Grantee Research Project Results
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program
CLOSED - FOR REFERENCES PURPOSES ONLY
Using a Total Environment Framework (Built, Natural, Social Environments) to Assess Life-long Health Effects of Chemical Exposures
This is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity.
Funding Opportunity Number:
Using a Total Environment Framework (Built, Natural, Social Environments) to Assess Life-long Health Effects of Chemical Exposures, EPA-G2017-STAR-D1
Early Career Awards: Using a Total Environment Framework (Built, Natural, Social Environments) to Assess Life-long Health Effects of Chemical Exposures, EPA-G2017-STAR-D2
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 66.509
Solicitation Opening Date: December 2, 2016
Solicitation Closing Date: March 2, 2017, 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time
Technical Contact: Intaek Hahn (hahn.intaek@epa.gov); phone: 202-564-4377
Eligibility Contact: Ron Josephson (josephson.ron@epa.gov); phone: 202-564-7823
Electronic Submissions: Debra M. Jones (jones.debram@epa.gov); phone: 202-564-7839
Access Standard STAR Forms (How to Apply and Required Forms)
View research awarded under previous solicitations Past Research Funding Opportunities
SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Recent research has recognized that the relationship between chemical pollutants and health effects is not necessarily straightforward. Rather, each person’s response is the combined cumulative result of interactions among chemical and non-chemical stressors from the built, natural, and social environments, along with inherent characteristics, activities/behaviors, and policies/programs. Communities and local public-health agencies need a better scientific understanding of these interactions and cumulative effects to better protect and promote environmental health and well-being.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, seeks applications for research on how pollution affects human health in the context of the total environment – built, natural, and social environments interacting together with inherent characteristics and interactions. Proposed research should develop and test innovative models or impact assessment approaches to examine causal relationships of chemical pollutants and health effects with modifying interactions among the variables representing all of the major stressors and factors involved in a person’s life. Proposals that integrate a diverse field of disciplines (social science, economics, epidemiology, engineering, environmental science, biology, statistics, toxicology, chemistry, etc.) to address the complexity of the total environment research problem are highly recommended.
This solicitation provides the opportunity for the submission of applications for projects that may involve human subjects research. Human subjects research supported by the EPA is governed by EPA Regulation 40 CFR Part 26 (Protection of Human Subjects). This includes the Common Rule at subpart A and prohibitions and additional protections for pregnant women and fetuses, nursing women, and children at subparts B, C, and D. Research meeting the regulatory definition of intentional exposure research found in subpart B is prohibited by that subpart in pregnant women, nursing women, and children. Research meeting the regulatory definition of observational research found in subparts C and D is subject to the additional protections found in those subparts for pregnant women and fetuses (subpart C) and children (subpart D). All applications must include a Human Subjects Research Statement (HSRS, as described in Section IV.C.5.c of this solicitation), and if the project involves human subjects research, it will be subject to an additional level of review prior to funding decisions being made as described in Sections V.C and V.D of this solicitation.
Guidance and training for investigators conducting EPA-funded research involving human subjects may be obtained here:
Basic Information about Human Subjects Research
Basic EPA Policy for Protection of Subjects in Human Research Conducted or Supported by EPA
In addition to regular awards, this solicitation includes the opportunity for early career awards. The purpose of the early career award is to fund research projects smaller in scope and budget by early career PIs. Please see Section III of this Request for Applications (RFA) for details on the early career eligibility criteria.
Award Information:
Anticipated Type of Award: Grant or Cooperative Agreement
Estimated Number of Awards: 5 regular and 5 early-career awards
Anticipated Funding Amount: Approximately $7 million total for all awards
Potential Funding per Award: Up to a total of $800,000 for regular awards and $600,000 for early career awards, including direct and indirect costs, with a maximum duration of four years.
Cost-sharing is not required. Proposals with budgets exceeding the total award limits will not be considered.
Eligibility Information:
Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the U.S., state and local governments, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, and U.S. territories or possessions are eligible to apply. Special eligibility criteria apply to the early career award portion of this RFA. See full announcement for more details.
Application Materials:
To apply under this solicitation, use the application package available at Grants.gov (for further submission information see Section IV.F. “Submission Instructions and other Submission Requirements”). Note: With the exception of the current and pending support form (available at Research Funding Opportunities: How to Apply and Required Forms), all necessary forms are included in the electronic application package. Make sure to include the current and pending support form in your Grants.gov submission.
If your organization is not currently registered with Grants.gov, you need to allow approximately one month to complete the registration process. Please note that the registration process also requires that your organization have a unique entity identifier (formerly ‘DUNS number’) and a current registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) and the process of obtaining both could take a month or more. Applicants must ensure that all registration requirements are met in order to apply for this opportunity through Grants.gov and should ensure that all such requirements have been met well in advance of the submission deadline. This registration, and electronic submission of your application, must be performed by an authorized representative of your organization.
If you do not have the technical capability to utilize the Grants.gov application submission process for this solicitation, see Section IV.A below for additional guidance and instructions.
Agency Contacts:
Technical Contact: Intaek Hahn (hahn.intaek@epa.gov); phone: 202-564-4377
Eligibility Contact: Ron Josephson (josephson.ron@epa.gov); phone: 202-564-7823
Electronic Submissions: Debra M. Jones (jones.debram@epa.gov); phone: 202-564-7839
I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
A. Introduction
Scientific researchers have discovered that exposures to chemicals and subsequent adverse health outcomes are often difficult to predict. This is because non-chemical stressors and other characteristics (e.g., inherent characteristics, activities/behaviors) influence and modify both exposures and resultant health effects (Diagram 1) (WHO, 2005). More and more chemical exposures and subsequent health outcomes have been found to have solid links to the conditions in which people grow, live, work, and age (Healthy People 2020, 2010). People are exposed to combinations of chemical and non-chemical stressors that vary because of their built, natural and social environments (Keppel et al., 2005; Segal et al., 2015). These vary further throughout an individual’s life, with lifestage (e.g., infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and elderly) as an important determinant of exposure and potential susceptibility to impacts resulting from environmental exposures (Cohen Hubal et al., 2014) Construction of holistic environmental and public health research of chemical exposure-health effects should consider spatial as well as temporal or longitudinal (e.g., exposome) and even trans-generational (epigenetic) information on the stressors and environmental conditions (CSDH). These inherent and behavioral characteristics must be considered together with stressors from the built, natural and social environments employing a holistic “total environment” concept in order to accurately assess the health effects of chemical exposures (Tulve et al, 2016). Finally, environmental policies and public health programs can reduce exposure to harmful chemicals and thus reduce negative health outcomes (Diagram 2) (Harrison & Dean, 2011; Sadana & Blas, 2013). Therefore, environmental policies and public health programs should be considered in the total environment conceptual framework in order to correctly assess the pollutant exposures-health effects relationships (Tulve et al., 2016).
Diagram 1. Chemical exposures and health effects are influenced and modified by non-chemical stressors, activities, and inherent characteristics.
Diagram 2. Holistic Environmental Health Research must consider the Total (Built, Natural, and Social) Environment combined with Activities/Behaviors, Policies and Programs, and Inherent Characteristics.
In addition to regular awards, this solicitation includes the opportunity for early career awards. The purpose of the early career award is to fund research projects smaller in scope and budget by early career PIs. Please see Section III of this RFA for details on the early career eligibility criteria.
EPA recognizes that it is important to engage all available minds to address the environmental challenges the nation faces. At the same time, EPA seeks to expand the environmental conversation by including members of communities which may have not previously participated in such dialogues to participate in EPA programs. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants identified in Section III, including minority serving institutions (MSIs), to apply under this opportunity.
For purposes of this solicitation, the following are considered MSIs:
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1061). A list of these schools can be found at White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities;
- Tribal Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059(c)). A list of these schools can be found at American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities;
- Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1101a(a)(5)). There is no list of HSIs. HSIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25% Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application for this grant; and
- Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions; (AANAPISIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059g(a)(2)). There is no list of AANAPISIs. AANAPISIs are institutions of higher education that, at the time of application submittal, have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is not less than 10 % students who are Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander.
B. Background
Recognizing this urgent and important need, environmental science and public health programs and strategies [Examples include: U.S. EPA, 2003; U.S. EPA, 2009; U.S EPA, 2012; Healthy People 2020, 2010; WHO, 2005 and U.S. EPA, 2015] have called for research to understand and address health outcomes resulting from interactions between environmental pollutants from the built, natural, and social environments, and human biology. The results of this research should identify critical chemical and non-chemical stressors and their interactions to be used in furthering scientific investigations and potentially be applied to the development of policies, rules, voluntary programs, and public health programs.
EPA’s recent STAR RFAs have focused on the role of non-chemical stressors in modifying health outcomes following chemical exposures. These include the 2009 EPA STAR RFA entitled, “Understanding the Role of Non-chemical Stressors and Developing Analytic Methods for Cumulative Risk Assessments”, a 2014 EPA-NIEHS Joint RFA entitled, “Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research”, and a 2016 EPA STAR RFA entitled, “Integrating Human Health and Well-Being with Ecosystem Services”. These efforts have fostered research on cumulative effects of multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors, environmental justice variables, and health disparities outcomes. These have not, however, incorporated a holistic approach that considers the cumulative impacts of chemical stressors in the context of the effects on exposure vulnerability and susceptibility to adverse health effects mediated by the natural, built, and social environments. The total environment is characterized by the following: (Tulve et al., 2016)
- The total environment consists of all chemical and non-chemical stressors from the built, natural, and social environments where a person grows, lives, works, and ages. We define stressors as any physical, chemical, social, or biological factor that can induce a change in a person’s health (either now or into the future). Chemical stressors are defined as exogenous environmental compounds (e.g., pesticides, metals, phthalates). Biological stressors are defined as organisms found in an environment where they might not necessarily be found naturally (e.g., vector borne diseases, endotoxins, microbial contaminants, waterborne pathogens). Physical stressors are defined as descriptive environmental factors (e.g., temperature, humidity, noise).
- The built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, including but not limited to, land use (e.g., open space, green space, connectivity), transportation systems (both motorized and active), buildings, infrastructure (e.g., water supply, energy networks), and waste and materials management.
- The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things naturally occurring on Earth, including the water, air, minerals, climate, natural disasters, previously living organisms, forests, fields, lakes, mountains, and undeveloped natural vegetation that humans interact with in their lives. Quality and accessibility of ecosystem services (i.e., natural amenities) surrounding a person can potentially have a significant impact on one’s health. In some settings, natural environments can be features of a built environment. For example, natural trees, stones, minerals, soil, or water can be parts of a planned landscape or urban design (Jennings et al., 2016).
- The social environment includes not only social interactions but factors related to the economy, community, home, school/daycare, demographics, safety, food security, access to healthcare, discrimination, violence, or systemic racism, to name a few.
- Inherent characteristics (aka intrinsic biological factors) are biological determinants of health, such as age, lifestage, sex, pre-existing disease, or genetic makeup.
- Activities/behaviors are the ways in which a person interacts with his/her environment.
- Policies/programs include those implemented and offered by researchers, public officials, teachers, community leaders, and parents that affect a person’s total environment in various lifestages.
This STAR RFA seeks to advance scientific understanding of the causal mechanisms linking environmental pollutants to adverse health effects by combining the recent advancements in exposure science, cumulative risk assessment research, health impact assessment approaches, biomarker or metabolite research (as in allostatic load models or adverse outcome pathways models), and exposome research. EPA is seeking research proposals that will investigate chemical exposures (direct or indirect exposures) and subsequent health effects through the use of a holistic, total environment framework that considers the natural, built, and social environments together with a person’s inherent or intrinsic biological determinants, activities/behaviors, and policies/programs over different lifestages and generations. Proposals that integrate a diverse field of disciplines (social science, economics, epidemiology, engineering, environmental science, biology, statistics, toxicology, chemistry, etc.) to address the complexity of the total environment research problem are highly recommended.
The specific Strategic Goal and Objective from EPA’s Strategic Plan that relate to this solicitation are:
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development, Objective 3.1: Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities.
The EPA’s FY 2014-18 Strategic Plan can be found at: EPA Strategic Plan
C. Authority and Regulations
The authority for this RFA and resulting awards is contained in the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300j-1, Section 1442; the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1254, Section 104(b)(3); the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7403, Section 103(b)(3); the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. 136r, Section 20; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6981, Section 8001; and the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. 2609, Section 10.
For research with an international aspect, the above statutes are supplemented, as appropriate, by the National Environmental Policy Act, Section 102(2)(F).
Note that a project’s focus is to consist of activities within the statutory terms of EPA’s financial assistance authorities; specifically, the statute(s) listed above. Generally, a project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of air pollution, water pollution, solid/hazardous waste pollution, toxic substances control, or pesticide control depending on which statute(s) is listed above. Further note applications dealing with any aspect of or related to hydraulic fracking will not be funded by EPA through this program.
Additional applicable regulations include: 2 CFR Part 200, 2 CFR Part 1500, and 40 CFR Part 40 (Research and Demonstration Grants).
D. Specific Areas of Interest/Expected Outputs and Outcomes
Note to applicant: The term “output” means an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work products related to an environmental goal or objective, that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. The term “outcome” means the result, effect or consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program or activity that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective.
Applicants should propose to conduct original, innovative, multi- and trans-disciplinary research to investigate chemical pollutant exposures and subsequent health effects using a holistic framework that considers a person’s total (built, natural, and social) environment, inherent characteristics, activities/behaviors, and policies/programs that affect the individual during different life-stages. Although EPA does not anticipate that every chemical exposure can be studied in combination with all total environmental stressors and modifiers of health, EPA is still very much interested in seeing research proposals address one or more relevant variables from each of the three environmental (built, natural, and social) sectors combined with one or more relevant inherent characteristics and activities/behaviors, along with relevant or applicable policies/programs to advance the understanding of pathways connecting chemical exposures and health effects spanning different life-stages or generations. Research proposals should clearly identify, list, and explain all involved chemical exposures and health effects, along with non-chemical stressors from the total environment (make sure to include all three environments), inherent characteristics, activities/behaviors, lifestages, and policies/programs. Applicants are required to clearly identify chemical exposures and health effects they propose to investigate. Proposals are also required to include at least one variable from the built, natural, social environments, inherent characteristics, and activities/behaviors, but the inclusion of policies/programs is optional. Researchers will also need to develop testable hypotheses for examining and demonstrating the synergistic effects of combined stressors, and propose and implement methods to account for the combined effects of various stressors and environmental exposures when definitive studies are not yet available to accurately describe cumulative effects.
EPA is interested in research proposals to develop and test models (analytical, empirical, statistical, descriptive, or predictive) delineating linkages and pathways among chemical exposures, stressors, environments (natural, built, and social), inherent characteristics, activities/behaviors, life-stages (ages), policies/programs, and health effects. There are a number of alternative approaches that applicants can take including mechanistic biological or adverse outcome pathway models, statistical models, or broader health impact assessment approaches. Proposals that integrate a diverse field of disciplines (social science, economics, epidemiology, engineering, environmental science, biology, statistics, toxicology, chemistry, etc.) to address the complexity of the total environment research problem are highly recommended.
Some examples of models or approaches are described below: (Applicants may use one of the example models/approaches or use an entirely different model/approach.)
Statistical Models or Descriptive Models
Recent advancements in computing power and data mining/analysis methodologies, coupled with the availability of social, biological, and environmental data are enabling us to build models to link one or more outcomes to multiple exposures to various stressors. Innovative statistical approaches or descriptive models that will allow for a rigorous investigation of interactions among all stressors leading to quantification of the cumulative health effects of pollutant/chemical exposures are desired.
Adverse Outcome Pathways or Allostatic Load Models
Adverse outcome pathways (AOP) or allostatic load models are great ways to investigate and delineate non-chemical stressor and factors affecting pollutant/chemical exposures leading to health effects. Applicants can propose research that incorporates non-chemical stressors into adverse outcome pathway (AOP) models. When proposing a research project using AOP or Allostatic Load Models, researchers should answer one or more of the following research questions. Applicants can add more research questions as desired in addition to answering one or more of the following questions:(1) What biomarkers or biological pathways are associated with non-chemical stressors? (2) What are the relationships or associations, if any, among biomarkers or biological pathways of chemical stressors and other stressors? (3) How can chronic stresses (environmental or physiological) during different lifestages be explained by allostatic load biomarkers? (4) Which biomarkers of allostatic load are specifically associated with selected natural, built, or social environmental factors or stressors? (5) What are, if any, biomarkers for epigenetic effects?
Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Approaches
EPA is also interested in proposals that utilize HIA techniques to evaluate the cumulative impact of multiple environmental stressors and identify options based on this information for risk management, environmental policies, and public health programs. HIA is a model for working with a community to understand the health and environmental conditions of concern to the community, assemble the relevant data to better assess the concerns, and to identify and propose strategies to address the health and environmental concerns. The community may find alternatives to regulatory action, such as actions that can be implemented immediately or through different private and public actions other than local government. In this way, HIA can simultaneously assess and address multiple, cumulative, and integrated biological, environmental, and social health risks in populations—especially among vulnerable populations at greatest risk. Even if a full community-level HIA is not feasible or applicable, applicants are encouraged to submit a case study or a scenario analysis evaluating the impacts of selected environmental stressor(s) on an individual, family, or group of people. Such research will be highly valuable in assessing the impact of environmental policies/mitigations and public health programs/interventions within a total environment framework.
Community Based Research (Optional. Could be used in all research proposals.)
If feasible, especially if applicants have a long standing existing relationship with a community, researchers are encouraged to involve communities in the formulation of research objectives and in clarifying their real-world exposures and/or health effects. Applicants are encouraged to utilize a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) framework, defined as a collaborative process of research involving researchers and community representatives. The CBPR process of scientific inquiry requires that community members, persons affected by the health condition, disability or issue under study, or other key community stakeholders, should participate in each phase of the work. Although a range of levels of community involvement can be considered CBPR, CBPR is characterized by substantial community input in the project. The applicant will need to justify the level of community involvement that is proposed in the application. At a minimum, each applicant should:
- Focus on research issues of significance to a community that is interested in the proposed work.
- Identify the role of community members in the proposed research plan (i.e., the degree of community input or engagement in the conceptualization, design, methods, analyses, or dissemination of research).
- Describe how this research will enhance the capacity of the community.
- Allocate appropriate resources to the research partners to ensure success of the collaboration, e.g., delineating funds under the project’s budget for community participation.
- If a host organization (any organization/institution other than the applicant) is used to facilitate community participation or partnerships, evaluate the organization’s mission and practices concerning community partnerships (e.g., how the staff has or can develop skills to sustain community participation).
- Provide evidence of community support.
Communication and Translation
Researchers are strongly encouraged to translate their research findings into linguistically appropriate information for affected communities, the public, and for health professionals and public health professionals with the ultimate goal of improving environmental health.
Expected outputs: Outputs could include descriptive or predictive models, statistical databases or knowledge bases, etc. that should: describe and analyze interactions and pathways across a complex set of total environmental stressors and variables to health outcomes, along the lifestages; and attribute causality to evaluate the impact of different stressors, activities, inherent characteristics, and policies/programs on health outcomes. Ideally, statistical or analytical models that integrate non-chemical total environmental stressors into chemical-biological linkages are desired outputs. Other examples are quantitative or qualitative results showing complete pathways linking specific chemical exposures to certain health effects with biomarkers of stressors from the total environment identified, illustrated, linked, and delineated in an adverse outcome pathway model or allostatic model format.
Expected outcomes: An expected outcome would include an increase in the scientific understanding of how pollution affects human health in the context of the total environment – built, natural, and social environments interacting together with individual characteristics and interactions. With this newly acquired scientific knowledge and understanding, informed decisions can be made to improve and implement individual-level and population-level approaches for pollution prevention and health promotion. This could result in pollution mitigation/prevention and/or public health interventions to eliminate or reduce chemical exposures.
To the extent practicable, research proposals must embody innovation. Innovation for the purposes of this RFA is defined as the process of making changes; a new method, custom or device. Innovative research can take the form of wholly new applications or applications that build on existing knowledge and approaches for new uses. Research proposals must include a discussion on how the proposed research is innovative (see Section IV.C.5.a). ORD will draw from the above-mentioned innovation definition in the review/evaluation process of recommending research proposals (see Section V.A).
Cohen Hubal, E. A., de Wet, T., Du Toit, L., Firestone, M. P., Ruchirawat, M., van Engelen, J., & Vickers, C. (2014). Identifying important life stages for monitoring and assessing risks from exposures to environmental contaminants: Results of a World Health Organization review. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 69 (1), 113-124. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2013.09.008
Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH). Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Harrison, K. M., & Dean, H. D. (2011). Guest Editorial: Use of Data Systems to Address Social Determinants of Health: A Need to do More. Public Health Reports, 126 (Supplement 3), 1-5.
Healthy People 2020: An Opportunity to Address Societal Determinants of Health in the United States. Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020. July 26, 2010.
Jennings, V., Larson, L., & Yun, J. (2016). Advancing Sustainability through Urban Green Space: Cultural Ecosystem Services, Equity, and Social Determinants of Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13 (2), 196.
Keppel, K., Pamuk, E., Lynch, J., Carter-Pokras, O., Kim, I., Mays, V., . . . Weissman, J. S. (2005). Methodological issues in measuring health disparities. Vital and health statistics. Series 2, Data evaluation and methods research (141), 1.
Sadana, R., & Blas, E. (2013). What can public health programs do to improve health equity? Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 128 Suppl 3, 12-20.
Segal, D., Lin, Y.-S., Ginsberg, G., & Sonawane, B. (2015). A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating the Interaction of a Chemical and Nonchemical Stressor in Human Health Risk Assessments: A Case Study for Lead and Psychosocial Stress Exit. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 21 (7), 1840-1868. doi: 10.1080/10807039.2014.992852
Tulve, N. S., Ruiz, J. D. C., Lichtveld, K., Darney, S. P., & Quackenboss, J. J. (2016). Development of a Conceptual Framework Depicting a Child's Total (Built, Natural, Social) Environment in Oder to Optimize Health and Well-Being. Journal of Environment and Health Science, 2 (2), 1-8.
U.S. EPA. (2003). Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment. Washington, DC: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.
U.S. EPA. (2012). Proceedings of the EPA Workshop on Interactions Between Social Stress and Environmental Hazards, Mary 14-15, 2012: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
U.S. EPA. (2009). A Conceptual Framework for U.S. EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
U.S. EPA. (2015). Children's Environmental Health Research Roadmap. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development.
World Health Organization (WHO). Commission on Social Determinants of Health: Key Concepts. from http://www.who.int/social_determinants/thecommission/finalreport/key_concepts/en/
F. Special Requirements
Agency policy and ethical considerations prevent EPA technical staff and managers from providing applicants with information that may create an unfair competitive advantage. Consequently, EPA employees will not review, comment, advise, and/or provide technical assistance to applicants preparing applications in response to EPA RFAs. EPA employees cannot endorse any particular application.
Multiple Investigator applications may be submitted as: (1) a single Lead Principal Investigator (PI) application with Co-PI(s) or (2) a Multiple PI application (with a single Contact PI). If you choose to submit a Multiple PI application, you must follow the specific instructions provided in Sections IV. and V. of this RFA. For further information, please see the EPA Implementation Plan for Policy on Multiple Principal Investigators (RBM Toolkit - Research Business Models Working Group).
Please note: Early career awards will not accommodate a Multiple PI application. Early career awards shall be submitted as a single Lead PI application. Special eligibility criteria apply to the early career portion of this RFA. Please see Section III of this RFA for details on the early career eligibility criteria. The application must include an early career verification (see “Early Career Verification” in Section IV.C.5.e).
This solicitation provides the opportunity for the submission of applications for projects that may involve human subjects research. All applications must include a Human Subjects Research Statement (HSRS; described in Section IV.C.5.c of this solicitation). If the project involves human subjects research, it will be subject to an additional level of review prior to funding decisions being made as described in Sections V.C and V.D of this solicitation.
The application should include a plan (see “Data Plan” in section IV.C.5.d) to make available to the NCER project officer all data generated (produced under the award) from observations, analyses, or model development used under an agreement awarded from this RFA. The data must be available in a format and with documentation such that they may be used by others in the scientific community.
These awards may involve the collection of “Geospatial Information,” which includes information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features or boundaries on the Earth or applications, tools, and hardware associated with the generation, maintenance, or distribution of such information. This information may be derived from, among other things, a Geographic Positioning System (GPS), remote sensing, mapping, charting, and surveying technologies, or statistical data.
II. AWARD INFORMATION
It is anticipated that a total of approximately $7 million will be awarded under this announcement, depending on the availability of funds, quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. The EPA anticipates funding approximately 5 regular awards and 5 early career awards under this RFA. Requests for amounts in excess of a total of $800,000 for regular awards and $600,000 for early career awards, including direct and indirect costs, will not be considered. The total project period requested in an application submitted for this RFA may not exceed four years.
The EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards, or make fewer awards than anticipated, under this RFA. The EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than six months after the original selection decisions.
In appropriate circumstances, EPA reserves the right to partially fund proposals/applications by funding discrete portions or phases of proposed projects. If EPA decides to partially fund a proposal/application, it will do so in a manner that does not prejudice any applicants or affect the basis upon which the proposal/application, or portion thereof, was evaluated and selected for award, and therefore maintains the integrity of the competition and selection process.
EPA may award both grants and cooperative agreements under this announcement.
Under a grant, EPA scientists and engineers are not permitted to be substantially involved in the execution of the research. However, EPA encourages interaction between its own laboratory scientists and grant Principal Investigators after the award of an EPA grant for the sole purpose of exchanging information in research areas of common interest that may add value to their respective research activities. This interaction must be incidental to achieving the goals of the research under a grant. Interaction that is “incidental” does not involve resource commitments.
Where appropriate, based on consideration of the nature of the proposed project relative to the EPA’s intramural research program and available resources, the EPA may award cooperative agreements under this announcement. When addressing a research question/problem of common interest, collaborations between EPA scientists and the institution’s principal investigators are permitted under a cooperative agreement. These collaborations may include data and information exchange, providing technical input to experimental design and theoretical development, coordinating extramural research with in-house activities, the refinement of valuation endpoints, and joint authorship of journal articles on these activities. Proposals may not identify EPA cooperators or interactions; specific interactions between EPA’s investigators and those of the prospective recipient for cooperative agreements will be negotiated at the time of award.
A. Eligible Applicants
Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public nonprofit institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private nonprofit institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the U.S., state and local governments, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, and U.S. territories or possessions are eligible to apply. Profit-making firms are not eligible to receive assistance agreements from the EPA under this program.
Eligible nonprofit organizations include any organizations that:
1) Are operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public interest; 2) Are not organized primarily for profit; and 3) Use its net proceeds to maintain, improve, and/or expand its operations. However, nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible to apply.
Foreign governments, international organizations, and non-governmental international organizations/institutions are not eligible to apply.
National laboratories funded by Federal Agencies (Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers, “FFRDCs”) may not apply. FFRDC employees may cooperate or collaborate with eligible applicants within the limits imposed by applicable legislation and regulations. They may participate in planning, conducting, and analyzing the research directed by the applicant, but may not direct projects on behalf of the applicant organization. The institution, organization, or governance receiving the award may provide funds through its assistance agreement from the EPA to an FFRDC for research personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses directly related to the research. However, salaries for permanent FFRDC employees may not be provided through this mechanism.
Federal Agencies may not apply. Federal employees are not eligible to serve in a principal leadership role on an assistance agreement, and may not receive salaries or augment their Agency’s appropriations in other ways through awards made under this program.
The applicant institution may enter into an agreement with a Federal Agency to purchase or utilize unique supplies or services unavailable in the private sector to the extent authorized by law. Examples are purchase of satellite data, chemical reference standards, analyses, or use of instrumentation or other facilities not available elsewhere. A written justification for federal involvement must be included in the application. In addition, an appropriate form of assurance that documents the commitment, such as a letter of intent from the Federal Agency involved, should be included.
The early career awards will support research performed by PIs with outstanding promise at the Assistant Professor or equivalent level. Principal investigators from applicant institutions applying for the early career portion of the RFA must meet the following additional eligibility requirements:
- Hold a doctoral degree in a field related to the research being solicited by the closing date of the RFA;
- Be untenured at the closing date of the RFA;
- By the award date, be employed in a tenure-track position (or tenure-track-equivalent position) as an assistant professor (or equivalent title) at an institution in the U.S., its territories, or possessions. Note: For a position to be considered a tenure-track-equivalent position, it must meet all of the following requirements: (1) the employing department or organization does not offer tenure; (2) the appointment is a continuing appointment; (3) the appointment has substantial educational responsibilities; and (4) the proposed project relates to the employee's career goals and job responsibilities as well as to the goals of the department/organization.
Senior researchers may collaborate in a supporting role for early career awards. Early career applications should not propose significant resources for senior researchers and may not list senior researchers as co-PIs. The application must include an early career verification (see “Early Career Verification” in Section IV.C.5.e).
Potential applicants who are uncertain of their eligibility should contact Ron Josephson (josephson.ron@epa.gov) in NCER; phone: 202-564-7823
B. Cost sharing
Institutional cost-sharing is not required.
C. Other
Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or they will be rejected. In addition, where a page limitation is expressed in Section IV with respect to parts of the application, pages in excess of the page limit will not be reviewed. In addition, applications must be submitted through Grants.gov as stated in Section IV of this announcement (except in the limited circumstances where another mode of submission is specifically allowed for as explained in Section IV) on or before the application submission deadline published in Section IV of this announcement. Applicants are responsible for following the submission instructions in Section IV of this announcement (see Section IV.F. “Submission Instructions and Other Submission Requirements” for further information) to ensure that their application is timely submitted. Applications submitted after the submission deadline will be considered late and deemed ineligible without further consideration unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that it was late due to EPA mishandling or because of technical problems associated with Grants.gov or relevant SAM.gov system issues. An applicant’s failure to timely submit their application through Grants.gov because they did not timely or properly register in SAM.gov or Grants.gov will not be considered an acceptable reason to consider a late submission.
Also, applications exceeding the funding limits or project period term described herein will be rejected without review. Further, applications that fail to demonstrate a public purpose of support or stimulation (e.g., by proposing research which primarily benefits a Federal program or provides a service for a Federal agency) will not be funded.
Applications deemed ineligible for funding consideration will be notified within fifteen calendar days of the ineligibility determination.
IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Additional provisions that apply to this solicitation and/or awards made under this solicitation, including but not limited to those related to confidential business information, contracts and subawards under grants, and proposal assistance and communications, can be found at EPA Solicitation Clauses
These, and the other provisions that can be found at the website link, are important, and applicants must review them when preparing applications for this solicitation. If you are unable to access these provisions electronically at the website above, please communicate with the EPA contact listed in this solicitation to obtain the provisions.
Formal instructions for submission through Grants.gov are in Section F.
A. Grants.gov Submittal Requirements and Limited Exception Procedures
Applicants, except as noted below, must apply electronically through Grants.gov under this funding opportunity based on the Grants.gov instructions in this announcement. If an applicant does not have the technical capability to apply electronically through Grants.gov because of limited or no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials to Grants.gov, the applicant must contact OGDWaivers@epa.gov or the address listed below in writing (e.g., by hard copy, email) at least 15 calendar days prior to the submission deadline under this announcement to request approval to submit their application materials through an alternate method.
Mailing Address:
OGD Waivers
c/o Barbara Perkins
USEPA Headquarters
William Jefferson Clinton Building
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N. W.
Mail Code: 3903R
Washington, DC 20460
Courier Address:
OGD Waivers
c/o Barbara Perkins
Ronald Reagan Building
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Rm # 51267
Washington, DC 20004
In the request, the applicant must include the following information:
Funding Opportunity Number (FON)
Organization Name and DUNS
Organization’s Contact Information (email address and phone number)
Explanation of how they lack the technical capability to apply electronically through Grants.gov because of: 1) limited internet access or 2) no internet access which prevents them from being able to upload the required application materials through Grants.gov.
EPA will only consider alternate submission exception requests based on the two reasons stated above and will timely respond to the request -- all other requests will be denied. If an alternate submission method is approved, the applicant will receive documentation of this approval and further instructions on how to apply under this announcement. Applicants will be required to submit the documentation of approval with any initial application submitted under the alternative method. In addition, any submittal through an alternative method must comply with all applicable requirements and deadlines in the announcement including the submission deadline and requirements regarding proposal content and page limits (although the documentation of approval of an alternate submission method will not count against any page limits).
If an exception is granted, it is valid for submissions to EPA for the remainder of the entire calendar year in which the exception was approved and can be used to justify alternative submission methods for application submissions made through December 31 of the calendar year in which the exception was approved (e.g., if the exception was approved on March 1, 2015, it is valid for any competitive or non-competitive application submission to EPA through December 31, 2015). Applicants need only request an exception once in a calendar year and all exceptions will expire on December 31 of that calendar year. Applicants must request a new exception from required electronic submission through Grants.gov for submissions for any succeeding calendar year. For example, if there is a competitive opportunity issued on December 1, 2015 with a submission deadline of January 15, 2016, the applicant would need a new exception to submit through alternative methods beginning January 1, 2016.
Please note that the process described in this section is only for requesting alternate submission methods. All other inquiries about this announcement must be directed to the Agency Contact listed in Section VII of the announcement. Queries or requests submitted to the email address identified above for any reason other than to request an alternate submission method will not be acknowledged or answered.
B. Application Package Information
Use the application package available at Grants.gov (see Section IV.F. “Submission Instructions and Other Submission Requirements”). Note: With the exception of the current and pending support form (available at How to Apply and Required Forms), all necessary forms are included in the electronic application package. Make sure to include the current and pending support form in your Grants.gov submission.
An email will be sent by NCER to the Lead/Contact PI and the Administrative Contact (see below) to acknowledge receipt of the application and transmit other important information. The email will be sent from receipt.application@epa.gov; emails to this address will not be accepted. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 10 calendar days of the submission closing date, immediately inform the Electronic Submissions Contact shown in this solicitation. Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed. See Section IV.F. “Submission Instructions and Other Submission Requirements” for additional information regarding the application receipt acknowledgment.
C. Content and Form of Application Submission
The application is made by submitting the materials described below. Applications must contain all information requested and be submitted in the formats described.
-
Standard Form 424
The applicant must complete Standard Form 424. Instructions for completion of the SF424 are included with the form. (However, note that EPA requires that the entire requested dollar amount appear on the SF424, not simply the proposed first year expenses.) The form must contain the signature of an authorized representative of the applying organization.
Applicants are required to provide a unique entity identifier (formerly ‘DUNS number’) when applying for federal grants or cooperative agreements. Organizations may receive a unique entity identifier, at no cost, by calling the dedicated toll-free request line at 1-866-705-5711, or visiting the website at: Dun & Bradstreet Exit.
Executive Order 12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs,” does not apply to the Office of Research and Development's research and training programs unless EPA has determined that the activities that will be carried out under the applicants' proposal (a) require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), or (b) do not require an EIS but will be newly initiated at a particular site and require unusual measures to limit the possibility of adverse exposure or hazard to the general public, or (c) have a unique geographic focus and are directly relevant to the governmental responsibilities of a State or local government within that geographic area.
If EPA determines that Executive Order 12372 applies to an applicant's proposal, the applicant must follow the procedures in 40 CFR Part 29. The applicant must notify their state's single point of contact (SPOC). To determine whether their state participates in this process, and how to comply, applicants should consult Intergovernmental Review (SPOC List). If an applicant is in a State that does not have a SPOC, or the State has not selected research and development grants for intergovernmental review, the applicant must notify directly affected State, area wide, regional and local entities of its proposal.
EPA will notify the successful applicant(s) if Executive Order 12372 applies to its proposal prior to award.
-
Key Contacts
The applicant must complete the “Key Contacts” form found in the Grants.gov application package. An “Additional Key Contacts” form is also available at How to Apply and Required Forms. The Key Contacts form should also be completed for major sub-agreements (i.e., primary investigators). Do not include information for consultants or other contractors. Please make certain that all contact information is accurate.
For Multiple PI applications: The Additional Key Contacts form must be completed (see Section I.F. for further information). Note: The Contact PI must be affiliated with the institution submitting the application. EPA will direct all communications related to scientific, technical, and budgetary aspects of the project to the Contact PI; however, any information regarding an application will be shared with any PI upon request. The Contact PI is to be listed on the Key Contact Form as the Project Manager/Principal Investigator (the term Project Manager is used on the Grants.gov form, the term Principal Investigator is used on the form located at How to Apply and Required Forms). For additional PIs, complete the Major Co-Investigator fields and identify PI status next to the name (e.g., “Name: John Smith, Principal Investigator”).
-
Table of Contents
Provide a list of the major subdivisions of the application indicating the page number on which each section begins.
-
Abstract (1 page)
The abstract is a very important document in the review process. Therefore, it is critical that the abstrac
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.