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Agency: Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8
Indoor Environments Unit, Air and Radiation Program
Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Request for Initial Proposals to be Funded
from the Indoor Air Quality Allocation
Announcement Type:
 		 This is an initial announcement of a funding opportunity.
Funding Opportunity Number:
 		 EPA-GRANTS-030905-001
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) No.:		 66.034, Air Quality Projects
Dates/Deadlines: All proposals must be postmarked or delivered to
EPA Region 8 on or before April 25th, 2005.

Executive Summary:

EPA Region 8 is soliciting Proposals for the following indoor air quality (IAQ) program areas: to promote EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools Program, to promote asthma education and awareness projects and to promote awareness of the dangers of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).

Contents by Section:

I. Funding Opportunity Description/Scope of Work

Under the statutory authority of the Clean Air Act, Section 103(b)(3), EPA Region 8 is soliciting initial proposals from eligible entities that will propose to conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of education, research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys and studies related to the causes, effects (including health and welfare), extent, reductions and elimination of air pollution in any of the following high priority areas:

IAQ Tools for Schools: This is for demonstration projects or technical assistance to assist school districts in making use of projects of the Tools for Schools Program. The major goal of this work is to reduce school occupants' exposure to indoor air pollution. Technical assistance includes helping schools identify an indoor air coordinator or team for a school district, completing an IAQ walk through, distributing and collecting checklists and developing an IAQ management plan. A more detailed description of the components of a Tools for Schools Program can be found on the IAQ Tools for Schools (TfS) Road Map Web site.

Asthma: This is for asthma education and outreach projects that address environmental triggers for asthma and/or the building of community capacity to further outreach and education of asthma services (i.e., the established community-based coalitions, advisory boards etc.). Projects can be for in-home or school-based education, outreach efforts, or other activities that promote asthma awareness and education. Emphasis should be placed upon groups that are disproportionately affected by asthma, including children, Native Americans and populations that lack access to routine medical care. More information on asthma triggers and a sample in-home asthma checklist can be found on the EPA Asthma and Indoor Environments Web site.

ETS: This is for education and outreach projects on ETS and how it impacts children, and may include EPA's Smoke-Free Pledge Program. Emphasis is on the reduction of the number of children who are exposed to indoor ETS on a regular basis.

Initial Proposals submitted under this announcement must support Goal 1 of EPA's Strategic Plan, Clean Air and Global Climate Change, Objective 1.2, Healthier Indoor Air. A statement to this effect must be included in the proposal.

Proposals must clearly indicate measurable outputs and outcomes that will be achieved under the proposed activity. In rating the proposal, reviewers will look at the proposed plan for recording and reporting outputs and outcomes, ranking it according to how well it measures progress in meeting and how clearly it defines output and outcome goals. A complete listing of ranking criteria can be found in this Announcement under Section V, Application Review Information.

Examples of Measurable Outputs for Projects:

Tools for Schools - The number of schools where training will take place, or the number of persons who will be trained in the use of the Tools for Schools Program.

Asthma - The number of children attending asthma awareness class or the number of in-home visits planned.

ETS - The number of parents or care givers that will be given information on ETS, or the number of households that will pledge to be smoke-free.

Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during an assistance agreement funding period. Outputs reflect the products and services provided by the recipient, but do not, by themselves, measure the programmatic or environmental results of an assistance agreement.

Examples of Measurable Results/Outcomes for Projects:

Tools for Schools - The number of schools where Tools for Schools training has taken place and the Tools for Schools kit is being used, the number of schools that have been trained and are making use of portions of the Tools for Schools program, or the number of students that will experience improved indoor air as a result of the activity, or a measurable reduction in indoor air related complaints.

Asthma - Reductions in hospitalizations, emergency room visits or other episodes related to asthma resulting from an asthma education program, or the estimated number of asthmatic children who will otherwise be expected to benefit.

ETS - The number of children who will experience a reduced exposure to ETS as a result of the activity.

Outcomes in general include end outcomes, which are the desired end or ultimate result of a project or program, and intermediate outcomes, which are not the ultimate results of projects but are expected to lead to end outcomes.

In addition to being reviewed for measurable outputs and outcomes, proposals will be rated according to their cost effectiveness. Therefore, to give an accurate measure of the cost effectiveness of a proposal, outputs and outcomes need to be quantified to the extent possible.

For further assistance in meeting the requirements of a written proposal, please refer to the Application Tool Box.

II. Award Information/Amounts

EPA Region 8 plans to award approximately 8 to 10 grants in this competition. Since these are two year grants, final funding levels will depend on the total funds received for disbursement by EPA Region 8 during the next two fiscal years and the number and quality of the proposals received in the competition. The total estimated funding available under this competition shall not exceed $200,000 over each year in the two-year period. Proposals must be written as two year activities, with a budget breakdown that reflects costs that are anticipated to occur over the two year period. As a general guide, past one year grants have ranged from $5,000 for individual school districts doing Tools for Schools work up to $60,000 for universities or health departments promoting indoor air related programs in large urban areas or over multi-state areas. Proposals that are within this range ($10,000 to $120,000 over a two year period) and are judged to be cost effective will have a greater chance of being funded.

Actual funding levels in the second year of these two year grants will ultimately be determined by budget allocations made available to the EPA in the coming fiscal year. In the event funding is reduced in the second year of program activity, work plans and goals will be adjusted to reflect these lower levels. Proposed work plans should be written with measurable outcomes distributed throughout both the first and second years of the proposed activity.

Cost Sharing: There are no cost share requirements for these proposals.

Since funding levels may change unexpectedly and the quality of proposals will vary, EPA Region 8 reserves the right to offer partial funding of proposals that are submitted.

EPA Region 8 reserves the right to reject all proposals and make no awards.

The estimated project period for awards resulting from this solicitation is the period from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2007. Funding for the second year of this project period is contingent upon future funding levels.

Can funding be used to acquire services or fund partnerships?

Funding may be used to acquire services or fund partnerships, provided the recipient follows procurement and subaward or subgrant procedures contained in 40 CFR Parts 30 or 31, as applicable. Successful applicants must compete contracts for services and products and conduct cost and price analyses to the extent required by these regulations. The regulations also contain limitations on consultant compensation.

Applicants are not required to identify contractors or consultants in their proposal. However, the fact that a successful applicant has named a specific contractor or consultant in the proposal EPA approves does not relieve it of its obligations to comply with competitive procurement requirements.

Subgrants or subawards may be used to fund partnerships with non-profit organizations and governmental entities. Successful applicants cannot use subgrants or subawards to avoid requirements in EPA grant regulations for competitive procurement by using these instruments to acquire commercial services or products to carry out its cooperative agreement. The nature of the transaction between the recipient and the subgrantee must be consistent with the standards for distinguishing between vendor transactions and subrecipient assistance under Subpart B Section .210 of OMB Circular A-133, and the definitions of "subaward" at 40 CFR 30.2(ff) or "subgrant" at 40 CFR 31.3, as applicable. EPA will not be a party to these transactions.

Application Assistance Conference Call A pre-proposal conference call will be held March 29th, 2005 from 10 AM to 12 AM, MST. The purpose of this call is to answer any questions applicants may have concerning eligibility, scope of work, application and award processes. If you are interested in participating in the pre-proposal conference call, please contact Ron Schiller by March 22, 2005 either by phone at (303) 312-6017 or by email, schiller.ron@epa.gov. Please be sure to include your organizations's contact information including: the name of your organization, a contact person's name, email address, and phone and fax number.

Questions from the conference call and subsequent answers will be posted on the Application Tool Box for future reference.

III. Eligible Entities

To be eligible to compete for these assistance funds, applicants must:

1. Meet standards for eligibility described in Section 103(b)(3) of the CAA

2. Applicants eligible to submit proposals under this announcement include: individual school districts or groups of school districts; community-based organizations or coalitions, voluntary organizations and other non-profit organizations; colleges, universities, or other institutions of higher education; State, tribal, county, city or local health departments.

Non-profit organizations, as defined by OMB Circular A-122, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization which: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, education, service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve, and/or expand its operations.

The EPA will consider proposals that address one of the three high priority areas (Tools for Schools, Asthma or ETS), or proposals that include any combination of these three distinct project areas. Proposed activities or projects must take place within and primarily benefit residents of Region 8 (Colorado, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana). Applicants who have an existing agreement under this program are eligible to compete with proposals for new awards. In addition, successful applicants will be required to certify that they have not been debarred or suspended from participation in Federal assistance awards in accordance with 40 CFR Part 32.

IV. Application and Submission Information

Applicants must complete EPA Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. This form may be obtained from the EPA Grant and Debarment Web site or by contacting:

Ron Schiller
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8
Mail Code 8P-AR
999 18th Street, Suite 300
Denver, Colorado 80202-2466
email - schiller.ron@epa.gov
Fax number - (303) 312-6044
Phone number - (800) 227-8917 or (303) 312-6017

All proposals should be mailed or delivered to the above address. The EPA will consider all initial proposals which are received, hand delivered, postmarked or electronically delivered to the Region 8 Office, on or before April 25th, 2005. Proposals received or postmarked after the due date will not be considered for funding.

Proposal Format and Content Requirements

Proposals should be limited to five pages (not including Standard Form SF 424 and SF 424A). Page size should be 8 ½ X 11" with font size of 12 points or larger. Full application packages should not be submitted at this time. The following format should be used for all proposals submitted:

* Completed page 1 of Standard Form SF 424, Application for Federal Assistance.
* Completed page 2 of Standard Form SF 424A, Budget Information - Section B (See Allowable Costs). This budget information should include all planned costs over the two year project period.
* Statement regarding whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project (if so, please provide the assistance number and status of the current grant/cooperative agreement).
*Detailed itemization of the amounts budgeted by individual Object Class Categories (See Allowable Costs).
* Brief narrative of project purpose and results to be achieved by project. Assistance in including all necessary information in the narrative can be found at Application Tool Box.
* Brief description of the applicant organization, experience in indoor air quality work, experience related to the area of interest (schools, asthma and/or ETS) and the organization's infrastructure as it relates to its ability to promote the proposed project.
*Brief description of the proposed target population that will benefit from the activity.
* Brief description of staffing and funding resources available for the proposed project, including the number of workers and staff qualifications (no resumes are required).
* Proposed Work Plan and Milestone chart for the entire two years of the project period, including expected accomplishments and projected dates of accomplishments. For further guidance on writing a work plan, please go to the Application Tool Box
* A plan for tracking and measuring progress that clearly states outputs and outcomes of the proposed activity (as discussed in Section I of this Announcement).
* Description of how the proposed project meets the evaluation criteria specified in this announcement.

In addition, the following specific information must be provided depending on the type of proposal submitted under high priority areas for consideration:

IAQ Tools for Schools - The number of schools that will be targeted for outreach and training in the use of the Tools for Schools kit, and the subsequent successful use of the kit. Also, for proposals submitted by school districts, a letter from the School District Superintendent stating their support for this activity must be included.

Asthma - The number of in-home visits planned, the number of asthmatic children attending asthma awareness class, or the estimated number of asthmatic children expected to benefit. More information on asthma, asthma triggers and a model in-home asthma checklist can be found on EPA's Asthma and Indoor Environments Web site.

ETS - The number of parents or caregivers that will be given information and/or the number of households that will pledge to be smoke-free.

Intergovernmental Review

Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs and/or the consultation provisions of Section 204, Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act, which are contained in 40 CFR part 29 (information on this and all other references to 40 CFR in this announcement are available on the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Web site may be applicable to awards resulting from this announcement. Applicants selected for funding may be required to provide a copy of their proposal to their state point of contact (SPOC) for review, pursuant to Executive order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs. This review is not required with the initial proposal and not all states require such a review.

Funding Restrictions

Funding is only available for the activities authorized under one or more of the U.S. EPA grant authorities cited in Section 103(b)(3). Funding will not be permitted for construction activity, lobbying, entertainment expenses, or other unallowable costs under the applicable OMB circulars. Pre-award costs and equipment costs are allowable only with the written consent of EPA. Allowable costs for nonprofit organizations are defined in OMB circular A-122; allowable costs for public entities are defined in OMB circular A-87. Any contracts for services or products funded with EPA financial assistance must be awarded under the competitive procurement provisions of 40 CFR Part 30 or 40 CFR Part 31, as applicable. Subawards/subgrants must be consistent with the definitions of these terms in 40 CFR 30.2 (ff) and 40 CFR 31.3 as applicable. EPA encourages applicants to compete subgrants. (See Section 4.2, confirmation of partner participation, for further details).

Allowable Costs

EPA grant funds may only be used for the purposes set forth in the grant agreement, and must be consistent with the statutory authority for the award. Grant funds may not be used for matching funds for other Federal grants, lobbying, or intervention in Federal regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings. In addition, Federal funds may not be used to sue the Federal government or any other government entity. All costs identified in the budget must conform to applicable Federal Cost Principles contained in OMB Circular A-87, A-1232, and A-21, as appropriate. Ineligible costs will be reduced from final grant awards. The referenced OMB Circulars, which will help applicants determine which costs are allowed in a budget, are available at the OMB Circulars Web site or by calling Ron Schiller at (303) 312-6017.

V. Application Review Information

Each eligible application will be evaluated according to the criteria set forth below. Applications that best address these criteria will have a greater likelihood of being selected for funding.

1. The project has outputs and outcomes which are clearly stated and feasible. Previous experience or demonstrated successes by the applicant will be considered. (20 points)
2. The proposal furthers the goal of the Federal environmental statute referenced previously as well as the strategic goals of the Agency as outlined in the Application Tool Box (10 points)
3. Outputs and outcomes of the proposal are specific and measurable (20 points)
4. Cost effectiveness of the project (20 points)
5. Benefits of the proposal (Does the proposed activity benefit children, Native Americans or disadvantaged populations that are affected by asthma, ETS and other problems related to indoor air? Will the proposed activity take place in geographic areas not previously benefitting from past projects? Will the proposed activity be unusually effective or innovative in a way that achieves risk reduction among target populations?) (30 points)

EPA Proposal Evaluation Process

All proposals will be reviewed, evaluated and ranked by a team of EPA reviewers based on the above evaluation criteria. Applicants will be screened to ensure that they meet all eligibility criteria and will be disqualified if they do not meet the criteria.

Final Selection

Final selection of successful proposals will be made by the Team Leader of the Region 8 Radiation and Indoor Environments Unit.

After the deadline for proposals has passed, the Region 8 EPA Office will mail acknowledgments to applicants. Once proposals have been reviewed, evaluated and ranked, applicants will be notified regarding the status of their proposal(s).

VI. Award Administration Information

Following final selections, applicants will be notified regarding the status of their proposal(s). Successful applicants will be required to complete additional application documents, including but not limited to; EPA Form SF-424-B (Assurances - Non-Construction Programs, available at the EPA Grant and Debarment Web site.

All successful applicants will also be required to provide a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number when applying for a Federal grant or cooperative agreement. Applicants can receive a free DUNS number by calling 1-866-705-57112 or by visiting the Dun and Bradstreet Web site.

Dispute Resolution Process

Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26th, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be requested by contacting Ron Schiller at (303) 312-6017.

Reporting Requirement

Post award grantees will be required to submit quarterly reports on their stated activities as well as a final report at the close of the project period which summarizes program activities for the entire project period. A final Financial Status Report shall also be submitted by the grantee at the end of the grant period.

VII. Agency Contact Information

For further information, please contact:
Ron Schiller, Region 8 Indoor Air Coordinator
(800) 227-8917 or (303) 312-6017
Fax - (303) 312-6044
email - schiller.ron@epa.gov

VIII. Other Information

Confidential Business Information

In accordance with 40 CFR 2.203, applicants may claim all or a portion of their application/proposal as confidential business information. EPA will evaluate confidentiality claims in accordance with 40 CFR part 2. Applicants must clearly mark applications/proposals or portions of applications/proposals they claim as confidential. If no claim of confidentiality is made, EPA is not required to make the inquiry to the applicant otherwise required by 40 CFR 2.204(c)(2) prior to disclosure.

Applicants should clearly mark information contained in their proposal considered confidential business information. The EPA reserves the right to make final confidentiality decisions in accordance with Agency regulations at 40 CFR Part 2, Subpart B.

Project Period Time Frame

Project period duration should not exceed two years from the onset of grant funding.


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