[OPLINTECH] Two grant possibilities from the federal stimulus package

[Stephen Hedges]

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA,
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_reports&docid=f:hr016.111.pdf)
contains two grant programs under the "Broadband" category that
might be used by public libraries: one for expanding public computer
center capacity, and one for educating people about the
digital-to-analog TV conversion. [ Disclaimer: I'm not an ARRA
expert, but I've been following up on some information provided by
ALA,
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/woissues/washfunding/fedfund/arra101.cfm
]

Both grant programs will be administered by the Department of
Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA).

On Wednesday, the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a
memorandum to all federal agencies establishing requirements for how
the agencies will implement programs and activities funded by the
ARRA. One requirement stipulates that federal agencies must post
funding opportunity announcements on http://www.Grants.gov within 20
days after enactment of the ARRA. This site allows you to browse
grants by agency (Department of Commerce) or receive an RSS feed of
new grants (http://www07.grants.gov/help/rss.jsp). Note that the RSS
feed can sometimes be very busy, since it sends notices about ~all~
new federal grants (lots of medical-related grants, for example).

OMB also required federal agencies to create a page on their web
sites dedicated to the ARRA activities within the next week,
including agency plans and information on how to apply for grants.
So far, I see nothing on either http://www.commerce.gov or
http://www.ntia.doc.gov

Working from the language of the Act itself, it looks like the first
grant program that could be useful is the NTIA Broadband Technology
Opportunities Program, which sets aside not less than $200,000,000
for competitive grants for expanding public computer center
capacity, including at community colleges and public libraries.

The second program is the NTIA Digital-to-Analog Converter Box
Program, which allocates $90,000,000 for education and outreach,
including grants to organizations for programs to educate vulnerable
populations (senior citizens, minority communities, people with
disabilities, low-income individuals, and people living in rural
areas) about the DTV transition, and to provide one-on-one
assistance to vulnerable populations, including help with converter
box installation. This program does not mention public libraries
specifically, but some libraries may be planning to do something
along these lines anyway and could qualify.

ARRA requires grant recipients to do extensive reporting within 10
days after the end of each calendar quarter, starting on July 10,
2009, including the following information:
	* The total amount of recovery funds received;
	* The amount of recovery funds received that were obligated
	and expended to projects or activities;
	* Detailed information on any subcontracts or subgrants
	awarded by the recipient; and
	* A detailed list of all projects or activities for which
	recovery funds were obligated and expended, including:
		o The name of the project or activity;
		o A description of the project or activity;
		o An evaluation of the completion status of the
		project or activity; and
		o An estimate of the number of jobs created and the
		number of jobs retained by the project or activity.

If I hear of any further details of stimulus broadband grants, I
will pass them along.

Stephen