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[null,"DE-FOA-0003627 - ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTION AND ANSWER LOG"]
[]
[null,"For questions regarding NETL eXCHANGE please contact the NETL Exchange Helpdesk at NETL-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov and include the NOFO name and number in the subject line.\n\nQuestions regarding this NOFO must be submitted no later than three business days prior to the application due date. Please note, feedback on individual concepts will not be provided through Q&A."]
[null,"Question #","Topic","Question","Answer","Date Posted"]
[null,1,"Cost Share Requirement","We wanted to confirm the minimum cost share for Topic Area 1B. While under 1.A. Key Facts (pg. 6) it states that the cost share minimum is 20%, 1.A.1 Funding Details (pg. 7) it states, “Minimum cost share required: 0% of the total project costs”. We assume the true cost share is the former (20%) but wanted to confirm. ","See Modification 000002 (dated 07/10/2026) of the NOFO for current cost sharing information.   All projects are required to include a minimum 20% cost share.","2026-07-15"]
[null,2,"Cost Share Requirement","I believe there may be a discrepancy in the stated cost share amount. For Topic Area 1b, page 7 states that the \"minimum cost share required [is] 0% of the total project costs.\" Is this supposed to be 20% like the other topic areas and as stated on page 11? Please let me know if I am mistaken and the amount is correct as stated on page 7. ","See Modification 000002 (dated 07/10/2026) of the NOFO for current cost sharing information.   All projects are required to include a minimum 20% cost share.","2026-07-15"]
[null,3,"FFRDC Requirement","A Work Proposal for FFRDCs is listed under required documents in IV.C.2; however, the funding for FFRDCs is listed as coming through the prime recipient to the FFRDC on page 12, Section II.D.1. Since DOE FFRDCs will be funded by the prime and not directly by DOE through the work authorization process, can the work proposal requirement be exempt or removed from required documents?","Applicants should submit required documents as outlined in the NOFO documents.  No exemptions or removal of required documents are anticipated at this time.","2026-07-15"]
[null,4,"Deadline Dates","Given the September 8 submission deadline, the timeline is challenging for assembling the technical scope, partner commitments, and cost-share arrangements needed for a competitive proposal. I wanted to ask whether DOE anticipates any similar funding opportunities in upcoming cycles.\nAdditionally, is there any possibility of an extension to the current deadline or another submission window?","There are no current plans to extend the submission deadline.  Applications should be submitted by Application due date outlined in the NOFO documents.  Modification  002 includes changes meant to lessen the level of documentation required in association with partnership commitment under the NOFO given the current submission deadline.","2026-07-15"]
[null,5,"Cost Share Requirement","Topic 1b Advanced Characterization of Fracture Propagation, Proppant Behavior, and Well Diagnostics. To ensure our budget and cost-share documentation are prepared correctly before the submission deadline, we would like to request formal clarification on the cost-share requirements specific to Topic 1b. We would greatly appreciate a written confirmation or guidance at your earliest convenience.\nPlease let us know if any additional information is required to process this request.","See Modification 000002 (dated 07/10/2026) of the NOFO for current cost sharing information.   All projects are required to include a minimum 20% cost share.","2026-07-15"]
[null,6,"Cost Share Requirement","We are evaluating a potential application under Topic Area 1b – Advanced Characterization of Fracture Propagation, Proppant Behavior, and Well Diagnostics and would appreciate clarification regarding the required cost share.\nThe NOFO's Topic Area summary appears to indicate a 0% minimum cost share for Topic Area 1b, while other sections reference the standard 20% cost share requirement applicable to research and development projects.","See Modification 000002 (dated 07/10/2026) of the NOFO for current cost sharing information.   All projects are required to include a minimum 20% cost share.","2026-07-15"]
[null,7,"Concept Paper","DE-FOA-0003627 mentions many times an option for a concept paper but does not describe how to submit one. \nWe would love the opportunity to submit one so that we don’t put together an application for a project that would not be of interest. Can you confirm if the concept paper is an option and if so where to find the requirements for that submission?","Concept papers are not applicable for this NOFO.  Applicants should submit applications as outlined in the NOFO documents.","2026-07-15"]
[null,8,"Cost Share Requirement","It mentions on page 6 that the minimum cost share is 20% for Area 1a, which involves field demonstration.\nOn page 11, it is mentioned that for field demonstration, the minimum cost share is 50%.\nPlease clarify this ambiguity.\nAlso on page 7, line 8, the minimum cost share for 1b is written as 0%. Is this a typo?","See Modification 000002 (dated 07/10/2026) of the NOFO for current cost sharing information.   All projects are required to include a minimum 20% cost share. No demonstration level projects are anticipated under any Topic Area of this NOFO.  All field activities, as requested within the NOFO, as part of any application should remain Research and Development (not demonstration).","2026-07-15"]
[null,9,"Technical Requirement","The NOFO states \"research efforts of interest include... Integrated water treatment facilities capable of treating large quantities of water at high throughput rates (15,000 to 50,000 barrels of water per day).\" and then later says proposals should give \"Details regarding the anticipated rate of produced water treatment (gpm and/or barrels of water per day) of the proposed technology during the project and anticipated treatment rate of a future commercial system based on the proposed technology.\" Do proposals need to achieve over 15,000 bpd *during* the project, or may they achieve a smaller bpd while showing a *future* commercial system could achieve over 15,000 bpd?\"","Per NOFO Section II. entitled \"Eligibility\", \"DOE will not determine eligibility for potential applicants before the application due date.\" The decision whether to submit an application in response to this NOFO lies solely with the applicant. Applicants are permitted to submit applications with bpd less than 15,000.  Applications will be evaluated against the technical review criteria outlined in Section VI.C.2 of the NOFO documents. ","2026-07-15"]
[null,10,"Technical Requirement","I am writing to seek clarification on the following questions:\n1. For the NOFO - Topic area 1 (a,b,c) are Coalbed Methane Reservoirs considered Unconventional Reservoirs.\n2. Will proposals targeting improvement of gas recovery in Coalbed Methane Reservoirs be considered for award?","Within the NOFO (pages 16, 17, and 24, but applicable to content throughout) the term unconventional is defined as \"oil-bearing and gas bearing shales and other tight rocks that are being developed via long horizontal laterals coupled with high volume hydraulic fracturing\"","2026-07-15"]
[null,11,"Technical Requirement","Topic Area 2 references the development of a \"centralized, multi-stage water treatment facility using customizable treatment trains.\" Can DOE clarify the intended meaning of \"centralized\" in the context of this FOA?\nSpecifically, is DOE envisioning:\n•\tA regional treatment hub serving multiple operators and water sources?\n•\tA facility located within a single operator's existing water management system?\n•\tEither approach, provided the proposed system demonstrates scalability and commercial relevance?\n•\tOr something different?","Per NOFO Section II. entitled \"Eligibility\", \"DOE will not determine eligibility for potential applicants before the application due date.\" The decision whether to submit an application in response to this NOFO lies solely with the applicant. Applicants are permitted to submit applications for either approach and/or something different.  Applications will be evaluated against the technical review criteria outlined in Section VI.C.2 of the NOFO documents. ","2026-07-15"]
[null,12,"Technical Requirement","We wanted to confirm the throughput expectations for Topic 2: are you looking for all submissions to propose systems treating flowrates of ~15,000-50,000 bbl/day, or is the size flexible? If flexible, is there a floor or ceiling to the flowrates of interest?","Per NOFO Section II. entitled \"Eligibility\", \"DOE will not determine eligibility for potential applicants before the application due date.\" The decision whether to submit an application in response to this NOFO lies solely with the applicant. Applicants are permitted to submit applications with flowrates outside the 15,000-50,000 bbl/day range.  Applications will be evaluated against the technical review criteria outlined in Section VI.C.2 of the NOFO documents. ","2026-07-15"]
[null,13,"Eligibility","Our company has developed and operated equipment at industrial scale capable of economically processing oilfield produced water into clean freshwater, the quality of which exceeds EPA Drinking Water Standards. The other effluent stream is either dry salt or saturated brine. \nWould it be possible to schedule a brief call to determine our eligibility for this opportunity? ","All communication related to the NOFO must be conducted in accordance with the established question and answer process for NOFO 3627as described in Section I.C. entitled \"Agency Contact Information\" Please also reference the Technology Readiness Levels TRL) requested in each Topic Area as well as theDOE TRL Definitions included in Secion IX.A of the NOFO.","2026-07-15"]
[null,14,"Cost Share Requirement","We understand that all topic areas require field testing and validation at a relevant field site with an operating industry partner. However, we would appreciate clarification on whether such field-testing projects are still treated as R&D projects requiring the 20% cost share shown in the topic-specific funding tables, or whether they are considered demonstration-level projects requiring 50% cost share. Since the NOFO targets TRL 5 at project start and TRL 7 at project end, we assume that all projects require a 50% cost share.","See Modification 000002 (dated 07/10/2026) of the NOFO for current cost sharing information.   All projects are required to include a minimum 20% cost share. No demonstration level projects are anticipated under any Topic Area of this NOFO.  All field activities, as requested within the NOFO, as part of any application should remain Research and Development (not demonstration).","2026-07-15"]
[null,15,"Eligibility","Our eligibility question is specific: does Topic Area 1b, as revised in Modification 000002, contemplate applications from technology developers at TRL 3–4 with a project scope focused on design validation and bench-scale prototype demonstration — or does the program office expect applicants to be at a higher readiness level with existing prototype hardware?","As per Section III.C. on page 16 of the NOFO: the key performance goals for Topic Areas 1a, 1b, and 1c projects include: Field-based technology readiness levels (TRLs) of 5 at project start and a minimum of 7 at project end.  As per Section III.D.2 on page 23 of the NOFO: Technologies proposed for research under this subtopic should exhibit a beginning TRL of 5 (laboratory scale, similar system validation in relevant environment), and the proposed research plan should support delivering an ending TRL of 7 (full-scale, similar [prototypical] system demonstrated in relevant environment). Note that the TRLs listed are for the project’s proposed technologies and not necessarily the overall field test site.  As per Section III.E on page 30 of the NOFO: DOE will not review or consider the following types of applications as determined by DOE without appeal (also refer to the Responsiveness Review section below): All Topic Areas – Technologies that fall outside the requested TRLs specified in the Topic Area."]
[null,16,"Cost Share Requirement","1) Modification 000002 states: \"Revised Section II Eligibility, C. Cost Sharing, 1. Cost Share Requirements – removed cost share requirement for demonstration level projects.\"  Can DOE/NETL confirm that demonstration-level projects under DE-FOA-0003627 now have a 0% minimum cost-share requirement? If so, are there any circumstances under which a demonstration project would still be expected to provide cost share?\n2) Can DOE/NETL provide the criteria that will be used to distinguish between a Research & Development (R&D) project and a Demonstration project for purposes of determining the applicable cost-share requirement under this NOFO? For example: is it based on TRL level, field deployment / validation, commercial scale?\n3) Many projects may include both research activities intended to generate new technical understanding and field deployment, pilot operation, or technology validation activities intended to demonstrate performance under operating conditions. How should applicants determine the applicable cost-share requirement when a project contains both R&D and demonstration elements? Specifically:\n• Will DOE classify the entire project as either R&D or demonstration? Or should cost share be applied separately to different project phases or work packages?\n• If separate treatment is permitted, what method should applicants use to allocate costs between R&D and demonstration activities?\n4) The Topic Area funding table currently identifies: Topic Area 1b requiring 0% minimum cost share while the other topic areas are set as 20% minimum cost share. Can DOE/NETL confirm that the 0% minimum cost-share requirement shown for Topic Area 1b is intentional and should be used when developing proposal budgets?","See Modification 000002 (dated 07/10/2026) of the NOFO for current cost sharing information.   All projects are required to include a minimum 20% cost share. No demonstration level projects are anticipated under any Topic Area of this NOFO.  All field activities, as requested within the NOFO, as part of any application should remain Research and Development (not demonstration)."]
[null,17,"Technical Requirement","1.\tWould a project primarily focused on the field-testing, validation, and demonstration of technologies, processes, or infrastructure for managing high-density brine concentrate effluent generated from produced water desalination treatment via injection disposal be considered responsive to Topic Area 2?\n\n2.\tMust Topic Area 2 proposals include a produced water treatment technology pilot as a principal element of the project, or would a project focused on downstream management, beneficial use, resource recovery, waste minimization, concentrate handling, or wellbore and reservoir response to injection of the resulting concentrate qualify independently?\n\n3.\tIf a produced water treatment technology is already being tested for commercially demonstrated and the proposed research is focused on the concentrated residual stream generated by that TRL 7 treatment process, would the project still be considered within the scope of Topic Area 2?","Per NOFO Section II. entitled \"Eligibility\", \"DOE will not determine eligibility for potential applicants before the application due date.\" The decision whether to submit an application in response to this NOFO lies solely with the applicant.  See Section III.E. of the NOFO for Applications Specifically Not of Interest. "]
[null,18,"Application Requirement","Environmental Considerations Summary and Environmental Impact Volume are both listed as required documents in NOFO part 1 (page 34).\nNOFO part 2 (page 20) says if the Environmental Considerations Summary and Environmental Impact Volume are required, the templates can be found in eXCHANGE. \nI do not see these templates posted in the eXHANGE in the Application Forms and Templates section for this solicitation. Please let me know where the templates may be found. ","Environmental Considerations Summary and Environmental Impact Volume documents will not be required in applications for this NOFO. "]

{"sheet":"Admin Pick List","index":1,"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"]