EMPACT Grants Program Announced -Forwarded (fwd)

[Career/Pro <cpro@igc.apc.org>]

Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT)
Grants Program Announced information from the web site cited below.

EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has announced a grant
competition as part of a new program called Environmental Monitoring for
Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT).  The request for
applications (RFA) is available on EPA's National Center for Environmental
Research and Quality Assurance (NCERQA) homepage at:
http://es.epa.gov/ncerqa/rfa/empact.html.

The intent is to establish pilot programs in a limited number of eligible
cities. The city pilots will emphasize active partnerships between local
and state governments, research institutions, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), the private sector, and the Federal Government to
provide timely environmental information to the public.  Listed as an
additional consideration in awarding grants is a community-based approach,
since the goals of community-based environmental protection are to: enhance
the citizen's understanding of environmental issues, build the capacity for
communities to address these issues, develop tools, information, and data
to assist communities in addressing environmental problems, and ensure
communities' access to credible scientific information.

Approximately $3.5 million will be made available for this competition,
with a projected award range from $250,000 to a maximum of $600,000 over
the total life of the project, and a total project duration of 12 to 24
months.  The opening date was January 21, 1998.  Letters of Intent are due
March 2, 1998 and full applications May 15, 1998.  More information is
available on the web site or by contacting Dr. Barbara Karn at 202-564-6824
or karn.barbara@epamail.epa.gov or Mr. Myles Morse at 202-564-6827 or
morse.myles@epamail.epa.gov.  Both are with EPA's Environmental Engineering
Research Division.