This part contains guidelines for the implementation of the appropriate technology small grants program required to be prescribed by section 112 of the Act.

As used in this part—

Act means the Energy Research and Development Administration Appropriation Authorization of 1977, Pub. L. 95-39, 91 Stat. 180, 42 U.S.C. 5907a.

Affiliate means a concern which, either directly or indirectly, controls or has the power to control another concern, is controlled by or is within the power to control of another concern or, together with another concern, is controlled by or is within the power to control of a third party, taking into consideration all appropriate factors, including common ownership, common management and contractual relationships.

Concern means any business entity organized for profit (even if its ownership is in the hands of a nonprofit entity) with its principal place of business located in the United States. “Concern” includes, but is not limited to, an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, association or cooperative. For the purpose of making affiliation findings, any business entity, whether organized for profit or not, and any foreign business entity (i.e., any entity located outside the United States), shall be included.

DOE means the Department of Energy.

DOE-AR means the Department of Energy Assistance Regulations (10 CFR part 600).

DOE-PR means the Department of Energy Procurement Regulations (41 CFR part 9).

Indian tribe means any tribe band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians (including any Alaska native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Pub. L. 92-203, 85 Stat. 688, which (1) is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians; or (2) is located on, or in proximity to, a Federal or State reservation or rancheria, acting through its tribal organization.

Local agency means an agency or instrumentality of a local government.

Local government means a local unit of government including specifically a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority, special district, intrastate district, council of governments, sponsor group representative organization, and other regional or intrastate government entity.

Local nonprofit organization or institution means any corporation trust, foundation, trade association, or other institution (1) which is entitled to exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or (2) which is not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which insure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

Program means the appropriate technology small grants program.

Small business means a concern, including its affiliates, which is organized for profit, is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in the field of operation in which it is submitting a proposal to DOE, and has 100 employees or less.

Standard Federal regions means the 10 standard Federal regions established by Office of Management and Budget Circular A-105, entitled “Standard Federal Regions.”

State means any of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States.

State agency means an agency or instrumentality of a State government.

State government means the government of a State, or an interstate organization.

Support means financial support or award under the program by grants, cooperative agreements or contracts.

Tribal organization means the recognized governing body of an Indian tribe, or any legally established organization of Native Americans which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body.

There is established, under direction of the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Solar Energy of DOE, an appropriate technology small grants program for the purpose of encouraging development and demonstration of, and the dissemination of information with respect to, energy-related systems and supporting technologies appropriate to—

(a) The needs of local communities and the enhancement of community self-reliance through the use of available resources;

(b) The use of renewable resources and the conservation of non-renewable resources;

(c) The use of existing technologies applied to novel situations and uses;

(d) Applications which are energy conserving, environmentally sound, small scale and low cost; and

(e) Applications which demonstrate simplicity of installation, operation and maintenance.

(a) Support under this part may be made to individuals, local non-profit organizations and institutions. State and local agencies, Indian tribes and small businesses.

(b) The aggregate amount of support made available to any participant in the program, including affiliates, shall not exceed $50,000 during any 2-year period. This limitation applies only to support for projects and not to funds received by participants from DOE for other purposes, such as performance of services.

(c) Projects which shall be considered for support are those which carry out the purposes of the program as expressed in § 470.10 and which are within the following categories—

(1) Idea development, i.e., the development of an idea or concept or an investigative finding in areas ranging from development of new concepts of energy sources to the utilization of old procedures or systems for a new application;

(2) Device development, i.e., the systematic use and practical application of investigative findings and theories of a scientific or technical nature toward the production of, or improvements in, useful products to meet specific performance requirements but exclusive of manufacturing and production engineering. The dominant characteristic is that the effort be pointed toward specific energy problem areas to develop and evaluate the feasibility and practicability of proposed solutions and determine their parameters. Device development includes studies, investigations, initial hardware development and ultimately development of hardware, systems, or other means for experimental or operational test; or

(3) Demonstration, i.e., the testing of a system or technique under operation conditions to show that commercial application is technically, economically and environmentally feasible.

(d) Support for each category in paragraph (c) of this section shall not, for a single participant in the program, including affiliates, exceed the following limits for any project—

(1) For idea development, $10,000;

(2) For device development, $50,000; and

(3) For demonstration, $50,000.

(4) A participant may receive under a subsequent program solicitation—

(i) Additional support for a funded project or;

(ii) Initial support for a new project, subject to the support limits set forth in paragraphs (b) and (d) of this section.

(a) The program shall be managed by a National Program Director within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Solar Energy of DOE.

(b) The program shall be implemented regionally, based on the 10 standard Federal regions or combinations thereof, to insure substantial consideration of the needs, resources, and special circumstances of local communities. Regions may be combined provided the requirements of Office of Management and Budget Circular A-106 entitled “Standard Federal Regulations” are met. Regional Program Managers shall design and manage the regional programs as directed by the National Program Director and shall consult, as appropriate, with State and local officials, the appropriate technology community and other interested parties.

(a) The Regional Program Managers shall be responsible for the preparation of program solicitations which solicit proposals for support under the program pursuant to simplified application procedures. Projects may be supported under the program only if they have successfully completed under a program solicitation.

(b) Each program solicitation shall include—

(1) A description of the program;

(2) The eligibility requirements;

(3) A time schedule for submission of, and action on, proposals;

(4) A simple application form for submitting a proposal for support under the program, together with instructions for completing the application form;

(5) Evaluation criteria, along with a narrative description of their relative importance;

(6) An explanation of the evaluation and selection procedures, including a notice to proposers that if the proposer expressly indicates that only Government evaluation is authorized, DOE may be unable to give full consideration to the proposal.

(7) Other applicable information, terms and conditions, including the desired budget format;

(8) Place for, and manner of, submission;

(9) A unique number for identification purposes;

(10) A statement notifying potential proposers that an announcement does not commit DOE to pay any proposal perparation costs and that DOE reserves the right to select for support any, all, or none of the proposals received in response to a solicitation;

(11) A late proposal provision;

(12) A statement notifying proposers how to identify information in the proposal which the proposer does not want disclosed for purposes other than the evaluation of the proposal.

(13) A statement notifying proposers that all information contained in the proposal will be handled in accordance with the policies and procedures set forth in DOE-AR and DOE-PR, as applicable, and disclosed, if appropriate, in accordance with 10 CFR part 1004 entitled “Freedom of Information.”

(14) A statement notifying proposers of their right to request a debriefing pursuant to the procedures set forth in § 470.18; and

(15) A statement notifying proposers of their right to request a waiver of DOE's title to inventions made under the program.

(c) Each program solicitation shall be synopsized in the Commerce Business Daily prior to or concurrent with release. The program solicitation also shall be announced to appropriate newspapers, trade and technical publications, and State and local governments, and shall be circulated directly to interested individuals, entities, and associations thereof, to the maximum extent feasible.

(a) Prior to making a comprehensive evaluation of a proposal, the receiving office shall determine that it contains sufficient technical, cost, and other information to enable comprehensive evaluation and that it has been properly signed. If the proposal does not meet these requirements, a prompt reply shall be sent to the proposer, indicating the reason(s) for the proposal not being selected for support under the program solicitation. A proposer may correct any minor informality or irregularity or apparent clerical mistake prior to the entering into of grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements. A minor informality or irregularity is one which is merely a matter of form and not of substance or pertains to some immaterial or inconsequential defect or variation from the exact requirements of the program announcement.

(b)(1) The Regional Program Manager shall select a number of technical evaluation reviewers representing several disciplines to ensure adequate technical review of proposals.

(2) After receiving nominations from each State or combinations of States within the Region, the Program Manager shall select a number of State reviewers for each State or combinations of States, respectively. The nominations and selections of State reviewers shall take into consideration representation by persons from a variety of backgrounds, in order that the reviewers are able to evaluate proposals of potential merit in various fields and from various types of proposers.

(3) The Regional Program Manager or designee shall provide proposals to the technical evaluation and State reviewers and shall provide their findings and comments to the selection panel established pursuant to paragraph (3) of this section.

(4) In carrying out the responsibilities set forth in paragraphs (b) (1), (2) and (3) of this section, the Regional Program Manager (i) shall determine the number of technical evaluation and State reviewers who shall review each proposal; (ii) shall determine the sequence of the technical and State review; (iii) may designate a person to serve as both a technical and State reviewer, if appropriate to the needs of the program in the Region. A description of the Program Manager's determinations under this paragraph shall be included in the Program Solicitation pursuant to § 470.13(b)(6).

(c) Each technical evaluation reviewer shall evaluate those proposals which he or she receives from the Regional Program Manager or designee and shall provide his or her findings to the Regional Program Manager or designee. In addition to the general criteria underlying the establishment of the program as set forth in § 470.10, the major criteria to be considered by each technical evaluation reviewer shall include—

(1) Whether the proposal is technically feasible, including a determination as to whether the proposed energy savings or energy production can be technically achieved;

(2) Whether the results being proposed are capable of being measured;

(3) Whether the proposal has any potential environmental, health and safety impacts; and

(4) From a technical standpoint, whether the proposal can be carried out within the funds being requested.

(d) Each State reviewer shall evaluate those proposals which he or she receives from the Program Manager or designee and shall provide his or her findings and comments to the Program Manager or designee. In addition to the general criteria underlying establishment of the program as set forth in § 470.10, the criteria to be considered by each State reviewer shall include—

(1) The potential impact of the proposal on the energy needs and requirements of the community or region;

(2) The energy resource involved and its importance or availability to the community or region;

(3) The expected energy savings or production that will result from the proposal and the significance of those savings or production to the energy requirements of the community or region;

(4) The institutional barriers that may substantially affect the proposal and the potential of the proposal to deal with those barriers;

(5) The likelihood of commercialization or utilization of the technology, process, or items within the proposal and extent of such commercialization/utilization;

(6) The innovative nature of the proposal;

(7) Any potential environmental, health and safety impacts of the proposal upon the community or region;

(8) The extent to which work beyond the funded project period might be required;

(9) The extent to which local resources, material, and manpower will be utilized; and

(10) The adequacy of the business aspects of the proposal, including the reasonableness of the proposer's budget for carrying out the proposal.

(e) A selection panel composed of DOE personnel appointed by the Regional Program Manager shall, taking into account the findings and comments of the technical evaluation and State reviewers, evaluate and rank the proposals in accordance with the criteria stated in the program solicitation.

(f) For each Region, a DOE selection official shall select proposals for support from the ranking established by the selection panel, taking into account the following program policy factors in order to determine the mix of proposed projects which will best further specific program goals—

(1) Regional distribution, including geography, population, and climate;

(2) Project type distribution, including a diversity of methods, approaches, and technologies;

(3) Diversity of participants; and

(4) The best overall use of the funds available.

(a) DOE shall annually allocate fiscal year funds available for support among the 10 standard Federal Regions, according to the following formula;

(1) Two-thirds to be allocated according to population; and

(2) One-third to be allocated according to the number of proposals received, per hundred thousand of population of the Region, which meet the requirements set forth in § 470.14(a).

(b) The minimum annual level of support for projects for each State within a Region shall be 10 percent of the fiscal year funds allocated to the Region, divided by the number of States in the Region.

(c) For the purposes of this section, population shall be determined by the most current complete national series, as published by the United States Bureau of the Census in Current Population Reports, P-25, P-26, or related series, except where data from the decennial census conducted by the Bureau of the Census is more current.

Proposers are encouraged to offer to share in the costs of their proposed projects or to arrange that other entities provide cost sharing on their behalf. Regional Program Managers, with the consent of the proposer, may work with States, local governments or other entities to obtain supplemental funding.

(a) Except where this part provides otherwise, the submission, evaluation and selection for support of proposals under the program and the entering into and administration of grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts under the program, shall be governed by the provisions of DOE-AR and DOE-PR are applicable, such other procedures applicable to grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts under the program as DOE may from time to time prescribe, and any Federal requirements applicable to grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts under the program.

(b) Each grant, cooperative agreement or contract under this part shall require that a recipient of support under the program shall submit a full written report of activities supported in whole or in part by Federal funds made available under the program and shall contain any additional report provisions and other provisions dealing with records, allowable expenses, accounting practices, publication and publicity, copyrights, patents, discrimination, conflict of interest, insurance, safety, changes, resolution of disputes and other standard and/or relevant support agreements requirements required by, or appropriate to, the needs of the program.

Upon written request, unsuccessful proposers will be accorded debriefings. Such debriefings must be requested within 30 working days of notification of elimination from consideration. Debriefings will be provided at the earliest feasible time as determined by the Regional Program Manager.

DOE shall disseminate to the public, in an appropriate manner, information of the nature, usage and availability of the energy-related systems and supporting technologies developed or demonstrated under the program. In addition, DOE shall maintain and make available to recipients of support under the program current information on public and private sources of possible assistance for the further development and commercialization of their projects.