(a) Each Gulf Coast State must describe the competitive process that the state will use to select one or more Centers of Excellence. The competitive process must allow nongovernmental entities and consortia in the Gulf Coast Region, including public and private institutions of higher education, to compete. The process must give priority to entities and consortia that demonstrate the ability to establish the broadest cross-section of participants in the grant with interest and expertise in science, technology, and monitoring in the discipline(s) on which the proposal is focused. The process must also guard against conflicts of interest.

(b) Each Gulf Coast State must describe in its application the state rules and policies applying to subawards it will issue under this subpart. At a minimum, these state rules and policies must include the competitive selection process and measures to guard against conflicts of interest.

(c) Each Gulf Coast State must demonstrate in its application that the state rules and policies applying to subawards it will issue under this subpart were published and available for public review and comment for a minimum of 45 days, and that they were approved after consideration of meaningful input from the public, including broad-based participation from individuals, businesses, Indian tribes, and non-profit organizations. These requirements do not apply to state statutes and regulations, or to policies that were in effect prior to August 15, 2014.

(d) Each application must state the amount of funding requested and the purposes for which the funds will be used.