Around June and December NOAA issues an Omnibus describing the competitive funding opportunities for special projects.  NGS has included a notice in the June Omnibus published in the “Federal Register”.  The “Federal Register” was released on July 11, 2008.  All detailed federal funding opportunities are posted on Grants.gov.

Grants.gov allows organizations to find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all federal grant-making agencies. Grants.gov is the single access point in which NGS’ open competitive Height Modernization grant opportunities can be found by searching under the Federal Domestic Assistance number (CFDA # 11.400) or the Funding Opportunity number is NOS-NGS-2009-2001475 on the link listed below http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp  Click on the basic search and enter the criteria listed above.

NGS competitions will include a Letter of Intent (LOI) process.  The LOI process is intended to provide potential funding applicants with an opportunity to submit information regarding the relevance of their project idea to the program objectives in advance of preparing a full proposal.  NGS conducts a merit review of LOIs, and then invites candidates to submit full applications and proposals. Only applications that have been invited will be accepted and an invitation to apply does not guarantee a grant will be awarded.   

The deadline for receipt of LOIs for the June Omnibus is 4:00 p.m. ET on August 1, 2008.  For LOIs submitted by e-mail, the date and time indication of the receiving server will be the basis of determining timeliness.  Note that receipt may be delayed if e-mail servers are not functioning efficiently.  Applicants submitting multiple LOIs must use a unique project title for each LOI and may send all LOIs in one e-mail or in multiple e-mails.  Hard copy submission of LOIs will be date and time stamped when they are received.  LOIs will not be considered if received by the National Ocean Service after 4:00 p.m. ET on August 1, 2008.  Applicants may not submit full proposals unless they submitted an LOI.  The final decision to submit a full proposal will be made by the applicant. 

Full proposals must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. ET, September 2, 2008.  For proposals submitted through Grants.gov, a date and time receipt indication by Grants.gov will be the basis of determining timeliness.  Hard copy applications delivered by mail will be date and time stamped when they are received as stated in the Federal Funding Opportunity announcement. Applications received after the submission deadline will not be reviewed or considered.