v-xEPA
This document has not been
submitted to NTIS, therefore it
should be retained.
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA/600/9-91/031
September 1991
Solicitation for
Research Grant
Proposals -1992
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 en-
vironmental research in biology, 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 pollut-
ants on 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, appli-
cations 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 an an-
nouncement of tentative RFA titles and approximate
issue dates for each proposed RFA.
Application Procedures
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 Divisjon (PM-216F)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 260-5266
or
Office of Exploratory Research (RD-675)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 260-7473
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, includ-
ing process designs or instruction manuals.
Fully developed research grant applications, pre-
pared in accordance with instructions in the Applica-
tion 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 consid-
ered.
The following special instructions apply to all appli-
cants responding to this solicitation:
Applications must be identified by printing "OER-
92" 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.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 12th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
-------
The project narrative section of the application must
not exceed twenty-five 81/2x11 inch, consecu-
tively 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, appendices and reference lists for the
narrative section may be included, but come under
the 25 page limitation. The SF-424 and other forms,
itemized budget, resumes, and the abstract are not
included in the 25 page limitation.
Resumes must not exceed two pages for each
principal investigator and should focus on educa-
tion, positions held and most recent or related pub-
lications.
A one page abstract must be included with the
application.
Applications not meeting these requirements will
not be forwarded to reviewers. Applicants will be
notified of deficiencies and requisite changes will be
requested.
While applications responding to this solicitation
may be received by EPA at any time, they are evalu-
ated on specific dates which are different for each
disciplinary area. Closing dates and appropriate con-
tacts 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 individu-
als 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) 260-7473
Targeted Grants Program
The Office of Exploratory Research addresses spe-
cific research topics which appear to merit extra em-
phasis or special attention by issuing a separate RFA
for each such topic. The RFA is a mechanism by
which a formal announcement is released describing
a high priority initiative in well defined scientific areas.
Applicants are invited to submit research applica-
tions 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-1992, OER expects to issue two RFAs. Ten-
tative titles and other information relevant to each RFA
are provided in Table 2.
Unless otherwise identified in individual RFAs, pro-
cedures, 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 December 1991.
Table 2. Tentative RFA Titles
RFA Title
Approximate
Issue Date
Contact
Biomarksrs of Priority
Pollutants in
Immunotoxicology,
Neurotoxicology and
Teratology
Improved Pump and Treat
Processes for Remediation
of Superfund Sites
December 1991 Clyde Bishop
December 1991 Louis Swaby
Table 1. Closing Dates and Contacts—General Solicitation
Discipline
Application Closing
Dates
Contact
Biology
Health
Chem/Physics
Air
Chem/Physics
Water/Soil
Engineering
Socioeconomics
March 16, 1992
N/A
March 6, 1992
March 16, 1992
April 16, 1992
March 25, 1992
Clyde Bishop
Clyde Bishop
Deran Pashayan
Louis Swaby
Louis Swaby
Robert Papetti
Guidelines and Limitations for the General
Solicitation
The typical grant issued by OER is for approxi-
mately $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 pe-
riod is three years; shorter periods are encouraged.
Subcontracts for research to be conducted under the
grant should not exceed approximately 40% of the
-------
total direct 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 condi-
tions, including the absence of any profit from the
project.
Potential applicants who are uncertain of their eligi-
bility should study the restrictive language of the
law governing the area of research interest or con-
tact EPA's Grants Operations Branch at (202) 260-
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 encour-
aged 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, 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 ini-
tially 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 de-
signed to evaluate and rank each proposal according
to its scientific merit and utility as a basis for recom-
mending Agency approval or disapproval. Each peer
review panel is composed primarily of non-EPA scien-
tists, engineers and economists who are experts in
their respective disciplines.
The panels use the following criteria in their re-
views:
Quality of the research plan (including theoretical
and/or experimental design, originality, and cre-
ativity)
Qu alif icatio ns of the principal investigator and staff
including knowledge of subject area
Utility of the research including potential contribu-
tion to scientific knowledge
Availability and adequacy of facilities and equip-
ment
• Budgetary justification — in particular justification
and cost requests for equipment will be carefully
reviewed
A summary of the scientific review and recommen-
dation 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 (HBCUs)
or the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universi-
ties (HACUs).
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) 260-7473
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, L£:?n/ pi .10,)
12th
U.S. Environmental Protection Ag°ncy
Region 5, Library vv-12 ii
77 VJ:*t Jackson r-. •-,J-"^ 17-
M A;- ->u< ^u
------- |