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COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF JULY 3,2000 PSA#2634U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Contracts Management Division
(MD-33), Attention: OARSC, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 B -- REQUEST FOR GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY BASED IN-HOME ASTHMA
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND MANAGEMENT POC Sheila Brown, Project
Officer 202/564-9730!! E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Project
Officer, Sheila, brown.sheila@epa.gov. This is an announcement of the
availability of FY 2000 grant funds and request for proposals for the
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Indoor Environments
Division/Office of Radiation and Indoor Air. Section 103(a)(1) of the
Clean Air Act authorizes the Administrator to conduct and promote the
coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments,
demonstrations, surveys and studies relating to the causes, effects
(including health and welfare effects), extent, prevention, and control
of air pollution by [(b)(3)] making grants to air pollution control
agencies, to other public or nonprofit private agencies, institutions,
and organizations, and to individuals, for purposes stated in
103(a)(1). The intended use of these funds is to support pilot studies
of asthma education, including asthma management and indoor asthma
trigger identification/mitigation, in existing Community-Based In-Home
Environmental Management or Education programs. EPA is awarding these
grants to support the recipients to assess the effectiveness of their
in-home approaches to educating children with asthma, their parents
and/or primary care givers, and other people with asthma, including how
to identify the indoor triggers to which the asthmatic(s) in the
household may be sensitive, and how to mitigate them. EPA will award up
to two grants to each of two organizations; each grant will be no
greater than $100,000.00, however the final number of awards and award
amounts may vary depending on proposal quality and resource
availability. DATES: Letter of Intent due by July 3, 2000 or by E-Mail
on July 7, 2000 Pre-application Assistance Conference Call dates are:
1. July 11, 2000, 12 noon until 2pm Eastern Daylight Time 2. July 14,
2000, 12 noon until 2pm Eastern Daylight Time Application Deadline:
Postmarked no later than August 7, 2000. ADDRESSES: Send Letter of
Intent and Applications to the attention of Sheila Brown, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (6609J),
Washington, DC 20460 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheila Brown
(202) 564-9370 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The focus for funding is to:
a) reduce the impact of in-home environmental asthma triggers on
children and adults with asthma; b) strengthen the capacity of
individual households to control in-home environmental asthma triggers;
and c) assess the effectiveness and sustainability of strategies for
in-home environmental asthma trigger management and education within
communities. Completed applications, including work plans and detailed
budgets, are due to the Indoor Environments Division no later than
August 7, 2000. If you intend to apply, you must send a letter of
intent postmarked no later than July 3, 2000 to Attention: Sheila
Brown,1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (6609J), Washington, D.C. 20460,
or an e-mail to <brown.sheila@epa.gov> no later than 3 pm (EDT)
on July 7, 2000, indicating the name of your organization, the name and
phone number of a contact person in the organization, whether you
expect to participate in one of the pre-award technical assistance
conference calls (see page 5), and if so, on which day. Should demand
exceed capacity, we will schedule an additional call and inform you by
telephone of the date and time. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: To be eligible
for funding, an applicant must: (1) Demonstrate the ability to
implement an in-home education program which includes: In-home
identification and assessment of potential indoor environmental asthma
triggers; direct one-on-one education in the home on asthma, asthma
management, and mitigation of indoor environmental triggers to which
household members with asthma may be sensitive; (2) Meet the standards
for eligibility as identified in Section 103 (3)(b) of the Clean Air
Act (page 1, paragraph 1); (3) Request no more than $100,000.00 to
accomplish pilot project objectives; (4) Properly complete and submit
standard form SF-424 and a work plan no greater than seven pages in
length (in no smaller than 12 point type) by the established due date;
(5) Commit to complete the proposed pilot project activities within 18
-- 24 months of grant award. RANKING CRITERIA: Applications will be
ranked on the basis of the criteria listed below. Ranking for each
criterion is based on a scale of 1 (does not meet the requirement) to
10 (exceeds the requirement). (1) Applicant organization currently is
established and operates within a base community, performing community
level work. (1-10 points). (2) Applicant organization currently is, or
is affiliated with, an established in-home environmental management
and/or education program. (1-10 points) (3) Education materials and
assessment tools developed or selected for use in conducting in-home
education and assessment pilot project activities address established
indoor environmental triggers of asthma including: environmental
(secondhand) tobacco smoke, house dust mites, cockroaches, molds, and
animal dander. Materials are compatible with the guidance contained in
EPA's asthma brochure, "Clear Your Home Of Asthma Triggers: Your
Children Will Breathe Easier" (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/asthma.html)
and the findings and recommendations contained in the January, 2000
National Academy of Sciences report on asthma, "Clearing the Air:
Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures"
(http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9610.html). (1-10 points) (4) Mitigation
methods for environmental (secondhand) tobacco smoke, house dust
mites, cockroaches, molds, and animal dander included among the pilot
project activities are compatible with the guidance in EPA's asthma
brochure, "Clear Your Home Of Asthma Triggers: Your Children Will
Breathe Easier" (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/asthma.html) and the
findings and recommendations contained in the January, 2000 National
Academy of Sciences report on asthma, "Clearing the Air: Asthma and
Indoor Air Exposures" (http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9610.html). (1-10
points) (5) Education materials and assessment tools selected for the
pilot project reflect current standards for conducting public health
education and outreach activities, particularly with respect to
motivating behavioral changes in low-literacy, low-income, and
disproportionately impacted populations. (1-10 points) (6) Applicant
adequately describes mechanisms for obtaining feedback about program
effectiveness from households after the in-home education assessment
visit(s). (1-10 points) (7) Applicant agrees to provide quarterly
performance reports to EPA which shall include, at a minimum,
information about: the number of homes visited, the number of children
and adults with asthma educated, the number of homes in which indoor
environmental triggers have been identified, and the number of
households in which mitigation actions have been taken. (1-10 points)
(8) The project demonstrates the effectiveness of education strategies
that are appropriate to varied populations and geographic locations in
the United States, and contributes to an improved understanding of how
to conduct in-home asthma education programs. (1-10 points)
APPLICATION PROCESS: Applicants must complete standard form 424
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/sf424.pdf) and submit a work plan
no greater than seven pages in length (12 point type). The work plan
must include: 1) a summary of specific objectives, expected outcomes,
and deliverables; and 2) a discussion of the budget and how the budget
relates to the objectives, outcomes, and deliverables in the work
plan. Resumes and supplementary biographical information, if any,
should not exceed an additional two pages. The project work plan
submitted with the completed application SF-424 should conform to the
following outline: (1) Title (2) Description of the applicant
organization, experience in community work (especially with children
and adults with asthma), existing in-home education efforts, existing
indoor air quality/asthma activities, and the organization's
infrastructure as it relates to its ability to do in-home assessments
and/or education programs. (3) Description of staffing and funding
resources needed to implement proposed work plans, including number of
staff and qualifications. (4) Description of experience implementing
evaluation and tracking procedures and managing grants (e.g.,
submitting reports, budgets, etc.). (5) Project Period beginning and
ending dates (6) Project purpose (7) Description of basic structure of
the in-home asthma education and assessment pilot project proposed,
curricula and assessment tools to be used, and resource lists including
references. Describe why the curricula and protocols were selected or
created; what other materials you may have considered (including
reasons for not selecting them); and, if possible, a discussion of how
the asthma education approaches you wish to demonstrate compare or
contrast to other known approaches. (8) Description of target
audiences, community, and any special asthma-related demographics of
areas targeted for this work. (9) Description of mechanisms for
question resolution and follow-up with asthmatics and their families
and/or primary care givers following in-home visit(s). Reasons for
selecting or creating these mechanisms and, if possible, a discussion
of how the selected mechanisms compare to other available mechanisms.
(10) Description of any types of follow-up materials or training that
may be given to the households such as community resource lists,
household repair and maintenance training, lessons on how to obtain
services in the community, etc. (11) Definition of success for the
project and how success will be measured. Describe mechanisms for
tracking program outputs (e.g., how many households were educated, how
many homes were assessed, in how many homes actions were taken),
summarizing and characterizing program outcomes (i.e., the
effectiveness of the education and mitigation methods, the level of
increased awareness). (12) Identification of other localities, regions,
or states that might benefit from the lessons you expect to learn as a
result of your pilot project. (13) Schedule indicate tasks, quarterly
report submission and final report submission dates. (14) Budget.
Indicate funds used for salaries, materials, equipment, contracted
activities, travel, overhead, and other pertinent information. If you
would like to apply for assistance under the Community Based In-Home
Asthma Environmental Education and Management program, application
materials are available at the web addresses listed below or by calling
the Indoor Environments Division at (202)564-9370. The application kit
contains the following information: Application for Federal Assistance
-(http://www.epa.gov/region4/grantpgs/grants.htm) Instructions for
completing the application Assurances/certifications An original
application and one copy must be received at the following address no
later than close of business on Monday, August 7, 2000: Mailing
Address: Attn: Sheila Brown Environmental Protection Agency Indoor
Environments Division In-Home Program (6609J) 1200 Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW Washington, DC 20460 Courier Address: Attn: Sheila Brown
Environmental Protection Agency IndoorEnvironments Division In-Home
Program (6609J) 501 3rd St., NW Washington, DC 20001 Questions
regarding the administrative aspects and programmatic aspects,
including work plan, should be referred to Sheila Brown (202) 564-9370.
Two pre-application assistance conference calls have been scheduled to
help prospective applicants: 1. Tuesday, July 11, 2000 from 12 noon
until 2pm Eastern Daylight Time. Call in number (202) 260-1015, then
dial access code 9490# 2. Thursday, July 14, 2000 from 12 noon until
2pm Eastern Daylight Time. Call in number (202) 260-7280, then dial
access code 0792# Twenty lines have been reserved for each call. To
ensure access, please follow the instructions for submitting the letter
of intent described on page 1 of this announcement. In addition,
prospective applicants should obtain a copy of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) Title 40, Part 30 (and for State and local agencies,
also see Part 31). This portion of the CFR includes regulations
applicable to your assistance agreement. Copies of the CFR are
available at your local U.S. Government Bookstore, the U.S. Government
Printing Office or on the internet at
http://www.epa.gov/ogd/grants.htm. Once at this site, select
"Administrative Regulations and Policies/Subchapter B-Grants and Other
Federal Assistance" and select Part 30 or Part 31. Selected projects
will be announced on or around October 15, 2000. If you have any
questions regarding this grant notice, please contact Sheila Brown
(202) 564-9370. Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7626; Pub. L. 159, 69 Stat.
322 Posted 06/29/00 (W-SN470298). (0181) Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0028 20000703\B-0011.SOL)
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