[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52548-52554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20260]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Office of Federal Financial Management Policy Directive on
Financial Assistance Program Announcements
AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.
ACTION: Notice of proposed policy issuance directive.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) proposes to
establish a standard format for Federal agency announcements of funding
opportunities under programs that award discretionary grants or
cooperative agreements. The purpose of the standard format is to have
information organized in a consistent way in program announcements for
the hundreds of Federal programs that make financial assistance awards
to non-Federal recipients. The Federal awarding agencies jointly
developed this format as one part of the implementation of the Federal
Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106-
107). Consistent with the streamlining and
[[Page 52549]]
simplification purposes of that public law, a standard format will make
it easier for potential applicants to quickly find the information they
need.
DATES: All comments on this proposal should be in writing, and must be
received by October 11, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of
mail sent through the U. S. Postal Service, we encourage respondents to
submit comments electronically to ensure timely receipt. We cannot
guarantee that comments mailed will be received before the comment
closing date.
Electronic mail comments may be submitted to: [email protected].
Please include ``Grant Announcement Format Comments'' in the subject
line and the full body of your comments in the text of the electronic
message and as an attachment. Please include your name, title,
organization, postal address, telephone number, and e-mail address in
the text of the message. Comments may also be submitted via facsimile
to 202-395-3952.
Comments may be mailed to Elizabeth Phillips, Office of Federal
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, Room 6025, New
Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Phillips, Office of Federal
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, telephone 202-
395-3053 (direct) or 202-395-3993 (main office) and e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice proposes to establish, by way of
a policy directive, a standard format for organizing the information
that Federal agencies include in their announcements of funding
opportunities under programs that use discretionary grants or
cooperative agreements. This policy directive will implement an outcome
of the Federal agencies' streamlining and simplification efforts, under
Public Law 106-107. There may be subsequent OFFM policy directives to
implement other outcomes of those efforts where revision of OMB
circulars, or issuance of a rule or Executive Order is not warranted.
This action addresses a need that non-Federal entities identified
during the public consultation process mandated by Public Law 106-107.
Commenters suggested that if all agencies' program announcements were
to present information in the same order, a potential applicant could
more easily and quickly find the key pieces of information it needed at
each point in the process (e.g., to decide at the outset whether it was
eligible and wished to apply and to later prepare and submit an
application).
The proposed announcement format is an interim product in that it
addresses some, but not all, of the public comments on program
announcements. It responds to comments on the need for consistency in
placement and ease of locating pertinent information within
announcements. It also incorporates language in Sections III and V to
address comments that some announcements are not sufficiently clear
about the way in which applicants' cost sharing is considered in
selecting applications for funding. The Federal agencies are proposing
this announcement format as an interim product so that potential
applicants can begin to realize the benefits of a standard format while
we continue to consider other issues addressed in the public comments,
including suggestions that we try to establish a uniform approach to
defining what constitutes a late application. As we complete work on
the issues identified in those comments, we will propose updates to the
announcement format, as warranted.
The proposed announcement format described in this Notice relates
to another proposal described in a subsequent notice in this section of
today's Federal Register. That proposal is a set of data elements that
Federal agencies would use to synopsize available funding opportunities
at FedBizOpps, an Internet site maintained by the General Services
Administration. The purposes of FedBizOpps synopses are to give
potential applicants a single site to search for Federal funding
opportunities, to provide enough information for them to decide whether
they want to read the full announcement, and to provide one or more
ways (e.g., an electronic link to another Internet site, an e-mail
address or a telephone number) to get that announcement. The FedBizOpps
information therefore complements the full announcement described in
this Notice.
We welcome your input on any aspect of the proposed format.
Questions that you may wish to address include:
Is there additional information that should appear in the
overview segment preceding the full text of the announcement?
Do you feel that we need to add or delete any categories
or subcategories of information in the full text of the announcement?
For example, should you choose to apply, are the information elements
sufficient for you to determine what you must submit, and when and how
you must do so? If you suggest an additional information element,
please explain why you recommend its inclusion.
Are terms used in the format readily understandable? Are
the terms generic enough to cover all programs and agencies in which
you might have an interest? Do you have suggestions for alternate
terms?
Dated: July 31, 2002.
Mark W. Everson,
Controller.
To the Heads of Executive Departments and Establishments
Subject: Format for Financial Assistance Program Announcements
1. Purpose. This policy directive establishes a government-wide
funding opportunity announcement format for Executive Branch
departments and agencies to use in programs that make discretionary
awards of grants or cooperative agreements. Program announcements
include all paper and electronic issuances that Federal departments and
agencies use to announce funding opportunities, whether they are called
``program announcements,'' ``notices of funding availability,'' ``broad
agency announcements,'' ``research announcements,'' ``solicitations,''
or something else.
2. Authority. This policy directive is a part of the implementation
of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999
(Pub. L. 106-107).
3. Background. The Federal Financial Assistance Management
Improvement Act of 1999 required the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to direct, coordinate, and assist Executive Branch departments
and agencies in establishing an interagency process to streamline and
simplify Federal financial assistance procedures for non-Federal
entities. It also required each Executive agency to develop, submit to
the Congress, and implement a plan for that streamlining and
simplification.
Twenty-six Executive Branch agencies jointly submitted a plan to
the Congress in May 2001, as the Act required. The plan described the
interagency process through which the agencies would review current
policies and practices and seek to streamline and simplify them. The
process involved interagency work groups under the auspices of the
Grants Management Committee of the Chief Financial Officers Council.
The plan also identified substantive areas in which the interagency
work groups had begun their review.
One of the substantive areas that the agencies identified in the
plan was the form and
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content of program announcements. The agencies stated in the May 2001
plan that their preliminary analysis suggested a potential for
developing a more consistent announcement format across the many
Federal agencies and programs. A standard announcement format with
information content organized in a consistent way will let applicants
quickly and efficiently find the information they need, in order to
decide whether a particular funding opportunity is of interest and to
prepare an application. An interagency work group developed the format
attached to this policy letter and recommended that the OMB's Office of
Federal Financial Management (OFFM) issue it as the standard for all
programs that use discretionary grants or cooperative agreements.
4. Policy. The format attached to this policy directive is the
government-wide standard format for programs that make discretionary
awards of grants or cooperative agreements, with the exception of
programs that do not issue separate announcements apart from the
program description in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA). For those excepted programs, the format will continue to
conform with the guidance in OMB Circular A-89 for program information
in the CFDA.
5. Responsibilities.
a. Agency Responsibilities. Executive Branch departments and
agencies:
(1) Must issue any needed direction to offices that award grants or
cooperative agreements under discretionary programs, in order to
establish the attached format as the standard for those programs'
announcements. All announcements must include information elements that
are marked ``required'' in the format. An announcement for a given
program may use elements that are marked ``optional,'' as appropriate
for the program. Whether or not the announcement includes any
``optional'' elements, the information that is included must be
organized to conform with the standard format.
(2) Are to request exceptions from this OFFM policy directive for
any program announcement(s) with information organized in a way that
deviates from the standard format.
b. OMB Responsibilities. The OMB:
(1) Will update this policy directive as needed, based on
recommendations from interagency work groups such as those sponsored by
the Chief Financial Officers Council.
(2) Must respond within 30 days to an agency's request for an
exception from this policy letter, either with a final decision or an
estimate of the time needed to render that decision.
6. Information Contact. Direct any questions regarding this policy
directive to Elizabeth Phillips, OFFM, 202-395-3053 (direct) or 202-
395-3993 (main office).
7. Effective Date. The policy directive is effective 30 days after
issuance. All implementing actions other than regulatory revisions must
be completed by the Executive departments and agencies within 6 months
of the effective date; regulatory revisions must be completed within 12
months.
Mark W. Everson,
Controller.
Attachment
Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity
This document is a uniform format for Federal agencies'
announcements of funding opportunities under which discretionary awards
of grants or cooperative agreements may be made. The format has two
parts, the first for overview information and the second for the full
text of the announcement.
Overview Information
The agency must display prominently the following information (not
necessarily in the same sequential order) in a location preceding the
full text of the announcement:
Agency Name(s)--Required. Include the name of your
department or agency, the specific office(s) within the agency (e.g.,
bureau, directorate, division, or institute) that are involved in the
funding opportunity, and the mailing address with zip code.
Program Name--Optional. If your agency has a program name
that is different from the Funding Opportunity Title, you could include
it here.
Funding Opportunity Title--Required.
Funding Opportunity Number--Optional. Your agency may wish
to assign identifying numbers to announcements.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s)--
Required.
CFDA Title(s)--Optional. This is the program name listed
in the CFDA for each CFDA number given above.
Dates--Required. Include key dates that potential
applicants need to know. Key dates include due dates for applications
or Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs'' (July 14, 1982), submissions, as well as any letters of
intent or pre-applications. For any announcement issued before a
program's application materials are available, key dates also include
the date on which those materials will be released.
The program office must present the overview information described
above and may present other information it wishes. It can do so in any
of the following ways:
Executive Summary. An agency may wish to include an
executive summary of the announcement before the full text. For
announcements that are long (25 pages or more in length) or complex,
agencies should consider including executive summaries with the
overview information described above and additional key information
(e.g., who is eligible to apply and where one can get application
materials), so that potential applicants can more quickly and easily
find what they need. An executive summary should be short, preferably
one page, with information in concise bullets to give an overview of
the funding opportunity.
Cover and/or Inside Cover. If the agency does not wish to
include an executive summary, an alternative is to provide the overview
information on the cover and/or inside cover of the announcement (or
the first screen a potential applicant would see, in the case of an
electronic announcement).
Federal Register Format. For an announcement that appears
as a notice in the Federal Register, some of the required overview
information will appear with other information near the beginning of
the notice, due to the Federal Register's standard format for notices.
Remaining overview information may be included in the Summary section
of the Federal Register notice or immediately preceding the full text
of the announcement in the Supplementary Information section.
Full Text of Announcement
The full text of the announcement is organized in sections. The
format indicates immediately following the title of each section
whether that section is required in every announcement or is an agency
option.
The format is designed so that similar types of information will
appear in the same sections in announcements of different Federal
funding opportunities. Toward that end, there is text in each of the
format's sections to describe the types of information that an agency
would include in that section of an actual announcement.
An agency that wishes to include information on a subject that the
format does not specifically discuss may address that subject in
whatever section(s) is most appropriate. For example, if an
announcement chooses to
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address performance goals in the announcement, it might do so in the
funding opportunity description, the application content, and/or the
reporting requirements.
Similarly, when this format calls for a type of information to be
in one particular section, an agency wishing to address that subject in
other sections may elect to repeat the information in those sections or
use cross references between the sections. For example, an agency may
want to include in Section I information about the types of recipients
who are eligible to apply. The format specifies a standard location for
that information in Section III.1 but that does not preclude repeating
the information in Section I or creating a cross reference between
Sections I and III.1, as long as a potential applicant can find the
information quickly and easily from the standard location.
The sections of the full text of the announcement are described in
the following paragraphs.
I. Funding Opportunity Description--Required
This section contains the full programmatic description of the
funding opportunity. It may be as long as needed to adequately
communicate to potential applicants the areas in which funding may be
provided. It describes the agency's funding priorities or the technical
or focus areas in which the agency intends to provide assistance. As
appropriate, it may include any program history (e.g., whether this is
a new program or a new or changed area of program emphasis). This
section may communicate indicators of successful projects (e.g., if the
program encourages collaborative efforts) and may include examples of
projects that have been funded previously. This section also may
include other information the agency deems necessary, such as citations
for authorizing statutes and regulations for the funding opportunity.
II. Award Information--Required
Provide sufficient information to help an applicant make an
informed decision about whether or not to submit a proposal. Relevant
information could include the total amount of funding that your agency
expects to award through the announcement; the anticipated number of
awards; the expected amounts of individual awards (which may be a
range); the amount of funding per award, on average, experienced in
previous years; and the anticipated start dates and periods of
performance for new awards. This section also should address whether
applications for renewal or supplementation of existing projects are
eligible to compete with applications for new awards.
This section also must indicate the type(s) of assistance
instrument (i.e., grant, cooperative agreement, and/or other
instrument) that may be awarded if applications are successful. If
cooperative agreements may be awarded, this section either should
describe the ``substantial involvement'' that the agency expects to
have or should reference where the potential applicant can find that
information (e.g., in the funding opportunity description in Section I
or award administration information in Section VI). If procurement
contracts also may be awarded, you must say so.
III. Eligibility Information
This section addresses considerations or factors that make an
applicant or application eligible or ineligible for consideration. This
includes the eligibility of particular types of applicant
organizations, any factors affecting the eligibility of the principal
investigator or project director, and any criteria that make particular
projects ineligible. You should make clear whether an applicant's
failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the time of an application
deadline will result in your agency's returning the application without
review or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude
the agency from making an award. Key elements to be addressed are:
1. Eligible Applicants--Required. You must clearly identify the
types of entities that are eligible to apply. If there are no
restrictions on eligibility, this section may simply indicate that all
potential applicants are eligible. If there are restrictions on
eligibility, it is important to be clear about the specific types of
entities that are eligible, not just the types that are ineligible. For
example, if your program is limited to non-profit organizations subject
to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, your announcement should say so.
Similarly, it is better to state explicitly that Native American tribal
organizations are eligible than to assume that they can unambiguously
infer that from a statement that non-profit organizations may apply.
Eligibility also can be expressed by exception, (e.g., open to all
types of domestic applicants other than individuals). This section
should refer to any portion of Section IV specifying documentation that
must be submitted to support an eligibility determination (e.g., proof
of 501(c)(3) status as determined by the Internal Revenue Service or an
authorizing tribal resolution).
2. Cost Sharing--Required. You must state whether there is required
cost sharing, matching, or cost participation without which an
application would be ineligible (if cost sharing is not required, you
must explicitly say so). Required cost sharing may be a certain
percentage or amount, or may be in the form of contributions of
specified items or activities (e.g., provision of equipment). Cost
sharing as an eligibility criterion includes requirements based in
statute or regulation, as well as those imposed by administrative
decision of the agency. This section should refer to the appropriate
portion(s) of Section IV stating any pre-award requirements for
submission of letters or other documentation to verify commitments to
meet cost-sharing requirements if an award is made.
3. Other--Required, if applicable. If there are other eligibility
criteria (i.e., criteria that have the effect of making an application
or project ineligible for award, whether you refer to them as
``responsiveness'' criteria, ``go-no go'' criteria, ``threshold''
criteria, or in other ways), you must clearly state them. For example,
if entities that have been found to be in violation of a particular
Federal statute are ineligible, it is important to say so. In this
section you also may indicate whether there is any limit to the number
of applications an applicant may submit under the announcement. You
also should use this section to address any eligibility criteria for
beneficiaries or for program participants other than award recipients.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package--Required. You must tell
potential applicants how to get application forms, kits, or other
materials they need to apply (if this announcement contains everything
they need, this section need only say so). You may give an Internet
address where they can access the materials.* Since high-speed Internet
access is not yet universally available for downloading documents,
there also should be a way for potential applicants to request paper
copies of materials, such as a U.S. Postal Service mailing address,
telephone or fax number, Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) number,
and/or Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) number.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission--Required. This
section should identify the required content of an application and the
forms or formats that an applicant must use to submit it. This section
also should address any
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preliminary submissions that the agency requires or encourages, either
to facilitate its own planning or to provide potential applicants with
feedback to help them decide whether to submit a full proposal.
For a full application, this includes all content and forms or
formats that constitute a complete application, including: general
information (e.g., applicant name and address), budgetary information,
narrative programmatic information, biographical sketches, and all
other required information (e.g., documentation that an applicant meets
stated eligibility criteria or certifications or assurances of
compliance with applicable requirements). If any requirements are
stated elsewhere because they are general requirements that apply to
multiple programs or funding opportunities, this section may refer to
where those requirements may be found. You must either include required
forms or formats as part of this announcement or state where the
applicant may obtain them.
In this section, you should specifically address content and form
or format requirements for:
Pre-applications, letters of intent, or white papers that
your agency requires or encourages (see Section IV.3), including any
limitations on the number of pages or other formatting requirements
similar to those for full applications.
The application as a whole. For hard copy submissions,
that could include any limitations on the number of pages, font size
and typeface, margins, paper size, number of copies, and sequence or
assembly requirements. If electronic submission is permitted or
required,* that could include special requirements for formatting or
signatures.
Component pieces of the application (e.g., if all copies
of the application must bear original signatures on the face page or
the program narrative may not exceed 10 pages). This includes any
pieces that may be submitted separately by third parties (e.g.,
references or letters confirming commitments from third parties that
will be contributing a portion of any required cost sharing).
Information that successful applicants must submit after
your agency notifies them of its intent to make awards, but prior to
award. This could include evidence of compliance with human subjects
requirements or information your agency needs to comply with the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
3. Submission Dates and Times--Required. Your announcement must
identify due dates and times for all submissions. This includes not
only the full applications but also any preliminary submissions (e.g.,
letters of intent, white papers, or pre-applications). It also includes
any other submissions of information before award that are separate
from the full application. If the funding opportunity is a general
announcement that is open for a period of time with no specific due
dates for applications, this section should say so. Note that the
information on dates that is included in this section also must appear
with other overview information in a location preceding the full text
of the announcement (see ``Overview Information'' segment of this
format).
For each type of submission that you address, this section should
indicate whether the submission is encouraged or required and, if
required, any deadline date for submission (or dates, if the agency
plans more than one cycle of application submission, review, and award
under the announcement). The announcement should state (or provide a
reference to another document that states):
Any deadline in terms of a date and local time.
What the deadline means (e.g., whether it is the date and
time by which the agency must receive the application, the date by
which the application must be postmarked, or something else) and how
that depends, if at all, on the submission method (e.g., mail,
electronic, or personal/courier delivery).
The effect of missing a deadline (e.g., whether late
applications are neither reviewed nor considered or are reviewed and
considered under some circumstances).
How the receiving Federal office determines whether an
application or pre-application has been submitted before the deadline.
This includes the form of acceptable proof of mailing or system-
generated documentation of receipt date and time.
This section also may indicate whether, when, and in what form the
applicant will receive an acknowledgment of receipt.
You should consider displaying the above information in ways that
will be easy to understand and use. It can be difficult to extract all
needed information from narrative paragraphs, even when they are well
written. A tabular form for providing a summary of the information may
help applicants for some programs and give them what effectively could
be a checklist to verify the completeness of their application package
before submission. For example, a summary table might look like:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Required form or
What to submit Required content format When to submit it
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preapplication (optional, but Described in Section Format described in By (give pre-
encouraged). IV.2 of this section ____ of grants application due date).
announcement. policy manual at (give
URL or where to obtain
the manual)*.
Application:
Cover sheet.......................... (Per required form).... Form SF-____, available
from (give source).
Budget information................... (Per required form).... Form SF-____, available
from (give source).
Narrative............................ Described in Section Format described in
IV.2 of this Section IV.2 of this
announcement. announcement.
Assurances........................... (Per required form).... Form SF-____, available
from (give source).
Letters from third parties Third parties' No specific form or
contributing to cost sharing. affirmations of format.
amounts of their
commitments.
[[Page 52553]]
Statement of intent to comply with (Per required form).... Form SF-____, available Prior to award, when
human subjects requirement. from (give source). requested by grants
officer (if
application is
successful).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* With respect to electronic methods for providing information about funding opportunities or accepting
applicants' submissions of information, each agency is responsible for compliance with Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
4. Intergovernmental Review--Required, if applicable. If the
funding opportunity is subject to Executive Order (EO) 12372,
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs,'' you must say so. In
alerting applicants that they must contact their State's Single Point
of Contact (SPOC) to find out about and comply with the State's process
under EO 12372, you should inform them that the names and addresses of
the SPOCs are listed in the Office of Management and Budget's home page
at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html to ensure the most
up-to-date contact information is made available.
5. Funding Restrictions--Required. You must include information on
funding restrictions in order to allow an applicant to develop an
application and budget consistent with program requirements. Examples
are whether construction is an allowable activity, if there are any
limitations on direct costs such as foreign travel or equipment
purchases, and if there are any limits on indirect costs (or facilities
and administrative costs).
6. Other Submission Requirements--Required. This section must
address any other submission requirements not included in the other
paragraphs of this section. This might include the form of submission,
i.e., paper or electronic, for each type of required submission.
Applicants should not be required to submit in more than one format and
this section should indicate whether they may choose whether to submit
applications in hard copy or electronically, may submit only in hard
copy, or may submit only electronically.
This section also must indicate where applications (and any pre-
applications) must be submitted if sent by postal mail, electronic
means, or hand-delivery. For postal mail submission, this should
include the name of an office, official, individual or function (e.g.,
application receipt center) and a complete mailing address. For
electronic submission, this should include the ``url'' or e-mail
address; whether a password(s) is required; whether particular software
or other electronic capabilities are required; what to do in the event
of system problems and a point of contact that will be available in the
event the applicant experiences technical difficulties.*
V. Application Review Information
1. Criteria--Required. This section must address the criteria that
your agency will use to evaluate applications. This includes the merit
and other review criteria that evaluators will use to judge
applications, including any statutory, regulatory, or other preferences
(e.g., minority status or Native American tribal preferences) that will
be applied in the review process. These criteria are distinct from
eligibility criteria that are addressed before an application is
accepted for review and any program policy or other factors that are
applied during the selection process, after the review process is
completed. The intent is to give applicants visibility into the
evaluation process so that they can make informed decisions when
preparing their applications and so that the process is as fair and
equitable as possible.
The announcement should clearly describe all criteria, including
any sub-criteria. If criteria vary in importance, the announcement
should specify the relative percentages, weights, or other means used
to distinguish among them. For statutory, regulatory, or other
preferences, the announcement should provide a detailed explanation of
those preferences with an explicit indication of their effect (e.g.,
whether they result in additional points being assigned).
If an applicant's proposed cost sharing will be considered in the
review process (as opposed to being an eligibility criterion described
in Section III.2), the announcement must specifically address how it
will be considered (e.g., to assign a certain number of additional
points to applicants who offer cost sharing, or to break ties among
applications with equivalent scores after evaluation against all other
factors). If cost sharing will not be considered in the evaluation, the
announcement should say so, so that there is no ambiguity for potential
applicants. Vague statements that cost sharing is encouraged, without
clarification as to what that means, are unhelpful to applicants.
2. Review and Selection Process--Required. This section may vary in
the level of detail provided. The announcement must list any program
policy or other factors or elements, other than merit criteria, that
the selecting official may use in selecting applications for award
(e.g., geographical dispersion, program balance, or diversity).
You also may include other details you deem appropriate. For
example, this section may indicate who is responsible for evaluation
against the merit criteria (e.g., peers external to the agency or
Federal agency personnel) and/or who makes the final selections for
award. If you have a multi-phase review process (e.g., an external
panel advising internal agency personnel who make final recommendations
to the deciding official), you may describe the phases. You also may
include: The number of people on an evaluation panel and how it
operates, the way reviewers are selected, reviewer qualifications, and
the way that conflicts of interest are avoided. In addition, if you
permit applicants to nominate suggested reviewers of their applications
or suggest those they feel may be inappropriate due to a conflict of
interest, that information should be included in this section.
3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates--Optional. This section
is intended to provide applicants with information they can use for
planning purposes. If there is a single application deadline followed
by the simultaneous review of all applications, the agency can include
in this section information about the anticipated dates for announcing
successful applicants and for having awards in place. If applications
are received and evaluated on a ``rolling'' basis at different times
during an extended period, it may be appropriate to give applicants an
estimate of the time needed to process an application and notify the
applicant of the agency's decision.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices--Required. This section should address what a
successful applicant can expect to receive following selection. If your
[[Page 52554]]
practice is to provide a separate notice stating that an application
has been selected before you actually make the award, this section
would be the place to indicate that the letter is not an authorization
to begin performance (except at the recipient's own risk, to the extent
that you allow charging to awards of pre-award costs). This section
should indicate that the notice of award signed by the grants officer
(or equivalent) is the authorizing document, and whether it is provided
through postal mail or by electronic means and to whom. It also may
address the timing, form, and content of notifications to unsuccessful
applicants.
2. Administrative Requirements--Required. This section should
address the administrative requirements your agency's awards include,
so that a potential applicant may identify any requirements with which
it would have difficulty complying if its application is successful. In
those cases, early notification about the requirements allows the
potential applicant to decide not to apply or to take needed actions
before award. The announcement need not include all of the award terms
and conditions, but may refer to a document (with information about how
to obtain it) or Internet site* where applicants can see the terms and
conditions.
If this funding opportunity will lead to awards with some special
terms and conditions that differ from your agency's usual (sometimes
called ``general'') terms and conditions, this section should highlight
those special terms and conditions. Doing so will alert applicants who
have received awards from your agency previously and might not
otherwise expect different terms and conditions. For the same reason,
you may wish to inform potential applicants about special requirements
that could apply to particular awards after review of applications and
other information, based on the particular circumstances of the effort
to be supported (e.g., if human subjects were to be involved).
3. Reporting--Optional. If the funding opportunity may attract
first-time applicants, it is helpful to include in this section some
general information about the type (e.g., financial or performance),
frequency, and means of submission (paper or electronic) of post-award
reporting requirements, even if the details are included in the award
terms and conditions.
You also should highlight any special reporting requirements for
awards under this funding opportunity that differ (e.g., by report
type, frequency, form/format, or circumstances for use) from what your
agency's awards usually require. This section should clearly indicate
whether any special reporting requirement is in addition to or in lieu
of the usual reporting requirements.
VII. Agency Contact(s)--Required
You must give potential applicants a point(s) of contact for
answering questions or helping with problems while the funding
opportunity is open. The intent of this requirement is to be as helpful
as possible to potential applicants, so you should consider approaches
such as giving:
Points of contact who may be reached in multiple ways
(e.g., by telephone, FAX, and/or e-mail, as well as regular mail).
A fax or e-mail address that multiple people access, so
that someone will respond even if others are unexpectedly absent during
critical periods.
Different contacts for distinct kinds of help (e.g., one
for questions of programmatic content and a second for administrative
questions).
VIII. Other Information
This section may include any additional information that will
assist a potential applicant. For example, the section might:
Indicate whether this is a new program or a one-time
initiative.
Mention related programs or other upcoming or ongoing
agency funding opportunities for similar activities.
Include Internet addresses for agency Web sites that may
be useful to an applicant in understanding the program (Note: you
should make certain that any Internet sites are current and
accessible).*
Alert applicants to the need to identify proprietary
information and inform them about the way the agency will handle it.
Let applicants know where the agency will post any
subsequent amendments to the announcement, particularly if an
alternative medium is used for that purpose.
Include certain routine notices to applicants (e.g., that
the government is not obligated to make any award as a result of the
announcement or that only grants officers can bind the government to
the expenditure of funds).
________________
*With respect to electronic methods for providing information
about funding opportunities or accepting applicants' submissions of
information, each agency is responsible for compliance with Section
508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998.
[FR Doc. 02-20260 Filed 8-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P