US Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs

Questions and Answers:

Pesticide Incident Surveillance Program (PSP)

October 14, 2010

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Questions and Answers specific to Pesticide Incident Surveillance Program
(PSP), Funding Opportunity Number EPA-OPP-2010-008

Updated on October 12, 2010

1.	Does EPA require IRB approval for population based pesticide illness surveillance for state
public health (refer to page 23 of the PSP announcement)?

Yes, contact your local IRB office. If IRB determines the project is a public health practice
activity and not human research under the referenced regulations, the IRB office will make
that determination and provide documentation of their finding.

2.	Is mandatory physician reporting an eligibility requirement for applicants?

No, mandatory physician reporting (of suspected cases related to pesticide illness and injury)
is not an eligibility requirement for this announcement. This is related to a 5-point scoring
advantage (out of a total of 100 possible points).

3.	Should the proposal, timeline and budget reflect 5 years?

Yes, the application contents, including project narrative described on page 13 of the
announcement should include project information for the entire 5-year project period. A
detailed work plan for year one will be requested after awards are made.

Page 12 of the announcement requires the SF 424 and SF 424A to be submitted as part of the
application. These forms break down budget details for both year one and subsequent years.

Please follow the instructions for these forms found at:
http://www.epa.gov/ogd/forms/forms.htm

Refer to: How to Apply: http://www.epa.gov/ogd/grants/how_to_apply.htm

You can access all required forms here. You can also get tips by clicking on EPA Grant-
Writing Tips link. Then see the Budget Detail Sample document.

4.	Are bona fide agents of the public health authority eligible to apply for this funding
opportunity?

Bona fide agents applying on behalf of the state's public health authority may be qualified to
apply. When submitting your application, please attach proof of your status of bona fide
agent and legal authority with a signed letter on State letterhead.

5.	* Please note that the points assigned to Criterion 3: Programmatic Capability and
Environmental Results Past Performance have been amended as follows:

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3. Programmatic Capability and Environmental Results Past Performance Criterion

Under this criterion, applicants will be evaluated based on their ability to successfully complete
and manage the proposed project taking into account the applicant's:

Past performance in successfully completing and managing the grants identified in
response to Section IV.C.7. Part VIII of the announcement (2.5 points), History of meeting the
reporting requirements under the grants identified in response to Section IV.C.7. Part VIII of the
announcement including whether the applicant submitted acceptable final technical reports
under those agreements and the extent to which the applicant adequately and timely reported on
their progress towards achieving the expected outputs and outcomes under those agreements and
if such progress was not being made whether the applicant adequately reported why not (2.5
points), Organizational experience and plan for cost-effective, timely and successful achievement
of the objects of the proposed project described in Section IV.C.7.d.Part VII (2.5 points), and Staff
expertise/qualification, staff knowledge, and resources or the ability to obtain them, to
successfully achieve the goals of the proposed project described in Section IV.C.7.d.Part VII (2.5
points).

Note: In evaluating applicants under this criterion, EPA will consider relevant information
provided by the applicant and may also consider relevant information from other sources
including agency files and prior/current grantors (e.g. to verify and/or supplement the
information supplied by the applicant). If you do not have any relevant or available past
performance or past reporting information, please indicate this in the application and you will
receive a neutral score of these subfactors (items a. and b. A neutral score is half of the total
points available in a subset of possible points). If you do not provide any response for these items,
you may receive a score of 0 for these factors.

(Total points = 10)

* Only the points associated with the 4 elements in this criterion have been amended to
accurately reflect a total of 10 points and no other content within this criterion was altered.

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