It is critical that applicants follow the Multi-Project (M) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) intends to support the development of model programs for the training and education of community workers engaged in activities related to hazardous materials and waste generation, removal, containment, transportation and emergency response. The major objective of this FOA is to prevent work-related harm by assisting in the training of workers in how best to protect themselves and their communities from exposure to hazardous materials encountered during hazardous waste operations, hazardous materials transportation, environmental restoration of contaminated facilities or chemical emergency response. A variety of sites, such as those involved with chemical waste cleanup and remedial action and transportation-related chemical emergency response, may pose severe health and safety concerns to workers and the surrounding communities. These sites are often characterized by the multiplicity of substances present, the presence of unknown substances, and the general uncontrolled condition of the site. A major goal of this program is to provide assistance to organizations in developing their institutional competency to provide appropriate model training and education programs to hazardous materials and waste workers.

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), Section 126(g), authorizes an assistance program for training and education of workers engaged in activities related to hazardous waste generation, removal, containment or emergency response and hazardous materials transportation and emergency response. The Congress assigned responsibility for administering this program to the NIEHS, an Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the Public Health Service (PHS) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This FOA lists 3 distinct program areas: Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program, the Environmental Career Worker Training Program formerly the "Minority Worker Training Program", and the Hazmat Disaster Preparedness Training Program.

Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP)

Hazardous material and waste workers include workers engaged in: active and inactive waste treatment, storage and disposal, hazardous waste generation, clean up and remedial action, emergency response, and workers engaged in hazardous materials transportation including safe loading, unloading, handling, and storage. Target populations for this training include those covered by requirements of Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29, Part 1910) and Environmental Protection Agency (CFR, Title 40, Part 311) standards for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, regulations governing the NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (CFR, Title 42, Part 65), as well as hazardous materials transportation workers regulated by the US Department of Transportation (49 CFR 171-177).

Since 1987 of the Superfund WTP (FY 1987-2018), the HWWTP has supported 20 primary awardees. WTP funding granted about 7,979 courses that were provided to more than 134,641 workers with over 1.1 million contact hours from August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018. More than 3.2 million workers have been enrolled in training courses since program inception in 1987. The most contact hours in 2018 were in Superfund cleanup courses, followed by General Industry and General Construction Safety. This demonstrates that the majority of contact hours for workers are in courses responsive to Superfund cleanup requirements or health and safety requirements on job sites. This training is the result of the support that WTP has established among a national network of more than 100 academic institutions, labor-based safety programs, and other non profit organizations that deliver high-quality, peer-reviewed safety and health curricula to hazardous waste workers and emergency responders in every region of the United States. More information about the awardees and descriptions of all NIEHS WTP programs can be found on the WTP website.

Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP)

It has been suggested that disadvantaged communities face greater likelihood of exposure to ambient hazards, and that differential vulnerability may modify the effects of toxicants on biological systems. ECWTP seeks to address the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged communities by increasing the depth of the training to promote a sustainable environmental career path for workers in the hazardous materials handling, waste, construction, and other emerging industries. The ECWTP was established in 1995 to provide a series of national pilot programs to test a range of strategies for the recruitment and training of young persons from vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. These are individuals who live near hazardous waste sites or in a community at risk of exposure from contaminated properties who wish to work in the environmental field. The program represents a broad geographic distribution and reaches numerous populations in high-risk contaminated areas across the US. Over the years the program has evolved to focus on delivering comprehensive training to increase the number of disadvantaged and underrepresented minority workers in many areas such as environmental restoration, construction, hazardous materials/waste handling as well as emergency response.

These programs promote long-lasting and effective partnerships in minority and underserved communities that help reinforce occupational health and worker education and mitigate health disparities at the community level. The different programs provide pre-employment job training, including literacy, life skills, environmental preparation, green jobs, and other related courses, construction skills training, environmental worker training including hazardous waste, asbestos and lead abatement training; and safety and health training. Some training also includes enrollment in apprenticeship programs for construction and environmental remediation worker training. In addition, particular focus is placed on establishing a program of mentoring. This program helps to enhance the participants problem solving skills, understanding of individual self-esteem and team work in the application of technical knowledge to environmental and related problems. ECWTP promotes partnerships or sub-agreements with academic and other institutions, with a particular focus on minority serving institutions, and public schools and community-based organizations located in or near the impacted area to provide pre-math, science or other related education to program participants prior to or concurrent with entry into the training program. For FY 2018, the program trained 569 individuals with 423 employed for an outstanding job placement rate of 74%. Since the program begin, we have trained 11,921 students with 8,357 obtaining jobs and an overall job placement rate of 70%.

There are important guidance documents that describe the successes of the NIEHS Worker Training Program. The Minority Worker Training Program- now the ECWTP: Guidance on How to Achieve Successes and Best Practices Report provides a detailed assessment of the development of the program, key findings, best practices for implementation and success, short and long term recommendations, and numerous case studies for the Minority Worker Training Program (MWTP). Since the inception of this program, approximately 10,000 people have been trained in more than 30 communities across 20 states and the District of Columbia with a job placement rate of roughly 70% and it includes the Brownfields Minority Worker Training that ended in 2007. By helping to increase sustainable employment opportunities, promote economic development, address health disparities, and advance environmental justice, the program has transformed the lives of trainees, families, and communities traditionally overburdened by economic distress and exposures to hazardous environmental conditions. The model is designed to effectively address the significant impediments to training and employment that challenge underserved and disadvantaged people. By helping to increase sustainable employment opportunities, promote economic development, address health disparities, and advance environmental justice, the program has transformed the lives of trainees, families, and communities traditionally overburdened by economic distress and exposures to hazardous environmental conditions. The program has provided significant contributions to environmental justice by providing training and increasing job opportunities to people from underserved and disadvantaged communities. The program enables these people to participate in addressing the needs of their communities in a more meaningful way.

The NIEHS Worker Training Program Produces Positive Returns: The 2015 report The Economic Impact of the Environmental Career Worker Training Program, showed an annual federal investment of $3.5 million in ECWTP generates a $100 million return. The economists who authored the report found fiscal benefits in the program’s positive effect on earnings that also lead to additional revenue through taxes, reduced costs related to workplace injury, a reduction in hiring costs for businesses, decreased costs related to crime, and fewer social program transfers. It responds to increased public interest in allocating resources to public health programs that demonstrate the greatest benefits to society, and it validates past resource expenditures. Data sources included grantee reports on number of people trained and related demographics, pre- and post-program employment status, employment rates, salary levels, and health status information. Narrative accounts that illustrate intangible benefits to program participants or their communities were also described.

Major findings include:

• ECWTP effectively reaches underserved populations, some of whom have low levels of education. Many ECWTP trainees enter the program with little or no job experience or training, and in some cases legal issues and difficult home situations. For many graduates, ECWTP provides them with their first marketable job skill, and the authors estimate ECWTP increases the probability of employment by approximately 59 percent.
• The cumulative total value added of ECWTP is estimated to be $1.79 billion from 1995 through 2013, or roughly $100 million annually.
• The cumulative reduction of government expenditures as a result of ECWTP is estimated to be $717 million from 1995 through 2013, or roughly $40 million annually.
• ECWTP grantees also received significant support from local firms, non-profit organizations, and individuals of $2.29 million in 2013 (e.g. transportation, child care, life skills training, etc.).
• ECWTP graduates receive higher earnings than dropouts. This can happen through three channels: a higher likelihood of employment, more hours, and greater hourly wages.

As part of the DHHS commitment to the Brownfields National Partnership Agenda, the NIEHS will continue to provide training under ECWTP to support training targeting brownfields communities. As defined by the EPA, Brownfield sites are "abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination." Overall, these programs have achieved great success in moving workers into long-term employment including, most recently, in the area of energy retrofitting, commercial driver licenses with hazmat endorsement, and solar panel installation.

Hazmat Disaster Preparedness Training Program (HDPTP)

NIEHS has developed a HDPTP initiative in response to the experiences and lessons learned in recent natural and manmade disasters. This program enhances the safety and health training of current hazardous materials workers and chemical responders to create materials and deliver training to workers responding to a disaster. This program, through its Emergency Support Activation Plan, aims to augment prevention preparedness efforts in a wide variety of high-risk settings, and to ensure responders are aware of site-specific hazards and mitigation techniques prior to and during response activities. This initiative is intended to foster the development of disaster specific training programs as an extension to the HWWTP for the purpose of preparing a cadre of experienced workers for prevention, response, and recovery to disasters in a wide variety of facilities and high-risk operations. The purpose of the NIEHS HDPTP is to complement the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) various preparedness training programs by enhancing the safety and health training capacity of hazmat workers and emergency responders to prevent, deter, or respond to terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction as well as natural disasters. Since the program started in 2005, awardees have responded and trained workers after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Sandy, the 2007 and 2019 California wildfires, Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill, Hurricanes Maria, Florence, and Matthew with 10,071 courses offered, for 147,367 workers, representing 1,466,943 contact hours of training. For 2018, 1,141 courses were offered for 17,354 workers representing 154,333 contact hours of training.

NIEHS WTP supports the belief that pre-incident training is critical for workers who may find themselves responding to a disaster. Skilled and other support personnel (such as construction, utility and transportation workers) along with federal, state and local government workers and others may find themselves working on a disaster site, be it during the response, cleanup or recovery stage. These populations need to understand the unique hazards that are present on a disaster site before they are deployed there. The Disaster Site Worker courses (OSHA 7600 and OSHA 5600) arose from a clearly identified need at World Trade Center (WTC) Ground Zero and can save lives during disaster responses by providing workers who respond to disasters the critical knowledge they need to protect themselves.

Training developed under this program should complement the National Incident Management System (NIMS) standardized incident management processes, protocols, and procedures that all responders -- Federal, state, tribal, and local -- will use to coordinate and conduct response actions. Background resources describing this initiative include technical Workshop reports which are available at the NIEHS Clearinghouse web site:

• Learning from Disasters: Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Preparedness Through Worker Training
• Worker Training in a New Era: Responding to New Threats
• Worker Training Program - NIEHS Hurricane Sandy Response Report released September 2013
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Training Program (WTP) Spring 2006 Technical Workshop Report: Learning form Disasters: Katrina Response and Safety Training
• Lessons Learned from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - Released February 2012
• Disaster Response Training: From WTC to Katrina Five Years of Lessons Learned - Fall 2006 Awardee Meeting and Technical Workshop

General Training Goals and Objectives

With worker health and safety training, an immediate goal is to provide students with relevant information, program-solving skills, and the confidence needed to use these tools. Long-term goals of the model training programs should be to assure that workers become and remain active participants in determining and improving the health and safety conditions under which they work, and that avenues are established for collaborative employer-employee relationships in creating safe workplaces. Primary prevention of disease and injury among hazardous waste workers requires heavy reliance on the use of engineering control methods, appropriate work practices and the use of personal protective equipment such as respirators and protective clothing. These approaches are highly dependent on individual workers being knowledgeable in the use and application of these approaches and understanding their limitations.

Worker safety and health training are adult-based, action-oriented, and results-centered. Training for workers focuses on providing knowledge and skills that can be applied in the workplace, rather than on learning for its own sake. Workers come to training with a great volume of experience, and are, in many ways, the richest resources of a training class. Successful adult education emphasizes peer-sharing activities, such as problem-solving and simulation exercises, that tap the experience of the learner. It also harnesses the motivation an adult learner brings to the classroom when they have a use for the topic and skills being taught. Successful worker training often mirrors the way people learn from each other at work. After training, workers should be able to bring what they have learned in the classroom or work-site training back to their jobs. Section 8.2 of the Minimum Criteria, Principles of Adult Education Applicable to HAZWOPER, provides more details on this topic.

These training goals and objectives apply to all programs; however, there are specific goals and objectives restricted to the ECWTP and the HDPTP. Applications which are responsive to this FOA must clearly delineate the training populations being targeted by specifying a discrete training plan, program resources and a segregated program budget which responds to a combination or all of the authorized NIEHS assistance programs through HWWTP, ECWTP, and the HDPTP.

HWWTP Specific Goals and Objectives

Applicants should be familiar with SARA Section 126 requirements for training. This identifies workers to be trained based on potential exposure and health risk and requires training for personnel engaged in hazardous substance removal or other activities, such as those involved in transportation, which expose or potentially expose such workers to hazardous substances. In addition, training is required for workers who may be exposed to unique or special hazards. Different levels of training for hazardous materials, waste workers and supervisors are delineated in this section and depending on their role in the response activity training should be tailored to and specific to the hazards. For example, training described in a site safety plan based on the job hazard analysis of the site should be followed according to the standard. This program embraces an all-hazards approach to training that includes a broad range of hazardous incidents, including major natural disasters and chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive incidents. The applicability of the HAZWOPER regulation to natural disasters and explosive events would be determined by OSHA on a case-by-case basis, but the agency has previously confirmed that HAZWOPER applies broadly to chemical, biological, and nuclear incidents.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which includes the NIH and the NIEHS, is a signatory to the National Response Framework (NRF), National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), or the National Contingency Plan (NCP). Upon the activation by any of these plans, the NIEHS WTP may be activated to provide:

• Training technical assistance such as instructional staff, curricula development experts, subject-matter experts, and professional staff.
• Safety training to worker target populations with respect to the nature and location of the incident and the hazards.
• Assistance and support in the development and delivery of site-specific health and safety training through appropriately qualified WTP awardee instructional staff.
• Assistance such as respirator fit-testing and distribution of personal protective equipment.

This section on the NRF, NDRF, or NCP is also applicable to the HDPTP

Important background information for this FOA is available from the National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training. This organization, which is a support contractor to NIEHS, is the primary communications channel through which the WTP distributes technical reports, news updates, and training information to its awardees, interested members of the hazardous waste worker-training community, and the public. The National Clearinghouse provides a list of curricula developed by current NIEHS awardees. In addition, program evaluation has always been a core part of the WTP mission. Many tools and resources to support evaluation implementation and assessment of program effectiveness are on the National Clearinghouse Training Evaluation web page. Additionally, since the previous FOA (RFA-ES-14-008), WTP has published several reports that provide lessons learned, summaries of accomplishments, and evaluation and impact findings. These reports are available on the WTP Training Summaries and Highlights page.

Model training programs for hazardous waste workers and emergency responders shall satisfy minimum requirements as specified in Federal OSHA rules and other related regulations which have been or may be promulgated. Training programs shall also meet the minimum requirements specified in the Minimum Health and Safety Criteria: Guidance for HAZWOPER and HAZWOPER-Supporting Training (Minimum Criteria), updated in 2018 as a result of an NIEHS-sponsored technical workshop focused on revising critical components of the guidance. Originally issued in 1991, with revisions in 1994 and 2006, the latest document incorporated feedback and changes in the following areas: E-learning, Collateral Duty, Proficiency Assessment, Instructor Development, Evaluation, Disaster Training, Infectious Disease, and Evergreening of Curricula. In addition to the criteria document, a fact sheet summarizing the changes is available on the Minimum Criteria website. Consideration should also be given to Appendix E of 29 CFR 1910.120 (59 FR 43268, August 22, 1994), which references much of the NIEHS Minimum Criteria Worker Health and Safety Training for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response.

WTP and NIEHS have strategic planning documents that can be referenced to understand program goals, expected outcomes, and ongoing initiatives. For WTP, these documents are a strategic plan, a logic model, and an operational matrix. The Operational Matrix is used to track annual progress toward WTP goals and activities. The activities within the matrix link to outcomes (impacts) in the WTP Logic Model. NIEHS has a 2018-2023 strategic plan. WTP activities primarily fall under the NIEHS goals for Theme Two, Promoting Translation Data to Knowledge to Action. The WTP uses the environmental sciences to reduce risk and protect worker and public health through training.

There is no limiting language regarding training coverage. Thus, the scope covers worker health protection from hazardous waste work and exposure to hazardous substances in the broadest sense.

An applicant may join with one or more nonprofit organizations in a single application and share resources in order to maximize worker group coverage, enhance the effectiveness of training, and bring together appropriate academic disciplines and talents. Such arrangements are strongly encouraged. The application must have specific plans to implement the cooperative arrangements necessary for program integration and to insure effectiveness. Detailed plans of this collaboration and budgets must be described only in the lead organization application. Specific expertise, facilities or services to be provided by each participating member must be identified.

Awards will be made for direct student and worker trainer training, technical support of training, and training program evaluation. It is believed that adequate curricula and training materials exist for worker training that can be adapted with minimal effort. Means of multiplying training are also encouraged to meet the need; thus, programs such as effective train-the-trainer programs are encouraged. Programs targeted to multi-state and nationwide coverage to reach wider worker populations will be given preference in funding. Applications will not be considered that cover municipalities or other jurisdictions covering fewer than two states. Since this program restricts indirect costs to 8%, applicants are also strongly encouraged to develop plans to generate program income to assist in supporting efforts under the HWWT and HDTP components.

WTP recognizes that within proposed target populations there are workers who have less formal education or have limited English proficiency. Applicants are encouraged to consider how to address the language and cultural needs of these workers so that they are engaged in learning and can understand and act on the health and safety information being taught to them.

The inclusion of institutions and organizations that have historical involvement and expertise in responding to environmental justice issues is also strongly encouraged. Participation of minority institutions and community-based organizations from disadvantaged or vulnerable communities may include the:

• Adaptation of curricula to address occupational health disparities and environmental justice concerns;
• Development of training programs that outreach to environmentally disadvantaged groups and Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations;
• Delivery of high-quality training that can augment efforts to promote toxic use reduction, emergency preparedness in the community, chemical process safety and pollution prevention; and
• Expansion of partnerships to disaster volunteers, communities surrounding a disaster site, and other vulnerable populations such as tribal communities.

Information regarding the NIEHS WTP Environmental Justice Accomplishments are described in the report entitled Environmental Justice and Hazardous Waste Worker Training Programs: 15 Years of Investment in Environmental Justice and provides a strong framework for continued involvement in environmental justice advances that support occupational health and safety protections of workers and communities. In addition, more information is detailed in the NIEHS Report on Advancing Environmental Justice- Contributions of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Division of Extramural Research and Training to Environmental Justice: 1998 2012. Recently the NIEHS WTP and the National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training released a report entitled Building Capacity with Native Americans and Alaska Natives to Handle Hazardous Materials and Respond to Emergencies, that summarizes training accomplishments for grantees work with Native American tribes and Alaska Natives from 2015 to 2017. It describes how training efforts have protected tribal workers, increased employment opportunities, and built capacity to respond to disasters. It is important that training be targeted to these target populations and may include the existing tribal workforce; those likely to perform environmental clean-up and waste management work; those involved in waste transportation on, to, and from hazardous sites; appropriate supervisors and managers of contractor and subcontractor activities; emergency response personnel with site mutual aid agreements; appropriate Federal, state, tribal, and local government officials who are involved in compliance efforts; and community members, members of tribal nations, and emergency response personnel surrounding hazardous sites who would be responsible for or involved in a hazardous materials release.

Additional, the NIEHS WTP activities support the 2012 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan (2012 HHS EJ Strategy) which provides clear direction of goals, strategies and actions to address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations and Indian tribes. The plan as well as other information on HHS Environmental Justice efforts can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/environmentaljustice/.

The NIEHS efforts to address occupational health disparities were explored in a workshop entitled Eliminating Health and Safety Disparities at Work in collaboration with NIOSH, EPA, OSHA. This workshop brought together representatives from multiple disciplines and perspectives to understand the social, cultural, and economic factors that create and perpetuate occupational health and safety disparities and the papers, reports and publications (Special Issue: Achieving Health Equity in the Workplace, May 2014, Volume 57, Issue 5, Pages 493-614 at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajim.v57.5/issuetoc) examined the major research accomplishments and gaps in this area and identified promising practices for eliminating disparities through innovative intervention programs that are integral to supporting effective health and safety training under the NIEHS WTP.

On-going Program Initiatives

Since the previous FOA (RFA-ES-14-008), NIEHS has published several reports that provide lessons learned, summaries of accomplishments, and evaluation and impact findings regarding our programs. These include an annual report of the Training Programs, highlights in state profiles, and a report of Native American and Alaska Native training through WTP. These reports are available on the WTP Training Summaries and Highlights page. Additionally, the Training Evaluation webpage includes resources such as recording of evaluation community of practice webinars.

To respond to the increase in technology-based training methods, NIEHS included an update in the Minimum Criteria under Section 10.5, Instructional Technologies. The Minimum Criteria provides factors to consider when new training technologies are being considered for a training program and provides criteria to help ensure the technology-based activities address literacy and user-friendliness. With the emergence of new health and safety concerns for workers in the areas of green remediation, green jobs, green chemistry, nanotechnology, new industrial processes and chemicals, and combustible dust, it is clear that additional health and safety training approaches are necessary to address these new hazards to the hazardous waste workforce. There are other new issues that clearly impact the health and safety of current and new target populations including hazards associated with hydraulic fracking, responding to chemical emergencies, (Executive Order 13,650-- Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security), responding to climate change events and sea level rise, as well as occupational health disparities and environmental justice, and identifying and meeting the needs of new training audiences such as citizen recovery workers during disasters, or returning veterans.

For the Executive Order 13650, training should include improving operational coordination with State, Local, and Tribal Partners such as to improve health and safety training of workers at facilities and training associated with this safety. For the worker training community training to enhance and expand the application of process safety management is integral and reference to the OSHA Process Safety Management page is important. In addition, training that meets Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Clean Air Act (CAA) to address emergency response, emergency preparedness training, and risk management plans is also encouraged.

As for climate change events and sea level rise, environmental cleanup workers, which may include community members, and emergency responders must be trained to address hazards associated with the increase in frequency and intensity of climate events as described in Executive Order 13653-- Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change. During disasters, WTP puts a human face on the term 'resilience.' WTP has long noted the stress, the physical danger, the exhaustion that our citizens face during and in the aftermath of these large-scale events. Tragically, such events seem to be increasing in frequency. There is a role that training can play in preparing responders, often neighbors restoring their own neighborhoods and homes. Thus, WTP is working with the DHHS and other federal partners on developing the resilience of our fellow citizens. Specifically, the goal is to develop health and safety training materials and resources for workers to support State, local, and tribal preparedness for resilience to climate change. For ECWTP training for careers in emergency response and infrastructure rebuilding of communities is encouraged. Plans for this training should include information on the target populations and for these populations, the need for training to address hazards and vulnerabilities associated with pre-incident, response and recovery efforts after significant climate change events.

The NIEHS WTP will continue to address current and emerging preparedness, response and recovery efforts in federally-declared disasters by deploying debris management and mold remediation training and providing personal protective equipment and informational materials to affected residents and communities. Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, 2019, U.S. Public Law 116-20, enacted on June 6, 2019 will be used to support this initiative.

The NIEHS WTP Ebola Biosafety and Infectious Disease Response Worker Training Program: A Multisector, All-Hazards Approach to Biosafety Preparedness has implemented an infectious disease response training for workers across sectors who may be exposed to infectious diseases. This addresses an important gap revealed by the 2014 Ebola outbreak. The Ebola Biosafety and Infectious Disease Response WTP (RFA-ES-15-018) began June 1, 2016, and ran through May 31, 2019. NIEHS built federal capacity for biosecurity, biopreparedness, and rapid response to emerging infectious diseases, including developing an infrastructure of trainers and organizations who can be a resource during emergencies. NIEHS launched the program with the following federal agencies: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); DHHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health; and OSHA. The program was funded through a $10 million transfer to NIEHS WTP via CDC using Ebola emergency supplemental appropriations.

Under this announcement, training for biosafety preparedness is considered an ongoing program initiative and can be included in your training programs. As of May 31, 2018, the program has accomplished the following: Approximately 1,000 courses to 23,000 workers, with more than 90,000 contact hours, and in-person trainings in 37 states across the country. Approximately 65 train-the-trainer and trainer development courses were provided to more than 900 workers across the country to become trainers or increase their capacity to train. More than 40 new curricula are available in the NIEHS WTP Clearinghouse Curricula Catalog.

To address unmet mental health and resilience needs identified following disasters and the crisis surrounding misuse of prescription drugs in occupational settings, the WTP has developed curricula and held workshops to develop training options for organizations to address these concerns with workers and communities. Training tools are available on disaster worker and resiliency and prevention of occupational exposures. For a list of these curricula, applicants should refer to the WTP Responder and Community Resilience page.

Opioid and Worker Health -The current opioid epidemic in the U.S. is having a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities, and workers. It has become increasingly evident that on-the-job exposure and substance use disorders are challenges that impact workers in different occupations. For example, emergency and first responders face a high risk of exposure to fentanyl and other opioids on the job. Additionally, workers in high-injury risk occupations, such as construction and farming, are often prescribed opioids as treatment for occupational injury or illness, which can quickly lead to opioid use disorders. Training to address Opioids and Worker Health are critical to address those at high risk. Given the potential for exposure to these drugs and the hazardous substances used to produce them, it is important that workers in these industries understand how to protect themselves. NIEHS training and approaches can be found at the Opioids and Substance Abuse: Workplace Prevention and Response page at https://tools.niehs.nih.gov/wetp/index.cfm?id=2562 and detailed in the workshop report from October 2018 entitled Opioid-Related Hazards in the Workplace: Developing a Training Framework to address Exposure, Use, and Prevention.

ECWTP Specific Goals and Objectives (formerly the MWTP)

ECWTP focuses on delivering comprehensive job training to increase the pool of individuals from disadvantaged and vulnerable communities in the environmental remediation and construction industries. ECWTP will maintain its focus on building strong training collaborative programs between worker training organizations, such as labor-based organizations, community-based organizations, and minority serving institutions, which have unique access to potential trainees from disadvantaged communities. Special attention will be directed at programs that successfully integrate job skills training with worker health and safety training to reach multiple locations for training. It is important that training locations do not overlap with existing training populations or locations to ensure a spread of training sites. Utilization of existing curricula is the preferred method for development of specific training under this program.

Major program goals are:

• Recruit target populations that are members of disadvantaged groups who live in areas near hazardous waste sites or in communities at risk of exposure to contaminated properties. We encourage that priority for recruitment target adult persons that are disadvantaged to increase the number of underrepresented workers in the hazardous waste, construction and environmental remediation fields. These individuals must be unemployed or underemployed and reside in disadvantaged communities. Training should be tailored to meet the needs of the target population for the entire time of the grant and it is intended that training occur in multiple communities.
• Training should address skills and knowledge required for different and diverse career opportunities in environmental restoration and construction with integration of new emerging environmental technology fields such as green jobs training, utilities, wastewater treatment, community health worker and other approaches depending on labor market needs in each community. Each program should develop specialized training programs specific to the workforce needs in their geographic area; however, hazardous materials and waste training remain the primary core curriculum.
• Partnerships are essential to provide this diverse training and it is important to include formal community based local partners to conduct specific training such as literacy training, job readiness, problem solving skills, self-esteem and team work. Life Skills training is a supportive service tailored to the individual's needs. The services might include remedial mathematics tutoring, budget counseling and cash management, life situational counseling and job readiness skills. These services prepare the student to take apprenticeship and employment examinations, as well as pass the environmental examinations leading to certifications in lead abatement, asbestos abatement, and hazardous waste operations.

In addition, to obtain access to quality jobs in these fields formal arrangement with environmental cleanup contractors and hazardous waste employers may be necessary. These environmental career-oriented projects are developed within the context of other social and health needs of the community. The different programs provide pre-employment job training, including literacy, job readiness, life skills, environmental preparation and other related courses construction skills training; environmental worker training including hazardous waste, asbestos and lead abatement training; and safety and health training. Some training also includes enrollment in apprenticeship programs for construction and environmental remediation worker training. In addition, focus is placed on establishing a program of mentoring.

Student retention in training is imperative and strategies to engage participants throughout the various phases of the program are a major objective of the training. Also, a tracking program that describes the longevity of post-training employment of graduating training program participants, type of jobs, and specific types of sites where participants work is extremely critical to report job placements.

Hazmat Disaster Preparedness Training Program (HDPTP) Goals and Objectives

The goal of future NIEHS program support under HDPTP will be to enhance the safety and health training of current hazardous materials workers and chemical responders, to train skilled response personnel, to create materials and deliver training to responders (cleanup workers and their communities) and to augment prevention and preparedness efforts in a wide variety of high-risk settings. Creation of materials and delivery of proposed training to potential disaster response workers must be closely coordinated with the activities of authority having jurisdiction of the overall response effort and other involved local, state and federal entities.

One of the key lessons of the World Trade Center cleanup is the importance that skilled construction support personnel and hazardous materials response workers will play in any future disaster of national significance. Only the HWWTP applicants may apply for the HDPTP; therefore, NIEHS funds may be reprogrammed to allow disaster response participation with the approval of the NIEHS program administrator. Additionally, existing remediation and cleanup worker training courses must be refreshed using lessons learned and after-action reports from disaster responses and exercises to continually improve the health and safety of responders operating in disaster site conditions.

Enhanced training for current hazardous material workers and chemical responders who protect the nation's infrastructure from other potential terrorist attacks on chemical-intensive operations is a continuing high priority national need. This may support Executive Order 13650, that would include worker training community training to enhance and expand the application of process safety management. In addition, training that meets RCRA/CAA to address emergency response, emergency preparedness training, and risk management plans would also be encouraged as well as training that would improve operational coordination with State, Local, and Tribal Partners.

Training under this program could also support Executive Order 13653, Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change. During disasters, WTP puts a human face on the term resilience. WTP has long noted the stress, the physical danger, the exhaustion that our citizens face during and in the aftermath of these large-scale events. Tragically, such events seem to be increasing in frequency. There is a role that training can play in preparing responders, such as first responders, volunteers, and day laborers as well as neighbors restoring their own neighborhoods and homes. The Minimum Criteria section 11.5 - Disaster Response and Recovery Workers references the role of volunteers and day laborers. In addition, numerous disasters have made clear that the term responder often applies to citizens protecting themselves, their property and communities during and recovering from these events. Thus there is likely a need for short, incident specific awareness training that can be delivered during the disaster recovery period including training on issues such as confined spaces, blood borne pathogens, personal protective equipment, hazard assessment, fire watch, first aid/CPR, site safety, working around heavy equipment, physical threats such as heat stress, fatigue, shift work, fall protection, and psychological stress. Thus, WTP has worked with the DHHS and other federal partners on developing the resilience of our fellow citizens. Specifically developing disaster preparedness training modules that support State, local, and tribal preparedness for resilience to climate change. Topics, such as mental health resiliency, alert workers to the impact of stress, fatigue, and traumatic events and the impact that it has on their ability to perform activities of daily living.

In an effort to address unmet mental health and resilience needs identified following multiple disasters, the NIEHS WTP with support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), launched the Gulf Responder Resilience Training Project (GRRTP) in 2012 to develop behavioral health training for disaster-impacted communities. The Responder and Community Resilience page contains training materials and other resources developed under the GRRTP.

For a list of resources applicable to a variety of natural and man-made disasters, please visit our All-Hazards Resources page. Specific guidance on Disaster Response training and the all hazards approach to training can be found in the Minimum Criteria Section 11.5 - Disaster Response and Recovery Workers.

Training for skilled response personnel to assure appropriate response and remediation actions to the current bio-terrorist attacks using weaponized microbials is a high priority area for training program response. The OSHA designation of anthrax response coverage by 1910.120 regulations identifies a clear target training population.

Training initiatives should support the development of a nation-wide cadre of well-trained environmental response workers and emergency responders to ensure that the nation is prepared to respond to future disasters of national significance. This training should be patterned after the successful Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program that provides worker certification to workers who work safely on existing or new hazardous waste sites. A proposed disaster response-training program should focus on health and safety and environmental issues and should include at a minimum a review of NIMS, emergency response protocols, hazard communication, personal protection equipment and respiratory protection, Incident Command System orientation, and first aid training.

NIEHS encourages the updating and revising of existing curricula as a first priority. New training modules should only be developed if there is significant justification to address different biological, radiological, and chemical agents that can be incorporated into Hazardous Waste Refresher courses or can stand alone as part of a larger all hazards preparedness disaster training program as an important step toward creating a cadre of disaster prepared remediation and response workers. NIEHS resources can be used to support the development of trained and pre-certified skilled construction support personnel in relevant crafts for immediate response to national disasters or possible catastrophic attacks. In support of NIEHS WTP Emergency Support Activation Plan (ESAP), trainers may need to be NIMS compliant and should take appropriate identified courses to meet the requirements of the standards established at a disaster site.

Much important environmental health research can only be done during the response to, and recovery from, a major disaster. In the aftermath of numerous disasters, there has been an acknowledged and urgent need for public health research, and a number of topical areas and research questions have been identified including those that, if addressed, would impact recovery as well as future preparedness efforts. These topics included community resilience, the public health and healthcare system preparedness and response, mold mitigation and health issues, characterization of the morbidity, disability, and mortality among impacted populations (including behavioral health outcomes, and outcomes for responders), community and worker education and training, communications, and the use of social media. Training can contribute to reducing the negative outcomes and improving preparedness of the previously mentioned topics.

Specifically for workers in high-hazard facilities like the oil, nuclear and petrochemical industry, which have been cited as likely targets for man-made or natural disasters, NIEHS will support development of awareness and operations level training programs that will prepare in-plant workers to react quickly to interface with the emergency response system, to prevent the release of hazardous materials during normal operations and to limit damage at the plant and to protect themselves, their fellow workers and the general public. For example, specific training to address Process Safety Management and Oil Spill and Refinery Fire Response such as the State's General Industrial Safety Order 5189.1 issued in July 2016 (PSM Regulation) addresses this need.

Workers both in the private health care sector and in the public health arena in state and local agencies have been given significant new responsibilities for preparedness and response to disasters of national significance. Health and safety training may be appropriate and necessary for potential private and public health response workers. NIEHS will support the development of training course materials for transportation employers and transportation workers that address security, safety and emergency response issues related to the transportation of hazardous and radiological materials.

Preparation and delivery of training for workers with the capability of remediating buildings contaminated with biohazards such as anthrax, small pox, and bio-toxic agents continue to be national priorities. The training must prepare these workers for environments that will be extremely hazardous and teach them appropriate work practices, use of personal protection equipment, and effective decontamination procedures.

Many remediation workers and other workers in high-risk facilities do not speak English as their native language and some do not speak English at all. Health and safety training materials and curricula must be understandable for workers at risk and need to be provided in an appropriate manner that will allow the demonstration of comprehension and proficiency of the training objectives. Trainers may need to be trained and courses may need to be conducted in a language other than English, with consideration given to cultural needs.

Building on lessons learned from previous disaster response efforts, including World Trade Center attack, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and the Gulf oil spill, NIEHS, National Library of Medicine, and other HHS agencies, have established the NIH Disaster Research Response Program to enhance the timely collection of human data during disasters. This program includes ready-to-go research data collection tools, research protocols, and a network of trained responders. These tools will help promote the timely gathering of environmental and toxicology data that is needed to compliment the health information collected during a disaster response. Like all responders, researchers need training to be effective in their disaster roles. DR2 has conducted major tabletop exercises on incorporating data collection and research into disaster response and recovery. Training resources developed by NIEHS WTP are also available for preparing scientists to conduct research in the post-disaster field environment such as the Researcher Deployment Guide.

Applicants are encouraged to consult with WTP staff for specific questions about their proposed project. See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.

Higher Education Institutions

• Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
• Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

• Hispanic-serving Institutions
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
• Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
• Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.

Applicant Organizations

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

• Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that applicants be issued a DUNS number. After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
• System for Award Management (SAM) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.
• NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
• eRA Commons - Applicants must have an active DUNS number to register in eRA Commons. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration, but all registrations must be in place by time of submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.
• Grants.gov Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.

Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))

All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons.If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.

For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:

• A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.
• A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.
• An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NOT-OD-11-101).

An institution (normally identified by having a unique DUNS number or NIH IPF number) can submit only one application; however, that institution may also participate as partner via a sub-award or associate program through applications submitted by other institutions.

The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST or an institutional system-to-system solution. A button to apply using ASSIST is available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.

It is critical that applicants follow the Multi-Project (M) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise and where instructions in the Application Guide are directly related to the Grants.gov downloadable forms currently used with most NIH opportunities. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.

By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:

Descriptive title of proposed activity

Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s)

Names of other key personnel

Participating institution(s)

Number and title of this funding opportunity

The letter of intent should be sent to:

Janice Allen, PhD
Telephone: 984-287-3232
Fax: 301-480-3705
Email: [email protected]

Available Component Types	Research Strategy/Program Plan Page Limits
Overall	12
HWWTP	12
ECWTP	12
HDPTP	12

Additional page limits described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, and should be used for preparing a multi-component application.

The application should consist of the following components:

Overall: Required

• Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP): Required; Maximum of 1
• Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP): Optional: Maximum of 1
• Hazmat Disaster Preparedness Training Program (HDPTP): Optional, Maximum of 1

When preparing your application, use Component Type Overall .

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

Complete entire form.

Note: Human Embryonic Stem Cell lines from other components should be repeated in cell line table in Overall component.

Follow standard instructions.

Program Summary/Abstract. Applicants must include a Program Summary/Abstract that briefly describes the problem(s) being addressed by the Overall Training Center, how the Center addresses the target problem(s) related to hazardous materials, waste, emergency and chemical response and the associated training plan to accomplish this task. As opposed to a generic description of the Center components, the Project Summary should provide an overall indication of what the Center proposes. For example, the summary should state the application's broad, long-term objectives and specific aims for worker health and safety training and should be a preview to reviewers as to program scope and content. As such, it is essential that it capture the character of the proposed training program. It should describe the proposed hazardous material and waste worker populations targeted for training including: size, types of work, and geographic locations. It should project the number of workers anticipated to be trained. The benefits of the Center (in terms of improving public health) should also be included. Note: the project summary should be written in plain language for a diverse set of reviewers while providing a depth of understanding of the science, activities, and organization of the Center.

Project Narrative: "Project Narrative" (i.e. the "public health relevance" statement) should clearly address the relevance of the Training Center’s ability to conduct training to address environmental and hazardous waste threat to the public health of workers, communities and WTP stakeholders. WTP’s primary stakeholders are programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), OSHA, DHS and NIOSH. Additional stakeholders include other Federal agencies, State, local, and Tribal entities responsible for training workers who enter or response to releases or spills at sites impacted by hazardous substances, as well as the individuals and communities living near these sites.

Other Attachments: The following "Other Attachments" must be included with the overall component to aid in the review of applications. The filename provided for each attachment will be the name used for the bookmark in the application image.

• Training Center Organizational Structure. Applicants must include a diagram of the organizational structure of the Training Center. This diagram should demonstrate how the interactions between the different aspects of the Center achieve the mandate-driven goals of the Center and how each consortia member/organization is integrated into the program structure. The diagram must be uploaded as a pdf file titled "Training Center Organizational Structure".
• Description of Curricula. Applicants must describe key curricula courses in outline form. The description of each curriculum must not exceed two pages in length and must include the following: Course Title, short description of course, training provider, languages, delivery method, course hours, intended audience, learning objectives, and course outline. Do not include copies of the actual curricula. The diagram must be provided as a pdf file titled "Description of Curricula".
• Tables of Year One Training Plan. To facilitate in understanding the detailed training plans in the first year of the proposed program, tables must be provided that clearly describe the projected total year one training and the courses to be delivered under the grant, delineated by the primary applicant organization and by consortium members or subgrantees, as applicable. Two types of tables must be included: Type A - Year One Total Project Training, that provides a summary across the consortium; and Type B - Year One Projected Courses, to include a table for the primary applicant organization and each consortium member/subgrantee, as applicable, with columns for curriculum, number of courses, number of trainees per course, contact hours per course, and total number of contact hours. The tables must be loaded as a pdf file titled "Tables of Year One Training Plan".

Please refer to the Current WTP Funding Opportunities website for example illustrations of a curriculum description and training plan tables.

For this application, tables must be uploaded in the Overall section. Please include separate tables for each program component.

Enter primary site only.

A summary of Project/Performance Sites in the Overall section of the assembled application image in eRA Commons compiled from data collected in the other components will be generated upon submission.

Include only the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) and any multi-PDs/PIs (if applicable to this FOA) for the entire application.

A summary of Senior/Key Persons followed by their Biographical Sketches in the Overall section of the assembled application image in eRA Commons will be generated upon submission.

The only budget information included in the Overall component is the Estimated Project Funding section of the SF424 (R&R) Cover.

A budget summary in the Overall section of the assembled application image in eRA Commons compiled from detailed budget data collected in the other components will be generated upon submission.

Specific Aims: For the Overall Component, applicants must briefly describe the aims and the problem(s) being addressed by the Overall Training Center, how the Center addresses the target problem(s) related to hazardous materials, waste, emergency and chemical response and the associated training plan to accomplish this task. As opposed to a generic description of the Center components, these specific aims should provide an overall indication of what the Center proposes. For example, the applicant should state the application's broad, long-term objectives and specific aims for worker health and safety training. It is essential that it capture the character of the proposed training program. It should describe the proposed hazardous material and waste worker populations targeted for training including: size, types of work, and geographic locations. It should project the number of workers anticipated to be trained.

Research Strategy: Applicants must include an overview of the Training Center. In this section, applicants should clearly describe the problem(s) being addressed by the Overall Center, how the components of the Training Center interact to solve the target problem(s), and the role of each program component in contributing to resolving the problem(s) related to protecting and training workers from the health effects, risk, and exposure to hazardous substances during the response, cleanup and recovery operations as it relates to the specific target populations. The Training Center should also describe how they will develop or use their institutional competency and experience to provide appropriate model training and education programs to hazardous materials and waste workers. In addition, the applicant should describe how each program component will work to respond to key specific components of the NIEHS and the NIEHS WTP Strategic Plan. For the NIEHS Strategic Plan, NIEHS WTP and its programs are actively involved primarily under Theme Two Promoting Translation Data to Knowledge to Action. It states the NIEHS mission directive on information dissemination recognizes that the value of Advancing Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) knowledge can only be fully realized through its use by the public, health providers, regulators, and policymakers, to help inform their decisions. This theme reiterates our commitment to ensuring that NIEHS research is directed toward improving people s health. These goals include the following: 1. Creating Knowledge from Data; 2. Outreach, Communications, and Engagement; 3. Evidence-Based Prevention and Intervention; 4. Environmental Health Disparities and Environmental Justice; 5. Emerging Environmental Health Issues; and 6. Partnerships for Action.

Letters of Support: Applicants may include letters of support pertaining to the training program. For example, these letters may include collaborative agreements for the training program, institutional support (if applicable), etc.

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification: Generally, Resource Sharing Plans are expected, but they are not applicable for this FOA.

Appendix:

Only limited items are allowed in the Appendix. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (Overall)

When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, there must be at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record within the application. The study record(s) must be included in the component(s) where the work is being done, unless the same study spans multiple components. To avoid the creation of duplicate study records, a single study record with sufficient information for all involved components must be included in the Overall component when the same study spans multiple components.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

Delayed Onset Study

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

When preparing your application, use Component Type HWWTP .

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

Complete only the following fields:

• Applicant Information
• Type of Applicant (optional)
• Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project
• Proposed Project Start/Ending Dates

Enter Human Embryonic Stem Cells in each relevant component.

Human Subjects: Answer only the Are Human Subjects Involved? and 'Is the Project Exempt from Federal regulations? questions.

Vertebrate Animals: Answer only the Are Vertebrate Animals Used? question.

Project Narrative: Do not complete. Note: ASSIST screens will show an asterisk for this attachment indicating it is required. However, eRA systems only enforce this requirement in the Overall component and applications will not receive an error if omitted in other components.

List all performance sites that apply to the specific component.

Note: The Project Performance Site form allows up to 300 sites, prior to using additional attachment for additional entries.

• In the Project Director/Principal Investigator section of the form, use Project Role of Other with Category of Project Lead and provide a valid eRA Commons ID in the Credential field.
• In the additional Senior/Key Profiles section, list Senior/Key persons that are working in the component.
• Include a single Biographical Sketch for each Senior/Key person listed in the application regardless of the number of components in which they participate. When a Senior/Key person is listed in multiple components, the Biographical Sketch can be included in any one component.
• If more than 100 Senior/Key persons are included in a component, the Additional Senior Key Person attachments should be used.

Budget forms appropriate for the specific component will be included in the application package. Allowable indirect costs for this program are limited to 8% of a modified indirect cost base which excludes amounts over the first $25,000 for each consortia agreement, equipment costs, and tuition and related trainee fees.

Funding should be requested for travel as each awardee is required to meet at least twice annually at a grantee meeting to review progress, share information and to coordinate training activities. Each grantee meeting is a half day and is scheduled in conjunction with a one-and-a-half-day program workshop.

R&R Subaward Budget (Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Allowable indirect costs for this program are limited to 8% of a modified indirect cost base which excludes amounts over the first $25,000 for each consortia agreement, equipment costs, and tuition and related trainee fees.

Note: The R&R Budget form included in many of the component types allows for up to 100 Senior/Key Persons in section A and 100 Equipment Items in section C prior to using attachments for additional entries. All other SF424 (R&R) instructions apply.

Specific Aims: State the objectives and specific aims for worker health and safety training. Describe the proposed hazardous material and waste worker populations targeted for training including: size, types of work, and geographic locations. Project the number of workers anticipated to be trained.

Research Strategy: State the broad, long-term objectives and concisely and realistically describe what the proposed training is intended to accomplish. This section should include the following: Background and Significance; Prior Experience; Administration, Staff, and Advisory Board; Target Populations; and Training Plan.

a. Background and Significance.

Briefly sketch the relevant background and the need for the proposed health and safety training. Give the rationale for the proposed training program. Applicants must strongly document the organization's past success in performance and effectiveness in planning, implementing, and operating worker health and safety training programs and employing adult education techniques. Give a summary of worker health and safety activities for the last five years for the major participating organizations in the proposed program. Emphasis should be placed on worker health and safety training and education experience including information on the students trained and their jobs, type of worker health and safety training given, number of workers trained, training duration, outreach activities, and new advances in training.

b. Progress Report/Compliance with Terms of Prior Award(s).

Applicants who are presently being funded under this program should provide a progress report of their activities. This should include: description of efforts to meet established terms and conditions, attainment of program goals and objectives of prior awards, ability to manage and expend funds in a timely manner in prior budget periods, examples of collaboration with DOE sites and contractors, examples of training program outcomes or impact, and a summary of collaborative efforts with other awardees and NIEHS program staff.

c. Administration, Staff, and Advisory Board.

Describe the administrative structure of the proposed program and the distribution of responsibilities within it, including how the PD/PI will obtain continuing advice with respect to the operation of the program.

Describe the extent to which participating faculty members have collaborated with the program in the past. For individuals who are not Senior/Key Personnel, list technical support staff members and identify their roles in the program. Minimum position qualifications and position descriptions must be provided for proposed staff not yet hired. Be sure to include relevant publications and scholarly articles pertaining to public health, safety, and training.

Provide evidence of lines of responsibility and accountability. This evidence must be clearly delineated when two or more organizations are collaborating on an activity. Provide detailed plans for collaboration.

Include evidence that the administrative/business official has experience or knowledge in the management of federal programs and will participate in program decisions. To assure effective and quality direct training, provide evidence of program staff with demonstrated training experience that includes use of appropriate adult education techniques.

This must include:

• Describing the program's experience with adult education.
• For individuals who will not be Senior/Key Personnel, document the faculty members' relevant experience and training in appropriate adult education techniques for worker health and safety.
• Access to appropriate technical expertise including but not limited to toxicology and industrial hygiene.
• Develop appropriate policies and procedures for assuring fitness for training and medical clearance

Provide details of an external board of advisors that represents user populations, labor, industry, governmental agencies, academic institutions or professional associations with interest and expertise in worker health and safety training related to hazardous materials and waste operations and emergency response.

Describe the Advisory Board, to include a description of the expertise of the membership of the external board (New applicants should not list names of anticipated Advisory Board members, unless they provide input into the design of the application; continuing Advisory Board members should be identified for renewal applications); and policies and procedures that allow for meaningful input to the PD/PI on the quality of training activities and the overall training program grant. The board should review student feedback, course evaluations, other appropriate evaluations, and quality assurance procedures.

d. Target Population(s).

Describe methods and techniques to be used for identifying and accessing target specific worker population(s) to be trained, whether organized or not, that are engaged in hazardous materials and waste operations and transportation and related emergency response. Specific descriptions of targeted training populations should reflect the respective regulations of EPA, OSHA, DOT, etc. Describe the population(s) to be trained, including size of the target population(s), worker profiles, trades and job categories, types of hazardous materials and waste operations and emergency response, geographic locations of workers, and the degree of health and safety training already received. Provide documented assurances of access to these populations for training.

Describe outreach and recruitment plans of prospective students. Describe the type and number of workers who have applied for worker health and safety training given by your organization over the last five years, the number of workers who have completed this training, and the resulting benefit of the program to the student and their employers.

e. Training Program.

Courses and Curricula: Describe the proposed training program plan including the types of courses, number of students to be trained, durations of training, course training objectives, and course content. Document how the training program will meet the Minimum Criteria. Both initial and appropriate refresher training should be covered. The plan must include involvement of appropriate health and safety disciplines. Describe curricula to be used, distribution of course materials, and use of direct worker training.

Training Methods: Describe the extent of hands-on demonstration and instruction, which simulates hazardous materials and waste operations or emergency response. Describe methods for employing adult education techniques and approaches for training and evaluating instructors. When used, technology-based training methods should be part of a blended learning approach that combines these technology-based approaches with hands-on, small group, and other instructor-led and interactive learning activities.

Indicate how the proposed worker health and safety training will be integrated with other specialized training already provided to the proposed target worker population. Specify and highlight the integration of new program initiatives as identified in the FOA with your proposed training plan.

Trainer Development: The plan must include information on the training of instructors, including worker trainers, and on-going trainer development and support activities.

Sustainability: Discuss plans for continuing the program independently beyond the cooperative agreement period.

Underserved Populations: Plans for reaching and actively engaging underserved worker populations should be included, especially those with less formal education, limited English proficiency, or limited access to training. Provide evidence of arrangements to include institutions and organizations which have historical involvement and expertise in responding to occupational health disparities and environmental justice issues. For example, does your plan include a community outreach and involvement component which can augment the delivery of high-quality training to promote community toxic use reduction, emergency preparedness, and awareness of local hazards, chemical process safety and pollution prevention?

Quality Control and Evaluation Plan: Describe an evaluation plan that includes both process and outcome evaluation of the training program that allows for understanding the program implementation and effectiveness as part of an ongoing quality control plan. The Minimum Criteria section 10.10 Program Evaluation provides guidance for developing an evaluation plan.

The plan should address (1) measurement and evaluation of student learning, progress and performance; (2) methods and procedures for evaluating appropriateness, quality, and effectiveness of worker health and safety training; and (3) a process for assessing instructor effectiveness, trainee retention of knowledge and hands-on skills, and the positive impacts of training activities on work practices and overall worker protection from on-the-job hazards. The plan must describe a system for tracking trainee employment in hazmat-related jobs.

Letters of Support: Applicants may include letters of support pertaining to the training program. For example, these letters may include collaborative agreements for the training program, institutional support (if applicable), etc. See the Application Guide for instructions

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification: Generally, Resource Sharing Plans are expected, but they are not applicable for this FOA.

Appendix:

Only limited items are allowed in the Appendix.Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

Delayed Onset Study

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

When preparing your application, use Component Type ECWTP.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

• Complete only the following fields:
• Applicant Information
• Type of Applicant (optional)
• Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project
• Proposed Project Start/Ending Dates

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement (Environmental Worker Training Program)

Enter Human Embryonic Stem Cells in each relevant component.

Research & Related Other Project Information (Environmental Worker Training Program)

Human Subjects: Answer only the Are Human Subjects Involved? and 'Is the Project Exempt from Federal regulations? questions.

Vertebrate Animals: Answer only the Are Vertebrate Animals Used? question.

Project Narrative: Do not complete. Note: ASSIST screens will show an asterisk for this attachment indicating it is required. However, eRA systems only enforce this requirement in the Overall component and applications will not receive an error if omitted in other components.

Project /Performance Site Location(s) (Environmental Worker Training Program)

List all performance sites that apply to the specific component.

Note: The Project Performance Site form allows up to 300 sites, prior to using additional attachment for additional entries.

• In the Project Director/Principal Investigator section of the form, use Project Role of Other with Category of Project Lead and provide a valid eRA Commons ID in the Credential field.
• In the additional Senior/Key Profiles section, list Senior/Key persons that are working in the component.
• Include a single Biographical Sketch for each Senior/Key person listed in the application regardless of the number of components in which they participate. When a Senior/Key person is listed in multiple components, the Biographical Sketch can be included in any one component.
• If more than 100 Senior/Key persons are included in a component, the Additional Senior Key Person attachments should be used.

Budget forms appropriate for the specific component will be included in the application package.

Allowable indirect costs for this program are limited to 8% of a modified indirect cost base which excludes amounts over the first $25,000 for each consortia agreement, equipment costs, and tuition and related trainee fees.

List technical support staff members and identify their roles in the program.

Note: The R&R Budget form included in many of the component types allows for up to 100 Senior/Key Persons in section A and 100 Equipment Items in section C prior to using attachments for additional entries. All other SF424 (R&R) instructions apply.

PHS 398 Research Plan (Environmental Worker Training Program)

Specific Aims: State the objectives and specific aims for worker health and safety training. Describe the proposed hazardous material and waste worker populations targeted for training including: size, types of work, and geographic locations. Project the number of workers anticipated to be trained

Research Strategy: State the broad, long-term objectives and concisely and realistically describe what the proposed training is intended to accomplish. This section should include the following: Background and Significance; Prior Experience; Administration, Staff, and Advisory Board; Target Populations; and Training Plan.

a. Background and Significance.

Briefly sketch the relevant background and the need for the proposed health and safety training. Give the rationale for the proposed training program. Applicants must strongly document the organization's past success in performance and effectiveness in planning, implementing, and operating worker health and safety training programs and employing adult education techniques. Give a summary of worker health and safety activities for the last five years for the major participating organizations in the proposed program. Emphasis should be placed on worker health and safety training and education experience including information on the students trained and their jobs, type of worker health and safety training given, number of workers trained, training duration, outreach activities, and new advances in training.

b. Progress Report/Compliance with Terms of Prior Award(s).

Applicants who are presently being funded under this program should provide a progress report of their activities. This should include: description of efforts to meet established terms and conditions, attainment of program goals and objectives of prior awards, ability to manage and expend funds in a timely manner in prior budget periods, examples of collaboration with DOE sites and contractors, examples of training program outcomes or impact, and a summary of collaborative efforts with other awardees and NIEHS program staff.

c. Administration, Staff, and Advisory Board.

Describe the administrative structure of the proposed program and the distribution of responsibilities within it, including how the PD/PI will obtain continuing advice with respect to the operation of the program.

Describe the extent to which participating faculty members have collaborated with the program in the past. For individuals who are not Senior/Key Personnel, list technical support staff members and identify their roles in the program. Minimum position qualifications and position descriptions must be provided for proposed staff not yet hired. Be sure to include relevant publications and scholarly articles pertaining to public health, safety, and training.

Provide evidence of lines of responsibility and accountability. This evidence must be clearly delineated when two or more organizations are collaborating on an activity. Provide detailed plans for collaboration.

Include evidence that the administrative/business official has experience or knowledge in the management of federal programs and will participate in program decisions. To assure effective and quality direct training, provide evidence of program staff with demonstrated training experience that includes use of appropriate adult education techniques.

This must include:

• Describing the program's experience with adult education.
• For individuals who will not be Senior/Key Personnel, document the faculty members' relevant experience and training in appropriate adult education techniques for worker health and safety.
• Access to appropriate technical expertise including but not limited to toxicology and industrial hygiene.

Provide details of an external board of advisors that represents user populations, labor, industry, governmental agencies, academic institutions or professional associations with interest and expertise in worker health and safety training related to hazardous materials and waste operations and emergency response.

Describe the Advisory Board, to include a description of the expertise of the membership of the external board (New applicants should not list names of anticipated Advisory Board members, unless they provide input into the design of the application; continuing Advisory Board members should be identified for renewal applications); and policies and procedures that allow for meaningful input to the PD/PI on the quality of training activities and the overall training program grant. The board should review student feedback, course evaluations, other appropriate evaluations, and quality assurance procedures.

d. Target Population(s).

Describe methods and techniques to be used for identifying and accessing target specific worker population(s) to be trained, whether organized or not, that are engaged in hazardous materials and waste operations and transportation and related emergency response. Specific descriptions of targeted training populations should reflect the respective regulations of EPA, OSHA, DOT, etc. Describe the population(s) to be trained, including size of the target population(s), worker profiles, trades and job categories, types of hazardous materials and waste operations and emergency response, geographic locations of workers, and the degree of health and safety training already received. Provide documented assurances of access to these populations for training.

Describe outreach and recruitment plans of prospective students. Describe the type and number of workers who have applied for worker health and safety training given by your organization over the last five years, the number of workers who have completed this training, and the resulting benefit of the program to the student and their employers. Describe the qualifications of prospective students and the criteria and procedures by which students will be selected. Describe outreach and recruitment plans. Applicants for the ECWTP program should describe their plans to increase the number of underrepresented or underserved, unemployed or underemployed individuals for environmental training of persons who live near hazardous waste sites as referenced by the US House Subcommittee of Appropriations for VA, HUD and Independent Agencies in Report 103-311 (pp. 61-62).

e. Training Program.

Courses and Curricula: Describe the proposed training program plan including the types of courses, number of students to be trained, durations of training, course training objectives, and course content. Document how the training program will meet the Minimum Criteria. Both initial and appropriate refresher training should be covered. The plan must include involvement of appropriate health and safety disciplines. Describe curricula to be used, distribution of course materials, and use of direct worker training.

Training Methods: Describe the extent of hands-on demonstration and instruction, which simulates hazardous materials and waste operations or emergency response. Describe methods for employing adult education techniques and approaches for training and evaluating instructors. When used, technology-based training methods should be part of a blended learning approach that combines these technology-based approaches with hands-on, small group, and other instructor-led and interactive learning activities.

Indicate how the proposed worker health and safety training will be integrated with other specialized training already provided to the proposed target worker population. Specify and highlight the integration of new program initiatives as identified in the FOA with your proposed training plan.

Trainer Development: The plan must include information on the training of instructors, including worker trainers, and on-going trainer development and support activities.

Sustainability: Discuss plans for continuing the program independently beyond the cooperative agreement period.

Develop a training plan for a 5-year period for training areas across the country. Training must be provided for at least two separate cities/communities each year during the 5-year period for this program.

Train students in the skills and knowledge required for different career opportunities in environmental restoration and construction. This experience should include the ability to:

1) conduct pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship programs for construction and environmental remediation worker training, and other emerging environmental fields such as green jobs training;

2) conduct mentoring programs aimed at assisting trainees in completing the training course;

3) conduct basic construction skills training as well as specialized training related to environmental clean-up;

4) conduct environmental worker training including hazardous waste, asbestos, lead abatement, and technician/sampling level training; and

5) conduct basic worker health and safety training.

Develop partnerships with local community-based organizations (as defined in the review criteria) to provide services such as:

literacy training and related academic courses in reading writing, and math; life skills and or job readiness training, problem solving skills, understanding of self-esteem and team work in the application of technical knowledge to environmental and related problems; and environmental preparation and other related training.

Develop formal arrangements with environmental cleanup contractors and hazardous materials employers for placing and keeping participants in environmental cleanup jobs.

Develop strategies for increasing retention of participants throughout the various phases of the program.

Provide evaluation of the retention of participants in the training program, effectiveness of the training program and stability.

Develop a tracking program that describes the longevity of post-training employment of graduating training program participants, type of jobs, and specific types of sites where participants work.

Quality Control and Evaluation Plan: Describe an evaluation plan that includes both process and outcome evaluation of the training program that allows for understanding the program implementation and effectiveness as part of an ongoing quality control plan. The Minimum Criteria section 10.10 Program Evaluation provides guidance for developing an evaluation plan.

The plan should address (1) measurement and evaluation of student learning, progress and performance; (2) methods and procedures for evaluating appropriateness, quality, and effectiveness of worker health and safety training; and (3) a process for assessing instructor effectiveness, trainee retention of knowledge and hands-on skills, and the positive impacts of training activities on work practices and overall worker protection from on-the-job hazards. The plan must describe a system for tracking trainee employment in hazmat-related jobs.

Letters of Support: Applicants may include letters of support pertaining to the training program. For example, these letters may include collaborative agreements for the training program, institutional support, evidence of the community's acceptance of the role as a partner in the training program and that the community views their engagement an integral part of the prevention/intervention training activity (if applicable), etc. See the Application Guide for instructions.

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification: Generally, Resource Sharing Plans are expected, but they are not applicable for this FOA.

Appendix: Only limited items are allowed in the Appendix. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (Environmental Worker Training Program)

If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed with the following additional instructions:

Delayed Onset Study

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

When preparing your application, use Component Type HPDTP.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions, as noted.

SF424 (R&R) Cover (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program )

• Complete only the following fields:
• Applicant Information
• Type of Applicant (optional)
• Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project
• Proposed Project Start/Ending Dates

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program)

Enter Human Embryonic Stem Cells in each relevant component.

Research & Related Other Project Information (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program)

Human Subjects: Answer only the Are Human Subjects Involved? and 'Is the Project Exempt from Federal regulations? questions.

Vertebrate Animals: Answer only the Are Vertebrate Animals Used? question.

Project Narrative: Do not complete. Note: ASSIST screens will show an asterisk for this attachment indicating it is required. However, eRA systems only enforce this requirement in the Overall component and applications will not receive an error if omitted in other components.

Project /Performance Site Location(s) (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program)

List all performance sites that apply to the specific component.

Note: The Project Performance Site form allows up to 300 sites, prior to using additional attachment for additional entries.

Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program)

• In the Project Director/Principal Investigator section of the form, use Project Role of Other with Category of Project Lead and provide a valid eRA Commons ID in the Credential field.
• In the additional Senior/Key Profiles section, list Senior/Key persons that are working in the component.
• Include a single Biographical Sketch for each Senior/Key person listed in the application regardless of the number of components in which they participate. When a Senior/Key person is listed in multiple components, the Biographical Sketch can be included in any one component.
• If more than 100 Senior/Key persons are included in a component, the Additional Senior Key Person attachments should be used.

Budget (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program)

Budget forms appropriate for the specific component will be included in the application package.

Allowable indirect costs for this program are limited to 8% of a modified indirect cost base which excludes amounts over the first $25,000 for each consortia agreement, equipment costs, and tuition and related trainee fees.

Note: The R&R Budget form included in many of the component types allows for up to 100 Senior/Key Persons in section A and 100 Equipment Items in section C prior to using attachments for additional entries. All other SF424 (R&R) instructions apply.

PHS 398 Research Plan (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program)

Specific Aims: State the objectives and specific aims for worker health and safety training. Describe the proposed hazardous material and waste worker populations targeted for training including: size, types of work, and geographic locations. Project the number of workers anticipated to be trained.

Research Strategy: State the broad, long-term objectives and concisely and realistically describe what the proposed training is intended to accomplish. This section should include the following: Background and Significance; Prior Experience; Administration, Staff, and Advisory Board; Target Populations; and Training Plan.

a. Background and Significance.

Briefly sketch the relevant background and the need for the proposed health and safety training. Give the rationale for the proposed training program. Applicants must strongly document the organization's past success in performance and effectiveness in planning, implementing, and operating worker health and safety training programs and employing adult education techniques. Give a summary of worker health and safety activities for the last five years for the major participating organizations in the proposed program. Emphasis should be placed on worker health and safety training and education experience including information on the students trained and their jobs, type of worker health and safety training given, number of workers trained, training duration, outreach activities, and new advances in training.

b. Progress Report/Compliance with Terms of Prior Award(s).

Applicants who are presently being funded under this program should provide a progress report of their activities. This should include: description of efforts to meet established terms and conditions, attainment of program goals and objectives of prior awards, ability to manage and expend funds in a timely manner in prior budget periods, examples of collaboration with DOE sites and contractors, examples of training program outcomes or impact, and a summary of collaborative efforts with other awardees and NIEHS program staff.

c. Administration, Staff, and Advisory Board.

Describe the administrative structure of the proposed program and the distribution of responsibilities within it, including how the PD/PI will obtain continuing advice with respect to the operation of the program.

Describe the extent to which participating faculty members have collaborated with the program in the past. For individuals who are not Senior/Key Personnel, list technical support staff members and identify their roles in the program. Minimum position qualifications and position descriptions must be provided for proposed staff not yet hired. Be sure to include relevant publications and scholarly articles pertaining to public health, safety, and training.

Provide evidence of lines of responsibility and accountability. This evidence must be clearly delineated when two or more organizations are collaborating on an activity. Provide detailed plans for collaboration.

Include evidence that the administrative/business official has experience or knowledge in the management of federal programs and will participate in program decisions. To assure effective and quality direct training, provide evidence of program staff with demonstrated training experience that includes use of appropriate adult education techniques.

This must include:

• Describing the program's experience with adult education.
• For individuals who will not be Senior/Key Personnel, document the faculty members' relevant experience and training in appropriate adult education techniques for worker health and safety.
• Access to appropriate technical expertise including but not limited to toxicology and industrial hygiene.

Provide details of an external board of advisors that represents user populations, labor, industry, governmental agencies, academic institutions or professional associations with interest and expertise in worker health and safety training related to hazardous materials and waste operations and emergency response.

Describe the Advisory Board, to include a description of the expertise of the membership of the external board (New applicants should not list names of anticipated Advisory Board members, unless they provide input into the design of the application; continuing Advisory Board members should be identified for renewal applications); and policies and procedures that allow for meaningful input to the PD/PI on the quality of training activities and the overall training program grant. The board should review student feedback, course evaluations, other appropriate evaluations, and quality assurance procedures.

d. Target Population(s).

Describe methods and techniques to be used for identifying and accessing target specific worker population(s) to be trained, whether organized or not, that are engaged in hazardous materials and waste operations and transportation and related emergency response. Specific descriptions of targeted training populations should reflect the respective regulations of EPA, OSHA, DOT, etc. Describe the population(s) to be trained, including size of the target population(s), worker profiles, trades and job categories, types of hazardous materials and waste operations and emergency response, geographic locations of workers, and the degree of health and safety training already received. Provide documented assurances of access to these populations for training.

Describe outreach and recruitment plans of prospective students. Describe the type and number of workers who have applied for worker health and safety training given by your organization over the last five years, the number of workers who have completed this training, and the resulting benefit of the program to the student and their employers.

e. Training Program.

Courses and Curricula: Describe the proposed training program plan including the types of courses, number of students to be trained, durations of training, course training objectives, and course content. Document how the training program will meet the Minimum Criteria. Both initial and appropriate refresher training should be covered. The plan must include involvement of appropriate health and safety disciplines. Describe curricula to be used, distribution of course materials, and use of direct worker training.

Training Methods: Describe the extent of hands-on demonstration and instruction, which simulates hazardous materials and waste operations or emergency response. Describe methods for employing adult education techniques and approaches for training and evaluating instructors. When used, technology-based training methods should be part of a blended learning approach that combines these technology-based approaches with hands-on, small group, and other instructor-led and interactive learning activities.

Indicate how the proposed worker health and safety training will be integrated with other specialized training already provided to the proposed target worker population. Specify and highlight the integration of new program initiatives as identified in the FOA with your proposed training plan.

Trainer Development: The plan must include information on the training of instructors, including worker trainers, and on-going trainer development and support activities.

Sustainability: Discuss plans for continuing the program independently beyond the cooperative agreement period.

Underserved Populations: Plans for reaching and actively engaging underserved worker populations should be included, especially those with less formal education, limited English proficiency, or limited access to training. Provide evidence of arrangements to include institutions and organizations which have historical involvement and expertise in responding to occupational health disparities and environmental justice issues. For example, does your plan include a community outreach and involvement component which can augment the delivery of high-quality training to promote community toxic use reduction, emergency preparedness, and awareness of local hazards, chemical process safety and pollution prevention?

Quality Control and Evaluation Plan: Describe an evaluation plan that includes both process and outcome evaluation of the training program that allows for understanding the program implementation and effectiveness as part of an ongoing quality control plan. The Minimum Criteria section 10.10 Program Evaluation provides guidance for developing an evaluation plan.

The plan should address (1) measurement and evaluation of student learning, progress and performance; (2) methods and procedures for evaluating appropriateness, quality, and effectiveness of worker health and safety training; and (3) a process for assessing instructor effectiveness, trainee retention of knowledge and hands-on skills, and the positive impacts of training activities on work practices and overall worker protection from on-the-job hazards. The plan must describe a system for tracking trainee employment in hazmat-related jobs.

Letters of Support: Applicants may include letters of support pertaining to the training program. For example, these letters may include collaborative agreements for the training program, institutional support (if applicable), etc. See the Application Guide for instructions

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification: Generally, Resource Sharing Plans are expected, but they are not applicable for this FOA.

Appendix: Only limited items are allowed in the Appendix. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information (Hazmat Preparedness Disaster Training Program )

When involving NIH-defined human subjects research, clinical research, and/or clinical trials follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed

Delayed Onset Study

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.

Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies) using ASSIST or other electronic submission systems. Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.

Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.

For information on how your application will be automatically assembled for review and funding consideration after submission go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/files/Electronic_Multi-project_Application_Image_Assembly.pdf.

Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.

For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply Application Guide. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.

Important reminders:

All PD(s)/PI(s) and component Project Leads must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH.

The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management (SAM). Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

See more tips for avoiding common errors.

Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review, NIH. Applications that are incomplete or non-compliant will not be reviewed.

In order to expedite review, applicants are requested to notify the NIEHS Referral Office by email at [email protected] when the application has been submitted. Please include the FOA number and title, PD/PI name, and title of the application.

2019 FOA Briefing Informational Meeting

A briefing for interested applicants will be held at NIEHS in Research Triangle Park, NC on Thursday, September 12, 2019, from 1-5 PM at Keystone Conference Room 1003-AB at 530 Davis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. NIEHS Staff will explain the purpose of the Program, provide instructions about the application process and answer questions. A summary of responses from the briefing will be available upon request from NIEHS [email protected] and may be posted on an FAQ page at a later date. The briefing will be webcast live and a registration page will be available closer to the event. The webcast will be available via NIEHS webcasting. In-person attendance is not necessary, and no information will be discussed that is not given to all potential applicants.

Visiting NIEHS and Directions - You must submit your contact information in advance to Amy Acosta at [email protected] or via phone at (919) 794-4703 to RSVP for the Informational meeting. All attendees must contact Amy Acosta by Monday, September 9 to attend the event.

Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy. Any instructions provided here are in addition to the instructions in the policy.

Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.

Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the training program to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the training program proposed).

Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a training program that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.

Does the training program address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous? If the aims of the training program are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?

Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in training workers?

If the aims of the project are achieved, how will training be improved?

How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, services associated with training that drive this field?

Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the training program? If Early Stage Investigators or those in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?

Does the PD/PI strongly demonstrate the capacity for providing leadership and assuring productivity of appropriate worker health and safety training and education programs and for overall management of the training programs including quality assurance and program evaluation?

Is there sufficient evidence of an applicant's organizational structure or consortium, if applicable, that provides adequate knowledge and oversight of resources and administrative management of the program?

Do the PD/PI and the proposed staff have the ability to manage complex training programs?

Does the proposed staff have the demonstrated training experience using appropriate adult education techniques to assure effective direct training, and quality assurance in the area of worker health and safety training? Do they have appropriate technical expertise including but not limited to toxicology, and industrial hygiene?

In addition to the FOA review criteria above for the hazardous waste training program, the following review criteria are applicable to the ECWT program:

Does the applicant demonstrate the ability to recruit workers from the target population for environmental cleanup jobs?

Does the applicant have experience in conducting effective jobs skills training and worker health and safety training programs for environmental cleanup?

In addition to the review criteria for the hazardous waste program, additional review criteria applicable to the HDPTP only include:

Is there evidence of appropriate technical and professional expertise of present or proposed key personnel for the development and delivery of hazmat disaster preparedness training?

Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

Is there evidence of inclusion of worker training initiatives and innovations?

Does the applicant show innovation in addressing existing and new challenges to the field of worker health and safety, such as with training tools, curriculum development, worker outreach, and program evaluation?

Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the training program? Have investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects?

If the training program involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are the plans to address:

1) the protection of human subjects from research risks, and

2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults), justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?

Are the methods and techniques to be used for identifying, describing, and accessing target specific worker populations for worker health and safety training and anticipated impact of the proposed program adequate?

Does the applicant provide detailed program plans for adapting existing curricula, training of instructors, distributing course materials, directing worker training, and conducting program evaluations?

Are the combinations of classroom instruction and hands on demonstration and instruction appropriate to simulate worker site activities and conditions?

Are there plans for independently continuing the program; for the generation of program income, if applicable; and for assuring the long-term viability of the program?

Is the training plan adequate for reaching underserved worker populations, especially those with less formal education, limited English proficiency, and limited access to training?

Has the organization or consortium demonstrated effectiveness in planning, implementing and

operating appropriate worker health and safety training and education programs?

Are they able to immediately initiate direct worker health and safety training, program evaluation, and related support activities?

In addition to the review criteria above for the hazardous waste training program, the following review criteria are applicable to the ECWT program:

Does the applicant describe partnerships or sub-agreements with local community groups, labor unions with apprenticeship programs, academic and other institutions, with a particular focus on minority serving institutions, and public schools located in or nearby an environmentally-impacted urban area to provide pre-math, science or other related education to program participants prior to, or concurrent with, entry into the training program?

Is there evidence of formal arrangements with environmental cleanup contractors and hazardous materials employers for placing and keeping participants in environmental clean-up jobs?

Is there an evaluation of the retention of participants in the training program, effectiveness of the training program and stability and longevity of post-training employment of graduating training program participants?

In addition to the review criteria for the hazardous waste program, additional review criteria applicable to the HDPTP only include:

Does the applicant demonstrate past experience in development and delivery of training for populations in high-risk facilities and for potential responders to disasters of national significance?

Does the applicant describe partnerships or sub-agreements for training development and delivery with local responder groups at potentially impacted high risk facilities and local, state and federal entities with emergency response capacity?

Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?

Are the facilities and equipment appropriate to support the described worker health and safety training and education activities, including hands on instruction?

Is there evidence that the operation of training facilities assures the protection of prospective trainees during program delivery?

Are there appropriate policies and procedures for assuring fitness for training and medical clearance?

In addition to the FOA review criteria above for the hazardous waste training program, the following review criteria are applicable to the ECWT program:

Is there evidence of the applicant's ability to track program participants for up to one year after completion of the program?

Is there evidence of ability to conduct training in more than one geographically discrete location during the program year?

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.

For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.

For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human subjects involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Human Subjects.

When the proposed training program involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults) to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.

The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.

Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.

Not Applicable.

For Renewals, the committee will consider the progress made in the last funding period.

Section b of the Research Strategy for each program component (HWWTP, ECWTP, and HDPTP) - Progress Report/Compliance with Terms of Prior Award(s): Has the applicant made adequate progress toward reaching their training goals and objectives? Has the awardee demonstrated meeting established terms and conditions of prior awards; attainment of program goals and objectives of prior awards; and ability to manage and expend funds in a timely manner in prior budget periods?

Not Applicable.

As applicable for the training program proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.

Not Applicable.

Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).

Not Applicable.

For projects involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.

Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s), convened by NIEHS in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.

As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:

• May undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.
• Will receive a written critique.

Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA.

Applications will be assigned to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council (NAEHSC)). The following will be considered in making funding decisions:

• Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.
• Availability of funds.
• Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.

After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.

Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the grantee’s business official.

Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.

Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and conditions found on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this website.

Institutional Review Board or Independent Ethics Committee Approval: Grantee institutions must ensure that protocols are reviewed by their IRB or IEC. To help ensure the safety of participants enrolled in NIH-funded studies, the awardee must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols.

All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.

Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights law. This means that recipients of HHS funds must ensure equal access to their programs without regard to a person’s race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, sex and religion. This includes ensuring your programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator s scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research.

For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA. HHS provides general guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/index.html. The HHS Office for Civil Rights also provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/section-1557/index.html; and https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/laws-regulations-guidance/index.html. Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/index.html. Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697. Also note it is an HHS Departmental goal to ensure access to quality, culturally competent care, including long-term services and supports, for vulnerable populations. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.

In accordance with the statutory provisions contained in Section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417), NIH awards will be subject to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) requirements. FAPIIS requires Federal award making officials to review and consider information about an applicant in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS) prior to making an award. An applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal agency previously entered and is currently in FAPIIS. The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgement about the applicant’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 45 CFR Part 75.205 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.

Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award

The following special terms of award are in addition to, and not in lieu of, otherwise applicable U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) administrative guidelines, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) grant administration regulations at 45 CFR Part 75, and other HHS, PHS, and NIH grant administration policies.

The administrative and funding instrument used for this program will be the cooperative agreement, an "assistance" mechanism (rather than an "acquisition" mechanism), in which substantial NIH programmatic involvement with the awardees is anticipated during the performance of the activities. Under the cooperative agreement, the NIH purpose is to support and stimulate the recipients' activities by involvement in and otherwise working jointly with the award recipients in a partnership role; it is not to assume direction, prime responsibility, or a dominant role in the activities. Consistent with this concept, the dominant role and prime responsibility resides with the awardees for the project as a whole, although specific tasks and activities may be shared among the awardees and the NIH as defined below.

The PD(s)/PI(s) will have the primary responsibility for:

The PD/PI has primary authorities and responsibilities to define objectives and approaches, and to plan, conduct, analyze, and publish results, interpretations, and conclusions of their studies and training activities. It is the responsibility of each awardee to develop the details of the training plan, which will be required to describe the technical approaches, target population access and recruitment, curricula modification, training methodology, and program evaluation procedures.

• Each awardee is required to attend awardee meetings at least twice annually to review progress, share information, and to coordinate training activities. PD/PIs and business officials are required to attend at least annually.
• Before use, awardees must submit draft copies of training manuals, instructor guides, course curricula and other materials developed for use in training activities supported by NIEHS to the NIEHS Program Coordinator to receive technical comments and suggestions regarding the adequacy, technical accuracy and suitability of materials to be used for worker safety and health training. Final copies of all materials developed with support from NIEHS will be transmitted in approved electronic format by the awardees to the National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training for Hazardous Materials, Waste Operations and Emergency Response and made available to the general public, subject to any specific legal caveats on use or copyright protection.
• Each awardee is required to participate annually in two technical workshops, which coincide with the two annual awardee meetings, to be sponsored and planned by the NIEHS Program Coordinator. The technical workshops will present relevant and topical information to assure the continued high quality of worker safety and health training activities carried out by the awardees and encourage the exchange of significant information regarding effective training techniques and approaches.
• Each awardee is required to convene a Board of Advisors representing user populations, labor, industry, governmental agencies, academic institutions or professional associations with interest and expertise in worker health and safety training related to hazardous materials and waste operations and emergency response. The Board of Advisors must meet annually to evaluate training activities and provide advice to the PD/PI.
• Each awardee is required to have one individual assigned the responsibility for information technology transfer and dissemination as the point of contact for the NIEHS Program Coordinator. This person would ensure the effective communication and transfer of important training and administrative information to NIEHS and other appropriate audiences, including tracking trainee activities, submittal of training data to NIEHS, coordination of special meetings/conferences, submission of curricula, and other training activities conducted by the program.
• Awardee is required to annually propose and report progress on a training program that includes the types of courses, number of students to be trained, and durations of training.
• Each awardee will retain custody of and primary rights to the data and the curricula materials developed under these awards, subject to appropriate Government rights of access consistent with current HHS and NIH policies. Awardees will retain custody of and have primary rights to the data and software developed under these awards, subject to Government rights of access consistent with current HHS, PHS, and NIH policies.
• Awardees will retain custody of and have primary rights to the data and software developed under these awards, subject to Government rights of access consistent with current DHHS, PHS, and NIH policies.

NIH staff have substantial programmatic involvement that is above and beyond the normal stewardship role in awards, as described below:

• The role of the NIEHS Program Coordinator will be to facilitate, not to direct, the development of a high-quality national worker training resource. These special Terms of Award are in addition to and not in lieu of otherwise applicable OMB administrative guidelines, HHS Grant Administration Regulations at 45 CFR Parts 75, and other HHS, PHS, and NIH Grant Administration policy statements.
• The NIEHS Program Coordinator will coordinate activities of mutual interest and benefit to awardees and the Institute. The primary objective of the Worker Training Program will be to stimulate collaborative work between NIEHS and the awardees in the creation of model worker safety and health training programs. Substantial programmatic involvement by the NIEHS Program Coordinator will assure that there is not duplication of efforts or overlap in worker safety and health training delivery and program development by the awardees.
• In order to provide consistent use and delivery of existing curricula for high-quality worker safety and health training, the NIEHS Program Coordinator will ensure that there will be close coordination among awardees, other state and federal governmental agencies, and other training providers. Such program coordination between NIEHS and the awardees will make maximum use of worker safety and health training materials and curricula that have already been developed, evaluated, and used. Training materials developed by the awardees will be submitted for review by the NIEHS Program Coordinator for consistency, appropriateness and technical accuracy before the initiation of worker safety and health training activities.
• The NIEHS Program Coordinator will convene a working meeting at least twice annually to review progress, share information, and discuss technical issues and to coordinate training activities.
• The NIEHS Program Coordinator will provide ongoing technical assistance to the awardees through arrangement of technical workshops related to the substantive technical issues that affect the program. Technical workshops will bring together program directors from each awardee with the relevant technical experts from a number of scientific fields involved in hazardous waste, occupational health, environmental health sciences, and adult education. Examination of training technologies and technical issues which are specific to the program will be developed and coordinated through these technical workshops, which will be held at least twice per fiscal year, to coincide with awardee meetings.
• To assure that training programs developed with assistance from NIEHS will comply with all applicable federal safety and health regulations, the NIEHS Program Coordinator will assist the awardees through continual involvement with other federal regulatory agencies. Operational monitoring by the NIEHS Program Coordinator will assist the awardees in complying with general federal statutory requirements regulating worker safety and health training activities.
• The NIEHS Program Coordinator will coordinate overall program evaluations and communications projects to show the impact of the training on improving work practices, reducing work related injury and illness and to document the increased understanding of relevant environmental health sciences by workers involved in environmental cleanups, hazardous waste management and emergency response to chemical releases. While each awardee must have its own evaluation program, the NIEHS Program Coordinator will strive to assess the overall effectiveness of the training programs supported under the cooperative agreements in terms of the nation's needs and in relation to the target populations identified by Congress in SARA Section 126 and related statutes which are referenced above.
• NIEHS maintains a National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training for Hazardous Materials, Waste Operations and Emergency Response to assist awardees by providing information and technical support services to the PD/PIs of NIEHS funded hazardous materials, waste operations, and emergency response worker training programs. The Clearinghouse will also function as a national resource for the dissemination to the general public of program related information and curricular materials that have been developed by the awardees.
• An NIEHS Program Official will be responsible for normal program stewardship of the award. The NIEHS Program Official may also serve as the NIEHS Program Coordinator.

When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A final RPPR, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.

In accordance with the regulatory requirements provided at 45 CFR 75.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75, recipients that have currently active Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of a Federal award, must report and maintain the currency of information reported in the System for Award Management (SAM) about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in connection with the award or performance of a Federal award that reached final disposition within the most recent five-year period. The recipient must also make semiannual disclosures regarding such proceedings. Proceedings information will be made publicly available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS). This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. Full reporting requirements and procedures are found in Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75 Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.

eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons, application errors and warnings, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, and post-submission issues)

Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)

General Grants Information (Questions regarding application instructions, application processes, and NIH grant resources)
Email: [email protected] (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: [email protected]

Joseph Hughes
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 984-287-3271
Email: mailto:[email protected]

Demia Wright
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 984-287-3341
Email: [email protected]

Sharon D. Beard
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 984-287-3237
Email: [email protected]

Jim Remington
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 984-287-3311
Email: [email protected]

Janice Allen, PhD
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 984-287-3232
Email: [email protected]

Alfonso R. Latoni, PhD
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 984-287-3279
Email: [email protected]

Lisa Archer Edwards
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 984-287-3258
Email: [email protected]

Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Parts 75 in addition to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), Section 126(g) and additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, 2019, U.S. Public Law 116-20, enacted on June 6, 2019.