NOFO Field: Administrative and National Policy Requirements
NOFO Location:
Award Administration Information - second field
- Preceding Field:
Award Notices
- Subsequent Field:
Reporting
OMB Guidance:
VI. Award Administration Information
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements -- Required.
This section must identify the usual administrative and national policy
requirements your agency’s awards may include. Providing this information lets
a potential applicant 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 should 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 or if
some situations may justify special terms on intellectual property, data
sharing or security requirements).
Additional Guidance:
UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, COST PRINCIPLES, AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS. Through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101, the Department of Commerce adopted
Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, which apply to awards in this program.
Refer to http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4.
DOC TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Successful applicants who accept a NOAA award under this solicitation will be bound by Department of Commerce
Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions. This document will be provided in the award package in NOAA’s Grants Online system at
http://www.ago.noaa.gov and at http://go.usa.gov/hKbj.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. Funding for programs listed in this notice is contingent upon the availability of appropriations. Applicants are hereby given notice
that funds may not have been appropriated yet for the programs listed in this notice. In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be
responsible for proposal preparation costs. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available
funds.
UNPAID TAX LIABILITY. In accordance with Section 523 of Division B and Sections 744 and 745 of Division E of the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) or a future public law, an authorized representative of the selected applicant(s) will be required to provide
certain pre-award representations regarding federal felony and federal criminal tax convictions, unpaid federal tax assessments, and delinquent federal
tax returns. The form must be completed and submitted with grant applications for: (a) all for-profit and non-profit organization applicants (Part I, and
if required, Part II); and (b) all non-Federal entity applicants anticipating receipt of $5 million or more in the current Federal Fiscal Year appropriated
funding (Part II only). The form can be found at http://www.ago.noaa.gov/grants/forms.html.
[Only if IV.B. states environmental data is expected] NEPA.
NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities.
Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the following NOAA NEPA website: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/,
including our NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216_6.pdf, and the Council on Environmental Quality
implementation regulations, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/NEPA-40CFR1500_1508.pdf. Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under
their description of their program activities, applicants are required to provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted, locations,
sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist
(e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, introduction of non- indigenous species, impacts to endangered and threatened species,
aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef systems). In addition to providing specific information that will serve as the basis for any required
impact analyses, applicants may also be requested to assist NOAA in drafting an environmental assessment, if NOAA determines an assessment is required.
Applicants will also be required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts
of their proposal. Failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting an application. In some cases if additional information is
required after an application is selected, funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer under a special award condition requiring the
recipient to submit additional environmental compliance information sufficient to enable NOAA to make an assessment on any impacts that a project
may have on the environment.
REVIEW OF RISK. After applications are proposed for funding by the Selecting Official, the Grants Office will perform administrative reviews,
including an assessment of risk posed by the applicant under 2 C.F.R. 200.205. These may include assessments of the financial stability
of an applicant and the quality of the applicant’s management systems, history of performance, and the applicant’s ability to effectively
implement statutory, regulatory, or other requirements imposed on non-Federal entities. Special conditions that address any risks
determined to exist may be applied. Applicants may submit comments to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity
Information System (FAPIIS) about any information included in the system about their organization for consideration by the awarding agency.
[Only if IV.B. States' Data Sharing is expected] Data Sharing Plan (up to 2 pages) DATA SHARING.
1. Environmental data and information collected or created
under NOAA grants or cooperative agreements must be made discoverable by and accessible to the general public, in a timely fashion (typically within
two years), free of charge or at no more than the cost of reproduction, unless an exemption is granted by the NOAA Program.
Data should be available in at least one machine-readable format, preferably a widely-used or open-standard format, and should also be accompanied
by machine-readable documentation (metadata), preferably based on widely used or international standards.
2. Proposals submitted in
response to this Announcement must include a Data Management Plan of up to two pages describing how these requirements will be satisfied.
The Data Management Plan should be aligned with the Data Management Guidance provided by NOAA in the Announcement. The contents of the Data Management
Plan (or absence thereof), and past performance regarding such plans, will be considered as part of proposal review. A typical plan should include
descriptions of the types of environmental data and information expected to be created during the course of the project; the tentative date by which
data will be shared; the standards to be used for data/metadata format and content; methods for providing data access; approximate total volume
of data to be collected; and prior experience in making such data accessible. The costs of data preparation, accessibility, or archiving may be included
in the proposal budget unless otherwise stated in the Guidance. Accepted submission of data to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
(NCEI) is one way to satisfy data sharing requirements; however, NCEI is not obligated to accept all submissions and may charge a fee,
particularly for large or unusual datasets.
3. NOAA may, at its own discretion, make publicly visible the Data Management Plan from funded proposals,
or use information from the Data Management Plan to produce a formal metadata record and include that metadata in a Catalog to indicate the pending
availability of new data.
4. Proposal submitters are hereby advised that the final pre-publication manuscripts of scholarly articles
produced entirely or primarily with NOAA funding will be required to be submitted to NOAA Institutional Repository after acceptance, and no later than
upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made publicly available by NOAA one year after publication by the journal.
INDIRECT COST RATE. An applicant with a current Federally-approved indirect cost rate that is proposing indirect costs in its budget should include a copy
of the approved rate with its application. If an applicant has not previously established an indirect cost rate with a Federal agency they may choose to
negotiate a rate with the Department of Commerce or use the de minimis indirect cost rate of 10% of Modified Total Direct Costs (as allowable under
2 C.F.R. §200.414). The negotiation and approval of a rate is subject to the procedures required by NOAA and the Department of Commerce Standard Terms
and Conditions. The NOAA contact for indirect or facilities and administrative costs is: Lamar Revis, Grants Officer, NOAA Grants Management Division,
1325 East West Highway, 9th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or lamar.revis@noaa.gov.
MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS. The Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to increasing
the participation of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), i.e., Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions,
Tribal colleges and universities, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian institutions, and institutions that work in underserved communities.
FOIA. In the event that an application contains information or data that you do not want disclosed prior to award for purposes other than the evaluation
of the application, mark each page containing such information or data with the words "Privileged, Confidential, Commercial,
or Financial Information - Limited Use" at the top of the page to assist NOAA in making disclosure determinations. DOC regulations implementing
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C 552, are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4, which sets forth rules for DOC to make requested materials,
information, and records publicly available under FOIA. The contents of funded applications may be subject to requests for release under the FOIA.
Based on the information provided by the applicant, the confidentiality of the content of funded applications will be maintained to the maximum extent
permitted by law.
Published Example:
B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements:
Indirect Costs
The budget may include an amount for indirect costs if the applicant has an established
indirect cost rate with the Federal government. Indirect costs are essentially overhead costs for
basic operational functions (e.g., utilities, rent, insurance) that are incurred for common or joint
objectives and, therefore, cannot be identified specifically within a particular project. For this
solicitation, the Federal share of the indirect costs awarded will not exceed the lesser of either the
indirect costs that the applicant would be entitled to if the negotiated Federal indirect cost rate
were used or 25 percent of the Federal direct costs proposed. For those situations in which the
use of the applicant’s indirect cost rate would result in indirect costs greater than 25 percent of
the Federal direct costs proposed, the difference may be counted as part of the non-Federal share.
A copy of the current, approved negotiated indirect cost agreement with the Federal Government
must be included with the application. If the applicant does not have a current negotiated rate
and plans to seek reimbursement for indirect costs, documentation necessary to establish a rate
must be submitted within 90 days of receiving an award.
If an application is selected for multi-year funding, NOAA has no obligation to provide any
additional prospective funding in connection with that award in subsequent years. Any
subsequent proposal to continue work on an existing project must be submitted to the
competitive process for consideration and will not receive preferential treatment. Renewal of an
award to increase funding or to extend the period of performance is at the total discretion of
NOAA.
The recipients must comply with Executive Order 12906 regarding any and all geospatial data
collected or produced under grants or cooperative agreements. This includes documenting all
geospatial data in accordance with the Federal Geographic Data Committee Content Standard for
digital geospatial data.
The Program uses only the existing NOAA Federal financial assistance awards package
requirements per 15 CFR parts 14 and 24.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required by the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects or proposals which are seeking NOAA
federal funding opportunities. Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be
found at the following NOAA NEPA website: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our NOAA
Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216--6--TOC.pdf, and
the Council on Environmental Quality implementation regulations,
http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm Consequently, as part of an applicant's package,
and under their description of their program activities, applicants are required to provide detailed
information on the activities to be conducted, locations, sites, species and habitat to be affected,
possible construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist (e.g., the use and
disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, introduction of non-indigenous species, impacts to
endangered and threatened species, aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef systems). In
addition to providing specific information that will serve as the basis for any required impact
analyses, applicants may also be requested to assist NOAA in drafting of an environmental
assessment, if NOAA determines an assessment is required. Applicants will also be required to
cooperate with NOAA in identifying feasible measures to reduce or avoid any identified adverse
environmental impacts of their proposal. The failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting
an application. In some cases if additional information is required after an application is
selected, funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer under a special award condition requiring
the recipient to submit additional environmental compliance information sufficient to enable
NOAA to make an assessment on any impacts that a project may have on the environment.
Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements
The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative
Agreements contained in the Federal Register notice of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389) are
applicable to this solicitation.
Limitation of Liability
In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible for proposal preparation
costs if these programs fail to receive funding or are cancelled because of other agency priorities.
Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to
obligate any available funds. Recipients and sub-recipients are subject to all Federal laws and
agency policies, regulations and procedures applicable to Federal financial assistance awards.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This notification involves collection-of-information requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, and SFLLL
and CD-346 has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under
control numbers 0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040 and 0348-0046 and 0605-0001.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any
person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to
the requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
Executive Order 12866
It has been determined that this notice is not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)
It has been determined that this notice does not contain
policies with Federalism implications as that term is defined in Executive Order 13132.
Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act
Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required by the Administrative
procedure Act or any other law for rules concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, and
contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). Because notice and opportunity for comments are not required
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the analytical requirements of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis
has not been prepared, and none has been prepared. It has been determined that this notice does
not contain policies with Federalism implications as that term is defined in Executive Order
13132.