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[null,"DE-FOA-0001237 Questions and Answers"]
["Question 1","Does the information submitted on the concept paper become public domain, and if so, when?"]
["Answer 1","In accordance with section VIII.K of the funding opportunity announcement, EERE expects to retain copies of all Concept Papers, Full Applications, Replies to Reviewer Comments, and other submissions. No submissions will be returned. By applying to EERE for funding, Applicants consent to EERE’s retention of their submissions.  Information contained in concept papers will be used only for evaluation purposes unless such information is generally available to the public or is already the property of the Government. The Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905, prohibits the unauthorized disclosure by Federal employees of trade secret and confidential business information.\nConcept Papers may include technical data and other data, including trade secrets and/or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information, which the applicant does not want disclosed to the public or used by the Government for any purpose other than application evaluation. To protect such data, the applicant should specifically identify each page including each line or paragraph thereof containing the data to be protected and mark the cover sheet of the concept paper with the following Notice as well as referring to the Notice on each page to which the Notice applies:\nNotice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data\nThe data contained in pages ___ of this concept paper have been submitted in confidence and contain trade secrets or proprietary information, and such data shall be used or disclosed only for evaluation purposes, provided that if this applicant receives an award as a result of or in connection with the submission of this application, DOE shall have the right to use or disclose the data herein to the extent provided in the award. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use or disclose data obtained without restriction from any source, including the applicant.\n"]
["Question 2","Can the 20% cost share be covered through in-kind contributions?"]
["Answer 2","Cost share from in-Kind contributions is acceptable in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.306"]
["Question 3","Do the funds support cost reduction or some improvement of a process, product, or factory?"]
["Answer 3","The objective of this FOA is to develop and implement an effective purchasing/procurement process designed to coordinate and consolidate bulk orders of alternative fuel vehicles, sub-components, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, and/or refueling/charging infrastructure to significantly reduce the incremental cost of commercially available vehicles and/or critical components in markets nationwide. Tasks associated with manufacturing process improvements, product improvements, or factory improvements are not allocable to the tasks within the scope of the solicitation."]
["Question 4","p. 35 says \"Pre-Award expenditures are made at the Selectee’s risk; EERE is not obligated to reimburse costs: (1) in the absence of appropriations; \" Have the funds already been appropriated for this program or could the whole thing go away without some required congressional appropriation?"]
["Answer 4","The funds for this solicitation were appropriated in Fiscal Year 2015."]
["Question 5","Are international subs/partners allowable?"]
["Answer 5","In accordance with Section III of the Funding Opportunity Announcement, foreign entities may receive funding as a subrecipient. However, All work under EERE funding agreements must be performed in the United States. This requirement does not apply to the purchase of supplies and equipment, so a waiver is not required for foreign purchases of these items. However, the Prime Recipient should make every effort to purchase supplies and equipment within the United States. Section IV.I.3 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement lists the necessary information that must be included in a request to waive the Performance of Work in the United States requirement."]
["Question 6","How do you view aggregation proposals that are still in the planning phase, but will be starting the execution during the application process?  "]
["Answer 6","All applications will be reviewed I accordance with the technical review criteria identified in Section V of the funding opportunity announcement."]
["Question 7","What is the process for uploading multiple subawardee budgets? The EERE site only allows one file for subawardee budgets."]
["Answer 7","Please refer to section IV of the funding opportunity announcement.  Specifically section IV.D.7 entitled Subaward Budget Justification (EERE159) for direction regarding this document."]
["Question 8","Can cost share be in kind?"]
["Answer 8","Cost share from in-Kind contributions is acceptable in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.306"]
["Question 9","We have heard a lot on what the funds can't be used for.  To clear confusion, it may worthwhile to give an example of a project where funds can be used and what they can be used for."]
["Answer 9","The objective of this FOA is to develop and implement an effective purchasing/procurement process designed to coordinate and consolidate bulk orders of alternative fuel vehicles, sub-components, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, and/or refueling/charging infrastructure to significantly reduce the incremental cost of commercially available vehicles and/or critical components in markets nationwide. "]
["Question 10","Will we be required to submit a budget in the concept paper?  The budget numbers in concept paper conflicts with organizational policy which requires full budget justification for concept paper budgets."]
["Answer 10","Please refer to section IV.C of the funding opportunity announcement for the required content of and form for concept papers.  A budget is note required for submission of the concept paper."]
["Question 11","Why not make the deck or presentation available? Isn't it a public record? "]
["Answer 11","The Webinar slides will not be made available. Applicants should refer to the funding opportunity announcement for all questions. The content included in the presentation is intended only to summarize the contents of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001237.  Any content within the presentation that appears discrepant from the FOA language is superseded by the FOA language."]
["Question 12","Will slides of this presentation be made available on website? "]
["Answer 12","The Webinar slides will not be made available. Applicants should refer to the funding opportunity announcement for all questions. The content included in the presentation is intended only to summarize the contents of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001237.  Any content within the presentation that appears discrepant from the FOA language is superseded by the FOA language."]
["Question 13","Will this presentation be made available?"]
["Answer 13","The Webinar slides will not be made available. Applicants should refer to the funding opportunity announcement for all questions. The content included in the presentation is intended only to summarize the contents of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001237.  Any content within the presentation that appears discrepant from the FOA language is superseded by the FOA language."]
["Question 14","Are international (i.e. Canadian) subs are allowable?"]
["Answer 14","In accordance with Section III of the Funding Opportunity Announcement, foreign entities may receive funding as a subrecipient. However, All work under EERE funding agreements must be performed in the United States. This requirement does not apply to the purchase of supplies and equipment, so a waiver is not required for foreign purchases of these items. However, the Prime Recipient should make every effort to purchase supplies and equipment within the United States. Section IV.I.3 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement lists the necessary information that must be included in a request to waive the Performance of Work in the United States requirement."]
["Question 15","Can actual acquisition process proposed be funded even though no grant $ used for vehicles or EVSE?"]
["Answer 15","The objective of this FOA is to develop and implement an effective purchasing/procurement process designed to coordinate and consolidate bulk orders of alternative fuel vehicles, sub-components, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, and/or refueling/charging infrastructure to significantly reduce the incremental cost of commercially available vehicles and/or critical components in markets nationwide. Selected projects will align with this objective."]
["Question 16","Can I access a video of this meeting as I am now in a public library and cannot use audio as I am now sans head phones and a microphone!"]
["Answer 16","The DOE does not have a video recording of the Webinar."]
["Question 17","Will this webinar be online later? The audio from Citrix wasn't working for the last few minutes... "]
["Answer 17","The Webinar will not be repeated once completed."]
["Question 18","\"Advanced vehicle technologies\" is listed as one of the technology areas. This is a broad description. Can you more precisely describe what DOE includes in (and excludes from) this category?"]
["Answer 18","Advanced Vehicle technologies could include any \"commercially available\" technology to reduce petroleum consumption in vehicles."]
["Question 19","What do you mean by \"implementing' an aggregate purchasing model? (e.g. develop and implement)"]
["Answer 19","The objective of this FOA is to develop and implement an effective purchasing/procurement process designed to coordinate and consolidate bulk orders of alternative fuel vehicles, sub-components, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, and/or refueling/charging infrastructure to significantly reduce the incremental cost of commercially available vehicles and/or critical components in markets nationwide. Selected projects will align with this objective."]
["Question 20","What is the purpose of the cost share? If the project could be completed solely using the DOE funds why is there a requirement for cost sharing funds too? This limits the ability of startups to propose innovative solutions."]
["Answer 20","Cost Share is a requirement set forth by Congress and implemented within Federal regulations."]
["Question 21","How will proposals be evaluated/scored?"]
["Answer 21","All applications will be reviewed I accordance with the technical review criteria identified in Section V of the funding opportunity announcement."]
["Question 22","Will the PowerPoint be available?"]
["Answer 22","The Webinar slides will not be made available. Applicants should refer to the funding opportunity announcement for all questions. The content included in the presentation is intended only to summarize the contents of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001237.  Any content within the presentation that appears discrepant from the FOA language is superseded by the FOA language."]
["Question 23","Is the DOE looking for projects with national scope or regional scope?"]
["Answer 23","Submissions should address the objective of the funding opportunity announcement. "]
["Question 24","What is the scope of government agency vehicle purchases covered by the FOA? USPS for example, DOD? Federal agencies only?"]
["Answer 24","The  purchasing/procurement process designed can be designed independent of any specific customer. "]
["Question 25","Does registration in SAM, Grants.gov and FedConnect have to happen prior to submission of the concept paper?"]
["Answer 25","Yes - Registration must occur in SAM, Grants.gov and FedConnect before submission of concept paper."]
["Question 26","Is there a link for the registrations?"]
["Answer 26","The registrations are identified in section VI.C of the funding opportunity announcement."]
["Question 27","Can implementation process for acquisition include both government and private sector?"]
["Answer 27","The  purchasing/procurement process designed can be designed independent of any specific customer. "]
["Question 28","Will the proterra electric bus be the electric bus that will be purchased or am I mistaken?"]
["Answer 28","No award funds can be used for the procurement of any vehicles, vehicle parts, refueling infrastructure, or fuels. "]
["Question 29","Can vehicle component manufactures use fund for procurement of parts or is this purely procurement processes? "]
["Answer 29","No award funds can be used for the procurement of any vehicles, vehicle parts, refueling infrastructure, or fuels. "]
["Question 30","How will applications be evaluated?"]
["Answer 30","All applications will be reviewed I accordance with the technical review criteria identified in Section V of the funding opportunity announcement."]
["Question 31","How strict will project success (that is, proof of vehicle acquisition through the program), be measured during application and implementation phase?"]
["Answer 31","All applications will be reviewed I accordance with the technical review criteria identified in Section V of the funding opportunity announcement."]
["Question 32","Can the funds be used for salaries, outside consultants, and general operating expenses (rent, utilities, travel)? "]
["Answer 32","Funds can be used for salaries, consultants and general \"project related\" operating expenses providing that they abide by the Cost Principles in 2 CFR 200 Subpart E (Education Institutions and Non-Profits) and 2 CFR 910.352 (For-profit Organizations)."]
["Question 33","Can the approach focus on a specific aspect of existing procurement processes for vehicles?  "]
["Answer 33","The Approach can focus on specific aspects of existing procurement processes for vehicles."]
["Question 34","Sorry, clarify last question will vehicle purchases and procurements that are not cost share or not program elements be considered program revenue if they are associated or use the program?"]
["Answer 34","No. Vehicle purchases are not part of the DOE project."]
["Question 35","Can Duke Energy be enticed into providing a $1 million grant to charge the infrastructure of the electric vehicles that you either have or will purchase just as they have done  for USF just last month?"]
["Answer 35","The DOE does not respond top specific questions concerning teaming arrangements or project approaches."]
["Question 36","Is there a preference for national strategies, or are regional/city strategies equally weighted? "]
["Answer 36","All applications will be reviewed in accordance with the technical review criteria identified in Section V of the funding opportunity announcement."]
["Question 37","Can you define what should be in the supplemental portion of the concept paper?"]
["Answer 37","In accordance with section IV.C.1Of the funding opportunity announcement, Applicants may provide graphs, charts, or other data to supplement their Process Description."]
["Question 38","Is it required to partner with a Clean Cities Coalition?"]
["Answer 38","No.  It is not required to partner with a Clean Cities Coalition.  However, it is strongly encouraged to partner with one or more Clean Cities coalitions in order to leverage DOE developed tools, outreach, and education resources to the greatest extent possible and to increase the project's chances for success. "]
["Question 39","Do applications need to address all of the possible objective focus areas."]
["Answer 39","No.  The Application can include one or more of the focus areas outlined in the FOA Objective."]
["Question 40","Does the Concept Paper and Application Review scoring criteria only favor plans that include Vehicles and/or subcomponents."]
["Answer 40","No.  Review criteria will measure approach and impact of all possible aggregating focus areas as outlined in the FOA description equally and without preference or discrimination."]
["Question 41","Are Light Duty vehicle projects eligible for this grant?"]
["Answer 41","Light Duty vehicle aggregating approaches are eligible for this funding opportunity."]
["Question 42","Once a Concept Paper has been submitted, what is the anticipated timeframe that it would take for you to respond to the Prime Applicant, as to whether or not the Concept Paper had been recommended for a Proposal to be submitted?"]
["Answer 42","The Concept Paper consensus comments will be made available to the applicant on July 31, 2015 per the current FOA schedule posted."]
["Question 43","In the RFI for this FOA, DOE indicated that the information collected might be made available to the public. Have the findings from this RFI been published or otherwise available for review by potential responders to the 1237 FOA? "]
["Answer 43","The results from the RFI will not be made available to the public."]
["Question 44","I’m having difficulty understanding exactly what this grant is intended to fund.  My agency oversees the county fleet service department, and I can see the benefits of aggregating purchases among the various cities, districts and government agencies in our county, so I would like to understand how these funds might be used.  "]
["Answer 44","The objective of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to develop and implement an effective purchasing/procurement process designed to coordinate and consolidate bulk orders of alternative fuel vehicles, sub-components, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, and/or refueling/charging infrastructure to significantly reduce the incremental cost of commercially available vehicles and/or critical components in markets nationwide. All funds associated with the FOA objective are allocable to the project in accordance with the appropriate cost principles."]
["Question 45","Since Argonne National Laboratory can’t be the lead in this opportunity, can we still submit a response with some possible partners identified? Or the partner has to be identified at this stage and submit the response instead of Argonne?"]
["Answer 45","Requirements for Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) eligibility are identified in section III of the funding opportunity announcement (FOA). An FFRDC may not be proposed as a prime recipient. Concept papers which propose an FFRDC as a prime recipient will be discouraged from submitting a full application."]
["Question 46","I am wanting to apply and submit a concept paper for FOA 1237. As seen below in the screenshot I do not have an apply button in the right corner per the user manual. I am logged in, and can see the apply button on a few other FOA’s, but not the one I need."]
["Answer 46","This was an anomaly in eXchange that was corrected on June 24, 2015"]
["Question 47","Hello. I own a business that specializes in advancing the efficiency and performance of electric vehicles, their renewable fuel systems and the management and charge systems that are needed to operate the vehicles. I am seeking funding and would like some guidance as to how I can move forward with qualifying for a Funding opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you."]
["Answer 47","The Guide to Federal Financing for Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Deployment\" is a resource guide that lists various federal financing programs. The guide is located at energ.gov."]
["Question 48","Is it required to partner with a Clean Cities Coalition?"]
["Answer 48","No.  It is not required to partner with a Clean Cities Coalition.  However, it is strongly encouraged to partner with one or more Clean Cities coalitions in order to leverage DOE developed tools, outreach, and education resources to the greatest extent possible and to increase the project's chances for success. "]
["Question 49","Do applications need to address all of the possible objective focus areas?"]
["Answer 49","No.  The Application can include one or more of the focus areas outlined in the FOA Objective."]
["Question 50","Does the Concept Paper and Application Review scoring criteria only favor plans that include Vehicles and/or subcomponents."]
["Answer 50","No.  Review criteria will measure approach and impact of all possible aggregating focus areas as outlined in the FOA description equally and without preference or discrimination."]
["Question 51","Is the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) supposed to be included as a section of the technical volume?  Does it count toward the 25-page limit?"]
["Answer 51","The SOPO is a section in the technical volume and will be part of the 25 page limit. The Department of Energy does recognize that some information in the SOPO will also be included in other places throughout the technical volume and application.  A FOA Modification/Amendment will soon be released citing the approximate length of the SOPO to be 16% of hte 25 page maximum and the Workplan approximation will be reduced by 16% to 36% of the maximum allowed pages."]
["Question 52","When will Concept Paper review for \"Encourage/Discourage\" responses be provided to applicants?"]
["Answer 52","The Concept Paper notifications will be sent to Applicants on 7/31/15."]
["Question 53","Could you tell me if it is likely that this funding opportunity will be available in federal FY 2016?"]
["Answer 53","It is unlikely that the same funding opportunity will be available in FY16.  "]
["Question 54","Regarding EERE159, the form shows only three budget periods.  Should it be manually modified to show monthly expenditures during the project period or should the project period simply be divided into three budget periods?  Or is each budget period a full year?  We currently contemplate an 18-month project period, so if the budget periods are years, we would submit the first 12 months as budget period 1 and the last six months as budget period 2, is that correct?"]
["Answer 54","Budget Periods as presented on Form EERE159 reflect a 12 month timeframe for each period.  If budget period 2 for example was only 6 months, applicant should enter 6 month totals in Budget Period 2."]
["Question 55","Section IV D 7 of the FOA states that EERE 159 should be completed for each subawardee that is expected to perform work estimated to be more than $250,000 or 25% of the total work effort (whichever is less).  The EERE 159 itself states that each sub-recipient with estimated costs of $100,000 or more must complete the form.  Can you clarify which is the rule?"]
["Answer 55","As noted on form EERE159, the award recipient and each sub-recipient with estimated costs of $100,000 or more must complete this form and ensure it matches the application."]
["Question 56","SF-424 includes a one page form (SF-424A) as the last tab of EERE 159.  We need only complete the SF-424 application and the SF-424A and we do not need to complete the SF-424_RR-Budget3Year Excel spreadsheet (which is a much longer form), is that correct?"]
["Answer 56","On page 22 Full Application Requirements, it lists both the SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance) form and EERE 159 (Budget Justification) Form.   Further explanations begin on page 31 for the two forms.  Both documents can be found in the FOA Required Documents section.  Form SF-424_RR-Budget3Year spreadsheet is not required for this FOA."]
["Question 58","Will DOE extend the solicitation due date to allow for more time to develop the Full Application?"]
["Answer 58","Yes – DOE is in the process of modifying the FOA to have a revised Application Due date of September 1, 2015 at 5PM EST."]
["Question 59","For FOA-1237,EERE Exchange states \"Pursuant to the FOA, Applicants are required to submit the 'Required Application Documents' with their Application. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed or considered.\" ? The Environmental Questionnaire form is included in this list (and links to the document template and online submission weblink). The Environmental Questionnaire form is only mentioned related to the POST-AWARD INFORMATION REQUESTS section (Sec. IV.E.; pg 35). Seeking clarification on whether the form is required for the Full Application."]
["Answer 59","On page 33 of the FOA, the requirement has been added complete a pdf version of the Environmental Questionnaire and enter into Exchange during submission process.  A pdf version of the Environmental Questionnaire has been added to the FOA Required Document section.  Only if the application moves to an award, will the online submission be required."]
["Question 60","Several previous DOE solicitations have required the SOPO be submitted as a separate file to allow DOE to directly use (copy/paste) into an ultimate project award contract. Will DOE require the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) be submitted as a separate file (likely as a Microsoft Word .docs)? (The FOA does not currently request this.)  If yes, 1) what is the file naming convention, and 2) Should the file be uploaded as an “Additional File” or will there be a designated file upload field?"]
["Answer 60","The FOA states on page 28, the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) is to be included in the Technical Volume and comprise approximately 16% of the total document."]
["Question 61","SF-LLL – Do all project partners need to submit an SF-LLL form? Or does only the Prime Applicant need to submit the SF-LLL?"]
["Answer 61","Recipients and Subrecipients are required to complete and submit SF-LLL, “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/grants/sflllin.pdf) if any non-Federal funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence any of the following in connection with your application: An officer or employee of any Federal agency; A Member of Congress; An officer or employee of Congress; or An employee of a Member of Congress."]
["Question 62","Can discounts for services like advertising be counted as cost-share?"]
["Answer 62","Discounts and/or “in-kind” services can be counted as cost-share providing the following as stated in 2 CFR 200.306 Cost Sharing or Matching subpart e. “Volunteer services furnished by third-party professional and technical personnel, consultants, and other skilled and unskilled labor may be counted as cost sharing or matching if the service is an integral and necessary part of an approved project or program. Rates for third-party volunteer services must be consistent with those paid for similar work by the non-Federal entity. In those instances in which the required skills are not found in the non-Federal entity, rates must be consistent with those paid for similar work in the labor market in which the non-Federal entity competes for the kind of services involved. In either case, paid fringe benefits that are reasonable, necessary, allocable, and otherwise allowable may be included in the valuation.”"]
["Question 63","Is it possible to name a different organization from the project team as a lead, rather than the one who submitted the concept paper?"]
["Answer 63","No.  As per the FOA, only applicants who have submitted an eligible Concept Paper will be eligible to submit a Full Application."]
["Question 64","Are sub-recipients also required to complete the Environmental Questionnaire?"]
["Answer 64","The Applicant must complete the Environmental Questionnaire."]
["Question 65","Our Project Team includes a National Lab (DOE FFRDC).  The FOA states “If a DOE/NNSA FFRDC contractor is to perform a portion of the work, the Applicant must provide a DOE Field Work Proposal (FWP) in accordance with the requirements in DOE Order 412.1, Work Authorization System. DOE Order 412.1 and DOE O 412.1 (Field Work Proposal form) area available at the following link, under “DOE Budget Forms”: https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives/0412.1-BOrder-a/view”  The webpage redirects to an “ARCHIVED” page (https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives-documents/400-series/0412.1-BOrder-a/view). The “History” information indicates that (https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives-documents/400-series/0412.1-BOrder-a-admchg1) is the current “CURRENT” document and form. Is this an accurate assessment? If not, what is the weblnk to the current document? If it is the correct document, can DOE provide a version of the FWP form that can be completed electronically?"]
["Answer 65","Here is the updated link for the DOE Field Work Proposal (PWP) in accordance to DOE Order 412.1.  If applicable, please print and complete the form, save as a .pdf and upload to Exchange with your application. DOE O 412.1A Admin Chg 1, Work Authorization System https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives-documents/400-series/0412.1-BOrder-a-admchg1"]
["Question 66","Can discounts for services like advertising be counted as cost-share?"]
["Answer 66","Discounts and/or “in-kind” services can be counted as cost-share providing the following as stated in 2 CFR 200.306 Cost Sharing or Matching subpart e. “Volunteer services furnished by third-party professional and technical personnel, consultants, and other skilled and unskilled labor may be counted as cost sharing or matching if the service is an integral and necessary part of an approved project or program. Rates for third-party volunteer services must be consistent with those paid for similar work by the non-Federal entity. In those instances in which the required skills are not found in the non-Federal entity, rates must be consistent with those paid for similar work in the labor market in which the non-Federal entity competes for the kind of services involved. In either case, paid fringe benefits that are reasonable, necessary, allocable, and otherwise allowable may be included in the valuation.”"]