Fellowship Program (66.513)

Program

66.513 Fellowship Program

Federal Agency

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Office: Office of Research and Development

Authorization

Clean Air Act, Section 103, 42 U.S.C 7403; Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001, 42 U.S.C 6981; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20, 7 U.S.C 136r; Clean Water Act, Section 104, 33 U.S.C 1254; Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442, 42 U.S.C 300j-1; National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Section 102(2)(F); Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10, 15 U.S.C 2609.

Program Number

66.513

Last Known Status

Active

Objectives

The National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) offers undergraduate fellowships to students in environmentally related fields of study. This program is intended to strengthen the environmental research capacity of institutions of higher education that receive limited funding to build such capacity. Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2009: The Greater Research Opportunities Fellowship Program will support undergraduate fellowships in the following areas: Natural and Life Sciences; Environmental Science and Interdisciplinary; Engineering; Social Sciences and Decision-making; Physical Sciences; Mathematics and Computer Science. The planned course of study must focus on one or more of these areas of environmental significance and must describe the relationship of these topic areas to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.

Graduate fellowships will no longer be offered.

Types of Assistance

PROJECT GRANTS

Uses and Use Restrictions

Fellowship awards are made in response to competitive solicitations. Funds are to provide resources to allow for fellowships related to environmental issues. No matching funds are required. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: http://geodata.epa.gov.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant Eligibility

For certain competitive funding opportunities under this CFDA description, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. Applicants must attend a fully accredited U.S. college or university (located in the U.S. or its territories). Individuals must be citizens of the U.S. or its territories or possessions, or be lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Resident aliens must include their green card number in their pre-application. Resident aliens must have their green card at the time of application to be eligible for this Fellowship opportunity. EPA may verify this number with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service of the Department of Homeland Security.

The GRO Undergraduate Fellowship is intended for students entering their last two years of study before obtaining a bachelor's degree. The term is for 2 academic years (9 months each) with a required internship during the summer between years. Thus, only students who will be entering their last two years of college will be considered eligible.

Applicants attending fully accredited four year U.S. institutions of higher education are eligible to apply. These schools must be among those that are not highly funded for development of environmental research capacity. For the purposes of this CFDA, EPA considers such institutions to be those listed in the National Science Foundation's publication "Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions: FY 2006," Table 12. Institutions identified as receiving $35 million or less in annual federal research and development funding as designated in column 2 of Table 12, are eligible. These data can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf09310/pdf/tab12.pdf. Table 12 is a broad representation of institutions, and includes schools that also receive more than $35 million annually in Federal research assistance.

Applicants attending eligible institutions with substantial minority enrollment are particularly encouraged to apply. Examples of such schools are those that the U.S. Department of Education lists as "Accredited Postsecondary Minority Institutions" consistent with Executive Orders 13125 (Increasing Participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal Programs), 13230 (President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans), 13256 (White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities), and 13270 (Executive Order on Tribal Colleges and Universities), which seek to advance the development of the Nation's full human potential, advance equal opportunity in higher education, strengthen the capacity of these institutions to provide the highest quality education, and increase opportunities for these institutions to participate in and benefit from Federal programs. Note however, that not all of these schools receive less then $35 million annually in Federal Research and Development expenditures. For specific information regarding Federal funding to minority-serving institutions, see The Extent of Federal S&E Funding to Minority-Serving Institutions, at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08316/.

Regarding students who are attending community college, note that only those that are either four-year baccalaureate-granting institutions with degree programs in one or more eligible academic fields, or two year institutions that grant associate degrees and participate in Articulation Agreements with four-year institutions, are eligible to participate in this fellowship program. An Articulation Agreement is a signed contract between a community or technical college and a four-year college or university that guarantees that a student who earns an associate degree at a participating two-year institution can transfer all of the general education core credits to the four-year institution toward the completion of baccalaureate degree requirements. More information can usually be obtained directly from the institution's Registrar.

Students must be pursuing a bachelor's degree in an environmentally-related field of specialization. Students must have two academic years remaining as of Fall 2010 before receiving a bachelor's degree. Students must have at least a "B" average overall.

Acceptance of this fellowship does not necessarily preclude acceptance of another scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or grant aid. However, this fellowship does preclude receiving other federal fellowships.

The term of the undergraduate fellowship is negotiated with the student and covers a period of nine months for each fellowship year. Students seeking a bachelor's degree may be supported for a maximum of two years.

Employees of the U.S. government must be able to prove separation from Federal service before accepting this fellowship.

Beneficiary Eligibility

Individual/Family; Student/Trainee.

Credentials/Documentation

EPA may request that fellows document their affiliation with an eligible institution. The EPA may also request that applicants demonstrate they have appropriate background, academic training, and experience in the field to carry out the fellowship. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87.

Application and Award Process

Preapplication Coordination

Regarding pre-application/pre-proposal assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this program description, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application/pre-proposal assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts" or see Appendix IV of the Catalog. NCER invites pre-applications for undergraduate fellowships in academic disciplines including engineering, environmental science, and physical science. A pre-application provides the information needed for the review of its merit. Following the merit review, top rated applicants will be required to submit a brief formal application. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure

This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-110. For regular mail, completed paper pre-applications must be submitted to the following address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Peer Review Division (8725F); Funding Opportunity Number: (include appropriate number as shown in the solicitation),1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460. For express mail and couriers, completed paper pre-applications must be submitted to the following address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,Peer Review Division (8725F), Funding Opportunity Number: (include appropriate number as shown in the solicitation); 1025 F Street, NW (Room 3500), Washington, DC 20004,Phone: (202) 233-0686. Specific details on the application process are described in the solicitations which are located at: http://www.epa.gov/ncer. Applicants may be able to use http://www.grants.gov to electronically apply for certain grant opportunities under this CFDA.

Award Procedure

For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications, proposals, and/or submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

Approximately 210 days from the close of the solicitation.

Appeals

Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be requested by contacting the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts." Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 40 CFR 30.63 or 40 CFR 31.70, as applicable.

Renewals

Not Applicable.

Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements

This program has no statutory formula.

This program has no matching requirements.

This program does not have MOE requirements.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

The term of the fellowship is negotiated with the student and covers a period of nine months for each fellowship year. Students seeking a bachelor's degree may be supported for a maximum of two years. If selected to receive a fellowship, the fellow will be contacted no later than seven months after the close of the solicitation and should subsequently receive official notification of award by no later than 9 months after the close of the solicitation for the fall term. Please note that this schedule may be changed without notification due to factors that were not anticipated at the time of announcement. The official notification of an award will be made by the EPA's Grants and Interagency Agreement Management Division. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Assistance is incrementally funded on an annual basis.

Post Assistance Requirements

Reports

EPA includes reporting requirements for fellowships in the terms and conditions of the agreements. Reporting requirements are also identified in the fellowship regulations, 40 CFR Part 46. No cash reports are required. No progress reports are required. No expenditure reports are required. Performance Monitoring is required under this program.

Audits

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 expend 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 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, other EPA staff, or any authorized representative of the Federal government. Reviews by the EPA Project Officer and the Grants Specialist may occur each year. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend $500,000 or more in a year in Federal awards shall have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in OMB Circular No. A-133.

Records

The record retention requirements of 40 CFR Part 46 are applicable. All records related to a fellowship agreement must be maintained for three years after the completion date inserted on the "Completion of Studies Notice" (EPA Form 5770-9). EPA, the Inspector General, Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, has the right of timely and unrestricted access to documents, papers, or other records related to a fellowship, in order to make audits, examinations, excerpts, transcripts and copies of such documents. The rights of access in this paragraph are not limited to the required retention period, but shall last as long as records are retained.

Program Accomplishments

Fiscal Year 2008: Applications received for the Greater Research Opportunities Fellowship Program (Undergraduate)- FY 08: 40; FY 09: 0;. New awards for the Greater Research Opportunities Fellowship Program (Undergraduate)- FY 08: 15; FY 09: 0.
Abstracts of awards and summary results of the research are available on the NCER homepage: http://www.epa.gov/ncer. Fiscal Year 2009: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available

Financial Information

Account Identification

68-0107-0-1-304.

Obligations

(Project Grants) FY 08 $1,500,000; FY 09 est $1,900,000; FY 10 est $2,100,000

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

The undergraduate fellowship provides up to $19,250 per year of academic support and $8,000 for internship support for a combined total of up to $46,500 over the life of the fellowship. Awards range from $31,000 to $46,500 total per fellowship and average $38,000 total.

Regulations, Guidelines and Literature

Fellowship Regulations, Environmental Protection Agency (40 CFR Part 46).

Related Programs

66.514 Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship Program

Information Contacts

Regional or Local Office

See Regional Agency Offices. Applicants are encouraged to communicate with the appropriate EPA Regional Office listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog or the contacts listed in the solicitations. Solicitations are located at: http://www.epa.gov/ncer.

Headquarters Office

Georgette Boddie USEPA Headquarters
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.
Mail Code: 8723F , Washington, District of Columbia 20460 Email: boddie.georgette@epa.gov Phone: 202-343-9741

Web Site Address

http://www.epa.gov/ncer

Examples of Funded Projects

Fiscal Year 2008: 1. Determine if exposure to arsenic increases the capacity of chromium to cause human lung cancer. 2. Catalog bacteria present in the air and try to detect, if any, seasonal variations within the bacterial species assuming the types of bacteria in the air might change depending on the season, weather and other environmental changes. 3. Understand how Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd ) affects the foraging activity and efficiency of larval anurans with different life histories, how Bd is transmitted between individuals, and the effects of Bd at the population and community levels. 4. Examine TMDL implementation in mixed tribal/non-tribal watersheds. 5. Investigate the impact of septic systems on adjacent surface water quality by examining the ecology and persistence of fecal pollution indicators and pathogens through intensive surface water monitoring.
See Web Page (http://www.epa.gov/ncer) for information on previously funded projects under the Greater Research Opportunities Fellowship Program. Fiscal Year 2009: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available

Criteria for Selecting Proposals

The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this CFDA description will be described in the competitive announcement. See the Web page (http://www.epa.gov/ncer) for additional information on the evaluative criteria for the RFAs.