&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA/600/8-88/086
July 1988
Research and Development
Solicitation for
Research Grant
Proposals—1989
-------
-------
••,:•'•',-'\ rToteotlon Agency
.:-i\ di-eet, Room 1670
Exploratory Research Grants
Introduction The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
responsible for implementing laws designed to mitigate
or prevent environmental pollution. Central to the
execution of its responsibility is the need for reliable,
high quality scientific and technical information.
Recognizing that some of the information needed to
address current or emerging problems is not available,
the Agency has established a long term, exploratory
research program.
As part of this long term research effort, EPA's Office
of Research and Development (ORD) established the
Research Grants Program within the Office of
Exploratory Research (OER) in 1980. The objective of
this program is to develop an effective means to
stimulate extramural scientists to work on EPA's
technical problems, to complement existing EPA
programs and to provide a stronger creative base for
mission-oriented research needed for the Agency's
regulatory and enforcement purposes. To date,
through its Research Grants Program OER has
supported approximately 600 research projects in
various priority areas as identified by the Agency's
program planning mechanisms and ORD's Research
Committees
Grants are an important means by which EPA
underwrites research on environmental topics in the
academic sector Therefore, this document solicits
investigator-initiated proposals to address ORD's
priority research needs This solicitation relates only to
the research grants procedures as administered by
ORD's Office of Exploratory Research and outlines the
procedures for applying for grants assistance.
Participation in the research grants assistance program
does not preclude individuals or institutions from
engaging in EPA-sponsored research supported
through cooperative agreements or contracts with ORD
laboratories Those interested in these aspects of
EPA's research and development programs are
encouraged to consult directly with personnel at the
EPA laboratories. A list of these laboratories appears in
Appendix A. Through this solicitation, OER seeks
proposals for research in the following general program
areas:
• Environmental Biology
• Environmental Health
-------
• Environmental Engineering
• Environmental Air/Water Chemistry and Physics
Specific research topic areas are presented under the
descriptions of each of the above program areas.
Although this document emphasizes certain needs in
the aforementioned research areas, it is by no means
all inclusive. Every scientifically meritorious proposal is
accorded full and fair consideration. The legislative and
administrative limitations of this program require,
however, that applications must be relevant to EPA's
mission.
Application The Research Grants Program accepts applications
Procedures that respond to its general annual solicitation. In
addition, applications are sought through more narrowly
defined proposal requests, the Request for Applications
(RFA). Application procedures for both mechanisms are
outlined below.
General Grants Program
Application forms, instructions, and other pertinent
information including general regulations for assistance
programs at EPA are available in the EPA Research
Grants Application/Information Kit. Interested
investigators should review the material 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
Washington, DC 20460
or
Research Grants Staff
Office of Exploratory Research (RD-675)
Office of Research and Development
U S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
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 instructive
manuals.
Fully-developed research grant applications, prepared
in accordance with instructions in the Application for
Federal Assistance Form No. 5700-12, should be sent
to:
Grants Operations Branch
Grants Administration Division (PM-216F)
-------
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
A pre-addressed mailing label is provided in the
Application/Information Kit.
If this solicitation is the basis for submitting a proposal,
that fact may be entered on line 3 of Form 5700-12.
One copy of the application with original signatures
plus eight copies are required. Informal, incomplete, or
unsigned proposals will not be considered.
While applications are accepted year round, proposals
will be evaluated at regular intervals. Closing dates for
receipt of applications and review schedules are listed
separately in each program area description. Applicants
should contact the appropriate Science Review
Administrator, whose name appears at the end of each
program area description, for further information on
review schedules.
Special Targeted Grants Program
When the Agency wishes to expand an existing
research area or explore a new one in which current
Agency efforts are either minimal or non-existent,
targeted grants are awarded on a specified research
topic. The Office of Exploratory Research addresses
this specific research need by issuing a special
solicitation called a "Request for Applications"(RFA).
The RFA is a mechanism by which a formal
announcement is released describing a high priority
initiative in a well defined scientific area.
Applicants are invited to submit research applications
for a one-time competition using the standard
application for Federal Assistance Form No. 5700-12
One copy of the application with original signatures
plus eight copies should be mailed directly to:
Research Grants Staff
Office of Exploratory Research (RD-675)
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
Funds for this special mechanism are generally set
aside for a specified number of RFAs (where five to ten
agreements are expected to be awarded per RFA). The
deadlines for receipt of applications are identified in the
RFA announcement. All responses received are
reviewed for scientific merit by ad hoc extramural peer
review panels.
As in the case of the general grants program, an
application for a targeted grant is only considered when
-------
Eligibility
Funding
Mechanism
Review
Process
a fully developed proposal is submitted on the required
Application for Federal Assistance Form 5700-12.
Nonprofit 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. This
information is provided in the Research Grants
Application/Information Kit.
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 (See Minority Programs Section).
For all regular 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 all
recipients to provide a minimum of 5% of the total
project cost, which may not be taken from federal
sources The Office of Exploratory Research will not
support a request for a deviation from this requirement
for any grant supported by its Research Grants
Program.
All applications are initially reviewed by the Agency
to determine their legal and administrative
acceptability
Acceptable applications are then reviewed by the
appropriate peer review panel. This review is designed
to evaluate and rank each proposal according to its
scientific merit 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 review:
• Quality of research plan (including theoretical and/or
experimental design, originality, and creativity)
• Qualifications of principal investigator and staff
including knowledge of subject area
• Potential contribution to scientific knowledge
• Availability and adequacy of facilities and equipment
-------
Research
Areas-
General Grants
Program
Environmental
Health
• Budgetary justification
Proposals which receive a panel's approval based upon
scientific merit are further evaluated by EPA officials for
relevance to the Agency's mission and budget
appropriations. A summary of the scientific review and
recommendation of the panel is provided to each
applicant.
The review process described above is applicable to all
applications received, whether in the general or
targeted (RFA) procedure.
The four research areas under which the general grants
program is conducted are described below. The
description of each area includes a list of general
research topic areas which are considered to be
especially relevant to the Agency's mission. In addition,
a schedule of significant dates for receipt and review of
research proposals is included in each research area
for the anticipated FY 1989 program.
The major objective of the Environmental Health
Research Program is to obtain and provide a scientific
basis upon which the Agency can make regulatory
decisions concerning human health risk assessment
after exposure to environmental pollutants. The
principle concern is to determine whether, and to what
extent, exposure to various pollutants contribute to
environmentally related health risks
Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
• Models and Methodologies for Human Risk
Assessment
• Risk Assessment and Predictions
• Risk Assessment in Human Populations
The following schedule applies to the Environmental
Health Grants Program.
Application
Closing Date
September 15th
February 16th
Panel Review
Meeting
December
May
Relevancy
Review
January
June
Earliest Date
for
Notification
of Award
February
July
For further information, please contact
George R. Simon
Science Review Administrator (RD-675)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
-------
Environmental
Biology
The Environmental Biology Research Program
supports a broad range of research in the areas of risk
assessment, ecosystem structure and function,
toxicology, biotechnology and degradation processes.
The program seeks information that, in combination
with exposure data, allows the prediction of the
environmental risk of pollutants on individual
organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems.
Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
• Risk Assessment
• Ecosystem Structure and Function
• Toxicological Effects
The following schedule applies to the Environmental
Biology Grants Program.
Application
Closing Date
September 16th
March 17th
Panel Review
Meeting
November
June
Relevancy
Review
December
July
Earliest Date
for
Notification
of Award
February
October
Environmental
Engineering
For further information, please contact:
Clyde C. Bishop, Jr.
Science Review Administrator (RD-675)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
The Environmental Engineering Research Program
supports fundamental research needed to provide
solutions to pollution control problems outside the
scope of the Agency's response-directed research
program. New, innovative toxic substances control and
waste management techniques are sought to provide
cost-effective advanced multi-media (solid, liquid,
gaseous) pollution control technology.
Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
Proof-of-concept research
potential technical areas
in high-risk, high-
• Pilot-scale evaluation and cost performance testing
of innovative technologies
• Fundamental thermal destruction/combustion
research leading to less pollutant production and to
better incineration of hazardous waste
-------
The following schedule applies to the Environmental
Engineering Grants Program.
Environmental
Air/Water
Chemistry
and Physics
Application Panel Review
Closing Date Meeting
February 15th
August I5fr>
June
October
Relevancy
Review
July
November
Earliest Date
for
Notification of
Award
August
January
For further information, please contact:
Donald F. Carey
Science Review Administrator (RD-675)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
The Environmental Air/Water Chemistry and Physics
Program supports research leading to the basic scien-
tific tools for establishing the levels at which pollutants
occur or might occur in the environment. The program
includes projects in analytical chemistry, studies on
chemical reactions and their rates and on the physics
of the movement of pollutants in air, water, and soil.
The resulting tools and information will allow the
estimation of total exposures needed for risk
assessments
This program is divided into:
I. RESEARCH ON AIR POLLUTION
II. RESEARCH ON POLLUTION OF FRESHWATER,
MARINE/ESTUARINE WATERS, GROUNDWA-
TERS, SOILS AND SEDIMENTS
Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
I. AIR POLLUTION
• Exposure Monitoring Systems and Advanced
Analytical Methods
• Transport and Fate Studies
• Modeling Studies
The following schedule applies to the Environmental Air
Chemistry and Physics Grants Program.
Application Panel Review
Closing Dates Meeting
March 15th
August 15th
May
October
Earliest Date
for
Relevancy Notification of
Review Award
June July
November December
-------
For further information, please contact:
Louis G. Swaby
Science Review Administrator (RD-675)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
II. RESEARCH ON POLLUTION OF FRESHWATER,
MARINE/ESTUARINE WATERS, SOILS, GROUND-
WATERS.AND SEDIMENTS.
• Transport and Fate Studies
• Monitoring Systems and Analytical Methods
The following schedule applies to the Environmental
Water Chemistry and Physics Grants Program.
Application
Closing Dates
March 15th
August 15th
Panel Review
Meeting
May
October
Relevancy
Review
June
November
Earliest Date
for
Notification of
Award
July
December
For further information, please contact-
Louis G. Swaby
Science Review Administrator (RD-675)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
Request for The number of RFAs that will be issued is subject to
Applications the availability of funds in OER's FY 1989 Research
Grants Program. While a specific research topic has
not yet been chosen, it is anticipated that one RFA will
be issued during the month of March 1989 The
Request for Applications will appear in the Federal
Register, Commerce Business Daily, and various
technical journals relative to the subject matter of the
RFA.
Minority Research Grant and
Student Fellowship Programs
Minority The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has initiated
Institutions a special assistance program entitled, Minority
Assistance Institutions Assistance (MIA) program. The objective of
(MIA) the program is to award grant funds for the support of
exploratory research by faculty and to support
undergraduate and graduate fellowships for students
enrolled at eligible institutions The principal purpose of
-------
this program is to provide Federal assistance to
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as
directed by Executive Order 12320, issued on
September 15, 1981.
Terms and Restrictions for Research Assistance
• Consideration will be given only to applications
submitted by institutions subject to Executive Order
No. 12320, and identified by the Secretary of the
Department of Education as Historically Black
Colleges and Universities.
• In contrast to the regular grants program,
preapplication assistance is available upon request.
A potential investigator may submit a preproposal
for informal scientific review and determination of its
relevance to Agency research goals.
• The Application Form (5700-12), instructions and
procedures are the same as those used for EPA's
regular research grants, except that "MIA" should
be typed in item (3) on the face page to identify the
program to which the application is directed.
• All of the topic areas described previously for the
regular research grants program are applicable to
the MIA program.
Terms and Restrictions for Student Fellowship
Assistance
• Consideration will be given only to applicants who
are enrolled full-time and in good standing with an
eligible institution (HBCU).
• The applicant must be a senior or graduate student
with a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3 0
or higher on a scale of 4 0.
• All applications will be reviewed and evaluated for
the following: (1) individual's orientation towards and
commitment to a career in the Physical Sciences
(Chemistry, Physics, Math, Engineering), Biological
Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Computer
Sciences, (2) Grade Point Average (GPA) verified by
college transcript, (3) applicant's statement of
objectives and personal goals, (4) recommendations
by the sponsor and faculty, and (5) employment
experience related to the field of study
• These Student Fellowship applications must be
properly executed on EPA Forms. Failure to
complete all forms with appropriate signatures will
delay processing or disqualify the application. Each
application must enter "MIA" in the upper left hand
corner of the face page, EPA Form 5770-4.
-------
• Applicants must be citizens of the United States or
its possessions, the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto
Rico.
• The Environmental Protection Agency reserves the
right to limit the number of awards to a particular
college or university.
For further information, please contact:
Walter H Preston
Ombudsman, MIA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (RD-675)
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-7445
or
Clyde C. Bishop, Jr
Science Review Administrator
10
-------
Appendix A: Laboratories of The Office of Research and
Development, USEPA
Health Effects Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
(919) 541-2281
Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory
P.O. Box 15027
Las Vegas, NV 89193-3478
(702) 798-2100
Water Engineering Research Laboratory
Cincinnati, OH 45268
(513) 569-7951
Environmental Research Laboratory
South Ferry Road
Narragansett, Rl 02882
(401) 789-1071
Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
(919) 541-2106
Environmental Research Laboratory
Sabine Island
Gulf Breeze, FL 32561
(904) 932-5311
Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory
Cincinnati, OH 45268
(513) 569-7418
Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory
Cincinnati, OH 45268
(513) 569-7301
Environmental Research Laboratory
200 SW 35th Street
Corvallis, OR 97333
(503) 757-4601
Environmental Research Laboratory
College Station Road
Athens, GA 30613
(404) 546-3154
Environmental Research Laboratory
6201 Congdon Boulevard
Duluth, MN 55804
(218) 727-6692
Atmospheric Sciences Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
(919) 541-2191
11
-------
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
(919) 541-2821
Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory
P.O. Box 1198
Ada, OK 74820
(405) 332-8800
12
-------
U.?. Environmental Protection Agency
... .:> :' ;:•. LUrary (5FL-lGj
'. * :'-.. L.:i.iuorn Street, Room 1670
vL;:.oJSO, Hi fi0604
-------
» o
^ <
i?
O 2
» n
a, I
o. m
Q. o
>mc
tO 13 ^
n> 5 ^
||a
3 ^
CtJ QJ
S 5
QJ (/>
o j n
^ -K a:
•O S O
5 o c
- ? 0.
is 3
o „ Sf.
2 8 J
O
I
O)
CO
!S
? D
------- |