U.S. Geological Survey_ Research and Data Collection
Published on AidPage by IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To support research complementary to USGS program efforts in classification of the public lands and examination of the geological structure, water, mineral, and biological resources, and products of the national domain. This entry covers a variety of USGS assistance awards not covered by any other program. Awards are typically supported by funding from internal projects and programs, and funds are not separately budgeted or reserved for external projects or proposals under this entry.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
Applications must be for scientific research projects which are within the Survey's area of responsibility. The majority of funds are used to support research that will enhance existing, long-term collaborative projects. Funds can be used for attendance at national conferences for the dissemination of project results. Further, conferences and symposia will be supported only if it is clear that equivalent results cannot be obtained at regular meetings of professional societies. Office furniture, office equipment, and foreign travel are not normally considered for support.
Who is eligible to apply...
Profit organizations, public nonprofit institutions/organizations, private nonprofit institutions/organizations, and State and local governments may make application for support by a named principal investigator. Due to limited availability of funds to support new external projects, consultation with USGS is strongly recommended prior to submission of applications.
Credentials/Documentation
Proposals must furnish evidence of the applicant's qualifications for performance of the proposed research. Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87 for State and local governments; OMB Circular No. A-21 for educational institutions; OMB Circular No. A-122 for nonprofit organizations; and Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 31.2 for private firms, individuals, and other nonprofits excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-122.
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
These are typically individually evaluated and funded projects; there is no annual program announcement, prospectus or other invitation for applications. The standard application forms required by OMB Circular Nos. A-102 and A-110, or their successor(s), and the Department of the Interior regulation at 43 CFR Part 12, Subparts C and D, or its revisions, must be used. See also http://www.usgs.gov/contracts/grants/unsolbk.html
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
Notification of an award is by a grant or cooperative agreement document signed by a contracting officer.
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
None.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
From 3 to 6 months.
Preapplication Coordination
Discussions regarding funding availability and program interest are strongly encouraged, as limited funding is available for new projects. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
Not applicable except that application may be revised and resubmitted.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Not applicable.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
Profit organizations, public nonprofit institutions/organizations, private nonprofit institutions/organizations, and State and local governments, industry and public decision makers, research scientists, engineers, and the general public will ultimately benefit from knowledge gained under the program.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Project Grants
The funding, for fixed or known periods, of specific projects. Project grants can include fellowships, scholarships, research grants, training grants, traineeships, experimental and demonstration grants, evaluation grants, planning grants, technical assistance grants, survey grants, and construction grants.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$4,000 to $500,000; $50,000.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
FY 03 $25,750,000; FY 04 est $26,000,000; and FY 05 est $26,000,000.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
14-0804-0-1-300.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
Support for various boards and committees of the National Academy of Science, National Coal Resources Data System, http://energy.er.usgs.gov/NCRA; support for collaborative coastal and marine geology studies (Woods Hole, MA and St. Petersburg, FL), collaborative volcano monitoring, and continuing support of university observatories and earth science research facilities.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
In fiscal year 2003 for this category about 269 grants and cooperative agreements were made to support the Geological Survey's earth science research mission. A smaller number is projected for fiscal year 2004 because two programs are being broken out into separate programs.
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Scientists within the Geological Survey will review and evaluate all applications consistent with authorized USGS program purposes. Criteria for judging applications will include scientific excellence and relevance to the solution of important problems within the mission of the Geological Survey. Applications will be funded only to the extent permitted by available funds.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Grants and cooperative agreements will normally be awarded in, but not restricted to, 12 month budget periods.
Formula and Matching Requirements
Generally, no statutory requirement. Recipients are encouraged to share in the cost of each research project. Appropriations language requires cooperating State and local governments to contribute at least one-half the cost of certain cooperative water resources investigation and cooperative mapping projects.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
Annual and final technical and financial reports are required.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
Applicants agree to give the sponsoring agency, the Comptroller General or other authorized audit agency access to and the right to examine records related to the award. Awards to educational institutions and nonprofit organizations are subject to the audit requirements of OMB Circular No. A-110, or superseding regulations. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations", nonfederal entities that receive financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 or more in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133.
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
All records must be maintained for 3 years after submission of the final financial report.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
Organic Act of 1879, 43 U.S.C. 31, 43 U.S.C. 36c.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
USGS Guide for Submission of Unsolicited Proposals is available at: http://www.usgs.gov/contracts/grants/unsolbk.html.
Contact information...
Web Sites
Regional Or Local Office
Contact the appropriate regional office, depending on the location of the study. For Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, write: Regional Director for Eastern Region, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 150, Reston, VA 20192. Telephone (703) 648-4582. For Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, write: Regional Director for Central Region, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225. Telephone: (303) 202-4740. For Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, write: Regional Director for Western Region, U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Telephone: (650) 329-4011.
Note:
This section lists the agency contact person, address and telephone number of the Federal Regional or Local Office(s)
to be contacted for detailed information regarding a program such as:
(1) current availability of funds and the likelihood of receiving assistance within a given period;
(2) pre-application and application forms required;
(3) whether a pre-application conference is recommended;
(4) assistance available in preparation of applications;
(5) whether funding decisions are made at the headquarters, regional or local level;
(6) application renewal procedures (including continuations and supplementals) or appeal procedures for rejected applications; and
(7) recently published program guidelines and material.
However, for most federal programs, this section will instruct the reader to consult the so-called
Appendix IV of the Catalog due to the large volume of Regional and Local Office Contacts for most agencies.
This information is provided in Additional Contact Information (see below).
Headquarters Office
This is not a single formal program; awards are not centrally managed or coordinated. Refer to Regional or Local Office contacts.
Note:
This section lists names and addresses of the office at the headquarters level with direct operational responsibility for managing a program. A telephone number is provided in cases where a Regional or Local Office is not normally able to answer detailed inquiries concerning a program. Also listed are the name(s) and telephone number(s) of the information contact person(s) who can provide additional program information to applicants.
Additional Contact Information (Appendix IV)
Due to the large volume of regional and local office contacts for most agencies, full contact information is also provided separately here in a PDF format:
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