Introduction to your STAR grant Office of Research and Development National Center for Environmental Research

What we’re here to talk about The relationship w/ EPA –Institution –EPA Programmatic Grant terms and conditions Other items –Publications and press –How to best reach your Project Officer 1

The Role of the Project Officer (PO) EPA official who provides technical and programmatic oversight Designated program contact Responsibilities 2

Advanced Monitoring In-depth assessments of a project’s programmatic and technical progress. May be conducted on site, or an alternate location (e.g., during a meeting the PI and PO are attending). –May also be conducted remotely, at EPA’s discretion, over phone or webinar. Two main components: –Science results –Project management 3

Extensions You may request a 1-year no-cost extension, with automatic approval. Further extensions require uncertain approval, with significant documentation effort required of PI Extensions beyond five years: unlikely, only in special circumstances. 4

Where to find your research terms and conditions Several different ways to find your general programmatic T&Cs –On your grant agreement document (best option) – –Ask your PO Administrative T&Cs are on grant agreement document, and there are lots of them. These are non-technical in nature. 5

Programmatic Terms & Conditions Additional T&Cs that may govern the award. –Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) –Substantial Involvement (for Coops) –Sufficient Progress ULO –Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility –Award specific T&C (e.g. advisory body, data sharing,…) 6

Quality Assurance Project Plan Quality Assurance Acceptable Quality Assurance Documentation must be submitted to the EPA Project Officer within 60 days of the acceptance of this agreement. No work involving direct measurements or data generation, environmental modeling, compilation of data from literature or electronic media, and data supporting the design, construction, and operation of environmental technology shall be initiated under this project until the EPA Project Officer, in concert with the EPA Quality Assurance Manager, has approved the quality assurance documentation (see 40 CFR or as appropriate). Additional information on these requirements can be found at the EPA Office of Grants and Debarment Web Site: 7

Substantial Involvement (for Coops) Substantial Involvement Terms and Conditions -- NRMRL a. EPA investigators from the EPA's ORD, National Risk Management Research Laboratory will be substantially involved in the proposed research. The nature of these interactions is set forth below. Name/Lab/Division: Michael Borst, National Risk Management Laboratory, Water Supply/Water Resources Division/Urban Watershed Management Branch Project Title : Performance and Effectiveness of Urban Green Infrastructure: Maximizing Benefits at the Subwatershed Scale through Measurement, Modeling, and Community-Based Implementation Research Contribution : The participating WSWRD investigator would provide suggestions on the experimental design, assistance with data analysis and interpretation, share EPA research findings and help produce outputs such as manuscripts byparticipating as a co-author b. When a change in the individuals involved or the nature of the interactions is anticipated, the recipient agrees to provide notification to the Project Officer 30 days in advance by updating this table. 8

Substantial Involvement (for Coops) – Cont’d 3. Substantial Involvement Terms and Conditions -- Region 3 a. EPA staff from the EPA Region 3 Water Protection Division, in Philadelphia, PA will be substantially involved in the proposed research. The nature of these interactions is set forth below. Name/Lab/Division: Ken Hendrickson, Green Infrastructure Staff Lead Region III, Water Protection Division, Office of State and Watershed Partnerships Project Title : Performance and Effectiveness of Urban Green Infrastructure: Maximizing Benefits at the Subwatershed Scale through Measurement, Modeling, and Community-Based Implementation Research Contribution : 1. Facilitating meeting between research teams and with the City of Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) to identify opportunities and take best advantage of available resources : A. Initial coordinate/communication meeting. B. STAR Kick-off and subsequent Progress Review Meetings (Annually in coordination with NCER project Officer. C. Site/area focused meeting (as needed). D. Host and coordinate research sharing events/seminars between researchers at the Regional Office. 2. Coordinate with research teams and public outreach and messaging. 3. Coordinating communication regarding STEM activities with research teams. 4. Identifying region experts (as needed and applicable) that could provide information, research sharing, and other technical assistance to researchers. 5. Helping to disseminate research results. 9

Sufficient Progress ULO EPA may terminate the assistance agreement for failure of the recipient to make sufficient progress so as to reasonably ensure completion of the project within the project period, including any extensions. EPA will measure sufficient progress by examining the performance required under the workplan in conjunction with the milestone schedule, the time remaining for performance within the project period, and/or the availability of funds necessary to complete the project. 10

Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Recipients and subrecipients are subject to the program accessibility provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, codified in 40 CFR Part 7, which includes an obligation to provide individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations and an equal and effective opportunity to benefit from or participate in a program, including those offered through electronic and information technology (“EIT”). In compliance with Section 504, EIT systems or products funded by this award must be designed to meet the diverse needs of users (e.g., U.S. public, recipient personnel) without barriers or diminished function or quality. Systems shall include usability features or functions that accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities, including those who use assistive technology. At this time, the EPA will consider a recipient’s websites, interactive tools, and other EIT as being in compliance with Section 504 if such technologies meet standards established under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, codified at 36 CFR Part While Section 508 does not apply directly to grant recipients, we encourage recipients to follow either the 508 guidelines or other comparable guidelines that concern accessibility to EIT for individuals with disabilities. Recipients may wish to consult the latest Section 508 guidelines issued by the US Access Board or W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Geospatial Data Standards All geospatial data created must be consistent with Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) endorsed standards. Information on these standards may be found at 12

QA plan Can’t start work until approved Due to PO 60 days after grant acceptance Should be signed by someone from each institution Guidance document has been/will be ed to you 13

Human Subjects Research (HSR) No work involving Human Subject Research can be started until authorized by EPA Preliminary approval already received to allow funding, final approval after award After your institution’s IRB has approved your project and protocols, please send IRB approval and entire IRB package to your PO Additional information may be requested When your final approval is issued, you’ll be informed by your PO. Keep for your records. 14

Annual reports Due 90 days after anniversary of grant’s start date –No extensions may be granted –Potential consequences of late reports University’s sponsored programs office may be informed Jeopardize ratings for future grant competitions Delay funding increments Freeze reimbursements Full report (~5 pages) Web summary 15

Full report (~5 pages) Brief statement on work status Key personnel: changes? Expenditures to date and comparison with budget QA Results Assurance of no misconduct Planned activity for next year Publications list (cumulative) –Please include only publications that are part of this project 16

Web summary Objective of research Progress summary/accomplishments (outputs/outcomes) Publications/presentations Future activities 17

Annual report (1) 18

Annual report (2) 19

Annual report (3) 20

Annual report (4) 21

Final report Due 90 days after end date –No length restriction –Also includes a web summary 22

Final report summary 23

International work EPA’s international office must approve all international travel and subawards in advance International work and travel in your proposal has already been approved prior to award Any additional international travel or major changes to international work (i.e. changing countries) needs to be submitted to project officer in advance 24

Research misconduct Notify project officer immediately Also, note in annual reports 25

Research misconduct 26

Grantee meetings Kickoff Meeting – tentatively *** Progress Meeting – up to once a year afterwards Closeout Meeting 27

STAR Logo 28

Publications and press Please send your PO copies of all publications (as they’re published, or with annual report) Advance notice of high-profile publications is greatly appreciated Acknowledgement and disclaimer –You will likely be asked to request a correction with the journal if this is not present. 29

Publications 30

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Contacting your PO Office: **** Schedule –Flexi-time schedule? –Preferred way to reach 32

Questions? 33