As described in our client alert earlier this month, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s CHIPS Program Office published a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) directed towards funding the construction, expansion, or modernization of commercial facilities for the front- and back-end fabrication of leading-edge, current-generation, and mature-node semiconductors. During this last week of March, the CHIPS Program Office made available a series of resources to help applicants prepare their pre-application and application materials for the FOA. A summary of and links to those resources are set forth below:

• Instruction Guide for Pre-Application Forms and Templates: This guide also includes links to the templates for required project financial information and other required components of the pre-application.
• Guiding Principles for Full Application Financial Model: This template sets forth the level of granularity, metrics, and scenario analysis related to projects that must be included in a full application.
• Workforce Development Guide: This guide describes the requirements of the required Workforce Development Plans. 
• Environmental Questionnaire: This questionnaire collects information necessary for the CHIPS Program Office to determine the appropriate level of environmental review required under the National Environmental Policy Act and related laws. 

The CHIPS Program Office also announced that it will host a series of public webinars that will provide interested parties the opportunity to ask questions and to learn more about these materials. You can register for these webinars at chips.gov.

As a reminder, the applications timelines under the FOA are:

• For Leading Edge semiconductor manufacturing
  • March 31, 2023: Pre-applications and applications accepted
  • NOTE: A Statement of Interest must be submitted at least 21 days before submitting a pre-application or full application
• For current-generation, mature-node, and back-end manufacturing facilities
  • May 1, 2023: Pre-applications accepted
  • June 26, 2023: Applications accepted
  • NOTE: A Statement of Interest must be submitted at least 21 days before submitting a pre-application or full application

For more assistance from Wilson Sonsini attorneys concerning this FOA or other CHIPS Act issues, please contact Joshua Gruenspecht, Barath Chari, Seth Cowell, or other members of the firm's national security, employment litigation, technology transactions, or strategic risk and crisis management practices.