.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, Library (PL-12.J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 12th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
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While applications responding to this solicitation may be
received by EPA at any time, they are evaluated on specific
dates which are different for each disciplinary area. Closing
dates and appropriate contacts within EPA are listed in Table
1. Generally, all funding decisions on applications are made
within 6 months of the application's closing date
Applicants should contact the appropriate individuals
identified in Table 1 for further information on schedules
and review procedures. Their address and phone number
are:
Office of Exploratory Research (RD-675)
U S Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
Targeted Grants Program
The Office of Exploratory Research addresses specific
research topics which appear to merit extra emphasis or
special attention by issuing a separate RFA for each such
topic. The RFA is a mechanism by which a formal announce-
ment is released describing a high priority initiative in well
defined scientific areas.
Applicants are invited to submit research applications for a
one-time competition using the standard Application for
Federal Assistance Form SF-424 and other forms described in
the Grant Application Kit. One copy of the application with
original signatures plus eight copies should be mailed directly
to the Grants Operations Branch at the above address.
The deadline for receipt of applications is identified in the
RFA announcement.
As in the case of the general grants program, an application
for a targeted grant is only considered when a fully developed
proposal is submitted. Special guidelines and limitations
tailored to each RFA will be published in the individual RFA
announcements.
In FY-1991, OER expects to issue four RFA's Tentative
titles and other information relevant to each RFA are provided
Table 1. Closing Dates and Contacts-General
Solicitation
Discipline Application Contacf
Closing Dates
Biology
Health
Chem/Physics
Air
Chem/Physics
Water/Soil
Engineering
Socioeconomics
March 15, 1991
Sept. 13, 1991
Oct. 19, 1990
Apr. 12, 1991
Feb 15, 1991
Aug 16, 1991
Jan. 18, 1991
July 19, 1991
Feb. 8, 1991
Aug 23, 1991
March 22, 1991
Sept. 20, 1991
Clyde Bishop
Clyde Bishop
Deran Pashayan
Louis Swaby
Louis Swaby
Robert Papetti
in Table 2. However, the number of RFA's that will be issued
is subject to the availability of funds in OER's FY-1991 budget
for research grants.
Unless otherwise identified in individual RFAs, procedures,
guidelines and limitations are the same for grants issued under
the general and targeted grants programs
This document does not constitute an RFA for any of
the topics listed here. The RFAs will be published in the
Federal Register in November 1990.
Guidelines and Limitations for the General Solicitation
The typical grant issued by OER is for approximately
$100,000 per year for two or three years. Funding levels range
from a minimum of about $40,000 to approximately $150,000
per year All budget costs and justifications, particularly
requests for equipment will be carefully reviewed. The
maximum project period is three years, shorter periods are
encouraged. Subcontracts for research to be conducted under
the grant should not exceed approximately 40% of the total
cost of the grant for each year in which the subcontract was
awarded.
Eligibility
The following eligibility requirements apply to both general
and targeted grants:
Nonprofit and educational institutions, and state or local
governments are eligible under all existing authorizations.
Profit-making firms are eligible only under certain laws, and
then under restrictive conditions, including the absence of any
profit from the project
Potential applicants who are uncertain of their eligibility
should study the restrictive language of the law governing the
area of research interest or contact EPA's Grants Operations
Branch at (202) 382-5266.
Federal agencies and federal employees are not eligible to
participate in this program.
Investigators at minority institutions or those who have not
previously received support are encouraged to submit
applications.
Funding Mechanisms
For all general and targeted grants, the funding mechanism
will consist of a grant agreement between EPA and the
recipient.
Federal grant regulation 40 CFR 30.307 requires that all
recipients provide a minimum of 5% of the total project cost,
Table 2. Tentative RFA Titles
RFA Title
Approximate
Issue Date
Contact
Innovative Technologies for
Removal of Heavy Metals
at Superfund Sites
Improved Pump and Treat
Processes for Remediation
of Superfund Sites
Identification of Endpoints
and Indicators of
Terrestrial Ecosystem
Stress
Chemical Microsensors for
Environmental Applications
(All Media)
Nov 1990 Louis Swaby
Nov 1990 Louis Swaby
Nov 1990 Clyde Bishop
Nov 1990 Louis Swaby
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which may not be taken from Federal sources. OER will not
support a request for a deviation from this requirement for any
grant supported by its Research Grants Program.
Review Process
All general and targeted grant applications are initially
reviewed by the Agency to determine their legal and
administrative acceptability.
Acceptable applications are then reviewed by an
appropriate peer review panel. This review is designed to
evaluate and rank each proposal according to its scientific
merit and utility as a basis for recommending Agency approval
or disapproval. Each peer review panel is composed primarily
of non-EPA scientists and engineers who are experts in their
respective disciplines.
The panels use the following criteria in their reviews:
• Quality of the research plan (including theoretical and/or
experimental design, originality, and creativity)
• Qualifications of the principal investigator and staff
including knowledge of subject area
• Utility of the research
scientific knowledge
including potential contribution to
• Availability and adequacy of facilities and equipment
• Budgetary justification-in particular justification and cost
requests for equipment will be carefully reviewed
A summary of the scientific review and recommendation of
the panel is provided to each applicant.
Minority Institutions Assistance
Preapplication assistance is available upon request from
potential investigators representing institutions identified by the
Secretary of Department of Education as Historically Black
Colleges or Universities (HBCU's), the Hispanic Association of
Colleges or Universities (HACU's).
The application Form SF-424, instructions, subject areas,
and review procedures are the same as those for the general
grants program.
For further information, contact-
Virginia Broadway
U.S Environmental Protection Agency (RD'675)
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
U.S. Environmental Protection Hewy
Region 5, Lifc-ary (PL-12.')
77 Wp*t Jackson Ro-.'i^fH, 12th Rorr
Chicago, IL 60o04-Si.^O
•&U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1990/748-012/20095
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