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["INSTRUCTIONS"]
[1,"All questions pertaining to this funding opportunity announcement should be emailed to AMOWaterFOA@ee.doe.gov   "]
[2,"All questions pertaining to EERE Exchange should be emailed to EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line."]
[3,"All questions and answers pertaining to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange within this spreadsheet."]
[4,"DOE will attempt to respond to a question within 3 business days, unless a similar question and answer has already been posted in this spreadsheet. "]
[5,"All questions should be submitted not later than 3 business days prior to the application due date. Questions submitted after this date will not be answered."]
[6,"Questions are assigned a number in accordance with when they are reviewed by DOE.  "]
[7,"Questions are assigned a topic area by DOE when reviewed."]
[]
["TIPS"]
[1,"Applicants may sort questions and answers in the question tabs of this spreadhseet by selecting the drop-down box arrow on the column headers and selecting any of the listed attributes."]
[2,"Applicants may search for questions and/or keywords by holding CTRL+F on the keyboard and typing in a phrase or keyword."]

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["QUESTION AND ANSWER LOG"]
["DE-FOA0002336 - Research and Development for Advanced Water Resource Recovery Systems"]
["Question #","Date Submitted","Question","Answer"]
[1,"2020-06-30","For Topic Area 1, does TRL 4-6 refer to the final TRL that the project \nwill achieve or does it also include the starting TRL of the project?\n\nIn other words, would a project starting at TRL 2 and ending at TRL 4 be \nresponsive?\n","The outcome of the research for Topic Area 1 is pilot readiness (i.e. TRL6).  Projects are expected to have completed R&D on their proposed advanced resource recovery system to TRL 6 by the end of the 36 month project.\nSection 1.B.i of the FOA specifies \"Applications to this Topic Area will aim to move these technologies beyond early stage R&D (TRL 4-6) to become pilot ready. \nAdditionally, Section 4.c.ii Technical Volume states under \"Technical Description, Innovation and Impact\": Applications to Topic Area 1 must demonstrate the ability of the project to move beyond early stage R&D (TRL 4-6) to pilot readiness within the 36 month project period.   A project ending at TRL 4 would not be considered responsive to this FOA. \nAppendix 6 of the FOA includes Definitions for Technologies Readiness Levels\n"]
[2,"2020-07-13","The FOA specifically references  Oil & Gas and Municipal applications. Would a food and beverage application also be suitable for the Topic Area 2 of this opportunity? \nIf yes, would an applicant be eligible to submit multiple applications with different customers within food and beverage and/or submit one food and beverage application and one small-distributed municipal application?\n","                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Treatment of wastewater generated by the food and beverage industry could be suitable for application under Topic Area 2 of this FOA.  Oil and Gas and Municipal applications are just two of the areas identified.  Please see FOA Section I.A Background and Context and FOA Section I.B.i  Topic Area 1 and I.B.ii Topic Area  2 discussion which identifies that the FOA seeks innovative technologies and approaches that have the most potential to transform the existing water and wastewater treatment systems into advanced water resource recovery systems that dramatically reduce net energy requirements at a national scale\n2. An applicant may submit multiple applications, including applications with different customers, and which could also include one food and beverage application and one small-distributed municipal application, provided that each application describes a unique, scientifically distinct project.  Please see FOA Section III.F  Limitation on  the Number of Concept Papers and Full Applications Eligible for Review\n"]
[3,"2020-07-14","                                                                                                                                                                        We have developed a 1MW electrical driven Turbo Blower for Wastewater Treatment, first of its kind in the world, which is proven to be much more efficient than traditional blower with similar horsepower.  However, we noticed that it mentioned in the announcement that applications only focused on improvements to pumps or motor driven systems are not of interest \nIs our 1MW blower eligible for this funding?\n","Per Section I.C of the FOA, applications that only focus on improvements to pumps and motor driven systems are not of interest and will be deemed non-responsive and will not be reviewed or considered. "]
[4,"2020-07-15","The Instruction for the Technical Volume for DE-FOA-0002336 includes the statement, \"The applicant should include a comparison of three scenario TEAs and LCAs based on 1) current, commercially available state-of technology, 2) proposed system's currently achieved targets, and 3) proposed system’s targets that will be achieved by end of project. The initial TEA and LCA of the three scenarios should be conducted using credible methodologies and assumptions.\" Does this mean that the TEA and the LCA is a product of the proposed work, or does it mean that there must be a completed TEA and LCA in proposal? If it is the latter, are conceptual TEA/LCA appropriate for the proposal-phase for Topic 1? We would need the data gathered in the R&D phase to complete the TEA and LCA for the pilot phase.","An initial TEA and LCA must be submitted with the application and an update to the TEA and LCA should be part of project work plan. This is described in the FOA under Section I.B: all projects funded under Topic Area 1 and 2 will be required to include an initial TEA and LCA of the three scenarios with their application. Project selected for award will be required to update their initial TEA and LCA using Water-DAMS and the Water-TAP3 and report results to DOE. Projects selected will be required to do this at the beginning, during (at least once every 12 months), and at the end of the project. As described in the Technical Volume, Section IV.C.ii, the Workplan must include updates to the advanced water treatment system’s TEA and LCA using Water-TAP3 and Water-DAMS at the beginning, at least once every 12 months during, and at the end of the project. See Section IV.C.xix for more information on Water-TAP3 and Water DAMS.  "]
[5,"2020-07-15","Additionally, we have not been able to find information about Water-Tap3 or Water-DAMS. Is there a way to evaluate the data and interfaces needed for these platforms so that we can incorporate this into our budgets and adjust required scopes? (e.g. hardware needs, and person-hour needs for system learning and data entry).","High level descriptions of Water TAP3 and Water DAMS should be available on the NAWI hub website www.nawihub.org by the end of July 2020. BETA versions will not be released publically until December 2020. Given this timeline, DOE will be working with project selected during negotiations to adjust scopes and budgets to the data and interfaces needed for these platforms. Water TAP3 and Water DAMS technical support team will be available to assist project teams in using these platforms during negotiations and during the project performance period. A comparable amount of scope and time as was used for the initial TEA and LCA in the proposal would be an appropriate estimate to use in the proposal as a placeholder for scope and budgets. Note, these will be online open source, public platforms with no requirement for high performance computing resources or any licensed software. Archived training videos will also be available in December 2020 to support projects in learning how to use these publically available tools under development. "]
[6,"2020-07-17","Section C specifies that the FOA is not interested in “Applications only focused on improvements to heat exchangers or combined heat and power systems.”\nDoes this statement preclude all applications that include heat recovery and or thermal to power systems? For example, rotary regenerators, run around coil systems, thermo electric generation? Will the FOA consider applications that include heat recovery but focus on broader system level technology improvements?\nAny clarification on Section C specifications is appreciated.\n","Advanced Water Resource Recovery Systems that include thermal recovery on the broader, integrated system level are eligible to apply. This could include technology improvements to heat exchangers along with other resource recovery technologies (chemical, thermal, hydraulic) as part of the Advanced Water Resources Recovery System being proposed.  If the application is only focused on improvements to heat exchangers or other examples described in the Section I.C. (Applications Specifically Not of Interest of the FOA), those applications will be deemed nonresponsive and are not reviewed or considered."]
[7,"2020-07-17","For Piloting of Emerging Technologies, can we consider technologies that are currently in use in other countries but have never been deployed in the USA in any scale and can we use this grant to establish and adapt to water and wastewater plants in the USA?","For Topic Area 2 projects, the expected outcome is pilot operations that addresses technology risks and enables commercialization.  If a technology is already commercialized in the U.S or another country, the applicant would need to address what technology risks remain to be addressed through the pilot operations for the intended application. Also note, in the technical volume requirements, the applicant should describe the current, commercially available state-of-the-technology in the applicable field, the specific innovation of the proposed advanced resource recovery system, the advantages of proposed system over current and emerging technologies, and the overall impact on advancing the state-of-the-art/technical baseline if the project is successful. "]
[8,"2020-07-20","Our intention is to propose an optimized, systems level approach to design decentralized, resilient domestic wastewater facilities that will minimize energy consumption and maximize renewable energy use, relative to current centralized approaches for wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure. We will emphasize the application of existing, scalable technologies that enable reuse of wastewater for indirect potable reuse through managed aquifer recharge and landscape irrigation applications. Would this type of proposal be viewed as competitive under this RFA?","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. DOE will not provide guidance on which specific technologies or approaches are necessary to meet the objectives and criteria defined in the FOA."]
[9,"2020-07-20","We would like to propose to topic #5 Develop small, modular energy-water systems for urban, rural, tribal, national security, and disaster response settings.\nWe would like to propose decentralized water and wastewater reuse systems integrated with decentralized wind/solar electricity  into the system .It would address issues with aging water and wastewater infrastructure and exploit tradeoffs between treatment and conveyance costs and between the costs of water and electricity storage to dramatically reduce grid energy usage and increase water system resilience. The potential at a state scale for rural, suburban and high density urban re-development would be demonstrated in partnership with utilities. General modeling systems will be developed and provided to cover reliability and resilience of the systems to climate, and to economic factors.\nIs this responsive to the intent of the call?\n","To clarify, there is not a topic #5. What you are referencing seems to be the goals of the Water Security Grand Challenge as described in Section I.A.i, which are NOT topic areas of this FOA.  Please thoroughly read the FOA.  Specifically, Section I.B for topic area descriptions.  "]
[10,"2020-07-21","  We have developed an advanced steelmaking wastewater treatment technology that can be used to treat various steelmaking wastewater streams to produce clean recyclable solid by-products, to reduce sludge generation and to reduce energy consumption and operation cost in treating the wastewater.  The peak wastewater flowrate would be about 800 GPM. Could we apply for this FOA as an Area 2 project even though the flowrate is much higher than the pilot scale you are asking?","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. DOE will not provide guidance on which specific technologies or approaches are necessary to meet the objectives and criteria defined in the FOA.\nWith respect to scale of the pilot, what is described in Topic Area 2 in Section I.B.ii is the minimum.\n"]
[11,"2020-07-20","On page 29 of the FOA (Section 4.C.ii – Content and Form of Full Application, Technical Volume) it states: “The applicant should include a comparison of three scenario TEAs and LCAs based on 1) current, commercially available state-of-technology, 2) proposed system's currently achieved targets, and 3) proposed system’s targets that will be achieved by end of project. The initial TEA and LCA of the three scenarios should be conducted using credible methodologies and assumptions.”  To clarify, does this statement mean that the application needs to include the actual results of an initial TEA and LCA, OR that the application needs to include a plan/task to conduct an initial TEA or LCA as part of the work that will be conducted under the project?","As described in the Technical Volume Section IV.C.ii, applicants should include an initial TEA and LCA with their application using credible methodologies and data. As described in Section I.B, this should be supported by experimental data or literature references in the application. Additionally, all projects funded under Topic Area 1 and 2 will be required to update their initial TEA and LCA using Water-DAMS and the Water-TAP3 and report results to DOE. Projects selected will be required to do this at the beginning, during (at least once every 12 months), and at the end of the project. See Section I.A, Section I.B, Section IV.C.ii, and Section IV.C.xix for more details on TEA/LCA and Water TAPs and Water DAMS."]
[12,"2020-07-20","I had a quick question about the above grant as some clients are wondering if they’re facility & projects would qualify. Does this grant repeat every year or is it just this year the grant is being offered? Thanks!","Please continue to check EERE Exchange for current and future solicitations regarding the topics which interest your clients. "]
[13,"2020-07-23","On the grant DE-FOA-0002336 if we were to apply would our IP become open source? Could you briefly describe in layman’s terms the IP arrangement if we are a small business?","Please see Section VI.B.xvii Intellectuall Property Provisions of the FOA document for more detailed information. "]
[14,"2020-07-20"," I am working with a consulting group for several Arizona-New Mexico Federally Recognized Tribes. I am hoping to speak with someone about the Water Resource Recovery System Grant (FOA -0002336) for assistance applying. ","Thank you for your interest. DOE Personnel are prohibited from speaking directly with applicants during an open soliciation. Please submit any questions you may have to AMOWaterFOA@ee.doe.gov. "]
[15,"2020-07-23"," Under Topic Area 2, the FOA states that applicants‘ must demonstrate the ability to design, build, and operate a pilot facility under relevant operating conditions, at a meaningful scale (compared to the envisioned commercial scale system), at a necessary level of unit operation integration, and for an adequate duration to address the remaining RD&D barriers and technology risks within the 24 month project period.  We have identified a testbed and development facility designed with the flexibly to supply a wide range of tailored influent water chemistries at rates up to 25 gpm to the water treatment technology testbed to facilitate extended duration pilot testing and development of emerging water treatment technologies.  Would partnering with a pre-existing facility, such as the testbed and development facility described above, to conduct pilot testing required for Topic Area 2 satisfactorily address the requirement to ‘demonstrate the ability to design, build and operate a pilot facility…’?  ","Topic Area 2 seeks proposals to design, build and operate a representative pilot-scale, advanced water resource recovery system. This could be a new pilot facility or the applicant can partner with an existing pilot facility or modify an existing pilot facility. For Pilot scale testing requirements, refer to Section I.B.2. Topic Area 2, Piloting of Emerging Technologies and Section IV.C.ii for Technical Volume requirements.  Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. DOE will not provide guidance on which specific technologies or approaches are necessary to meet the objectives and criteria defined in the FOA."]
[16,"2020-07-23","My team and I are preparing our Concept Paper for this DE-FOA-0002336 R&D for Advanced Water Resource Recovery Systems.  Is it allowable for 1 Concept Paper to be submitted for Tasks that are in both Topic Area 1 and Topic Area 2? The example in Appendix B of the FOA suggests that there can be different tasks that fall under different Topic Areas for 1 application (which then require different cost share percentages).  "," As noted in Section III.F, “An entity may submit more than one Full Application to this FOA, provided that each application describes a unique, scientifically distinct project.”  The FOA also requires separate submissions for Topics 1 and 2, and as a result, a single entity cannot submit a Concept Paper in response to Topic 1 and another to Topic 2 that are related to the same project or technology.  Projects in Topic 1 are limited to TRL 4-6 and Topic 2 TRL 6-7.  "]
[17,"2020-07-27","For Topic Area 2, does TRL 6-7 refer to the initial TRL or the final TRL that will be attained at the end of the project?  If it is the initial TRL, what is the desired TRL at the end of the project?","The outcome of Topic Area 2 is for the technology to have completed pilot testing to enable commercialization.   Section 1.B.ii of the FOA states that Topic Area 2 seeks to test pilot ready technologies (TRL 6-7) through design, build, and operations in industrially relevant conditions to enable commercialization.  Starting TRL should be 6 and ending TRL is expected to be 7.  Please refer to Section 1.B.ii  for additional information on Topic Area 2, Piloting of Emerging Technologies. See Appendix 6 of the FOA for Definitions for Technologies Readiness Levels"]
[18,"2020-07-27","On page 26 the table states resumes are to be 1 page maximum yet on page 32, the resume section states resumes longer than two pages are not allowed.  Please confirm the length of the resumes.  ","Resumes can be up to 2 pages.  Thank you for bringing the discrepancy to our attention.  "]
[19,"2020-07-29","My company has been invited as an industrial collaborator from separate research teams on two proposals for DE-FOA-0002336. Can Industrial Collaborators be on Multiple Proposals for the same FOA?","Yes, Industrial  collaborators may be included on multiple applications provided that each application describes a unique, scientifically distinct project.  Please refer to Section III.F. Limitation on Number of Concept Papers and Full Applications Eligible for Review "]
[20,"2020-07-23","We have a question on cost share for DE-FOA-0002336. We read on page 16 that the requirement is 20% for Topic 1 (R&D) and 50% for Topic 2 (Piloting). Our understanding is that the cost share requirement is to be calculated on the entire project cost without consideration of the actual tasks.\n \nYet in the cost share example (page 77, Appendix B) you show an example of a blended cost share calculation, which if this project was submitted under Topic 2, would fall short of the 50% of total requirement. It is also stated that \" cost share is not mandated for outreach\" which seems contradicting the 20% or 50% cost share rule. Could you please clarify how the cost share is to be calculated, especially for a Topic 1 project?\n","The cost share requirement is 20% and 50% based off TPC, and Appendix B is just an example. "]
[21,"2020-07-28","Is there a minimum funding that must be requested under either of the topic areas?","No"]
[22,"2020-07-29","Our project (control number 2336-1556) requires two Foreign Work Waiver requests that we would like DOE to provide guidance in the near future.  We would also like guidance as to the suitability of a project to be considered part of our match.  ","Please refer to Section IV.C.xiv Waiver Requests: Foreign Entities and Foreign Work  of the FOA document for information regarding Foreign Work Waivers. Additionally, EERE will not make suitability determinations during an open solicitation. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to review the FOA document and determine if their project aligns with the goals of the solicitation. "]
[23,"2020-07-29","Is it an eligible activity to submit one concept paper for funding under both Topic Areas? Our project includes both R&D and Piloting of our emerging technology, with the emphasis on the piloting aspect.","Per Section III.F. of the FOA \"An entity may submit more than one Full Application to this FOA, provided that each application describes a unique, scientifically distinct project.\""]
[24,"2020-07-29","In the case of a foreign company, it is not clear to me how intellectual property is handled after the project is finished. Does the company own it completely?","Please see Section VI.B.xvii Intellectuall Property Provisions of the FOA document for more detailed information. "]
[25,"2020-07-30","Sounds like only a concept paper is required next week ","Concept Papers are Due August 4th at 5 pm EST"]
[26,"2020-07-30","Is the Concept Paper submittal just the 4000 character limit abstract or the more in depth submission include the technical description (3 page limit)?","Please see Section IV.B.i of the FOA document for specific requirements. "]
[27,"2020-07-31","We are submitting a concept paper and are wondering about the timeline that we can expect for EERE’s determination to encourage or discourage a full application.  With an eye toward the October 6th full application due date, can we expect concept determinations to be made in the first half of August?","Per the FOA on Page 26, \"Applicants will have approximately 30 days from receipt of the Concept Paper Encourage/Discourage notification on EERE Exchange to prepare and submit a Full Application. Regardless of the date the applicant receives the Encourage/Discourage notification, the submission deadline for the Full Application remains the date and time stated on the FOA cover page.\""]
[28,"2020-08-06","Please advise the direct link to the Budget Justification Workbook referenced on page 33 of the FOA in Section IV.C.vii.  The link provided in the FOA is a general link and the referenced document is not to be found. When I google it a few different documents present themselves, but none with the title Budget Justification Workbook.","The template should now be available in EERE Exchange under Required Application Documents on the Funding Opportunity Announcement specific page. "]
[29,"2020-08-07","We submitted a concept paper to DE-FOA-0002336. Looking over the FOA there is significant activity and importance given to Water-DAMS and Water-TAP3. “All projects funded through this FOA will be required to conduct techno- economic  analysis (TEA) and life-cycle assessments (LCA) using Water-DAMS and the Water-TAP3 and report results to DOE.”  These resources are of general interest to our research group. We tried to locate additional information about these and could not find any on the NAWI site. These tools appear to still be in development. Is there a timeline or contact for these tools. ","Content on Water TAPs and Water DAMS should be available on the www.NAWIhub.org website by end of August.  After project selections, NREL staff and AMO will provide some technical assistance to selected awardees on updating their TEA and LCA using these tools. Training on Water TAPs and Water DAMS will also be available to selected awardees to help them become familiar with how to use these tools."]
[30,"2020-08-09","Are we able to participate in this FOA without submitting a concept paper?","To be eligible to submit a Full Application, applicants must submit a Concept Paper by the specified due date and time."]
[31,"2020-08-12","I was just sent this email with info about this same FOA with a different closing date of Oct. 6, 2020 under Grants.gov.  ","The FOA schedule (shown in a table, on the first page of the FOA) shows a closing date for Concept Papers of August 4th at 5:00 pm ET.  The closing date for full applications is October 6th at 5:00 pm ET.  An applicant must submit a concept paper to submit a full proposal. "]
[32,"2020-08-13","Can one start on the full proposal application before the DOE review of the submitted Concept Paper is completed?  If so, how does one initiate an application through EERE-Exchange?","Yes. Applicants will apply through EERE Exchange using the same control number as was submitteed"]
[33,"2020-08-13","Is your team able to connect us to teams that have submitted white papers so that we may contribute to their work?","No, we cannot share information on applicants to the FOA"]
[34,"2020-09-01","For those interested in full applications to Track 2, R&D Pilot Demonstration, after the end of the project does the Awardee retain ownership rights of the constructed 5 gpm pilot-scale system and all unexpended consumables related to its operation?","Please see Section IV.I.vi Equipment and Supplies: Property disposition will be required at the end of a project if the current fair market value of property exceeds $5,000. For-profit entity disposition requirements are set forth at 2 CFR 910.360. Property disposition requirements for other non-federal entities are set forth in 2 CFR 200.310 – 200.316."]
[35,"2020-09-02","Page 26 of the FOA indicates resumes are limited to 1 page maximum per person.  Page 32 of the FOA indicates resumes are to be no longer than 2 pages for key participating team members.  Please clarify if resumes of 2 pages in length are acceptable.","Please see question 18"]
[36,"2020-09-02","Will DOE be providing any further feedback on our Concept Papers beyond the simple “discouraged” or “encouraged” notes that were posted earlier this week?  ","DOE will not be providing further feedback on Concept Papers."]
[37,"2020-09-02","If a National Lab is a subrecipient and completes an FWP are they required to also submit a budget justification? ","A budget justification is not required for a National lab who will not be participating as a prime recipient. "]
[38,"2020-09-02","Is it possible for the prime and subrecipient entities that were identified in the Concept Paper to be switched in the Full Proposal?  In other words, although an entity was identified in the Concept Paper as the “prime”, can they be recategorized as the subrecipient in the Full Proposal?","Yes, this is allowable as long as the  encouraged project has not changed from it's original project objectives."]
[39,"2020-09-03","Are there restrictions on how many proposals a commercialization partner can be a part of on a single FOA?","This is allowable as long as the work being proposed is significantly different from one another and does not overlap with another project. If the work is similar in nature the relationship should be examined if it is more appropriate to be a vendor vs. a sub-recipient."]
[40,"2020-09-04","I have a foreign entity who would like to partner with us in this effort. When reviewing Section II.A.III., it seems that the waiver forms are only requested for the foreign entities applying as a prime member. Is there any limitations for foreign entities to partner as a vendor or service provider?","A foregin waiver is required for any partner, vendor, or service which is considered a Foreign Entity by definition of this FOA. "]
[41,"2020-09-04","I have an active AMO project now (I am the PI), but on a completely irrelevant topic. Does it prevent me from serving the PI of a full proposal to this Water FOA? ","No"]
[42,"2020-09-04","We received a response from the reviewers to encourage us to submit a full application.  We are very interested in pursuing this opportunity; however, we are concerned about the matching requirement for this proposal.  Specifically, since this application will be submitted under Topic Area 2: Piloting of Emerging Technologies, there is a requirement for a 50% match.  With an anticipated request of $2 million to support the work we have in mind, this amounts to a $1 million match.\n\nWe have a number of ideas about possible matching support for this project, but the bottom line is that this matching requirement represents a serious barrier.  Do you have any comments or suggestions as to how to address this problem?  Or more generally, is there a chance that the matching requirement could be reduced or eliminated?\n","DOE is unable to provide guidance on obtaining cost share partners and the amount of cost share required for each topic area cannot be reduced."]
[43,"2020-09-08","I would like to inquire under which conditions combining two accepted concept papers into one proposal would be acceptable to DOE? Is this acceptable to DOE? ","An applicant may modify one of the concept papers submitted in response to this FOA to include additional scope or partners than was originally included in the concept paper.  However, a new concept paper/full application different from those already submitted, cannot be created and submitted at this point.    The full application would need to be submitted under one of the exiting concept paper control numbers. "]
[44,"2020-09-09","Can you please clarify if that once you have received a response to your concept paper, you have 30 days to submit regardless of the stated submission date (October 6th)?","All concept papers have received their encourage or discourage message regardless of when the encourage or discourage notification were sent, the full application due date remains the same, October 6 , 2020"]
[45,"2020-09-09","In the FOA:\nOn page 29, it is listed as to be included in the Market Transformation plan, which is supposed to be a part of the technical volume i.e. “ControlNumber_LeadOrganization_TechnicalVolume” \n\nHowever, on page 37: \nSave the U.S. Manufacturing Plan in a single PDF file using the following convention for the title “ControlNumber_LeadOrganization_USMP”.\n\nCould you please clarify for me which place it should be saved in? \n","The USMP is technically reviewed/graded for its completeness under the Market Transformation Plan, but it should be submitted as a separate document in Exchange. "]
[46,"2020-09-09","There is a template for a U.S. manufacturing plan here: https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/07/f33/eere_358_us_manufacturing_report_0.docx\nIs this an appropriate template to use for our application?\n","No.  The link that you posted is NOT a template for the U.S. Manufacturing Plan and should NOT be used as one.  As indicated in the FOA, the U.S. Manufacturing Plan must include a commitment that any products embodying any subject invention or produced through the use of any subject invention will be manufactured substantially in the United States, unless the applicant can show to the satisfaction of DOE that it is not commercially feasible to do so (referred to hereinafter as “the U.S. Competitiveness Provision”). The applicant further agrees to make the U.S. Competitiveness Provision binding on any subawardee and any assignee or licensee or any entity otherwise acquiring rights to any subject invention, including subsequent assignees or licensees. A subject invention is any invention conceived of or first actually reduced to practice under an award. \n\nInstead of the U.S. Competitiveness Provision, an applicant may propose a U.S. Manufacturing Plan with specific and enforceable commitments tied to a specific product or technology that would be beneficial to the U.S. economy and competitiveness. For example, an applicant may commit specific products to be manufactured in the U.S., commit to a specific investment in a new or existing U.S. manufacturing facility, keep certain activities based in the U.S. or support a certain number of jobs in the U.S. related to the technology. An applicant which is likely to license the technology to others, especially universities for which licensing may be the exclusive means of commercialization of the technology, the U.S. Manufacturing Plan may indicate the applicant's plan and commitment to use a specific licensing strategy that would likely support U.S. manufacturing. \n\nIf DOE determines, at its sole discretion, that the more specific commitments would provide a sufficient benefit to the U.S. economy and industrial competitiveness, the specific commitments will be part of the terms and conditions of the award. For all other awards, the U.S. Competitiveness Provision shall be incorporated as part of the terms and conditions of the award as the U.S. Manufacturing Plan for that award.\n"]
[47,"2020-09-11","For the Track 2 pilot scale can one design advanced water resource recovery for greater than 5 gpm (7200 gpd) capacity?  More like an upper bound (peak flow) closer to 20 gpm for example?"," As explained in Section 1.B.ii - Piloting must include all relevant unit operations in the Process Flow Diagram of the advanced water resource recovery system, and at a minimum be conducted at 1-5 gallons/minute scale and operate continuously for at least 1-3 months under relevant conditions to enable commercialization. Since 1-5 gallons/minute is a minimum, pilot scale advanced water resource recovery systems may be larger than 5 gpm (7200 gpd) capacity. Applicants must explain how the scale of their pilot system is commercially relevant and how it would scale up from pilot scale to commercial scale, if successful. "]
[48,"2020-09-04","I am preparing a proposal for your FOA and I had a question about integrating with the Water-TAP tool.  We will be creating a large amount of performance data and that data could help the tool provide more accurate valorization estimates of digestion products.  I engaged with some people on the Water-TAP team and I was wondering how it would be best to integrate this into my proposal.  Is it allowable to provide funding to a member of the team to serve as a bridge between our team and Water-TAP if they would also provide a TEA analysis with the tool in support of our work?  Or will data from each of the funded proposals under this FOA simply be sent to the Water-TAP team?  Would I need a letter of support from the Water-Tap team for either of these plans?","Yes, it’s appropriate for applicants to have scope and budget for their own team members to learn how to use --and then use ---Water TAP3 and Water DAMS. Projects should not rely on NREL Water TAPs team to conduct this scope of work for them.  Selected projects from this FOA will be required to populate the data hub and TEA/LCA tools with their performance data at the beginning, middle and end of the project’s performance period to share with DOE. Applicants do not need to have a letter of support from the Water TAP3 team at NREL. DOE will have a separate contract with NREL’s Water TAP3 team to train projects selected from this FOA on the use of these tools.  "]
[49,"2020-09-10","We've submitted a pre-application for the following opportunity and had a question on the decision. There was a mistake in selecting TRLs for current status and after the project during the submission, and we couldn't make the changes. It was submitted from TRL 1 to 2, which we tried to fix but couldn't do so in the system.  We would like to clarify the reason for the “discourage” decision for the full application.  If it was TRL related, we would like to submit the full application for consideration as that certainly was an error on our part. If this was related to the technology or approach, we may also consider changing the scope to meet the funding requirements. Would it possible to receive a note from the evaluation team or setup a few minute call?","Concept Papers submitted in response to this FOA were reviewed against the established criteria in section V.A.i of the FOA.  DOE does not conduct debriefings on concept paper reviews.  Please note, as identified in Section IV.B.i of the FOA, an applicant with a concept paper that has been discouraged may still submit a full proposal."]
[50,"2020-09-13","My team submitted a concept for the DE-FOA-0002336, and we are writing to inquire about the availability of reviewers' comments on the concept paper that you might be able to share with us, please.","DOE does not conduct debriefings on concept paper reviews or provide reviewers comments for concept papers."]
[51,"2020-09-14","Can you please advise what the page limit is for the subject FOA technical volume (full application)?","Please see section IV.C.ii of the FOA for more information"]
[52,"2020-09-14","The subject FOA states that resumes are limited to 1 page max per person on page 26, but then states that resumes are limited to two pages per person on page 32. Can DOE clarify the page limitation for each resume? ","Please see question 18"]
[53,"2020-09-15","I am writing to request some feedback on the submitted preproposal to the FOA-0002336 program as my full submission was discouraged.\nI would like to know the potential weaknesses so that I can apply with a more competitive idea for future programs.\n","DOE does not conduct debriefings on concept paper reviews or provide reviewers comments for concept papers."]
[54,"2020-09-13","Should we keep the font used in the DOE templates, or should we change these to Times New Roman?","Fonts on documents created by the applicant (e.g. Technical Volume, Resumes, etc.) need to use 12 point or larger Times New Roman as specified in the FOA.  Fonts used on DOE forms and templates can be used as-is.  Copied graphics, tables and similar items must be legible or will not be reviewed.  "]
[55,"2020-09-14","In the SOPO template, the front page has a field for the \"Award Number\" and the \"Mod Number\". \nWhat should be placed in these fields for the Full Application (i.e. there isn't an \"Award Number\" yet?\nDo we delete this line, or do we leave it blank?\n","Applicants should use their control number wherever a template asks for an Award Number. A modification number is not necessary."]
[56,"2020-09-16","We have a leading distillation system in regards to energy efficiency.  We missed the deadline for submission of a concept paper but would still like to participate.  Would you still evaluate our application if submitted by the Oct 6th deadline?  ","Applicants will not be able to submit a full application without having first submitted a concept paper."]
[57,"2020-09-16","Can you please qualify under what conditions a non-US manufacturing plan will be considered commercially feasible?","Determination on commercial feasibility is fact specific.  Factors may include access and availability of supply chain and customers, manufacturing capacity and other existing investments.  Even when the U.S. Competitiveness Provision is determined to be not commercially feasible, DOE will require the applicant or recipient to agree to alternative commitments that will be beneficial to the U.S. economy such as agreement to manufacture certain components in the U.S., invest in U.S. manufacturing capabilities or support U.S. jobs based on the DOE funded technology.          "]
[58,"2020-09-17","What is the recommended length of the USMP","There is no recommended length for the US Manufacturing Plan"]
[59,"2020-09-21","This proposal includes four subawards to collaborating institutions.  During proposal development it came to our attention that unrecovered indirect costs cannot be used in cost sharing without prior approval.  We are writing this as a request to use unrecovered indirect costs as a portion of our project cost share commitment. Doing so would help us expand the subawards and cost share available from our collaborators, and in particular those from industry who would assist with the market development and commercialization of the proposed technologies. ","Prior approval for unrecovered indirect costs would be required if the project you're submitting an application for, is selected. For brevity purposes you should include all the budget items you would be requesting prior approval for, if your project is selected. "]
[60,"2020-09-21","We are interested in reversing the roles of institutions among the partners for the full grant submission","This is allowable as long as it is well documented in the beginning of the technical volume that the Prime recipient will be switching from one organzation to the other. Applicants should still use the original control number when applying."]
[61,"2020-09-21","Does DOE consider “open source” as a viable commercialization approach, or does a proprietary product/process need to be developed or advanced from the project?","The criteria that the applications are reviewed against are listed in Section V.A.ii .  If the question is specifically in reference to software tools that might be developed under the FOA, it is not a requirement that the software be an open source platform."]
[62,"2020-09-22","Is there a standard form provided by DOE that we need to complete for the Waiver for Foreign Work? Or do we just need to submit a brief memorandum with the information requested in Appendix C.2. (page 81) Waiver for Performance of Work in the United States (Foreign Work Waiver)? ","There is not a standard form for completing the Waiver for Foreign Work. A brief memorandum as requested is sufficient."]
[63,"2020-09-22","We are preparing a full proposal in response to the DE-FOA-0002336 opportunity and have a question about cost share. Can we include unrecovered F&A cost in the university’s cost share?  ","For the purposes of the application, unrecovered F&A costs can be shown on the budget as cost share however, if a project is selected with unrecovered F&A a prior approval will be required and negotiated. "]
[64,"2020-09-22","1. Valuation and justification of in-kind contributions. The FOA does indicate that the in-kind contributions should be verified and justified, and the basis for determining the valuation must be documented. However, it does not provide guidance on how to calculate the value. Could you please provide some guidance on this? ","Please see 2 CFR 200.306 on more information about cost sharing. "]
[65,"2020-09-16","Regarding the required TEA/LCA for the proposal:  will you consider 1) limiting the pages for the TEA/LCA or 2) clarify the level of detail expected, or perhaps 3) eliminate it from the proposal requirements? While we do not want a brief / high level TEA/LCA to reflect poorly to the reviewers of our proposal, we find that a proper analysis will take up about 4 or more pages of the 6 pages dedicated to the section.  \n","Applicants need to provide an initial TEA and LCA that explains their credible methodology and assumptions, with the best available data including references and citations. The amount of space devoted to this discussion and level of detail is up to the applicant to decide how best to manage, factoring in requirements in the Technical Volume (Section IV.C.ii) and the full application Technical Review Criteria (Section V.A.ii)."]
[66,"2020-09-25","For this FOA, the page limit for the Technical Volume is 20 pages.  Do the references (cited in the technical volume document) need to be included in the 20 page limit?  The text on page 27 of the FOA does not specifically state whether references need to be included in the 20 page limit.  ","Per the FOA on Page 27, \"The Technical Volume to the Full Application may not be more than 20 pages, including the cover page, table of contents, and all citations, charts, graphs, maps, photos, or other graphics, and must include all of the information in the table below. The applicant should consider the weighting of each of the evaluation criteria (see Section V.A.ii of the FOA) when preparing the Technical Volume.\""]
[67,"2020-09-25","What do we need to fill for the SF-424? Could you please send me what we need to fill out?\n\nIs there a template for the DMP?\n","The full SF424 should be filled out  with all required fields completed. There is not a template document for the DMP but please see section IV.C.xvi. Data Management Plan on page 37 for DMP requirements."]
[68,"2020-09-25","We are a DOE FFRDC applying as a subrecipient who is not providing cost share. Our understanding is that a Letter of Commitment is not required from us. Could you please let us know if this is correct?","If there is no cost share being provided then a letter of commitment would not be required, however an FFRDC authorization letter is required which must be signed by the FFRDC's cognizant contracting officer, as well as a field work proposal. Please see section III.E.i on page 20 of the FOA document for more information, and section IV.C.xi and xii. on pages 34-35 on what is required for the application package."]
[69,"2020-09-28","P. 72, Appendix A talks about Total Project Costs in relation to cost share.  Does Total Project Costs include the entire budget including all cost share or should cost share % be calculated based solely on the direct and indirect costs in the Prime's budget, the Subaward's budget, and the FFDRC's budget?","Cost share is calculated on Total Project Costs including the federal share, recipient portion, which includes all cost categories and FFRDC amounts."]
[70,"2020-09-28","Per UW Cost Share Policy, we plan to use F&A on cost shared direct expenses (e.g. F&A on cost shared salary and fringe). Is this an allowable cost share? Is this considered a cash or in-kind cost share? ","Indirect costs are an allowable cost and considered a cash contribution toward the project."]
[71,"2020-09-28","P. 17-18 indicates that all cost share contributions must be reviewed and approved in advance by the Contracting Officer. We are assuming this is done at time of award not at time of proposal. Is this a correct assumption?","If a project is selected for an award, it's sources of cost share will be reviewed during negotiations. "]
[72,"9/28/20220","In Section IV.C.ix - Summary Slide for FOA Number DE-FOA-0002336, a description of the content of this slide was presented without any link to a “Summary Slide” PowerPoint Template.  The attached “PowerPoint Template” was downloaded from somewhere on the EERE web Site.  Should Prime proposers use the attached template or can we use our own PowerPoint Slide format as long as the required information is included?","If a template was not provided then applicants may use their own powerpoint slide format as long as the required information is included. Please see section IV.C.ix on page 34 of the FOA document for summary slide requirements."]
[73,"2020-09-28","Is there someone I could speak to regarding the Lobbying Disclosure documentation on Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number: DE-FOA-0002336?","Please submit all questions to the AMO Water FOA inbox at AMOwaterfoa@ee.doe.gov"]
[74,"2020-09-29","More than a few instances, I need to add rows to some of the worksheets.  When doing that, I lose connection to some of the summary formulas in cells that are password protected.  Is this something you can help me with?  \n\nCan I send the work in process to you and have you add the rows and copy down the formulas where I need the flexibility to add more information?\n","DOE is unable to provide help in formatting the budget justification form, however, using the format painter option may solve issues when adding rows. "]
[75,"2020-09-30","Per instruction for the Budget Justification Form, we need to include a document as an attachment.  On the EERE application submittal webpage, only an Microsoft Excel file is allowable to be uploaded.  Where shall we upload this attachment to the Budget Justification Form?","If a supplemental document is needed for the budget justification, it can be included in an additional tab on the budget justification worksheet. "]
[76,"2020-09-30","We are working on putting the budget justification form together and were wondering if DOE EERE had a copy of the terms and conditions that will be part of this contract that we could review.","There is a set of terms and conditions here but they should not be heavily relied upon as they're outdated.https://www.energy.gov/management/office-management/operational-management/financial-assistance/financial-assistance-forms  "]
[77,"2021-02-11","Would you be able to provide an updated timeline for DOE’s decision making on DE-FOA-0002336? The FOA indicated final decisions to be scheduled by January 2021. The EERE status still states as a final decision has not yet been made.  Having an updated timeline would be very helpful for us and our team collaborators resource planning. ","Award selections from DE-FOA-0002336 are expected to be announced by the end of March, with award negotiations expected in April."]

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["Registration Requirements"]
["Webinar"]
["Eligibility"]
["Labs/FFRDCs"]
["Foreign Entities/Work"]
["Cost Sharing"]
["Due Dates"]
["Application Content/Format"]
["Intellectual Property"]
["Data Management"]
["U.S. Manufacturing Plan"]
["Application Reviews"]
["Technical Topics"]