Grants and cooperative agreements; availability, etc.: Pollution prevention incentives for States program,

[Federal Register: October 14, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 198)]

[Notices]

[Page 55119-55122]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr14oc98-92]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPPTS-00251; FRL-6037-9]

Pollution Prevention Grants and Announcement of Financial Assistance Programs Eligible for Review; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: EPA expects to have approximately $5 million available in fiscal year 1999 grant/cooperative agreement funds under the Pollution Prevention Incentives for States (PPIS) grant program. The grant dollars are targeted at state and tribal programs that address the reduction or elimination of pollution across all environmental media: Air, land, and water. Grants/cooperative agreements will be awarded under the authority of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Your EPA Regional Pollution Prevention Coordinator. The EPA Regional Pollution Prevention Coordinator for each regional office is listed under Unit X. of this document. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Electronic Availability

   Electronic copies of this document are available on the EPA Home Page at ``Federal Register--Environmental Document'' (http:// www.epa.gov/fedrgstr) and on the EPA P2 Home Page (http://www.epa.gov/ p2).

2. Background

   More than $50 million has been awarded to over 100 state and tribal organizations under EPA's multimedia pollution prevention grant program, since its inception in 1989. During the past 10 years, PPIS funds have enabled state programs to implement a wide range of pollution prevention activities including nearly 8,000 pollution prevention assessments, 1,200 workshops, and the development of over 500 pollution prevention case studies. PPIS grants also provide economic benefits to small businesses by funding state technical assistance programs focused on helping the businesses develop more efficient production technologies and operate more cost effectively. The goal of the PPIS grant program is to assist businesses and industries in identifying better environmental strategies and solutions for complying with Federal and state environmental regulations. PPIS grants are designed to effect the compatibility of businesses environmental and economic decisionmaking, and improving competitiveness without increasing environmental impacts. Successes include decreases in facility emissions and discharges which lead to less stringent regulatory and permitting requirements, increases in production rates that correlate to decreasing environmental costs, elevated investments in new and better technologies, and savings that directly impact the overall profitability of a business. The majority of the PPIS grants fund state-based projects in the areas of technical assistance and training, education and outreach, regulatory integration, data collection and research, demonstration projects, and recognition programs.

   In November 1990, the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (the Act) (Pub. L. 101-508) was enacted, establishing as national policy that pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible.

   1. Section 6603 of the Act defines source reduction as any practice that: i. Reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal. ii. Reduces the hazards to public health and the environment associated with the release of such substances, pollutants, or contaminants.

   EPA further defines pollution prevention as the use of other practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants through increased efficiency in the use of raw materials, energy, water, or other resources, or protection of natural resources, or protection of natural resources by conservation. 2. Section 6605 of the Act authorizes EPA to make matching grants to states to promote the use of source reduction techniques by businesses. In evaluating grant applications, the Act directs EPA to consider whether the proposed state program will: i. Make technical assistance available to businesses seeking information about source reduction opportunities, including funding for experts to provide onsite technical advice and to assist in the development of source reduction plans. ii. Target assistance to businesses for which lack of information is an impediment to source reduction. iii. Provide training in source reduction techniques.

3. Availability of FY 99 Funds

   EPA expects to have approximately $5 million in grant/cooperative agreement funds available for FY 1999 pollution prevention activities. The Agency has delegated grant making authority to the EPA regional offices. EPA regional offices are responsible for the solicitation of interest and the screening of proposals. All applicants must address the national program criteria listed under Unit VI.2.ii. of this document. In addition, applicants may be required to meet supplemental EPA regional criteria. Interested applicants should contact their EPA Regional Pollution Prevention Coordinator, listed under Unit X. of this document for more information.

4. Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance

   The number assigned to the PPIS program in the Catalogue of Federal

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   Domestic Assistance is 66.708 (formerly 66.900).

5. Matching Requirements

   Organizations receiving pollution prevention grant funds are required to match Federal funds by at least 50%. For example, the Federal government will provide half of the total allowable cost of the project, and the state will provide the other half. State contributions may include dollars, in-kind goods and services, and/or third party contributions.

6. Eligibility

   1. Applicants. In accordance with the Act, eligible applicants for purposes of funding under this grant program include the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States, any agency or instrumentality of a state including state universities, and all federally recognized Native American Tribes. For convenience, the term ``State'' in this notice refers to all eligible applicants. Local governments, private universities, private nonprofit entities, private businesses, and individuals are not eligible. State applicants are encouraged to establish partnerships with business and other environmental assistance providers to seemlessly deliver pollution prevention assistance. Successful applicants will be those that make the most efficient use of Federal/state government funding. In many cases, this has been accomplished through partnerships. 2. Activities and criteria--i. General. The purpose of the PPIS grant program is to support the establishment and expansion of state and tribal multimedia pollution prevention programs. EPA specifically seeks to build state pollution prevention capabilities or to test, at the state level, innovative pollution prevention approaches and methodologies. Funds awarded under the PPIS grant program must be used to support pollution prevention programs that address the transfer and reduction of potentially harmful pollutants across all environmental media: Air, water, and land. Programs should reflect comprehensive and coordinated pollution prevention planning and implementation efforts state-wide. States that include PPIS funding as part of their overall State Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA)/Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) program satisfy this eligibility criteria. ii. 1999 national program criteria. This section describes the national program criteria EPA will use to evaluate proposals under the PPIS grant program. In addition to the national program criteria, there may be regionally specific criteria that the proposing activities are required to address. For more information on the EPA regional requirements, applicants should contact their EPA Regional Pollution Prevention Coordinator, listed under Unit X. of this document. As well as ensuring that the proposed activities meet EPA's definition of pollution prevention, the applicant's proposal must include one or more of these activities: iii. Promote partnering among environmental and business assistance providers. Starting in 1994, EPA required PPIS grant applicants to identify other environmental assistance providers in their states and to work with these organizations to educate businesses on pollution prevention. EPA would like to encourage more cooperation among state pollution prevention programs, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) programs, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Small Business Assistance Programs (SBAPs), Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance (OECA) Compliance Assistance Centers, the large number of university cooperative extension programs and other business and environmental assistance programs at the state level, as well as other well established nonregulatory programs. Through the PPIS grant funds, EPA is striving to support this development of a coordinated network of state environmental service providers that seek to leverage the expertise of the various environmental assistance organizations and show an ability to work jointly in an effort to promote pollution prevention in the state. EPA wants to help foster a cooperative network of environmental assistance providers as cooperation among state business and environmental assistance providers is paramount in light of shrinking Federal programs. EPA would like to ensure that state pollution prevention programs and other assistance providers establish cooperative working relationships which make best use of their respective areas of expertise and most effectively serve their clients. Applicants should identify the partnering organization(s) and demonstrate or document the relationship. This can be done, for example, through a letter of agreement, a joint statement, or principles of agreement signed by both parties or multiple parties. If the partnership involves providing Federal funds to ineligible entities, the grantees shall abide by state procurement regulations, as required by state law. iv. Advance state environmental goals. EPA believes it is important for the sustainability of state pollution prevention programs to complement the goals and strategies of the PPAs, and PPGs under the National Environmental Performance Partnership System (NEPPS) or for those states not participating in the PPAs and PPGs, to show that the pollution prevention work they are undertaking complements and supports the state's environmental strategic plans. If the state-environmental program lacks a single comprehensive environmental strategy, applications must show a correlation between the proposed activity and the environmental goals or objectives of the state's environmental program. EPA believes pollution prevention programs will continue to be valuable to the state-environmental agency's top management if they can demonstrate how their actions will help advance state goals. EPA would like to ensure that pollution prevention is integrated at the state level by providing a service which supports the state's strategic plan. The application should demonstrate how pollution prevention activities will advance state-environmental goals as stated in either PPAs, PPGs, or other state environmental strategic planning documents. v. Promote accomplishments within the state's environmental programs. EPA realizes the importance of documenting the program effectiveness and communicating those results to the affected media office. To create this link between the regulatory program and the activities of the pollution prevention program, EPA has added this application criterion to ensure that the environmental programs in the state are aware of the contributions of the pollution prevention program within their sectors, programs, and geographic areas. By creating this positive feedback mechanism to the state's regulatory program, the grantee can market their accomplishments and consequently help promote the sustainability of the pollution prevention program. EPA, through the PPIS grants, is working to encourage better awareness by the state regulatory and media programs of how pollution prevention and the state pollution prevention programs are helping the regulatory programs address increasingly complex environmental management problems. Applications must include what activities the pollution prevention program will undertake to ensure communication and feedback to the regulatory and other

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   environmental programs showing how pollution prevention is helping to advance multimedia environmental protection. 3. Identifiable measures of success. For each of the activities identified in the application, the applicant must identify how and what criteria they are using to track the effectiveness of the activity. Measures of success should be either measures of environmental improvement, or should be directly linked to such measures. For example, success could be identified by demonstrating a direct link between the project's activities and in quantifiable reductions in pollution generated or in the natural resources used. 4. Program management. Awards for FY 1999 funds will be managed through the EPA regional offices. Applicants should contact their EPA Regional Pollution Prevention Coordinator, listed under Unit X. of this document, to obtain specific deadlines for submitting proposals. National funding decisions will be made by April 1999.

7. Information Clearinghouse

   The Pollution Prevention Act requires EPA to establish a source reduction clearinghouse to ``collect and compile information reported by States receiving grants under Section 6605 on the operation and success of State source reduction programs.'' The Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (PPIC) was created with the idea that through technology transfer, education and public awareness, it is possible to reduce or eliminate industrial pollutants. The PPIC is a free, nonregulatory service offering reference and referral, document distribution, and a comprehensive library service. The PPIC's special collection comprises state and Federal publications, pollution prevention manuals, training materials, conference proceedings, case studies, newsletters, and videos. For more information on this collection, please visit their web site at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/ library/libppic.htm. A priority that EPA considers important to strengthen state P2 activities and aid the formation of partnerships with other business assistance providers is the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx). To promote the establishment of regional centers that facilitate and serve state needs in coordinating training and information development, EPA has allocated a portion of its state grant funds to develop and sustain these regional pollution prevention centers. EPA believes that the P2Rx network which connects and coordinates regional pollution prevention information centers can benefit both states programs and their clients by improving the quality and availability of pollution prevention technical information, sharing information, minimizing duplication of efforts in developing materials for training and technical assistance providers, providing for the development of quality peer reviewed P2 information, and expanding their understanding of how other states are addressing the needs of business assistance providers. To facilitate the transfer of information generated by pollution prevention grant dollars, all work products (i.e., including but not limited to flyers, fact sheets, pamphlets, handbooks, model curricula, assessment and audit tools, videos, event brochures etc.) produced with Federal PPIS funds will be added to the EPA Library collection (and subsequently to the PPIC and P2Rx). The PPIC will catalogue these products and can serve as a conduit to get the information products to the P2Rx regional centers. Please contact the EPA Regional Pollution Prevention Coordinator, listed under Unit X. of this document, or contact Christopher Kent (telephone: (202) 260-3480; e-mail: kent.christopher@epa.gov) for more information concerning delivery of work products.

8. Proposal Narrative Format

   To clearly document the activities listed in the grant proposal, the narrative portion of the application should include a summary of proposed activities using the following format: 1. A description of the proposed work and a timeline of activities.

   2. A list of tasks that will be carried out.

   3. A list of the resulting deliverables that will be produced.

9. Progress Report

   Progress reports are due to the EPA project officer every April and October after the project period is over 1 month old. A final report is due within 90 days of the end of the grant period. In addition to the EPA project officer's regionally specific required number of copies of deliverables, please forward one copy of each of the semi-annual progress reports and the final reports (and deliverables) to the Pollution Prevention Division in Washington DC. Please address the documents to: PPIS Grant Products, Pollution Prevention Division (7409), Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. The narrative in the progress reports should refer back to the stated objectives and timeline of the original grant application. Beneath each objective, the objective's current status should be reported. Any substantive diversion from a stated objective, or any deviation from the proposed timeline should be explained. Only the activities required under the grant, which meet EPA's definition of pollution prevention, should be reported. At a minimum, the progress reports should also include the following:

   1. A short summary of the accomplishments for the reporting period.

   2. Progress on completing individual project tasks.

   3. The planned and actual schedules for task completion.

   4. Projected accomplishments for the next reporting period.

   5. Data on financial expenditures by budget category. Any printed deliverables required under the grant should be enclosed with the first report following the date the deliverable was due to be produced.

   A final report will be required upon completion of the grant.

10. Regional Pollution Prevention Coordinators

    Region I: (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) Kira Jacobs, JFK Federal Bldg. / SPP, Boston, MA 02203, (617) 565-3841, e-mail: jacobs.kira@epa.gov Region II: (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands) Evans Stamataky, (2-OPM-PPI), 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, NY 10007, (212) 637-3742, e-mail: stamataky.evans@epa.gov Region III: (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, District of Columbia) Jeff Burke, (3RA20), 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia PA 19103-2029, (215) 814-2761, e-mail: burke.jeff@epa.gov Region IV: (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) Bernie Hayes, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth St., SW., Atlanta, GA 30303, (404) 562-9430, e-mail: hayes.bernie@epa.gov Region V: (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin) Phil Kaplan, (DRP-8J), 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590, (312) 353-4669, e-mail: kaplan.phil@epa.gov Region VI: (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) Eli Martinez, (6EN-XP), 1445 Ross Ave., 12th Floor, Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75202, (214) 665-2119, e-mail: martinez.eli@epa.gov

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    Region VII: (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska) Marc Matthews, (ARTD/ TSPP), 726 Minnesota Ave. Kansas City, KS 66101, (913) 551-7517, e- mail: matthews.marc@epa.gov Region VIII: (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming) Linda Walters, (8P2-P2), 999 18th St., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202-2405, (303) 312-6385, e-mail: walters.linda@epa.gov Region IX: (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam) Bill Wilson, (WST-1-1), 75 Hawthorne Ave., San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 744-2192, e-mail: wilson.bill@epa.gov Region X: (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) Carolyn Gangmark, 01- 085, 1200 Sixth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101, (206) 553-4072, e-mail: gangmark.carolyn@epa.gov

    List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Grant administration, Grants-- environmental protection

    Dated: October 6, 1998.

    William H. Sanders, III,

    Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

    [FR Doc. 98-27572Filed10-13-98; 8:45 am]

    BILLING CODE 6560-50-F