U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecosystems Research Division, 960 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605-2700

A -- DEVELOP AND CONVENE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON FISH PHYSIOLOGY, TOXICOLOGY, AND WATER SOL ERD/Athens RFA 98-01 POC Mrs. Annie Smith, (706) 355-8030 WEB: Information on research conducted by and supported by ERD-Athens, http://www.epa.gov/athens/. E-MAIL: Click here for more information on ERD-Athens Acquisition and Assistance Opportunities, Byrne.Christopher@epamail.epa.gov. The Ecosystems Research Division of the EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory is planing to issue a Request for Application (RFA) for a competitive Cooperative Agreement (as authorized by the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, as amended) to convene an international symposium to stimulate collaborative research and cooperation by bringing together researchers from North America, Europe, China and other Asian nations, to present and discuss results of recent research pertaining to fate of pollutants (organic and inorganic) and their effects on aquatic organisms (primarily fishes) and ecosystems. Laboratory, field, and theoretical research can be included in this Symposium. The primary objective of this Symposium is to bring together researchers who have contributed to extending the state of the art in the disciplines of ecology, chemistry, and environmental engineering -- and who have evidenced cross-disciplinary approaches to relate their work to water quality management. This Symposium will be the fifth in a biannual series that has been conducted on these topics and will be conducted in China. The language of the Symposium will be English. The successful applicant will have research credentials in the topic areas, experience in hosting symposia and conferences, appropriate facilities, experience in collaborating with and hosting Chinese and other foreign scientists, foreign language fluency or availability of same in the languages of participants, technical editing expertise or availability of same, and experience in international travel arrangements. Formal evaluation criteria will be included in the final RFA. To receive a notification of the RFA release, please send an e-mail to rfa9801@epamail.epa.gov and provide the following information: Name, Organization/Institution, Address, City/State, Zip Code, Phone Number, and E-mail Address. Information on this proposed RFA will also be available at the ERD-Athens Web Site (http://www.epa.gov/athens/rfa9801.htm). If you do not have accessto the Internet, please submit your request along with five (5) self-addressed, self-adhesive mailing labels to the National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecosystems Research Division, Attn: Mrs. Annie Smith, 960 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605-2700. Requests that do not include the requested labels may not be honored. To help identify potential subcontractors, a list of all organizations requesting a copy of the solicitation will be sent with each solicitation document. By providing the list, ERD-Athens does not endorse the listed organizations as being capable of carrying out the activity, nor does ERD-Athens verify the claimed status of the organizations known prior to the issuance of the solicitation document. It is anticipated that the total funding level for this project will not exceed $75,000. The EPA intends to publish any edited, camera-ready proceedings documentation that may be generated. Authorization for this effort is the Clean Water Act, as amended, Section 104 (a). Eligibililty for this award is limited to NOT FOR PROFIT-MAKING ORGANIZATIONS only. Receipt of this RFA through INTERNET must be confirmed by written or faxed (706/355-8007) notification to the contact person noted above. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation document to ensure that it has been received from INTERNET in its entirety and ERD-Athens bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. The RFA will be issued NO EARLIER than fifteen (15) days from the date of publication of this notice. See Note 25. Additional Information about research conducted by NERL/ERD-Athens and sign-up information for electronic distribution of RFAs is available at http://www.epa.gov/athens/. Information about the USEPA Office of Research and Development Grants and Fellowships Programs is available at http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa/. (0014)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0008 19980116\A-0008.SOL)