A. Purpose
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), announces the availability
of fiscal year (FY) 1998 funds for a research grant program for Mining
Occupational Safety and Health Research Grants. This program addresses
the "Healthy People 2000" priority area of Occupational Safety
and Health. The purpose of the program is to develop knowledge that can
be used to prevent occupational diseases and injuries to miners. NIOSH
will support hypothesis-testing research projects to identify and quantify
occupational health and safety hazards to miners, develop methods and technologies
to measure and control these hazards, and translate research findings so
that they can be applied to solve health and safety problems in mines.
B. Eligible Applicants
Applications may be submitted by public and private nonprofit and for-profit
organizations and by governments and their agencies; that is, universities,
colleges, research institutions, hospitals, other public and private nonprofit
and for-profit organizations, State and local governments or their bona
fide agents, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments, Indian
tribes, or Indian tribal organizations.
Note: Public Law 104-65 states that an organization described in section
501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engages in lobbying
activities is not eligible to receive Federal funds constituting an award,
grant, cooperative agreement, contract, loan, or any other form.
C. Availability of Funds
Approximately $700,000 is expected to be available in FY 1998 to fund
4-8 research project grants. This money is in addition to the funds available
for the previous RFA 807 announced in August 1997. Organizations that submitted
applications for RFA 807 may revise and resubmit under this announcement.
The amount of funding available may vary and is subject to change. Awards
will range from $50,000 to $200,000 in total costs (direct and indirect)
per year. It is expected that the awards will begin on or about September
30, 1998, and will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project
period of up to 3 years.
Continuation awards within an approved project period will be made on
the basis of satisfactory progress as evidenced by required reports and
the availability of funds.
D. Programmatic Interest
The Mine Safety and Health Research Program has been fully coordinated
with the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) plans and recommendations.
The NORA document is available through the NIOSH homepage at /niosh/nora.html.
The focus of grants should emphasize research in the following topical
areas which are in priority order:
(1) Hearing Loss Prevention
Conduct laboratory and field research on noise-induced hearing loss in miners; Conduct field dosimetric and audiometric surveys to assess the extent and severity of the problem and to identify those mining segments in greatest need of attention and to objectively track progress in meeting loss prevention goals; Conduct field and laboratory research to identify noise generation sources and to identify those areas most amenable to intervention activities; Develop, test, and demonstrate new control technologies for noise reduction; Develop strategies and methods to improve the effectiveness of hearing protectors for miners; Assess the effect of using hearing protectors on miner safety; Evaluate technical and economic feasibility of controls; Develop, evaluate, and recommend implementation strategies to promote the adoption and use of noise reduction technology.
(2) Mining Injury Prevention
Conduct laboratory, field, and computer modeling research to focus on human physiological capabilities and limitations and their interactions with mining jobs, tasks, equipment and the mine work environment; Research on causes and prevention of low back disorders, slips and falls, and materials handling injuries in miners; Study effects of human behavior on mining injuries; Design and conduct epidemiological research studies to identify and classify risk factors that are causing or may be causing traumatic injuries to miners; Evaluate and recommend implementation strategies for injury prevention and control technologies; Research to improve response to mine emergencies, and to enhance the effectiveness of mine rescue teams; Identify and evaluate research opportunities using a systems approach for intervention and prevention; and Develop cost analysis methodologies to evaluate performance and engineering control strategies.
(3) Dust and Toxic Substance Control
Research to develop or improve personal and area direct reading instruments for measuring mining contaminants, including but not limited to respirable dust, silica, diesel engine emissions, and other toxic substances and mixtures; Conduct field tests, experiments, and demonstrations of new technology for monitoring and assessing mine air quality; Conduct laboratory and field research to develop airborne hazard reduction control technologies; Carry out field surveys in mines to identify work organization strategies that could result in reduced dust or toxic substance exposure; Evaluate the performance, economics, and technical feasibility of engineering control strategies, novel approaches, and the application of new or emerging technologies for underground and surface mine dust and toxic substance control systems; Develop and evaluate implementation strategies for using newly developed monitors and control technology for exposure reduction or prevention.
(4) Social and Economic Consequences of Mining Illness and Injury
Analyze all effects of mining illness and injury on miners, their families, communities and States; Assess the effectiveness of health services provided to miners for prevention and care of occupational illness and injury; Assess the economic burden of mining illnesses and injuries and potential economic benefits of their prevention.
(5) Surveillance
Develop and evaluate new surveillance methods for mining-related illnesses and fatal and nonfatal injuries to improve collection and analysis of health and safety data; Collect demographic information on miners to analyze health and safety data; Develop improved methods to describe trends in incidence of mining-related fatalities, morbidity, and traumatic injury; Develop and evaluate methods to conduct surveillance on the use of new and emerging technologies, the use of engineering controls, and the use of protective equipment in the mining sector; Analyze the effectiveness of prevention and control interventions in mining; Conduct mining-relevant risk analyses.
E. Submission and Deadline
Letter of Intent (LOI)
Your letter of intent should identify the announcement number, name of principal investigator, and specify the priority area to be addressed by the proposed project. The letter of intent does not influence review or funding decisions, but it will enable CDC to plan the review more efficiently, and will ensure that each applicant receives timely and relevant information prior to application submission.
The Letter of Intent must be submitted on or before June 1, 1998, to:
Joanne Wojcik, Grants Management Specialist Grants Management Branch, Procurement and Grants Office Announcement 98056 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Room 300, 255 East Paces Ferry Road, NE., M/S E-13 Atlanta, Georgia 30305-2209
Application
Submit the original and five copies of PHS-398 (OMB Number 0925-0001) (adhere to the instructions on the Errata Instruction Sheet for PHS 398). Forms are in the application kit. On or before June 25, 1998, submit the application to:
Joanne Wojcik, Grants Management Specialist Grants Management Branch, Procurement and Grants Office Announcement 98056 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Room 300, 255 East Paces Ferry Road, NE., M/S E-13 Atlanta, Georgia 30305-2209
If your application does not arrive in time for submission to the independent review group, it will not be considered in the current competition unless you can provide proof that you mailed it on or before the deadline (i.e., receipt from U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier; private metered postmarks are not acceptable).
F. Evaluation Criteria
Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed by CDC for completeness
and responsiveness. Applications determined to be incomplete or unresponsive
to this announcement will be returned to the applicant without further
consideration. If the proposed project involves organizations or persons
other than those affiliated with the applicant organization, letters of
support and/or cooperation must be included.
Applications that are complete and responsive to the announcement will
be reviewed for scientific and technical merit by an initial review group
and will be determined to be competitive or non-competitive, based on the
review criteria relative to other applications received. Applications determined
to be non-competitive will be withdrawn from further consideration and
the principal investigator/program director and the official signing for
the applicant organization will be promptly notified.
Applications judged to be competitive will be discussed and assigned
a priority score. Following initial review for technical merit, the applications
will receive a secondary review for programmatic importance.
Review criteria for technical merit are as follows:
1. Significance - Does this study address an important problem
related to the topical research issues outlined in this solicitation? If
the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge
be advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts or
methods that drive this field?
2. Approach - Are the conceptual framework, design (including
composition of study population), methods, and analyses adequately developed,
well-integrated and appropriate to the aims of the project? Does the applicant
acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative approaches?
3. Innovation - Does the project employ novel concepts, approaches
or methods? Are the aims original and innovative/ Does the project challenge
existing paradigms or develop new methodologies or technologies.
4. Principal Investigator - Is the investigator appropriately
trained and well suited to carry out this work (particularly but not exclusively)
in the area of the proposed project? Is the work proposed appropriate to
the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers,
if any?
5. Environment - Does the scientific environment in which the
work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed
experiments take advantage of unique features of the scientific environment
or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there documentation of
cooperation from industry, unions, or other participants in the project,
where applicable? Is there evidence of institutional support and availability
of resources necessary to perform the project?
6. Gender and minority issues - Are plans to include both sexes and minorities and their subgroups adequately developed (as appropriate for the scientific goals of the project)? Are strategies included for the recruitment and retention of human subjects?
7. Human Subjects - Are the procedures proposed adequate for
the protection of human subjects and are they fully documented? Are all
procedures in compliance with applicable published regulations (see "Other
Requirements").
8. Vertebrate animals - Are the procedures proposed adequate
for the welfare of vertebrate animals and are they fully documented? Are
all procedures in compliance with applicable published regulations?
9. Budget - Is the budget reasonable and appropriate for all
direct costs and period/s of requested support and are all entries adequately
justified?
Review criteria for programmatic importance are as follows:
1. Relevance to mine safety and health, by contributing to achievement
of research objectives specified in Section 501 of the Federal Mine Safety
and Health Act of 1977.
2. Magnitude of the problem in terms of numbers of miners affected.
3. Severity of the disease or injury in the mining population.
4. Usefulness to applied technical knowledge in the identification,
evaluation, or control of occupational safety and health hazards in mines
on a national or regional basis.
The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
1. Technical merit of the proposed project as determined by the initial
peer review.
2. Programmatic importance of the project as determined by secondary
review.
3. Availability of funds.
4. Program balance among priority areas of the announcement.
G. Other Requirements
Technical Reporting Requirements
Provide CDC with original plus two copies of :
1. progress reports (annual);
2. financial status report, no more than 90 days after the end of the budget period; and
3. final financial and performance reports, no more than 90 days after the end of the project period.
Send all reports to:
The following additional requirements are applicable to this program.
For a complete description of each, see Attachment I (in the application
kit):
H. Authority and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
This program is authorized under the Public Health Service Act, Section
301(a)[42 U.S.C. 241(a)], as amended and the Federal Mine Safety and Health
Act of 1977, Section 501 [30 U.S.C. 951] as amended. The Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance number is 93.262.
I. Where to Obtain Additional Information
Please refer to Program Announcement 98056 when you request information.
For a complete program description, information on application procedures,
an application package, and business management technical assistance, contact:
For program technical assistance, contact:
To receive additional written information and to request an application
kit, call 1-888-GRANTS4 (1-888 472-6874). You will be asked to leave your
name and address and will be instructed to identify the Announcement number
of interest. Also, this and other CDC Announcements can be found on the
CDC homepage on the Internet,(http://www.cdc.gov) under the "Funding"
section, as well as on the NIOSH homepage (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh under
"Extramural Program." For your convenience, you may be able to
retrieve a copy of the PHS Form 398 from (http://www.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html).
PLEASE REFER TO ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER 98056 WHEN REQUESTING INFORMATION AND SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION.