I am pleased to announce that a new Request for Assistance (RFA) has been issued by EPA/ORD on the topic of "Integrated Assessment of the Positive and Negative Consequences on the United States of Climate Change and Climate Variability." This solicitation is being made by ORD's STAR Grant Program in support of the ORD Global Change Research Program. The objective of this solicitation is to conduct a series of integrated assessments of the potential consequences of climate variability and change on small geographic locations (i.e., a sub-regional level) within the United States. We also expect that the assessment funded under this RFA will integrate across impact categories, sectors and systems such as human health, air quality, water resources (both quantity and quality), ecosystems, wildlife and biodiversity, agriculture and aquaculture, forests and vegetation, coastal zones, tourism and recreation, social systems, and economic systems. I would greatly appreciate your circulating this announcement (attached below) to the USGCRP network of researchers and federal agencies. Additional information about the solicitation can be found at the EPA website: www.epa.gov/ncerqa. Thank you for your assistance. Best regards, Joel ------------------------------------------ 1. INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES ON THE UNITED STATES OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE VARIABILITY BACKGROUND: A major responsibility of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is to quantify the potential consequences of climate change and climate variability for human health, natural ecosystems, and economic activity. Both positive and negative consequences need to be identified. The enabling legislation of the Global Climate Research Act of 1990 mandates that the USGCRP ". . . prepare and submit to the President of the United States an assessment which-- (1) integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of the Program and discusses the scientific uncertainties associated with such findings; (2) analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biodiversity; and (3) analyzes current trends in global change, both human-induced and natural, and projects major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years." To fulfill this mandate, the USGCRP is conducting the first National Assessment of the "Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change on the United States" that will deliver a report to Congress in January 2000. The assessment will contain a National Synthesis Report, 19 Regional Assessments, an assessment of the potential consequences of climate variability and change for Native Americans, and five Sectoral Studies focusing on human health, coastal zones, water resources, agriculture and forests (see http://www.USGCRP.gov). This assessment process will be periodically repeated as new scientific information becomes available. In addition to supporting the National Assessment Process, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports research to develop and implement methodologies for the integrated assessment of the potential consequences of climate variability and change on human health, ecosystems, and economic systems. A first set of regional-scale integrated assessments was funded by EPA's STAR Program in Fiscal Year 1996 (FY 96). Five competitive research grants were funded. These assessments were sector/system specific (e.g., water resources, agriculture, public health, etc.) and integrated "vertically" from climate scenarios/models to hydrologic models, ecosystem models, and other physical/biological models, as appropriate, and then finally to economic models. The purpose of this new solicitation by the EPA is to continue support of research that further advances the development of approaches for conducting integrated assessments of the potential consequences of climate variability and change on the United States. The intent of this second solicitation is to encourage assessments that integrate "horizontally" as well as vertically; i.e., assessments that assess the consequences of climate variability and change across sectors/systems. Also, it is intended that these assessments focus on a finer geographic scale than the first-round of FY 96 STAR grants. DESCRIPTION: Integrated assessments are studies which investigate individual components of a larger system (e.g., changes in regional climate; changes in the hydrologic cycle; physical and biological effects; economic impacts) and then show how changes in the individual components interact and affect other parts of the system. The objective of this solicitation is to conduct a series of integrated assessments of the potential consequences of climate variability and change on small geographic locations (i.e., a sub-regional level) within the United States. They should identify and illuminate climate change impacts that are best assessed at fine geographic scales and that are of potentially significant environmental, social, and/or economic importance. (These assessments are not intended to duplicate the regional assessments that are currently being conducted as part of the first USGCRP National Assessment Process.) These assessments must integrate both "horizontally" across sectors and "vertically" from the climate system through to socioeconomic impacts. By integrating horizontally, these assessments should begin to identify and illuminate climate change impacts which when considered jointly are likely to identify important interactions that would alter conclusions about the vulnerability of a locality or resource to climate change. The assessments should integrate across impact categories, sectors and systems such as human health, air quality, water resources (both quantity and quality), ecosystems, wildlife and biodiversity, agriculture and aquaculture, forests and vegetation, coastal zones, tourism and recreation, social systems, and economic systems. For example, a proposed assessment might examine the potential consequences of climate variability and change on the San Francisco Bay area. Such an assessment might integrate "horizontally" to capture the potential impacts on coastal areas (due to sea level rise), human health, urban air quality, urban drinking water supplies, agriculture, wetlands, freshwater fisheries and recreational fishing, and hydropower. It would not be sufficient to link changes in climate to changes in forests and human uses for the forests, such as local opportunities for viewing selected bird species; it would also be necessary to extend the assessment to integrate the effects of other sectors/systems, such as water resources, agriculture, and the local economy. This assessment would also integrate "vertically" from climate scenarios/models to hydrologic models, ecosystem models, and other physical/biological models, as appropriate, and then finally to economic models. It is not sufficient to provide an assessment of the potential physical changes in the environment that might result from climate variability and change; it is also necessary to assess the potential consequences for human uses of the environment and for society. Whereas the previous 1996 Request for Applications (RFA) focused on regions such as the southeastern U.S. or the corn belt, the geographic areas that might be considered for this RFA include large or small cities, such as Miami, FL, Des Moines, IA or Raleigh, NC; National Parks such as the Everglades, Rocky Mountain or Olympia; coastal areas such as Waquoit Bay, Mobile Bay or Gray's Harbor; small river basins such as Big Darby Creek, OH; or native and tribal lands. For the purposes of this RFA, we are not requesting proposals for large geographic areas, such as the mid-Atlantic region or the Mississippi watershed. In addition, the assessments should be structured so that they address the following questions (also being addressed in the USGCRP National Assessment Process): *What are the current conditions of resources, environmental/socioeconomic stresses, and issues of concern for the geographic area under investigation? *How might climate variability and change exacerbate or ameliorate these conditions? *What coping options exist that can build resilience to current environmental stresses, and also possibly lessen the impacts of climate variability and change (or take advantage of new opportunities presented by climate variability and change)? *What are the priority research and information needs that can better prepare policy makers to reach wise decisions related to climate variability and change? *What research is most important to complete over the short term? Over the long term? ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: The Principal Investigator must partner with a local stakeholder group that has particular interest in the outcome of the assessment. For example, this might be a Mayor's Office in a small municipality, a river commission within a watershed, or a non-governmental organization (NGO). A letter of support and cooperation from the partner for the assessment must accompany the application. In addition, an effective strategy for communicating the results of the assessment (the positive and negative consequences of climate change and variability across sectors) to affected stakeholders, and the public at large, must be included. The latter is not to exceed two pages and must be included within the 15 pages of allowable text for the proposal. Funding: Up to $6 million is expected to be available in fiscal year 1999 for awards in this program. A proposal may request up to $300,000 per year for up to 3 years, and may not exceed these funding levels or time.