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THE COASTAL RESPONSE RESEARCH
CENTER (CRRC)
FY 2004 Request for Preliminary Proposals
May 31, 2004
The NOAA/UNH Coastal Response Research
Center (CRRC), located at the University of New Hampshire, is inviting
preliminary proposals for project funding consideration. This request
for preliminary proposals includes information on the following:
The calendar for this RFP is:
| Preliminary
Proposals Due |
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July 9, 2004
at 4:00 pm EST |
| Invitation
for Full Proposal |
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July 30, 2004 |
| Full Proposal
Due |
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September
10, 2004 |
| Notice of
Recommendation for Funding |
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November 10,
2004 |
| Funding Start
Date |
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January 3,
2005* |
* All project funding is contingent on
the amount of money appropriated for this program through the United
States Department of Commerce.
I. CRRC Background
CRRC was established in 2004 as a hub for spill research, development,
and technical transfer. The Center is a partnership between the
University of New Hampshire (UNH) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and will operate in cooperation with the UNH
Environmental Research Group. The CRRC collaborates with other federal,
state and local research and development programs to promote effective
protection and restoration of coastal areas and resources. CRRC
is governed by a Memorandum of Agreement between NOAA and UNH and
is jointly managed by co-directors from these two organizations.
The goal of the Center is to reduce both the potential for and the
consequences of spills and other hazards threatening coastal environments
and communities. Advances in science and technology relating to
spills will be applied to other types of threats to coastal environments
and communities when possible.
II. Mission and Goals of CRRC
The operating principles of the CRRC are to:
- Involve individuals and institutions,
public and private, at the local, regional, national and international
levels in identifying needs, evaluating and demonstrating promising
technologies, and fostering integrative approaches to spill response
and restoration.
- Serve as a center of educational opportunity
and outreach for spill preparedness, response and restoration,
as well as providing a source of information and continuing education
for public and private individuals and companies involved in marine
spill response.
- Facilitate and promote collaborative
research and development and the exchange of ideas among scientists
to increase their collective productivity and the application
of their findings to operational activities in spill preparedness,
response and restoration.
- Involve students (undergraduate, graduate,
and certificate) in ongoing research, testing, and demonstration
activities.
CRRC's mission is to:
- Establish research priorities, collaborate,
and conduct research, to advance the knowledge, technology, and
practice of spill preparedness, response, and restoration.
- Compile and analyze data to establish
trends in spills, spill risk, preparedness and response.
- Transform research results into standards
of practice and demonstration projects.
- Provide reference information to improve
preparedness and response capabilities.
- Create a learning center for spill preparedness,
response, and restoration to promote awareness of capabilities
and realistic expectations about risks and benefits.
- Provide a forum for the discussion and
coordination of differing spill response mandates.
III. FY 2004 Priority Areas
for Research and Development
UNH and NOAA conducted an R&D Workshop in November 2003 with participants
from academia, industry, and State and Federal agencies to identify
priority research areas in which the CRRC might seek proposals.
The themes developed during the Workshop evolved into a draft of
R&D priority areas. For more information on the Workshop or additional
details on the themes themselves, a downloadable version of the
workshop report is available on the CRRC website (www.crrc.unh.edu).
This first Workshop was followed in May 2004, by a second, more
focused effort, in which NOAA participants identified their requirements
for R&D needs relating to releases of oil in coastal areas. These
two discussions formed the basis for this RFP. Projects under this
year’s request for preliminary proposals should address one of the
following priority areas. Additional information is provided for
each category only to assist in focusing the proposals. Applicants
are encouraged to use existing facilities and to coordinate efforts
with existing laboratories such as the Minerals Management Service’s
(MMS) OHMSETT facility. In addition, applicants are encouraged to
look at current and past CRRC projects, soon to be listed on the
web site (http://crrc.unh.edu), to get a better idea of CRRC’s interests.
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1) |
Recovery of Natural Resources
One of the goals of spill response
is to minimize harm to the environment and shorten the time
for recovery; this does not always equate to “remove all of
the contaminant”. Past experience at spills has shown that
aggressive response methods can harm the environment and slow
recovery. Furthermore, response methods may have differential
impacts on various resources; e.g., burning may remove oil
from the sea surface but create an air pollution problem.
In order to make good decisions regarding response options
and techniques, information is needed regarding the total
impact (i.e., extent of injury and time to recovery) for the
various natural resources. Information on the factors influencing
the rate(s) of natural recovery for impacted resources which
have not undergone restoration is of primary importance. These
factors may include specifics of undergone restoration is
of primary importance. These factors may include specifics
of the release (e.g., season of release, type of oil, response(s)
utilized, influence of weather, and harvest and usage pressures).
The proposed project should compare recovery rates of coastal
sites where acute releases of oil and other hazardous materials
have occurred, and identify and prioritize factors that influence
recovery rates in these sites. This information will be used
in making response and restoration decisions. The Center is
particularly interested in salt marshes, sandy beaches and
unconsolidated sediments.
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2) |
Injury to Natural Resources
Laboratory studies of injury using
static exposure regimes may not be relevant to realworld incidents.
For example, oil spills in open waters may result in high
contamination levels for a few hours followed by the rapid
decline of these levels. The Center seeks proposals that will
help in the prediction of injury (i.e., a measurable adverse
change) to living marine resources from realistic exposure
regimes involving oil and hazardous materials. The exposure
regimes considered may be pulsed (tidal), short term (less
than 96 hours) or long term (more than 96 hours). The proposal
should explain the relevance of the particular exposure regime
used. The information developed must be capable of being used
to make protective response decisions and to determine the
need for and amount of restoration required to compensate
for injury to the test species in a real situation. That is,
the information developed must be quantitative as well as
relevant. Endpoints other than mortality may be considered
but the proposal should explain the relevance of the endpoint
chosen. The Center is particularly interested in injury information
that would aid decision-making on dispersant use in areas
with coral reefs.
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3) |
Communication/Gaming
Spill response decisions may result
in significant and long-lasting adverse impacts to local communities
and the natural environment. The unique and infrequent nature
of spills and the potential long-time scale of impacts and
recovery, however, make it difficult for decision-makers to
understand and evaluate the outcomes of these decisions. Spill
drill exercises generally focus on the short term impacts
of decisions (days to weeks), and rarely consider longer-term
implications. Evaluating the long-term tradeoffs and interactions
among response decisions, as well as the potential consequences
and outcomes of these decisions in terms of both injuries
to natural resources and changes in the quantity and quality
of services that these resources may provide, is becoming
of greater and greater importance. The Center is interested
in developing a simulation game for spill response that can
be used to compare planning and response decisions and the
ecological and socio-economic consequences of these decisions,
both short and long term, on all parties impacted by the incident.
The game will be used to communicate long and short-term environmental
tradeoffs in spill response to elected officials, the response
community and the public. NOAA will assist the successful
proposer in the development of this game with examples, review,
and comment as necessary. CRRC is most interested in the facts,
rules and logic upon which the simulation is based. While
computer simulation might be a useful tool, a board game could
be equally viable.
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4) |
Communication/Performance
Metrics Responses to spills of oil
and other hazardous materials are often conducted under close
scrutiny from both the media and the public. Attempts at communicating
the progress of the response to these parties have resulted
in the development and utilization of a variety of metrics
(measures of performance); for example, dollars spent, number
of workers, gallons of oil recovered. The metric used in determining
the progress of the 4 response may, however, also influence
the response through the rejection of otherwise appropriate
methods. For example, if the metric being used is amount of
oil recovered, the goal of recovering as much oil as possible
may be counter to environmental recovery (e.g., marsh cleanup),
and may lead to rejection of such response options as dispersants
and burning. The Center is interested in an examination of
the role of performance metrics in deciding upon and implementing
spill response options, including recommendations for specific
performance metrics relevant to the protection and recovery
of natural resources and their associated services. The proposal
should consider such factors as public acceptance of the metric
and unintended consequences of the metric chosen and make
recommendations for specific performance metrics relevant
to the protection and recovery of natural resources and their
associated services.
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5) |
Preparing for Spills of Opportunity
Because of the unpredictable and
chaotic nature of spills, there has been little detailed fate
and transport data developed from actual spills. Researchers
have occasionally been able to intentionally spill oil and
conduct field experiments to examine the transport and fate
of the release, but permit and planning requirements generally
make this prohibitive in U.S. waters. Conducting the same,
or similar, experiment on a spill of opportunity has lesser
permitting problems but greater planning problems. The Center
is interested in the design of an experimental plan to optimize
the collection of statistically valid field data on the concentration
and 3D transport of dispersed and non-dispersed oil at a spill
of opportunity. The collected data must be useful for the
validation of various transport models. The experimental design
should consider potential locations, optimal spill size, oil
type, and other criteria. It should be flexible and easily
implemented but sufficiently detailed and specific to be suitable
for presentation to the involved Regional Response Team.
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6) |
Other
The November 2003 Workshop report,
at http://crrc.unh.edu, provides additional background on
the areas identified above and related spill response R&D
topics. These areas, as identified and discussed in the Workshop
report are:
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- Physical Transport Forecasting
- Oil Weathering: Data Development
and Modeling
- Ecosystem Services: Identification
and Valuation
- Communication: Public and
Stakeholder Participation in Response and Restoration
- Evaluating the Success of
Restorations Actions
- Chronic Effects of Oil:
Individual and Habitat
- Methods and Techniques for
Determining Injury
- New Tools for Restoration
and Recovery
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The Center
also considers these R&D areas as priorities and encourages
innovative proposals in these areas. Projects proposed in these
areas must provide quantitative information that can be used
in making both response and restoration decisions. |
IV. General Guidelines and
Project Requirement
- This RFP solicits projects that support
the mission and goals of the CRRC.
- Up to $1,132,600 is available to fund
projects under this solicitation. A mix of oneand two-year projects
is strongly desired; three-year projects may be considered. The
CRRC will fund projects for up to two years from FY 2004 funds.
Funding for the third year of approved projects may be requested
in a future solicitation. In the most recent competitive funding
cycle run on behalf of the CRRC by UNH’s Cooperative Institute
for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET), project
awards averaged approximately $78,000 per year and ranged from
$49,000 to $120,000 per year. These figures can be used as guidelines
for preliminary proposals submitted in response to this solicitation.
- The maximum allowable indirect cost
rate is 46%, using the UNH indirect cost formula which applies
the indirect rate to total direct costs minus permanent equipment
and graduate school tuition. You may use a different indirect
cost rate and formula, but the total indirect costs must be equal
to or less than those calculated using the UNH formula.
- Private-sector applicants may not include
fee or profit in their budget requests.
- Applicants should include travel as
a line item in their proposed budget. Travel to UNH and/or NOAA’s
Office of Response and Restoration headquarters in Seattle on
an annual basis to give presentations and participate in workshops
is expected.
- Eligible applicants include investigators
from United States academic, state and local government, non-profit
institutions and the private sector. Researchers from outside
the United States may be included as additional investigators
but cannot be the principal investigator.
- Federal agency personnel may be eligible
provided they can document statutory authority to supplement their
appropriations with funds from other federal programs and entities.
(Note: Such documentation must be submitted with the full proposal,
not the preliminary proposal. In some cases, obtaining this documentation
can take time so applicants should plan ahead.)
- Federal applicants may not request salary
compensation.
- Dissemination of research results is
an important part of the CRRC process and each applicant is encouraged
to create an innovative dissemination plan befitting the potential
end users of the proposed research. This could include but is
not limited to: scientific or technical journal articles, presentations
at conferences, subject-specific workshops, seminars for coastal
managers, procedural handbooks, web sites, etc.
- All recommended proposals will be reviewed
by NOAA for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance
before funding.
- Applicants are encouraged to use existing
facilities and to coordinate efforts with existing laboratories
such as the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) OHMSETT facility.
V. Guidelines for Preliminary
Proposal Preparation
Instructions for electronically submitting the preliminary proposals
are given in Section VII. The electronic submittal process will
dictate how your proposal elements are individually submitted in
the available fields. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself
with the PI information pages (including CV fields), the eleven
elements, and the standard budget page before you prepare your preliminary
proposal. For planning purposes, you should consider preparing your
preliminary proposal so that it adheres to the following guidelines.
The use of a Word document version that you can cut and paste into
the preliminary proposal fields is highly recommended. Please note
that you can not submit graphics as part of the preliminary proposal
submission process.
- The eleven element proposal narrative
must address all elements using a maximum of three single-spaced
pages and a minimum font size of 12.
- Institutional documentation of federally
negotiated indirect cost rates is not required for preliminary
proposals.
- Please note that while three-year projects
may be proposed, only funds for the first two years may be requested
in response to this solicitation.
VI. Preliminary Proposal Narrative
Elements
- Describe the priority area for oil spill
research and development to be addressed by the project. Include
its national/regional/local significance. Provide the names of
any state and local personnel contacted regarding project relevancy.
- Describe the project objectives and
how they relate to specific CRRC goals and objectives.
- Describe the methods that will be used
to meet project objectives.
- Indicate the timeline for meeting project
objectives.
- Describe how the proposed project is
innovative or novel.
- Describe how the proposed project may
be applied to other regions (i.e., How transferable is the project
from one region to another?).
- Describe the end product (technology,
method, information) and its utility to the oil spill community.
Please indicate the time frame within which it can be applied.
- Describe the roles and responsibilities
of the project participants.
- Describe how the project results will
be disseminated to the oil spill community.
- If this project has an end user partner(s),
identify the individual or entity and please explain why this
particular partner(s) was chosen.
- Please provide an itemized budget justification,
including a description of how your indirect costs were calculated.
If necessary, please describe any other support being provided
for any and all aspects of this project. Include relevant personnel,
dates, and funding amounts.
VII. Guidelines for Preliminary
Proposal Submission
Applicants will submit their preliminary proposal electronically
via the CRRC website at www.crrc.unh.edu.
Access to the submission page is available at the “Funding Opportunities”
link. Any questions or comments regarding the submittal process
can be addressed to Kimberly Newman at 603-862-0832 or kim.newman@unh.edu.
Applicants will be asked to note whether
their preliminary proposal has been submitted elsewhere.
Notifications and invitations for full
proposal submission will occur by July 30, 2004. The deadline for
submissions of full proposals will be September 10, 2004. Full proposals
will be subjected to peer review. The PI will be able to rebut the
peer reviews. The full proposals, the peer reviews, and the rebuttals
will then be reviewed by a panel of experts.
VIII. Preliminary Proposal
Evaluation Procedures
A CRRC programmatic review panel (typically composed of scientists
and researchers from NOAA, other Federal agencies, user-groups,
or academic institutions representing various regions of the United
States) will evaluate preliminary proposals. Selections for full
proposal submission will be made, in part, using the programmatic
evaluative criteria below (Note: evaluative criteria are weighted
as indicated).
- Will the project have a significant
impact on oil spill management? (20%)
- Is the proposed project and methodology
clearly and fairly described? (20%)
- Does the methodology as described seem
capable of producing the desired result? (10%)
- Are project objectives consistent with
the mission, goals and objectives of the CRRC? (15%)
- Is the proposed technology/methodology
transferable to other estuarine and coastal locations? (5%)
- Will the end product (technology, method,
information) be useful to the response and restoration community
within a reasonable time period? (15%)
- Does the proposed project include strategies
for technology transfer/information dissemination to the response
and restoration communities? (5%)
- Is the proposed project a partnership
with other sectors, either public or private within the response
community? (5%)
- Is the proposed budget reasonable and
appropriate? (5%)
IX. Whom to Contact with Questions
For inquiries regarding the appropriateness of proposed work to
CRRC, or other questions regarding the general content of an application
or your submission, please contact:
Ms. Kimberly Newman
CRRC Research Scientist
603-862-0832
kim.newman@unh.edu
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