Grants & Funding

Environmental Protection Agency

Published Date: January 27, 2010

Program Information

Program Name:

Exploring New Air Pollution Health Effects Links in Existing Datasets

Program URL:

http://epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2010/2010_star_air_poll.html

Type of Scientists Funded:

Junior Faculty, Administrator, Senior Scientist/Faculty

Program Description:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as part of its Science to Achieve Results program, is seeking applications proposing to use existing datasets from health studies to analyze health outcomes for which the link to air pollution is not well established, or to evaluate underlying heterogeneity in health responses among subgroups defined by susceptibility or extent and/or composition of exposure. The estimated number of awards is approximately five. The anticipated funding amount is approximately $1.4 million total for all awards. The potential funding per award is up to a total of $300,000, including direct and indirect costs, with a maximum duration of 3 years. Cost-sharing is not required. Proposals with budgets exceeding the total award limits will not be considered.

Public Contact Information

Program Award Term and Application Process

• Award Term Fixed or Variable?    Variable
• Minimum Term     
• Maximum Term     
• Award Renewable?    No
• Does an individual or institution apply to the program?    Individual
• Is there an application deadline?    Yes
• Application deadline(s):
  04/27/2010
• Deadline Comments   
  Solicitation Closing Date: April 27, 2010, 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time.
  
  The full application must be submitted electronically via e-mail to 2010-AirDatasets-APPS@epa.gov (or through any authorized alternate submission methods described below) by the solicitation closing date and time. All necessary forms are available at http://epa.gov/ncer/rfa/forms/.
  
  Please refer to the full announcement, including Section IV, for additional information on submission methods and due dates.

Program FUNDS

• Stipend Information:
  
  
• Annual stipend type:    Not Applicable
• 
  Research Allowance Information:
  
  
• Annual research allowance type:    Not Applicable
• 
  Indirect Costs (Institutional Funds) Information:
  
  
• Indirect costs type:    Not Applicable
• 
  Other Costs Information:
  
  
• Other Costs type:    Not Applicable

Program Eligibility Requirements

Research Areas:

Other (specify): Environmental Science, Air Pollution, Health

Application by invitation or nomination only?

No

Are awards limited to specific groups?

None provided

Must applicants be U.S. citizens and/or permanent residents?

U.S. geographic limits?

No

International geographic limits?

Institutional limits?

Yes

Details

Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the U.S., state and local governments, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, and U.S. territories or possessions are eligible to apply. Profit-making firms are not eligible to receive assistance agreements from the EPA under this program.

Eligible nonprofit organizations include any organizations that meet the definition of nonprofit in OMB Circular A-122, located at 2 CFR Part 230. However, nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible to apply.

National laboratories funded by Federal Agencies (Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers, "FFRDCs") may not apply. FFRDC employees may cooperate or collaborate with eligible applicants within the limits imposed by applicable legislation and regulations. They may participate in planning, conducting, and analyzing the research directed by the applicant, but may not direct projects on behalf of the applicant organization. The institution, organization, or governance receiving the award may provide funds through its assistance agreement from the EPA to an FFRDC for research personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses directly related to the research. However, salaries for permanent FFRDC employees may not be provided through this mechanism.

Federal Agencies may not apply. Federal employees are not eligible to serve in a principal leadership role on an assistance agreement, and may not receive salaries or augment their Agency's appropriations in other ways through awards made under this program.

The applicant institution may enter into an agreement with a Federal Agency to purchase or utilize unique supplies or services unavailable in the private sector. Examples are purchase of satellite data, census data tapes, chemical reference standards, analyses, or use of instrumentation or other facilities not available elsewhere. A written justification for federal involvement must be included in the application. In addition, an appropriate form of assurance that documents the commitment, such as a letter of intent from the Federal Agency involved, should be included.

Congress has prohibited EPA from using its FY 2010 appropriations to award grants to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or any of its subsidiaries and therefore in order to be eligible for funding consideration under this competition all applicants must affirmatively indicate in their proposal that they are not subject to this prohibition. In addition, since this funding prohibition applies to subawards/subgrants and contracts awarded by grantees, applicants must consider it when preparing proposals.

Non-research activity allowed for postdoctoral and junior faculty awards?

If yes, specify at least one of the following: percentage time and activities allowed

• Other eligibility requirements:   
  Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or they will be rejected. In addition, where a page limitation is expressed in Section IV with respect to parts of the application, pages in excess of the page limit will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted to EPA (see Section IV.E. "Submission Instructions and Other Submission Requirements" for further information) on or before the solicitation closing date and time in Section IV of this announcement or they will be returned to the sender without further consideration. Also, applications exceeding the funding limits or project period term described herein will be returned without review. Further, applications that fail to demonstrate a public purpose of support or stimulation (e.g., by proposing research which primarily benefits a Federal program or provides a service for a Federal agency) will not be funded.
  
  Proposals must address one or more of the research areas described in Section I.D. above. In addition, to be eligible for funding consideration, a project's focus must consist of activities within the statutory terms of EPA's financial assistance authorities; specifically, the statute(s) listed in I.C. above. Generally, a project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of air pollution, water pollution, solid/hazardous waste pollution, toxic substances control, or pesticide control depending on which statute(s) is listed in I.C. above. These activities should relate to the gathering or transferring of information or advancing the state of knowledge. Proposals should emphasize this "learning" concept, as opposed to "fixing" an environmental problem via a well-established method. Proposals relating to other topics which are sometimes included within the term "environment" such as recreation, conservation, restoration, protection of wildlife habitats, etc., must describe the relationship of these topics to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.
  
  Applications deemed ineligible for funding consideration will be notified within fifteen calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

Program competition information

• Number of Applicants in Most Recent Competition Year:   
• Number of Awards in Most Recent Competition Year:   
• Institutional Award Rates   

  Category	# Applicants	# Awards
  Institutional Awards

• Awardee's subsequent careers/accomplishments tracked after end of term?   
  
• Total dollars awarded in the most recent competition year