1) Notice of Funding Opportunity: Commercial Fabrication Facilities
https://www.nist.gov/chips/notice-funding-opportunity-commercial-fabrication-facilities.
CHIPS for America is pleased to announce the first funding opportunity for its incentives program, which aims to catalyze long-term economically sustainable growth in the domestic semiconductor industry in support of U.S. economic and national security.
This funding opportunity seeks applications for projects for the construction, expansion, or modernization of commercial facilities for the front- and back-end fabrication of leading-edge, current-generation, and mature-node semiconductors. Two additional funding opportunities—for materials and manufacturing equipment facilities, and for research and development facilities—will be announced later this year.
Statements of interest from all potential applicants will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning February 28, 2023. For potential applications for leading-edge facilities, pre-applications (optional) and full applications will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning March 31, 2023. For potential applications for current-generation, mature-node, and back-end production facilities, pre-applications (recommended) will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning May 1, 2023, and full applications will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning June 26, 2023.
2) The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites comments to OMB by March 17, 2023 on three emergency information collection requests concerning the applications for CHIPS Act funding.
a) CHIPS Pre-Application
Businesses and other entities applying for CHIPS Act funding under the CHIPS Incentive Program may, but are not required to, submit a pre-application via a form available at
https://applications.chips.gov/ to obtain feedback before submitting a full application. The pre-application phase creates an opportunity for dialogue between the Department of Commerce and the applicant to ensure the applicant is ready to meet program requirements and address program priorities.
Information to be collected includes:
-- A Cover Page with general contact and project information;
-- A Project Plan that describes each project expected to be included in the future full application. The project plan should explain how each project satisfies the program description and the evaluation criteria in the CHIPS Incentive Program—Commercial Fabrication Facilities Notice of Funding Opportunity;
-- Financial Information summarizing financial information for the applicant and the project(s), as well as a detailed sources and uses of funds, including overview of CHIPS incentive request;
-- Workforce Development Information describing the applicant's approach to recruit, train, and retain a diverse and skilled set of workers to fill the good jobs that will be created to operate its semiconductor facilities.
NIST pre-app submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202303-0693-003 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-04441
b) CHIPS Full Application
Businesses and other entities applying for CHIPS Act funding under the CHIPS Incentive Program must submit a full application via a web portal at
https://applications.chips.gov/. The full application includes a series of sections, each described below. It includes a project plan, supplemented by more detailed narrative and analytical sections that demonstrate how the application addresses each dimension of the merit review framework:
-- Cover Page with general information;
-- Covered Incentive—a letter from a state or local government entity to demonstrate that the applicant has been offered a qualifying covered incentive;
-- Description of Projects—a detailed description of proposed project(s) in the application;
-- Applicant Profile—descriptive information about the applicant;
-- Alignment with Economic and National Security Objectives—a description of how the project(s) meets economic and national security objectives;
-- Commercial Strategy—a description of the commercial strategy;
-- Financial Information—a detailed description of the financial plan, including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with financial models;
-- Project Technical Feasibility—the applicant must demonstrate the technical feasibility of each proposed project;
-- Organization Information
-- Workforce Development Plan—Each applicant must document their expected workforce needs for their facility (including both construction and operations phases) and provide a strategy to meet such needs in a workforce development plan;
-- Broader Impacts—Each applicant must provide an overview of the broader impacts of the proposed project(s); and
-- Standard Forms—All applicants should submit standard forms as follows: . . .
NIST full app submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202303-0693-002 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-04434
c) CHIPS Environmental Questionnaire
Businesses and other entities applying for CHIPS Act funding are required to submit a pre-application or application via a form available at
https://applications.chips.gov/.
One form in both applications is the Environmental Questionnaire. The purpose of the Environmental Questionnaire is to ensure that the Department of Commerce is aware, in broad terms, of relevant environmental considerations, and can work with the potential applicant to ensure that the applicant can provide all required environmental information during the full application and due diligence stages when applying for funding. Each applicant must provide the requested information on the Environmental
Questionnaire using the template which will be made available on the CHIPS Incentives Program application portal. Information to be collected includes information pertaining to an applicant's:
-- Project Description
-- Project Site/Affected Environment
-- Resource Consumption Rates and Effluent Emissions Streams and Impacts
-- Tribal, Historic, and Cultural Resources
-- Project Setting
-- Vegetation Resources.
-- Conservation Areas
-- Coastal Zones and Navigable Waters
-- Wetlands
-- Floodplains
-- Endangered Species
-- Land Use and Zoning
-- Solid Waste Management
-- Hazardous or Toxic Substances
-- Impacts to Water Quality/Water Resources
-- Water Supply and Distribution System
-- Wastewater Collection and Treatment Facilities
-- Environmental Justice & Socioeconomics
-- Transportation (Streets, Traffic and Parking)
-- Air Quality
-- Greenhouse Gases and their Environmental Effects
-- Noise
-- Health and Safety
-- Permits and other Government Agency Involvement
-- Public Notification/Controversy
-- Environmental Experience and Approach
NIST environmental questionnaire submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202303-0693-001 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-04442
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806