National Institute of Standards and Technology

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket No: 931111-3311]

Continuation of Fire Research Grants Program

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice announcing NIST continuation of fire research grants

program.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to inform potential applicants

that the Fire Research Program, National Institute of Standards and

Technology, is continuing its Fire Research Grants Program. Previous

notices of this research grant program were published in the Federal

Register on November 19, 1984 (49 FR 45636), May 6, 1986 (51 FR 16730),

June 5, 1987 (52 FR 21342), June 6, 1988 (53 FR 20675), May 31, 1989

(54 FR 23243), July 23, 1990 (FR 90-17041), February 20, 1991 (46 FR

13250), May 7, 1991 (FR 91-10717), April 22, 1992 (FR 57-14695), and

March 17, 1993 (FR 58-14379) (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

No. 11.609 ``Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards.'').

DATES: There is no closing date for receipt of applications.

Applications will be accepted at any time.

ADDRESSES: Applicants must submit an original and two copies of the

application. The following standard forms must be used in applying for

assistance under this program: Standard Form 424, Application for

Federal Assistance (Rev. 4-88); Standard Form 424A, Budget

Information--Non-Construction Programs (Rev. 4-88); and Standard Form

424B (4-88), Assurances--Non-Construction Programs (Rev. 4-88).

Building an Fire Research Laboratory, Attention: Sonya Cherry, Building

226, Room B206, National Institute of Standards and Technology,

Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Technical questions concerning the NIST

Building and Fire Research Laboratory may be directed to the above

address or call Sonya Cherry at (301) 975-6854.

Administrative questions concerning the NIST Fires Research Grants

Program may be directed to the Grants Office at (301) 975-6329. Written

inquiries should be forwarded to the following address: Grants Office,

Acquisition and Assistance Division, Building 301/Rm. B129, National

Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As authorized by Section 16 of the Act of

March 3, 1901, as amended (15 U.S.C. 278f), the NIST Building and Fire

Research Laboratory conducts directly and through grants and

cooperative agreement, a basic and applied fire research program.

Academic institutions, non-Federal agencies, independent and industrial

laboratories are considered eligible for this program. This program has

been in existence for several years at approximately $1.5 million per

fiscal year. No increase in funds has taken place. The Fire Research

Program is limited to innovative ideas which are generated by the

proposal writer on what research to carry out and how to carry it out.

Grants awarded under the Fire Research program will generally provide

financial assistance to the recipient without substantial NIST

involvement in the projects. Cooperative agreements awarded for Fire

Research projects will generally involve a close working relationship

between a group of NIST experts and the recipient. No matching funds

are required. Proposals will be considered for research projects from

one to three years. All grant proposals submitted must be in accordance

with the programs and objectives listed below.

Program Objectives

a. Fire Protection Applications: Researcges, develops and

demonstrates the application to building fire problems of fire

protection analytical (computerized) tools and methods of assessing the

ignition and burning rate of contents of buildings. This includes:

developing a performance based fire code and methods of assessing fire

risk; developing methods of evaluating and predicting the performance

of and interactions between building fire safety design features;

developing an understanding of the burning rate of furniture and other

building contents; developing a data base that provides the necessary

input to users of the analytical tools; and operating the Fire Research

Information Services which supports the entire laboratory staff and the

fire community and has an on-line bibliographic data base.

b. Fire Modeling: Performs research on and develops analytical

models for the quantitative prediction of the consequences of fires and

the means to assess the accuracy of those models. This includes:

Creating advanced, usable models for the calculation of the effluent

from building fires; modeling the spread of fire over furniture and

building elements such as walls; developing field and zone modeling

techniques to predict the movement of fire effluent in buildings and

the effectiveness of fire sensors; and developing a protocol for

determining the accuracy of both the algorithms used in the fire models

as well as the comprehensive models themselves.

c. Large Fire Research: Performs research on and develops

techniques to measure, predict the behavior of, and mitigate large fire

events. This includes: understanding the mechanisms of large fires that

control the gas phase combustion, burning rate, thermal and chemical

emissions, transport processes; developing techniques for computer

simulation; developing field measurement techniques to assess the near

and far field impact of large fires and their plumes; performing

research on the use of combustion for environmental cleanup; predicting

the performance and environmental impact of fire protection measures

and fire fighting systems and techniques; developing and operating the

Fire Research Program large scale experiment facility.

d. Smoke Dynamics Research: Produces scientifically sound

principles, metrology, data, and predictive methods for the formation/

evolution of smoke components in flames for use in understanding and

predicting general fire phenomena. This includes: Research on the

effects of within-flame and post-flame fluid mechanics on the formation

and emission of smoke, including particulates, aerosols, and combustion

gases; understanding the mechanistic pathway for soot from chemical

inception to post-flame agglomerates; developing calculation methods

for the prediction of the yields of CO (and eventually other toxicant)

as a function of fuel type, availability of air, and fire scale.

e. Materials Fire Research: Performs research to understand

fundamentally the mechanisms that control the ignition, flame spread,

and burning rate of materials and the chemical and physical

characteristics that affect these aspects of flammability; develops

methods of measuring and predicting the response of a material to a

fire. This includes: characterizing the burning rates of charring and

non-charring polymers and composites; delineating and modeling the

enthalpy and mass transfer mechanisms of materials combustion; and

developing computational molecular dynamics and other mechanistic

approaches to understand the relationships between polymer structure

and flammability.

f. Fire Sensing and Extinguishment: Develops understanding,

metrology, and predictive methods to enable high-performance fire

sensing and extinguishment systems; devises new approaches to

minimizing the impact of unwanted fires and the suppression process.

This includes: research for the identification and in-situ measurements

of the symptoms of pending and nascent fires or explosions, and the

consequences of suppression; devising or adapting monitors for these

variables and creating the intelligence for timely interpretation of

the data; determining mechanisms for deflagration and detonation

suppression by advanced agents and principles for their optimal use;

modeling the extinguishment process; and developing performance

measures for the effectiveness of suppression system design.

Proposal Review Process

All proposals are assigned to the appropriate group leader of the

eight programs listed above for review, including external peer review,

and recommendations on funding. Both technical value of the proposal

and the relationship of the work proposed to the needs of the specific

program are taken into consideration in the group leader's

recommendation to the Deputy Director. Applicants should allow up to 60

days processing time. Proposals are evaluated for technical merit by at

least three professionals from NIST, the Building and Fire Research

Laboratory, or technical experts from other interested government

agencies and in the case of new proposals, experts from the fire

research community at large.

Evaluation Criteria

a. Rationality................................................. 0-20

b. Qualification of Technical Personnel........................ 0-20

c. Resources Availability...................................... 0-20

d. Technical Merit of contribution............................. 0-40

Selection Procedures

The results of these evaluations are transmitted to the group

leader of the appropriate research unit in the Building and Fire

Research Laboratory who prepares an analysis of comments and makes a

recommendation. The recommendation is forwarded to the Deputy Director

of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory who will also consider

compatibility with programmatic goals and financial feasibility before

making the final decision.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The SF-424, SF424A and SF424B mentioned in this notice is subject

to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act and has been

approved by OMB under Control No. 0348-00343, 0348-0044 and 0348-0040.

Additonal Requirements

Applicants that incur any costs prior to an award being made do so

solely at their own risk of not being reimbursed by the Government.

Applicants are also hereby notified that notwithstanding any verbal

assurance that they may have received, there is no obligation on the

part of DoC to cover pre-award costs. Unsatisfactory performance under

prior Federal awards may result in an application not being considered

for funding.

Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order

12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

Applicants are reminded that a false statement on an application is

grounds for denial or termination of funds and grounds for possible

punishment by fire or imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.

No award of Federal funds shall be made to an applicant who has an

outstanding delinquent Federal debt until either:

1. The delinquent account is paid in full,

2. A negotiated repayment schedule is established and at least one

payment is received, or

3. Other arrangements satisfactory to DoC are made;

Primary Applicant Certification. All primary applicants must submit

a completed Form CD-511, ``Certification Regarding Dabarment,

Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free Workplace

Requirement and Lobbying.'' Applicants are also hereby notified on the

following:

1. Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension. Prospective

participants (as defined at 15 CFR part 26, Section 105) are subject to

15 CFR part 26, ``Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension'' and the

related section of the certification form prescribed above applies;

2. Drug-Free Workplace. Grantees (as defined at 15 CFR Part 26,

Section 605) are subject to 15 CFR part 26, Subpart F, ``Governmentwide

Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)'' and the related section

of the certification form prescribed above applies;

3. Anti-Lobbying. Persons (as defined at 15 CFR part 28, section

105) are subject to the lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352,

``Limitation on use of appropriated funds to influence certain Federal

contracting and financial transactions,'' and the lobbying section of

the certification form prescribed above applies to applications/bids

for grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts for more the

$100,000, and loans and loan guarantees for more the $150,000, or the

single family maximum mortgage limit for affected programs, whichever

is greater; and

4. Anti-Lobbying Disclosure. Any applicant that has paid or will

pay for lobbying using any funds must submit an SF-LLL, Disclosure of

Lobbying Activities,'' as required under 15 CFR part 28, appendix B .

Lower Tier Certification. Recipients must require applicants/

bidders for subgrants, contracts, subcontracts, or other lower tier

covered transactions at any tier under the award to submit, if

applicable, a completed Form CD-512, ``Certifications Regarding

Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion-Lower Tier

Covered Transactions and Lobbying'' and disclosure form, SF-LLL,

``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.'' Form CD-512 is intended for the

use of recipients and should not be transmitted to DOC. SF-LLL

submitted by any tier recipient or subrecipient should be submitted to

DOC in accordance with the instructions contained in the award

document.

All for-profit and nonprofit applicants will be subject to a name

check review process. Name checks are intended to reveal if any key

individuals associated with the applicant have been convicted of or are

presently facing, criminal charges such as fraud, theft, perjury, or

other matters which significantly reflect on the applicant's management

honesty or financial integrity.

If an application is accepted for funding, DOC has no obligation to

provide any additional future funding in connection with that award.

Renewal of an award, increased funding, or extending the period of

performance is at the total discretion of NIST.

Recipients and subrecipients are subject to all Federal laws and

Federal and DOC policies, regulations, and procedures applicable to

Federal financial assistance awards.

Dated: May 5, 1994.

Samuel Kramer,

Associate Director.

[FR Doc. 94-11396 Filed 5-10-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-13-M