SOUTH FLORIDA ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION
ECOTOXICITY AND
RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT
United States, Department of the Interior
South Florida’s Critical Ecosystems Studies Initiative
Contaminants and Ecotoxicity Program
Preface – The US Department of Interior, through the South Florida Critical Ecosystems Studies Initiative, is announcing a program initiative and soliciting proposals for cooperative projects on ecotoxicity and risk management as part of the sustainable restoration of South Florida’s greater Everglades and coastal ecosystems. The ultimate goal of the plan is to develop an improved understanding of the exposure/fate and potential ecological effects produced as a result of chemical stressors (i.e., chemical contaminants) and their interactions in South Florida freshwater, estuarine, marine, terrestrial and wetland ecosystems.
Through this Program Announcement we are soliciting
research proposals to fulfill information needs identified in an advisory panel
report from a Science Coordination Team [SCT] sponsored workshop entitled “Linking
Ecotoxicity and Risk Management to Sustainable Restoration of South Florida
Ecosystems” held on October 20 & 21, 1998 [the SCT is multi-agency
federal, state, tribal and local government committee working under the
auspices of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force]. The advisory
panel report list specific activities and research relevant to ecotoxicity and
contaminants necessary for assessing ecosystem integrity/sustainability and for
maintaining and restoring aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of South Florida.
The panel report is available on web page <http://www.sfrestore.org/sct/ecotox/>.
We request that all research
conducted in support of our goals fit within the three-phase process of the U.
S. EPA ecological risk framework (EPA 1992) and should therefore consider the
factors and relationships important for quantifying and characterizing risk to
ecological receptors. Furthermore, the research should contribute knowledge to
improve and strengthen the risk assessment and/or risk management process for
decision-making in South Florida. Finally, we feel that it is important to
nurture the legacy of ecosystem science in South Florida. To that end, we will
give priority to proposals submitted by individuals, firms,
federal/state/tribal/local agencies, and institutions with a history of
contributing to the advancement of ecosystem science in the region.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM
ANNOUNCEMENT:
To seek the most technically sound and
cost effective proposals to address critical information needs identified by
the ecological risk assessment advisory panel [see panel report on web page at
<http://www.sfrestore.org/sct/ecotox/>.
To solicit proposals from federal, state,
and local governments as well as research, academic, and non-governmental
institutions for research projects pertinent to ecological risk assessment,
ecotoxicity, and risk management of the South Florida ecosystem.
PROGRAM PRIORITIES:
1. Screening-level
(preliminary) ecological risk assessment.
Tabulate,
summarize, and interpret all available existing studies (including on-going
monitoring) on exposure and toxicological effects in South Florida. This should
include freshwater, estuarine, wetland, and terrestrial habitats. This
assessment should include, but not be limited to, the following:
· Distribution
of exposure in different compartments including concentrations and areas
· Fate and
effects data from different sources
· Ecotoxicity
and biological effects information relevant to South Florida
· Define
contaminants of concern (COC)
· Define
target ecological receptors
· Pesticide
usage data in different locations
· Rank
priorities on the basis of hazard
Specific
attention should be paid to determining data adequacy and defining data gaps
where additional information is needed for assessment. All exposure, fate and
toxicity data as well as information on newly registered pesticides and
ecological incident reports should be updated continuously in a database at a
centralized location for data sharing on a web site.
2. Investigation
and monitoring to address known data gaps.
Conduct
research with the aim of providing knowledge on spatial distribution of known
pesticide contamination and on the acute and chronic effects in critical urban
and agricultural areas.
These
studies may include chemical effects on the growth, development, reproduction,
and endocrine systems of target species as well as toxicity testing of water,
sediment and soil in critical areas (e. g., Everglades National Park, Water
Conservation Areas, canals in the greater Everglades ecosystem, Loxahatchee
National Wildlife Refuge, etc.).
3. Complete
ecological risk assessment (retrospective) of the South Florida ecosystem.
Conduct
a complete ecological risk assessment with diagnostic studies to test various
management scenarios, answer questions raised by the public and develop
scientific hypotheses for investigation. This should be a short-term goal and
include all aquatic, terrestrial and wetland ecosystems. The ultimate goal is
to define the specific stressors and interactive stressors that should be the
highest priorities for restoration.
The
following studies should be part of the risk assessment process for South
Florida:
· Determine
the magnitude, frequency, form and distribution of exposures in different
compartments.
· Define the
form and processes that constitute critical food webs (and relationships) to
delineate the risk of contaminants that bioaccumulate.
· Exposure and
effects investigations in laboratory, field and simulated field conditions.
· Use and
validate transport and fate models in South Florida ecosystems to define and
predict exposure patterns.
These
studies should place specific attention on realistic, low-level exposure
concentrations and potential chronic effects. However, given that organisms may
already be compromised with background concentrations of organochlorine
compounds and that exposure to pesticides may be temporally pulsed,
investigations of the effects of multiple pesticides at variable concentrations
should also be included.
4. Complete
ecological risk assessment (prospective) of the South Florida ecosystem.
A
prospective ecological risk assessment will be conducted after restoration of
severely impacted elements of the ecosystem are repaired to forecast
probabilistic risks expected under various management scenarios. This will be
part of the primary long-term goal of the restoration effort. Studies on
exposure effects (acute and chronic) and fate and transport simulations of
exposure effects should be included.
ELIGIBILITY:
Federal,
state, and local government agencies, tribes, academic institutions, individual
researchers, research firms, and/or non‑profit groups are eligible. Furthermore, the research should contribute
knowledge to improve and strengthen the risk assessment and/or risk management
process for decision-making in South Florida. Finally, we feel that it is
important to nurture the concurrency as well as legacy of ecosystem science
information in South Florida. To that end, priority will be given to proposals
submitted by individuals and institutions demonstrating a collaborative
interaction with &/or a history of collaborating with resource managers and
scientists integrally involved with ecosystems in the South Florida region.
MANDATORY QUALIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS:
·
Seven (7) copies‑of
each proposal must be submitted; as well as an electronic copy on a 3 5"
high-density diskette in MS Word 6 for Windows.
·
Proposals, excluding
attachments, must not exceed ten (10) pages in length with fonts no smaller
than 10 point.
·
Attach qualifications of
project personnel. Summarize in a 1-2 page biosketch the qualifications of each
principal investigator and co-investigator who will make a significant
contribution to the proposed project.
·
Proposals that require
federal, state, local, or private authorizations (e.g., permits, etc.) must
demonstrate that they do or will have the authorities necessary to complete the
project.
·
Treatment of all samples
and data must adhere to approved [federal/State] standard operating procedures
[SOPs], QA/QC, and data/metadata standards.
·
Although multiple-year
[not to exceed 3-years] projects will be considered, it must be clearly noted
that continued funding is contingent upon availability of funding, sufficient
progress and relevance of the information to critical ecosystem information
needs. Therefore, all projects must
clearly propose a definable product for each year of funding.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
· All research
conducted in support of our goals fit within the three-phase process of the U.
S. EPA ecological risk framework (EPA 1992) and should therefore consider the
factors and relationships important for quantifying and characterizing risk to
ecological receptors and contribute knowledge to improve and strengthen the
risk assessment and/or risk management process for decision making in South
Florida. Since risk is a function of toxicity and exposure, primary
consideration will be given to research that clearly addresses both of these
components and establishes the link between the resource at risk, the
assessment endpoint(s), the measurements, and the stressor(s).
· Research
design plans must represent the result of a cohesive, well-integrated,
multidisciplinary team approach using state-of-the-art methods that are
comprehensive in scale and transferable in scope. Ideally, some members of team
of investigators should have experience in conducting applied research in South
Florida on environmental fate and effects issues involving chemical and
non-chemical stressors and in the elucidation and resolution of problems
created by such stressors either alone or in combination in wetland and/or
terrestrial ecosystems.
· During
different phases of the project, investigators will be required to attend
meetings/workshops between investigators, other scientists and resource
managers in the South Florida region to discuss results and modify, if
necessary, any upcoming work based on recent findings. Cost estimates for no less than two such
meetings should be included in the proposed budget
·
Cost sharing of the
total cost of the proposed project will be favorably considered when evaluating
the project.
PROPOSALFORMAT:
Project Title:
Principal
Investigator(s): Name, Affiliation, Mailing Address,
Phone/Fax Number, E-Mail Address
Project Location: Provide a general description with map of the study
area (include Section, Township, Range, latitude, longitude).
Objectives:
Project Background:
Purpose/ Relevance to the
South Florida Ecosystem:
Study Design:
Expected Benefits from
Results:
Cooperators/Partners:
Timeline with Milestones:
Total Project Cost/Budget
Breakdown:
Include all direct and indirect costs. If you are proposing cost-sharing the
project, please give a clear indication of the cost-shared portion of the total
project costs. Cost sharing of the
total cost of the proposed project will be favorably considered when evaluating
the project.
Literature Cited:
EVALUATION AND AWARD
PROCESS:
Proposals will be evaluated
and ranked by a process administered by the Contaminants and Ecotoxicity
Program Coordinator [coordinated through the USGS-Biological Resources
Division, Miami, Fl. Program
coordinator will contact those submitting proposals within 45 days of the
deadline below. Those selected may be asked to work with Program staff to
provide additional details of the work to be accomplished.
EXPECTATIONS:
Trimester and annual updates of reports, data and metadata, and models plus an approved and accepted final report will be required on projects [as well as access to field data, digital data, and photographs]. We will work with the principal investigators to ensure that these data will be treated as proprietary information [at least for a reasonable amount of time to allow the investigators to publish as appropriate] and will be used for internal use only and will not be cited without prior approval. However, it must be understood that all information will become the property of the federal government to be used as required/necessary. In addition, we request, that all manuscripts for publication that result from funded projects be submitted for review to our office prior to submission to a peer-reviewed journal, and that proper acknowledgement be given to the funding source.
SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO [mail
and express-mail address]:
CESI Ecotoxicity Program
Coordinator
c/o USGS @ FIU [Attn: Mr.
Dieter Elswick, Administrator]
Florida International University @ University Park
Building OE Room 148
Miami, Florida 33199
All proposals must be
received by 4:00 PM, Monday, June 12, 2000.
If
you need additional information, please contact Dr. G. Ronnie Best, Program
Coordinator via e-mail Ronnie_Best@usgs.gov
or phone 305.348.3965.