[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53641-53643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20882]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Discretionary Cooperative Agreement To Advance Occupant
Protection Technology in Passenger Vehicles
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Announcement of Discretionary Cooperative Agreement to Advance
Occupant Protection Technology in Passenger Vehicles.
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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
announces a discretionary cooperative agreement to advance occupant
protection technology in passenger vehicles. NHTSA solicits
applications from for-profit organizations (small or large), non-profit
organization and educational institutions. One of NHTSA's objectives is
to develop and evaluate new technologies and methodologies, which have
the potential for improving the crashworthiness of passenger vehicles
and protecting their occupants. NHTSA seeks to establish a
collaborative research effort with a qualified research organization to
meet the above objective.
DATES: Applications must be received at the office designated below by
3 p.m. on or before September 16, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Applications must be submitted to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement
(NAD-30), ATTN.: Henrietta R. Mosley, 400 Seventh Street SW., Room
5301, Washington, DC 20590. All applications submitted must include a
reference to NHTSA Cooperative Agreement Number DTNH22-R-01-2-07292.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General administrative questions may
be directed to Henrietta R. Mosley, Office of Contracts and
Procurement. All questions and requests for copies may be directed by
e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (202) 366-9570.
Programmatic questions should be directed to Mr. Ron Pack,
Crashworthiness Research, NHTSA, Room 6226 (NRD-11), 400 Seventh Street
SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4697. Interested applicants are
advised that no separate application package exists beyond the contents
of this announcement.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Statement of Work
Background
Each year in the United States, more than 40,000 deaths and
millions of injuries occur as the direct result of motor vehicle
traffic crashes. As part of its mission to alleviate this toll, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration vigorously conducts an
extensive research program to develop and evaluate new technologies and
methodologies, which have the potential for improving the
crashworthiness of passenger vehicles and protecting their occupants.
NHTSA is conducting crashworthiness research to develop new or enhanced
injury countermeasures.
Objective and Purpose
The proposed cooperative research agreement program seeks to
establish collaborative research efforts between NHTSA and a qualified
research organization to study advanced methodologies for occupant
protection in passenger vehicle crashes. The collaboration will include
problem definition, sharing of scientific and technical data, joint
research and the development of new methodologies and technologies for
occupant crash protection. Research areas could include, but are not
limited to, the following:
--Advanced frontal occupant restraints.
--Advanced air bag inflator and/or air bag inflation methodologies.
--Adaptive air bag systems to tailor bag deployment over the expected
range of crash severities, occupant sizes,
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occupant ages, occupant positioning, etc.
--Advanced occupant seating systems.
--Ejection mitigation technologies.
--Intrusion resistance countermeasures.
--Coupling of air bag inflation with anticipatory crash sensing
technologies.
--Improved vehicle crash sensing methodologies.
--Integration of the above in production/near production vehicles to
show feasibility and evaluate performance.
The above list of potential programs constitutes only a sampling of
the potential research areas. Applicants are also encouraged to suggest
other areas that are believed to provide the potential for practical
improvement over current occupant crash protection and are most
amenable to the special skills and experience of the applicant.
The program shall include a maximum of three phases including the
following: (1) Preliminary studies identifying the system performance
improvement desired, an estimate of additional production costs related
to the improvement, the benefits to be appreciated from such
improvement, and the approximate magnitude of national injuries and
fatalities now occurring due to the absence of the improvement. (2)
Prototype development and establishment of reliable production costs.
(3) Prototype demonstration. The duration of each phase will vary
according to current state-of-the-art, and in some instances, may be
overlapped.
NHTSA Involvement
NHTSA will be involved in all activities undertaken as part of the
cooperative agreement program and will:
1. Provide one professional staff person to be designated as the
Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR), to participate
in the planning and management of the cooperative agreement and
coordinate activities between the cooperative agreement participant
organization and the NHTSA.
2. Make available information and technical assistance from
government sources, within available resources and as determined
appropriate by the COTR.
3. Provide liaison with other government agencies and
organizations, as appropriate.
4. Stimulate the exchange of ideas, problems, and solutions among
cooperative agreement recipients who agree to such sharing, and if
appropriate, NHTSA contractors and other interested parties; and
5. Share nonproprietary information developed at Government expense
with the scientific and industrial community.
Number of Cooperative Agreements, Award Amounts and Period of Support
Depending on the merits of the applications received, NHTSA
anticipates awarding multiple cooperative agreements for a base period
of twelve (12) months with three (3) one (1) year option periods.
Offerors should clearly identify the timeline for their proposed
effort. It is anticipated that individual award amounts shall range
from $25,000 to $150,00 (not to exceed $150,000) per twelve (12) month
period. Upon completion of the base period, NHTSA may choose to extend
the period of performance under this agreement for the three (3)
additional twelve (12) month periods, subject to availability of funds
and satisfactory progress. Funds allocated for these cooperative
agreements are not intended to cover all of the costs that will be
incurred in completing the project. Applicants should demonstrate a
commitment of financial or in-kind resources to support the proposed
project.
Eligibility Requirements
In order to be eligible to participate in this cooperative
agreement program, an applicant must be a for-profit organization
(small or large), a non-profit organization, or an educational
institution. Consortiums of organizations from any of the above
categories may apply. Regardless of the type of organization applying
for Federal assistance, no fee or profit will be allowed.
Application Procedure
Each applicant must submit one original and three copies of its
application package to: DOT/National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement (NAD-30), ATTN:
Henrietta R. Mosley, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Room 5301, Washington, DC
20590. An additional three copies will facilitate the review process,
but are not required. Applications are due no later than 30 days after
the appearance of the announcement in the Federal Register. The
applicant shall specifically identify any information in the
application, which is to be treated as proprietary, in accordance with
the procedures of 49 CFR 512, Confidential Business Information.
Applications must include a reference to NHTSA Cooperative Agreement
Number DTNH22-02-R-07292. The proposal shall not exceed 35 pages, not
including budget proposal, letters of endorsement or support, and
resumes. Only complete application packages received on or before 4
p.m. on September 16, 2002 will be considered.
Application Contents
1. The application package must be submitted with OMB Standard Form
424 (REV. 7-97), including 424A and 424B), Application for Federal
Assistance, with the required information filled in and assurances
signed (SF 424B). The OMB Standard Forms SF-424, SF-424A, and SF424B
may be downloaded directly from the OMB Internet Web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/grants/index.html. While the Form 424-A deals
with budget information, and Section B identifies Budget Categories,
the available space does not permit a level of detail, which is
sufficient to provide for a meaningful evaluation of the proposed
costs. A supplemental sheet should be provided which presents a
detailed breakdown of the proposed costs (direct labor, including labor
categories, level of effort and rate; direct material, including
itemized equipment; travel and transportation, including projected
trips and number of people traveling; subcontracts with similar cost
detail, if known; and overhead costs) as well as any costs which the
applicant proposes to contribute in support of this effort. The budget
should detail costs for each year of the proposed project. Applicants
shall assume that awards will be made by September 30, 2002 and shall
prepare their applications accordingly.
2. The application shall include a program narrative statement,
which addresses the following:
a. A description of the research to be pursued which addresses:
a. The objectives, goals, and anticipated outcomes of the proposed
research effort;
b. The method or methods that will be used;
c. The source of crash and injury statistics to be used;
d. The vehicle occupant protection population and crash modes to be
addressed;
b. Organizational plan detailing a plan of action on how the
proposed work will be accomplished. The plan should include a time line
of projected activities and milestones. The proposed program director
and other key personnel should be identified, including a description
of their qualifications and their organizational responsibilities.
c. A description of the facilities and equipment currently
available or to be
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obtained for use in the conduct of the proposed research and
development effort.
d. A description of the applicant's previous experience or on-going
research program that is related to this proposed research effort.
e. A detailed schedule and budget for the proposed research effort,
including any cost-sharing contribution proposed by the applicant as
well as any additional financial commitments made by other sources.
f. A statement of any technical assistance, which the applicant may
require of NHTSA in order to successfully complete the proposed
program.
Application Review Process and Evaluation Criteria
Initially, all applications will be screened to ensure that they
meet the eligibility requirements and to ensure that applications
contain all information required by the Application Contents Section of
this Notice. An Evaluation committee will then evaluate each complete
application from an eligible recipient. The applications will be
evaluated using the following criteria:
1. Understanding the Problem (30%). The applicant's understanding
of the purpose and unique problems represented by the research
objectives of this cooperative agreement program as evidenced in the
description of their proposed research and development effort. Specific
attention shall be placed upon the applicant's stated proposed
development and demonstration effort.
2. Technical Merit (30%). The potential of the proposed research
effort accomplishments to make a timely and an innovative and/or
significant contribution to occupant protection technology knowledge as
it may be applied to saving lives and reducing injuries resulting from
motor vehicle crashes. The technical merit of the proposed research
effort will include the feasibility of the approach, practicability,
planned methodology, and anticipated results.
3. Financial Merit (20%). Financial merit will be estimated by the
cost of the cooperative agreement to be borne by NHTSA and the in-kind
contribution provided by the applicant as compared to the anticipated
benefits to vehicle crash occupants.
4. Facilities and Equipment (10%). The adequacy of facilities and
equipment identified to accomplish the proposed research.
5. Program Staff (10%). The adequacy of the organizational plan for
accomplishing the proposed research effort, including the
qualifications and experience of the research team, the various
disciplines represented, and the relative level of effort proposed for
professional, technical, and support staff.
Terms and Conditions of the Award
1. Prior to award, the recipient must comply with the certification
requirements of 49 CFR part 29--Department of Transportation
Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) and
Government-wide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants). The
protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects in NHTSA-
sponsored experiments is governed by 49 CFR part 11. Any recipient
proposing the use of human subjects must satisfy the requirements of 49
CFR part 11 prior to award of the cooperative agreement. The
cooperative agreements will include the provisions of Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 52 contract clause 52.227-11 Patent
Rights Retention by the Contractor (short form).
2. Reporting Requirements
a. Written Research Reports
The recipient shall submit research reports every two months
suitable for public dissemination which shall be due 15 days after the
reporting period, and a final research report within 45 days after
completion of the research effort. An original and three copies of each
of these research reports shall be submitted to the COTR.
b. Oral Briefings
The recipient shall conduct semiannual oral presentations of
research results for the COTR and other interested NHTSA personnel.
These presentations will be conducted at the NHTSA Office of Vehicle
Safety Research, Washington DC. An original and three copies shall be
submitted to the COTR.
c. Data Reports
Dynamic and other data measured in research, development, and
prototype evaluation and demonstration tests will be provided by the
recipient within 3 weeks after the data is obtained, in the format of a
data package as described below. The recipient may be relieved of the
data package report requirement for certain activities by agreement
from the COTR.
A data package consists of high speed film, paper test report, and
magnetic tape complying with NHTSA Data Tape Reference Guide. The
NHTSA's Crashworthiness Division maintains a Vehicle Crash Test and a
Component Data Base, which it provides upon request to the public,
including educational institutions and other research organizations.
To facilitate the input of data as well as the exchange of
information, the recipient must provide the magnetic tape in the format
specified in the ``NHTSA Data Tape Reference Guide''. A copy of this
document may be obtained from the programmatic information contact or
on the NHTSA Web site: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
3. During the effective performance period of the Cooperative
Agreements awarded as a result of this announcement, the agreements
shall be subject to NHTSA's General Provisions for Assistance
Agreements; the cost principles of OMB Circular A-21, A-122, or FAR
31.2, as applicable to the recipient, and the requirements of 49 CFR
part 29. Each agreement with a non-profit organization or an
educational institution shall also be subject to the general
administrative requirements of 49 CFR part 19.
An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded by accessing the
Federal Register home page at http://www.nara.gov/nara/fedreg and the
Government Printing Office database at http://www.acess.gpo.gov/su_docs.
Issued on: August 9, 2002.
Joseph N. Kanianthra,
Director of Office of Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 02-20882 Filed 8-15-02; 8:45 am]
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