Act means the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97).

Fiscal year means a 12-month period ending on September 30.

Director means the Director of the USGS or a designee.

Grant means the funds made available to an institute in a particular fiscal year pursuant to section 104 of the Act and the regulations in this chapter.

Grantee means the college or university at which an institute is established.

Granting agency means the USGS.

Institute means a water resources research institute, center, or equivalent agency established in accordance with Title I of the Act.

Region means any grouping of two or more institutes mutually chosen by themselves to reflect a commonality of water-resources problems.

Scientists means individuals engaged in any professional discipline, including the life, physical or social sciences, and engineers.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or a designee.

State means each of the 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

[50 FR 23114, May 31, 1985, as amended at 58 FR 27204, May 7, 1993]

§ 401.4 Information collection.

(a) The information collection requirements contained in sections 401.11 and 401.19 have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned clearance number 10280044. The information will be used to

support water related research and provide performance reports on accomplishments achieved under Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97 (42 U.S.C. 10303). This information allows the agency to determine compliance with the objectives and criteria of the grant programs. Response is mandatory in accordance with 30 CFR 401.11 and 401.19.

(b) Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 84 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate, or any other suggestions for reducing the burden, to Paperwork Management Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, Paperwork Management Section MS 208, Reston, Virginia 22092 and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1028-0044), Washington, DC 20503. [58 FR 27204, May 7, 1993]

$401.5 [Reserved]

Subpart B-Designation of Institutes; Institute Programs

§ 401.6 Designation of institutes.

(a) As a condition of recognition as an established institute under the provisions of this chapter, each institute shall provide to the Director written evidence that it conforms to the requirements of subsection 104(a) of the Act, in that:

(1) The institute is established at the college or university in the State that was established in accordance with the Act of July 21, 1862 (12 Stat. 503; 7 U.S.C. 301ff), i.e., a "land-grant" institution, or;

(2) If established at some other institution, the institute is at a college or

university that has been designated by act of the legislature for the purposes of the Act, or;

(3) If there is more than one “landgrant" institution in the State, and no designation has been made according to paragraph (a)(2) of this section, the institute has been established at the one such institution designated by the Governor of the State to participate in the program, or;

(4) The institute has been designated as an interstate or regional institute by two or more cooperating States as provided in the Act.

(b) The certification of designation made pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section shall originate following the issuance of these regulations, be signed by the highest ranking officer of the college or university at which the institute is established and be submitted to the Director within 90 days of the effective date of these regulations. It shall be accompanied either by the evidence of establishment under the provisions of 30 CFR part 401 or by new evidence of establishment made pursuant to these regulations.

(c) Any institute not previously established under the provisions of the Water Resources Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88-379, 78 Stat. 331) or the Water Research and Development Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-467, 92 Stat. 1305) shall also, in addition to the annual program application specified in § 401.11 of this chapter, submit to the Director the following information:

(1) Evidence of the appointment by the governing authority of the college or university of an officer to receive and account for all funds paid under the provisions of the Act and to make annual reports to the granting agency on work accomplished; and

(2) A management plan for meeting the requirements of the evaluation mandated by § 401.26.

[50 FR 23114, May 31, 1985, as amended at 58 FR 27204, May 7, 1993]

§ 401.7 Programs of institutes.

(a) Release of grant funds to participating institutes is conditioned on the ability of each receiving institute to plan, conduct, or otherwise arrange for:

(1) Competent research, investigations, and experiments of either a basic or practical nature, or both, in relation to water resources;

(2) Promotion of the dissemination and application of the results of these efforts; and

(3) Assistance in the training of scientists in relevant fields of endeavor to water resources through the research, investigations, and experiments.

(b) Such research, investigations, experiments and training may include: (1) Aspects of the hydrologic cycle; (2) Supply and demand;

(3) Demineralization of saline and other impaired waters;

(4) Conservation and best use of available supplies of water and methods of increasing such supplies;

(5) Water reuse;

(6) Depletion and degradation of ground-water supplies;

(7) Improvements in the productivity of water when used for agricultural, municipal, and commercial purposes;

(8) The economic, legal, engineering, social, recreational, biological, geographical, ecological, or other aspects of water problems;

(9) Scientific information dissemination activities, including identifying, assembling, and interpreting the results of scientific research on water resources problems, and ;

(10) Providing means for improved communication of research results, having due regard for the varying conditions and needs of the respective States and regions.

(c) An institute shall cooperate closely with other colleges and universities in the State that have demonstrated capabilities for research, information dissemination and graduate training in the development of its pro

gram. For purposes of financial management, reporting and other research program management and administration activities, the institutes shall be responsible for performance of the activities of other participating institutions.

(d) Each institute shall cooperate closely with other institutes and other research organizations in the region to increase the effectiveness of the institutes, to coordinate their activities, and to avoid undue duplication of effort.

§§ 401.8-401.10 [Reserved]

Subpart C-Application and
Management Procedures

§ 401.11 Applications for grants.

(a) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, but not to exceed a total of $10 million, an equal amount of dollars will be available to each qualified institute in each fiscal year to assist it in carrying out the purposes of the Act. If the full amount of the appropriated funds is not obligated by the close of the fiscal year for which they were appropriated, the remaining funds shall be made available in the succeeding fiscal year to support competitively selected research projects under the terms of section 104(g) of the Act. Selection and approval of such projects shall be based on criteria to be determined by the Director. Announcement of such criteria shall be made by notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER. The granting agency may retain an amount up to 15 percent of the total appropriation for administrative costs.

(b) The granting agency will annually make available to qualified institutes instructions for the submittal of applications for grants. The instructions will include information pertinent only to a single fiscal year, such as the closing date for applications and the amount of funds initially

to

available to each institute. They also will include notification of the provisions and assurances necessary ensure that administration of the grant will be conducted in compliance with this chapter and other Federal laws and regulations applicable to grants to institutions of higher learning.

(c) In making its application for funds to which it is entitled under the Act, each institute shall use and follow the standard form for Federal assistance (SF 424, Federal Assistance). No preapplication is required. The institute shall include in section IV of Standard Form 424 evidence that its application was:

(1) Developed in close consultation and collaboration with senior personnel of the State's department of water resources or similar agencies, other leading

water resources officials within the State, and interested members of the public;

(2) Coordinated with other institutes in the region for the purposes of avoiding duplication of effort and encouraging regional cooperation in research areas of water management, development, and conservation that have a regional or national character; and

(3) Reviewed for technical merit of its research components by qualified scientists.

(d) Each application shall further include:

(1) A financial plan relating expenditures to scheduled activity and rate of effort to be expended and indicating the times at which there will be need for specified amounts of Federal funds; and

(2) A description of the institute's arrangements for development, administration, and technical oversight of the research program.

(e) Each annual program application is to include separately identifiable proposals for conduct of research to meet the needs of the State and region. Such proposals must set forth for each project:

(1) The nature, scope and objectives of the project to be undertaken;

(2) Its importance to the State, region, or Nation; its relation to other known research projects already completed or in progress; and the anticipated applicability of the research results;

(3) The period during which it will be pursued;

(4) The names and qualifications of the senior professional personnel who will direct and conduct the project;

(5) Its estimated costs, with a breakdown of the costs per year; and

(6) The extent of which it will provide opportunity for the training of scientists.

(f) Each program application shall contain a plan for disseminating information on the results of research and promoting their application. Plans which require the use of grant funds shall contain:

(1) Definition of the topics for dissemination;

(2) Identification of the target audiences for dissemination;

(3) Strategies for accomplishing the dissemination;

(4) Duties and qualifications of the personnel to be involved;

(5) Estimated costs of each identifiable element of the plan; and

(6) Identification of cooperating entities.

(g) The application shall provide assurance that non-Federal dollars will be available to share the costs of the proposed program. The Federal funds are to be matched on a basis of no less than two non-Federal dollars for each Federal dollar, unless this matching requirement has been waived.

(h) The granting agency will evaluate the proposals for consistency with the provisions of its instructions and this chapter and within no more than 90 days request any revisions and additions necessary for such consistency.

[50 FR 23114, May 31, 1985, as amended at 58 FR 27204, May 7, 1993]