In recognition that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could compromise the performance of grantees located in the Gulf area, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget has authorized Federal agencies and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to help grantees, when possible, in resuming their operations, particularly in the performance of Federal program objectives. Grantees will need to contact the Southern Research Station Grants and Agreements office to request any of the provisions, described below, that have been established to provide relief.
1. No-cost extensions on expiring awards.
To the extent permitted by law, the Southern Research Station may extend awards which are active as of August 31, 2005 and scheduled to expire prior or up to December 31, 2005, automatically at no-cost for a period up to twelve (12) months. This will allow time for grantee assessments, the resumption of many individual projects, and the preparation of a report on program progress and financial status. Project-specific financial and performance reports will be due 90 days following the end date of the extension. The Southern Research Station will examine the need to extend other project reporting as situations arise.
2. Abbreviated continuation requests.
For continuation requests scheduled for submission from August 31 to December 31, 2005 on projects with planned future support, the Southern Research Station will accept a brief statement from grantee organizations to verify that they are in a position to: 1) resume or restore their project activities, and 2) to accept a planned continuation award. The Southern Research Station will examine the need to extend this approach on subsequent continuation award start dates as grantee organizations have an opportunity to assess the situation.
3. Prior approval requirement waivers.
The Southern Research Station may waive prior approval requirements for the re-budgeting of funds within the scope of the project, and may grant automatic carryover of unspent balances for active awards executed prior to September 30, 2005. All costs charged to Federal awards must be consistent with Federal cost policy guidelines and the terms of the award. Final charges must also reflect offsets of all recoveries from other parties (such as insurance payments and compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency).
4. Extension of financial and other reporting.
The Southern Research Station may allow grantees to delay submission of Federal cash transaction reports on currently active award accounts for up to three (3) months beyond the normal due date. If the Southern Research Station allows such a delay, grantees will continue to draw down Federal funds without the timely submission of these reports. However, these reports must be submitted at the end of the postponed period. The Southern Research Station may authorize extensions, as necessary, on other grantee financial and administrative reports, such as the property and invention reports.
5. Extension of currently approved indirect cost rates.
The Southern Research Station may allow grantees to continue to use the currently approved indirect cost rates (predetermined, fixed, or provisional) to recover their indirect costs on Federal awards. The Southern Research Station may approve grantee requests for an extension on the use of the current rates for an additional year without submission of an indirect cost proposal. The Southern Research Station may also approve grantee requests for an extension of the indirect cost rate proposal submission to finalize the current rates and establish future rates.
6. Extension of closeout.
The Southern Research Station may allow the grantee to delay submission of any pending financial, performance, and other reports required by the terms of the award for the closeout of expired projects, providing that proper notice about the reporting delay is provided by the grantee. This delay in submitting closeout reports may not exceed one year after the award expires.
7. Alternatives for record retention and cost documentation.
The Southern Research Station will allow grantees to substitute copies of original records for the original records, as permitted under OMB Circular A-110. In helping grantees to reconstruct the supporting project documentation, the Southern Research Station will provide copies of previously submitted records, such as indirect cost proposals, cost allocation plans, and past financial status reports.
For questions regarding the above administrative relief provisions, please contact Cheryl Jefferson at
828-259-0562 or cjefferson@fs.fed.us.
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