The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) have announced for the second time since the inception of the program in 2002 a Ballast Water Technology Demonstration Program grants competition for 2004. It was announced in the Federal Register (69 FR 2577, Jan 16, 2004).

Like the 2002 competition, NOAA and the Service expect to offer federal assistance grants to successful applicants. MARAD expects to offer the use of several of its vessels as test platforms, subject to availability.

The 2004 competition contains two stages of proposals. It begins with a call for brief preliminary proposals, which must be received on or before February 13, 2004. Full proposals will be due on February 17, 2004. Preliminary proposals will not be subjected to a selection process, but will be used to assist in the preparation for the full proposal competition. Only investigators who submit a preliminary proposal will be eligible to submit a full proposal.

In addition to the requirement for preliminary proposals, the 2004 competition will differ from the 2002 competition in several ways:

• Proposals will be divided into program areas based on the level of technology development;
• Funding limits for individual proposals will be based on these program areas;
• Proposals will be required to include a discussion of the long term development necessary to transition the technology to a viable commercial product; and
• Under certain conditions, proposals to demonstrate technologies that have been submitted to the Coast Guard for approval under 16 U.S.C. 4711(b)(1) for experimental shipboard installation may receive a programmatic preference.

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