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{"sheet":"NOFO CONTENT QUESTIONS","index":0,"n_rows":19,"n_cols":5,"rows_kept":19,"cut":false,"hidden":false,"merged":[[0,0,0,4],[1,0,1,4],[2,0,2,4]]}
["ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTION AND ANSWER LOG"]
["DE-FOA-0003215"]
["Updated 9/4/2026"]
["Date Posted","Number","Question Category","Question","Answer"]
["2026-08-25",1,"NETL Exchange Site Support","User tried to download the NOFO from NETL eXCHANGE and Part 1 seems to not open.  Can you email me a pdf please?","Other users have been able to download the pdf.  Please have someone else from the team download as needed or try saving file as first.  Please try different browsers.  Please reach out to the exchange support email at NETL-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov if issues persist."]
["2026-08-25",2,"Application Content Requirements","Could you please clarify whether a references/bibliography section is required to be included within the 15-page limit for the Technical Volume?","The Technical Volume to the application may not be more than 15 pages, including the cover page; table of contents; all citations, charts, graphs, maps, photos, or other graphics and all information below.  (section IV.D.3 titled Technical volume of NOFO part 1, page 28 of 43)"]
["2026-08-25",3,"Eligibility","Can you confirm whether an FFRDC satisfies the non-academic partner requirement in Section III.D.1.5, or whether that clause is limited to the listed categories?","Partnering organization types are listed in section IV.C of NOFO Part 1.  Include your partnering organization type: \n• Federal Government \n• FFRDC  \n• Government owned and operated (GOGO) \n• Indian/Native American Tribal Government  \n• Large business \n• Non-profit \n• Small business \n• State or local government \n• Etc."]
["2026-08-25",4,"Topic Area","Section III.D.1.3.2, Subtopic 1B (Oil & Gas), lists \"Methods for extracting CMM and REE from produced water and other oil and gas waste streams\" as a priority initiative. User is proposing in-situ (subsurface) leaching of critical minerals and rare earth elements directly within oil & gas reservoir formations, with the mineral-enriched fluid recovered as part of the produced fluid stream — as opposed to treating produced water after it reaches the surface.\nWould this in-situ approach be considered responsive under this priority initiative?","DOE cannot comment on specific project ideas.  Please see section III.D.1.3.2 of the NOFO, which lists \"Methods for extracting CMM and REE from produced water and other oil and gas waste streams\" as a priority initiative."]
["2026-08-25",5,"Eligibility","Is FOA-0003215 only meant for academic institutions or canstartup companies apply?","Section II.A.2 of NOFO Part 1 states \nAs recipients or subrecipients: \n• Institutions of higher education including technical/trade schools (as defined in Title \n20 U.S.C. § 1001).  \nAs subrecipients only:  \n• For-profit organizations \n• Nonprofit organizations  \n• State and local government entities \n• Indian Tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education \nAssistance Act, 25 U.S.C. § 5304)3"]
["2026-08-25",6,"Eligibility","Are Research Assistant Professors eligible to be a PI (Principal Investigator) of this DE-FOA-0003215: Annual Recurring University Training and Research?","Section II.A.1 of the NOFO states:  \nTo ensure the UTR program continues to support the performance of high-quality  fundamental research by professors and students at U.S. IHEs, applications must adhere to the following additional criteria: \n• The Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI listed on the application is a professor at the  submitting IHE.  If this condition is met, other participants, co-PIs, or research staff  that do not hold teaching or student positions may be included as part of the research  team. "]
["2026-08-25",7,"Topic Area","Are low-temperature solid oxides covered under Subtopic 1A – Coal – Conversion and Products – Low-temperature electrochemical conversion of CO2 to CO or formic acid?","DOE cannot comment on specific project ideas.  Please see section  III.D.1.3.1 of the NOFO, which lists \"Low-temperature electrochemical conversion of CO2 to CO or formic acid\" as a priority initiative. "]
["2026-08-28",8,"Eligibility","Can a Federally Funded Research and Development Center  serve as the mandatory \"non-academic partnering organization\" to fulfill the requirement in Section III.E? \n\nOr must the non-academic partner be a for-profit, nonprofit, or state/local government entity outside the federal research ecosystem? \n","Previously answered for question #5"]
["2026-08-28",9,"Topic Area","For \"Subtopic 1B: Oil & Gas”, may I ask if the production of geological natural hydrogen gas from a subsurface formation could be applicable to this subtopic?","DOE cannot comment on specific project ideas.  Please see section  III.D.1.3.1 of the NOFO, which lists  priority initiative. "]
["2026-08-28",10,"Eligibility","The NOFO specifies that the Principal Investigator must be a professor. Does this mean that the PI must be tenure-track faculty? Or could they be an adjunct faculty? Do they have to be able to be the primary advisor to graduate students?","Previously answered for question #6"]
["2026-09-04",11,"Topic Area","Is experimentation and/or development of digital twins allowable within the scope of the NOFO when used to support techno-economic analysis and evaluate potential marketable products and product pathways resulting from coal conversion?","DOE cannot comment on specific project ideas.  Please see section III.D.1.3.1 of the NOFO, which lists priority initiatives. "]
["2026-09-04",12,"Eligibility","Could you please confirm whether an FFRDC (e.g., NLR or PNNL) can satisfy the mandatory non-academic partnering organization requirement in Section III.D.1.5 of NOFO Part 1, or whether that requirement is limited to the categories explicitly listed there (for-profit, nonprofit, state/local government)?\n\nIn short, if we form a team consisting only of a university and a national laboratory (FFRDC), is a non-academic industry partner still mandatorily required?","Previously answered for question #5"]
["2026-09-04",13,"Cost Sharing","Our required non-academic partnering organization will participate on an in-kind, non-cost-shared basis consistent with the voluntary industrial collaboration structures described in NOFO Part 1 (Eligibility — Cost Sharing): consultation with the Principal Investigator, sharing of non-proprietary information, assistance in interpreting results, student mentorship, and participation in the technology maturation and transition plan. No federal funds will flow to the partner, and no voluntary cost share is proposed.\n\nQuestion: For the Letter of Intent field \"percentage effort to be performed by the partnering organization in terms of overall budget percentage,\" and for the corresponding statement required in the partner's letter of commitment under Section III.D, 1.5 (Partnering Organization Requirement), is it correct to list the partnering organization at 0% of the overall project budget, with the lead organization at 100%, and to delineate the partner's in-kind roles and responsibilities in the letter without assigning a dollar value? If DOE expects a different representation for a non-cost-shared in-kind partner, please advise how the percentage should be stated.","NOFO Part 2 Section II.A.3 states, \"In-kind contributions are those where the value of the contribution can be readily  determined, verified, and justified but no actual cash is transacted to secure the good or service  that makes up the contribution.  For allowable types of cost share, refer to 2 C.F.R. § 910.130 for  for-profit entities or 2 C.F.R. § 200.306 for all other entity types.   \n\nProject teams may use funding or property received from state or local governments to meet the cost share requirement as long as the Federal Government did not provide the funding to the state or local government.  Cost share contributions must be: \n• Specified in the project budget \n• Verifiable from the recipient’s records \n• Necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of the project.\"\n\nSection II.C.1 states, \"applicants can propose voluntary industrial collaboration cost share, which may include the following:\n1. Cash cost-sharing received by the university awardee from participant(s)\n2. Subcontracting by university awardee with the industrial participant(s) to provide consultation and experimental data and/or equipment not available at the university\n3. In-kind collaboration with the industrial participant(s) agreeing to consult with the Principal Investigator and to share non-proprietary information that will assist in improving the experimental plan and/or assist in analyzing data obtained by the Principal Investigator. In-kind use of industrial experimental facilities not available at the university is included in this kind of collaboration\""]
["2026-09-04",14,"Cost Sharing","Cost share: On page 11, part 1 it says: “Cost sharing is not required under this NOFO for prime or subrecipients. However, applicants can propose voluntary industrial collaboration cost share,” but in part 2, page 15 it says: \"The letter [of commitment] must state that the third party is committed to providing a specific minimum dollar amount or value of in-kind contributions allocated to cost sharing.\"\nIs cost share optional for the university and industry partners?"," Cost Sharing is not required. NOFO Part 1 and NOFO Part 2 have a supplementary relationship where Part 1 adds to, expands, and supports Part 2 without replacing any of the core terms. \n\nSection II.C.1 states, \"Cost sharing is not required under this NOFO for prime or subrecipients.\""]
["2026-09-04",15,"Eligibility","\tIn part 1 of the NOFO, the technical volume, PMP, and SOPO are listed as three separate documents (see page 23).\nIn part 2 , SOPO and PMP are part of the technical volume (see page 15). \nIs the technical volume a separate document, or do PMP and SOPO constitute the technical volume?","NOFO Part 1 and NOFO Part 2 have a supplementary relationship where Part 1 adds to, expands, and supports Part 2 without replacing any of the core terms."]

{"sheet":"INSTRUCTIONS & TIPS","index":1,"n_rows":11,"n_cols":2,"rows_kept":11,"cut":false,"hidden":false,"merged":[[0,0,0,1],[7,0,7,1]]}
["INSTRUCTIONS"]
[1,"All questions pertaining to this funding opportunity should be emailed under the DE-FOA-0003215 - DE-FOA-0003215@netl.doe.gov. "]
[2,"All questions pertaining to NETL Exchange should be emailed to netl-exchangesupport@hq.doe.gov. Include NOFO name and number in subject line."]
[3,"All questions and answers pertaining to this NOFO will be posted on NETL 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 no later than 3 business days prior to the application due date. Questions submitted after this date will not be answered."]
[]
["TIPS"]
[1,"Applicants may sort questions and answers in the question tabs of this spreadsheet 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."]
[3,"Applicants who are unable to open PDF documents are advised that it could be due to an error with the user's web browser or the user's Adobe software. We recommend closing your web browser and then opening a different web browser to navigate to the Exchange website to open/download the document. If that doesn't work, please contact the Exchange Help Desk at the web address provided on the NOFO in Exchange. "]

{"sheet":"Admin Pick List","index":2,"n_rows":17,"n_cols":1,"rows_kept":17,"cut":false,"hidden":true,"merged":[]}
["Pick List"]
[]
["Registration Requirements"]
["Webinar"]
["Concept Paper"]
["Eligibility"]
["Labs/FFRDCs"]
["Foreign Entities/Work"]
["Cost Sharing"]
["Due Dates"]
["Application Content/Format"]
["Intellectual Property"]
["Data Management"]
["Other"]
["U.S. Manufacturing Plan"]
["Application Reviews"]
["Technical Topics"]