National Ocean Service Intern Program
Published on AidPage by
IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To establish an Intern Program which will provide unique opportunities for cooperative study, research, and development that would be of major benefit in advancing the number and diversity of skilled engineers, scientists, and managers in the environmental arena who are familiar with the techniques and technologies used by the National Ocean Service (NOS).
Possible uses and use restrictions...
Primary grantee may use funds to recruit and evaluate candidate interns and to administer and fund stipends for implemented internships.
Who is eligible to apply...
Primary awards will be available to nonprofit organizations. Internships are restricted to recent college graduates and have a maximum cumulative duration of 24 months for any individual.
Credentials/Documentation
Applicants are required to satisfy all Department of Commerce (DOC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) standards and regulations, including routine and special terms and conditions, for financial assistance programs application and conduct. Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular Nos. A-21 for educational institutions and A-22 for nonprofit organizations.
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:
Grantee: Candidate partners will submit an application for financial assistance (SF 424) with statement of work to be performed and proposed amount. This program is subject to the requirements of OMB Circular No. A-110 and 15 CFR 24, Grants and Cooperative Agreements with State and Local Governments, as applicable. The Statement of work should include the proposed plan for advertising and recruitment, costs for recruiting, selecting, and administering an intern based on duration and stipend level of the internship. Selection of candidate partners for the Grantee will not be re-competed until fiscal year 2006. Intern: Intern candidates will apply for internships developed, documented, and funded by a component of NOS, and transmitted, after review by the project office, to the grantee who shall advertise them according to their proposed plan. The grantee will screen the applicants based on the documented requirements of the internship and transmit the highest qualified (typically 5 to 10) to NOS for further review. NOS will assign priority sequences to the candidates who will be offered the internship by the grantee in that order. Funding of the intern and administrative supervision will be through the grantee according to their proposal. The interns will work in Governmental offices under the technical supervision of the Government.
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:
Awards are made on the basis of proposal evaluation, technical review, and administrative review.
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
Applications must be received by NOS 45 days following announcement in the Federal Register.
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
Approval time is expected to range from 90 to 180 days, which includes processing of the award through the NOS, NOAA, and DOC financial assistance functions.
Preapplication Coordination
None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.
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
None.
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
Cooperative activities are generally approved on an annual fiscal year basis, but may be continued beyond the first year, subject to satisfactory progress and availability of funds.
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...
Benefits to the Nation are increased opportunities for recent college graduates to increase public awareness and gain exposure to government programs that affect the Nation's coastal areas and resources. This program will also promote interest in civil service as a career. Benefits also include a transfer of the techniques, technologies, and methods used by NOS to the next generation of engineers, scientists, and managers in the environmental arena. Interns who are selected by the program will receive increased training and skill enhancement as identified by the particular Internship opportunity in which they participate.
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
Indeterminate and highly variable. Minimum of $40,000 and maximum of $1,800,000 per year (1 to 50 interns).
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
(Cooperative Agreements) FY 03 actual: $1,325,368; FY 04 est $1,800,000; and FY 05 est $1,800,000.
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
13-1450-0-1-306.
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...
None.
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...
The initial grant was issued on March 12, 1999, for $267,690 to Environmental Careers Organization covering seven (7) internships, after an open competition which closed October 5, 1998, in response to a Federal Register Notice published August 25, 1998, Vol 63, #164, p. 45223-45227. Additional grants were issued on 10/1/99 covering 2 interns, 7/17/00 covering 4 new interns and extending 2 previously initiated interns. Grants were issued on 7/30/01 covering 12 new interns and extending 3 previously initiated interns and on 9/30/01 covering 8 new interns and extending 3 previously initiated interns. On 12/31/01 a grant covering 4 new interns and extending 5 others was issued. A grant was issued on September 30, 2002 to Environmental Careers Organization covering seven twenty (20) new) internships and extending sixteen (16) Internships, after an open competition which closed June 10, 2002, in response to a Federal Register Notice published April 25, 1998, Vol 67, #164, pg 20487-20491. On September 30, 2003, a renewal of the grant covering 12 new interns and extending 13 others was issued.
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Proposals are subject to a review process taking into consideration the proposed recruiting plan, qualifications of the applicant, costs, and previous experience.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Five years with funding approved annually. Will be next competed in 2006.
Formula and Matching Requirements
This program has no statutory formula or matching requirements.
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
Implementation plans are required annually. Progress reports are due semi-annually. Financial status reports are require quarterly. Final reports are due ninety days after expiration of reward.
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
Recipients will be subject to the provisions of the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 and revised OMB 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
None.
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
15 U.S.C. 1540.
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
Allowable cost will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular A-87 for State and local governments and Indian Tribes; OMB Circular A-122 for nonprofit and for-profit organizations; OMB Circular A-21 for institutions of higher education; and 48 CFR Part 31 for commercial organizations. Financial assistance management will be in accordance with 15 CFR Part 14 for institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other non-profit and commercial organizations, and with 15 CRF Part 24 for state and local governments.