(a) Sections 75.201 through 75.208 prescribe instructions and other pre-award matters to be used in the announcement and application process.

(b) Use of §§ 75.203, 75.204, 75.205, and 75.207, is required only for competitive Federal awards, but may also be used by the HHS awarding agency for non-competitive awards where appropriate or where required by Federal statute.

(a) The HHS awarding agency or pass-through entity must decide on the appropriate instrument for the Federal award (i.e., grant agreement, cooperative agreement, or contract) in accordance with the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act (31 U.S.C. 6301-08).

(b) Fixed Amount Awards. In addition to the options described in paragraph (a) of this section, HHS awarding agencies, or pass-through entities as permitted in § 75.353, may use fixed amount awards (see § 75.2 Fixed amount awards) to which the following conditions apply:

(1) The Federal award amount is negotiated using the cost principles (or other pricing information) as a guide. The HHS awarding agency or pass-through entity may use fixed amount awards if the project scope is specific and if adequate cost, historical, or unit pricing data is available to establish a fixed amount award based on a reasonable estimate of actual cost. Payments are based on meeting specific requirements of the Federal award. Accountability is based on performance and results. Except in the case of termination before completion of the Federal award, there is no governmental review of the actual costs incurred by the non-Federal entity in performance of the award. Some of the ways in which the Federal award may be paid include, but are not limited to:

(i) In several partial payments, the amount of each agreed upon in advance, and the “milestone” or event triggering the payment also agreed upon in advance, and set forth in the Federal award;

(ii) On a unit price basis, for a defined unit or units, at a defined price or prices, agreed to in advance of performance of the Federal award and set forth in the Federal award; or,

(iii) In one payment at Federal award completion.

(2) A fixed amount award cannot be used in programs which require mandatory cost sharing or match.

(3) The non-Federal entity must certify in writing to the HHS awarding agency or pass-through entity at the end of the Federal award that the project or activity was completed or the level of effort was expended. If the required level of activity or effort was not carried out, the amount of the Federal award must be adjusted.

(4) Periodic reports may be established for each Federal award.

(5) Changes in principal investigator, project leader, project partner, or scope of effort must receive the prior written approval of the HHS awarding agency or pass-through entity.

(a) The HHS awarding agency must notify the public of Federal programs in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA).

(1) The CFDA, or any OMB-designated replacement, is the single, authoritative, government-wide comprehensive source of Federal financial assistance program information produced by the executive branch of the Federal Government.

(2) The information that the HHS awarding agency must submit to GSA for approval by OMB is listed in paragraph (b) of this section. GSA must prescribe the format for the submission.

(3) The HHS awarding agency may not award Federal financial assistance without assigning it to a program that has been included in the CFDA as required in this section unless there are exigent circumstances requiring otherwise, such as timing requirements imposed by statute.

(b) For each program that awards discretionary Federal awards, non-discretionary Federal awards, loans, insurance, or any other type of Federal financial assistance, the HHS awarding agency must submit the following information to GSA:

(1) Program Description, Purpose, Goals and Measurement. A brief summary of the statutory or regulatory requirements of the program and its intended outcome. Where appropriate, the Program Description, Purpose, Goals, and Measurement should align with the strategic goals and objectives within the HHS awarding agency's performance plan and should support the HHS awarding agency's performance measurement, management, and reporting as required by Part 6 of OMB Circular A-11;

(2) Identification of whether the program makes Federal awards on a discretionary basis or the Federal awards are prescribed by Federal statute, such as in the case of formula grants.

(3) Projected total amount of funds available for the program. Estimates based on previous year funding are acceptable if current appropriations are not available at the time of the submission;

(4) Anticipated Source of Available Funds: The statutory authority for funding the program and, to the extent possible, agency, sub-agency, or, if known, the specific program unit that will issue the Federal awards, and associated funding identifier (e.g., Treasury Account Symbol(s));

(5) General Eligibility Requirements: The statutory, regulatory or other eligibility factors or considerations that determine the applicant's qualification for Federal awards under the program (e.g., type of non-Federal entity); and

(6) Applicability of Single Audit Requirements as required by subpart F of this part.

For competitive grants and cooperative agreements, the HHS awarding agency must announce specific funding opportunities by providing the following information in a public notice:

(a) Summary Information in Notices of Funding Opportunities. The HHS awarding agency must display the following information posted on the OMB-designated government-wide Web site for finding and applying for Federal financial assistance, in a location preceding the full text of the announcement:

(1) HHS Awarding Agency Name;

(2) Funding Opportunity Title;

(3) Announcement Type (whether the funding opportunity is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity or a modification of a previously announced opportunity);

(4) Funding Opportunity Number (required, if applicable). If the HHS awarding agency has assigned or will assign a number to the funding opportunity announcement, this number must be provided;

(5) Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s);

(6) Key Dates. Key dates include due dates for applications or Executive Order 12372 submissions, as well as for 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; and any other additional information, as deemed applicable by the relevant HHS awarding agency.

(b) The HHS awarding agency must generally make all funding opportunities available for application for at least 60 calendar days. The HHS awarding agency may make a determination to have a less than 60 calendar day availability period but no funding opportunity should be available for less than 30 calendar days unless exigent circumstances require as determined by the HHS awarding agency head or delegate.

(c) Full Text of Funding Opportunities. The HHS awarding agency must include the following information in the full text of each funding opportunity. For specific instructions on the content required in this section, refer to appendix I of this part.

(1) Full programmatic description of the funding opportunity.

(2) Federal award information, including sufficient information to help an applicant make an informed decision about whether to submit an application. (See also § 75.414(c)(4)).

(3) Specific eligibility information, including any factors or priorities that affect an applicant's or its application's eligibility for selection.

(4) Application Preparation and Submission Information, including the applicable submission dates and time.

(5) Application Review Information including the criteria and process to be used to evaluate applications. See also §§ 75.204 and 75.205.

(6) Federal Award Administration Information. See also § 75.210.

For competitive grants or cooperative agreements, unless prohibited by Federal statute, the HHS awarding agency must design and execute a merit review process for applications. This process must be described or incorporated by reference in the applicable funding opportunity (see appendix I to this part.) See also § 75.203.

(a) Review of OMB-designated repositories of governmentwide data. (1) Prior to making a Federal award, the HHS awarding agency is required by 31 U.S.C. 3321 and 41 U.S.C. 2313 note to review information available through any OMB-designated repositories of governmentwide eligibility qualification or financial integrity information as appropriate. See also suspension and debarment requirements at 2 CFR parts 180 and 376.

(2) In accordance 41 U.S.C. 2313, the HHS awarding agency is required to review the non-public segment of the OMB-designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM (currently the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS)) prior to making a Federal award where the Federal share is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, defined in 41 U.S.C. 134, over the period of performance. At a minimum, the information in the system for a prior Federal award recipient must demonstrate a satisfactory record of executing programs or activities under Federal grants, cooperative agreements, or procurement awards; and integrity and business ethics. The HHS awarding agency may make a Federal award to a recipient who does not fully meet these standards, if it is determined that the information is not relevant to the current Federal award under consideration or there are specific conditions that can appropriately mitigate the effects of the non-Federal entity's risk in accordance with § 75.207.

(b) In addition, for competitive grants or cooperative agreements, the HHS awarding agency must have in place a framework for evaluating the risks posed by applicants before they receive Federal awards. This evaluation may incorporate results of the evaluation of the applicant's eligibility or the quality of its application. If the HHS awarding agency determines that a Federal award will be made, special conditions that correspond to the degree of risk assessed may be applied to the Federal award. Criteria to be evaluated must be described in the announcement of funding opportunity described in § 75.203.

(c) In evaluating risks posed by applicants, the HHS awarding agency may use a risk-based approach and may consider any items such as the following:

(1) Financial stability;

(2) Quality of management systems and ability to meet the management standards prescribed in this part;

(3) History of performance. The applicant's record in managing Federal awards, if it is a prior recipient of Federal awards, including timeliness of compliance with applicable reporting requirements, conformance to the terms and conditions of previous Federal awards, and if applicable, the extent to which any previously awarded amounts will be expended prior to future awards;

(4) Reports and findings from audits performed under subpart F of this part or the reports and findings of any other available audits; and

(5) The applicant's ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other requirements imposed on non-Federal entities.

(d) In addition to this review, the HHS awarding agency must comply with the guidelines on government-wide suspension and debarment in 2 CFR part 180, and must require non-Federal entities to comply with these provisions. These provisions restrict Federal awards, subawards and contracts with certain parties that are debarred, suspended or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal programs or activities.

(a) Paperwork clearances. The HHS awarding agency may only use application information collections approved by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and OMB's implementing regulations in 5 CFR part 1320, Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public. Consistent with these requirements, OMB will authorize additional information collections only on a limited basis.

(b) If applicable, the HHS awarding agency may inform applicants and recipients that they do not need to provide certain information otherwise required by the relevant information collection.

(c) Forms for applying for HHS financial assistance. HHS awarding agencies should use the Standard Form 424 (SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance) series (or its successor) and its program narrative whenever possible. Alternative mechanisms may be used for formula grant programs which do not require applicants to apply for funds on a project basis.

(1) Applicants shall use the SF-424 series or those forms and instructions prescribed by the HHS awarding agency.

(2) For Federal programs covered by Executive Order 12372, as amended by Executive Order 12416, the applicant shall complete the appropriate sections of the SF-424 indicating whether the application was subject to review by the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC). The name and address of the SPOC for a particular State can be obtained from the HHS awarding agency or the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. The SPOC shall advise the applicant whether the program for which application is made has been selected by that State for review. (See also 45 CFR part 100.)

(3) HHS awarding agencies that do not use the SF-424 series will indicate on the application form they prescribe whether the application is subject to review by the State under Executive Order 12372.

(4) This section does not apply to applications for subawards.

(5) Except where otherwise noted, or granted by HHS deviation, HHS awarding agencies shall direct applicants to apply for HHS financial assistance through Grants.gov, an OMB-designated Web site for Find and Apply.

(d) State plans. The statutes for some programs require States to submit plans before receiving grants. Under regulations implementing Executive Order 12372, States are allowed to simplify, consolidate and substitute plans. This section contains additional provisions for plans that are subject to regulations implementing Executive Order 12372.

(1) Requirements. A State need meet only Federal administrative or programmatic requirements for a plan that are in statutes or codified regulations.

(2) Assurances. In each plan, the State will include an assurance that the State will comply with all applicable Federal statutes and regulations in effect with respect to the periods for which it receives grant funding. For this assurance and other assurances required in this plan, the State may:

(i) Cite by number the statutory or regulatory provisions requiring the assurances and affirm that it gives the assurances required by those provisions,

(ii) Repeat the assurance language in the statutes or regulations, or

(iii) Develop its own language to the extent permitted by law.

(3) Amendments. A State will amend a plan whenever necessary to reflect:

(i) New or revised Federal statutes or regulations, or

(ii) A material change in any State law, organization, policy, or State agency operation. The State will obtain approval for the amendment and its effective date but need submit for approval only the amended portions of the plan.

(a) The HHS awarding agency or pass-through entity may impose additional specific award conditions as needed in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, under the following circumstances:

(1) Based on the criteria set forth in § 75.205;

(2) When an applicant or recipient has a history of failure to comply with the general or specific terms and conditions of a Federal award;

(3) When an applicant or recipient fails to meet expected performance goals as described in § 75.210, or;

(4) When an applicant or recipient is not otherwise responsible.

(b) These additional Federal award conditions may include items such as the following:

(1) Requiring payments as reimbursements rather than advance payments;

(2) Withholding authority to proceed to the next phase until receipt of evidence of acceptable performance within a given period of performance;

(3) Requiring additional, more detailed financial reports;

(4) Requiring additional project monitoring;

(5) Requiring the non-Federal entity to obtain technical or management assistance; or

(6) Establishing additional prior approvals.

(c) The HHS awarding agency or pass-through entity must notify the applicant or non-Federal entity as to:

(1) The nature of the additional requirements;

(2) The reason why the additional requirements are being imposed;

(3) The nature of the action needed to remove the additional requirement, if applicable;

(4) The time allowed for completing the actions if applicable, and

(5) The method for requesting reconsideration of the additional requirements imposed.

(d) Any specific conditions must be promptly removed once the conditions that prompted them have been corrected.

Unless prohibited by Federal statutes or regulations, each HHS awarding agency or pass-through entity is authorized to require the non-Federal entity to submit certifications and representations required by Federal statutes, or regulations on an annual basis. Submission may be required more frequently if the non-Federal entity fails to meet a requirement of a Federal award.

(a) The funds governed under this part shall be administered in compliance with the standards set forth in 45 CFR part 87.

(b) For assurances under State plans, see § 75.206(d)(2).

For requirements on costs incurred by the applicant prior to the start date of the period of performance of the Federal award, see § 75.458.

A Federal award must include the following information:

(a) General Federal award information. The HHS awarding agency must include the following general Federal award information in each Federal award:

(1) Recipient name (which must match the name associated with its unique entity identifier as defined in 2 CFR 25.315);

(2) Recipient's unique entity identifier;

(3) Unique Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN);

(4) Federal Award Date (see § 75.2 Federal award date);

(5) Period of Performance Start and End Date;

(6) Amount of Federal Funds Obligated by this action,

(7) Total Amount of Federal Funds Obligated;

(8) Total Amount of the Federal Award;

(9) Budget Approved by the HHS Awarding Agency;

(10) Total Approved Cost Sharing or Matching, where applicable;

(11) Federal award project description (to comply with statutory requirements (e.g., FFATA));

(12) Name of HHS awarding agency and contact information for awarding official,

(13) CFDA Number and Program Name;

(14) Identification of whether the award is R&D; and

(15) Indirect cost rate for the Federal award (including if the de minimis rate is charged per § 75.414).

(b) General terms and conditions. (1) HHS awarding agencies must incorporate the following general terms and conditions either in the Federal award or by reference, as applicable:

(i) Administrative requirements implemented by the HHS awarding agency as specified in this part.

(ii) National policy requirements. These include statutory, executive order, other Presidential directive, or regulatory requirements that apply by specific reference and are not program-specific. See § 75.300.

(iii) Recipient integrity and performance matters. If the total Federal share of the Federal award may include more than $500,000 over the period of performance, the HHS awarding agency must include the term and condition available in appendix XII. See also § 75.113.

(2) The Federal award must include wording to incorporate, by reference, the applicable set of general terms and conditions, The reference must be to the Web site at which the HHS awarding agency maintains the general terms and conditions.

(3) If a non-Federal entity requests a copy of the full text of the general terms and conditions, the HHS awarding agency must provide it.

(4) Wherever the general terms and conditions are publicly available, the HHS awarding agency must maintain an archive of previous versions of the general terms and conditions, with effective dates, for use by the non-Federal entity, auditors, or others.

(c) HHS awarding agency, program, or Federal award specific terms and conditions. The HHS awarding agency may include with each Federal award any terms and conditions necessary to communicate requirements that are in addition to the requirements outlined in the HHS awarding agency's general terms and conditions. Whenever practicable, these specific terms and conditions also should be shared on a public Web site and in notices of funding opportunities (as outlined in § 75.203) in addition to being included in a Federal award. See also § 75.206.

(d) Federal award performance goals. The HHS awarding agency must include in the Federal award an indication of the timing and scope of expected performance by the non-Federal entity as related to the outcomes intended to be achieved by the program. In some instances (e.g., discretionary research awards), this may be limited to the requirement to submit technical performance reports (to be evaluated in accordance with HHS awarding agency policy). Where appropriate, the Federal award may include specific performance goals, indicators, milestones, or expected outcomes (such as outputs, or services performed or public impacts of any of these) with an expected timeline for accomplishment. Reporting requirements must be clearly articulated such that, where appropriate, performance during the execution of the Federal award has a standard against which non-Federal entity performance can be measured. The HHS awarding agency may include program-specific requirements, as applicable. These requirements should be aligned with agency strategic goals, strategic objectives or performance goals that are relevant to the program. See also OMB Circular A-11 Preparation, Submission and Execution of the Budget, Part 6 for definitions of strategic objectives and performance goals.

(e) Any other information required by the HHS awarding agency.

(a) In accordance with statutory requirements for Federal spending transparency (e.g., FFATA), except as noted in this section, for applicable Federal awards the HHS awarding agency must announce all Federal awards publicly and publish the required information on a publicly available OMB-designated government-wide Web site (at time of publication, www.USAspending.gov).

(b) All information posted in the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM (currently FAPIIS) on or after April 15, 2011 will be publicly available after a waiting period of 14 calendar days, except for:

(1) Past performance reviews required by Federal Government contractors in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 42.15;

(2) Information that was entered prior to April 15, 2011; or

(3) Information that is withdrawn during the 14-calendar day waiting period by the Federal Government official.

(c) Nothing in this section may be construed as requiring the publication of information otherwise exempt under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), or controlled unclassified information pursuant to Executive Order 13556.

(a) If an HHS awarding agency does not make a Federal award to a non-Federal entity because the official determines that the non-Federal entity does not meet either or both of the minimum qualification standards as described in § 75.205(a)(2), the HHS awarding agency must report that determination to the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM (currently FAPIIS), only if all of the following apply:

(1) The only basis for the determination described in paragraph (a) of this section is the non-Federal entity's prior record of executing programs or activities under Federal awards or its record of integrity and business ethics, as described in § 75.205(a)(2), (i.e., the entity was determined to be qualified based on all factors other than those two standards), and

(2) The total Federal share of the Federal award that otherwise would be made to the non-Federal entity is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold over the period of performance.

(b) The HHS awarding agency is not required to report a determination that a non-Federal entity is not qualified for a Federal award if it makes the Federal award to the non-Federal entity and includes specific award terms and conditions, as described in § 75.207.

(c) If an HHS awarding agency reports a determination that a non-Federal entity is not qualified for a Federal award, as described in paragraph (a) of this section, the HHS awarding agency also must notify the non-Federal entity that—

(1) The determination was made and reported to the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM, and include with the notification an explanation of the basis for the determination;

(2) The information will be kept in the system for a period of five years from the date of the determination, as required by section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313), then archived;

(3) Each HHS awarding agency that considers making a Federal award to the non-Federal entity during that five year period must consider that information in judging whether the non-Federal entity is qualified to receive the Federal award when the total Federal share of the Federal award is expected to include an amount of Federal funding in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold over the period of performance;

(4) The non-Federal entity may go to the awardee integrity and performance portal accessible through SAM (currently the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)) and comment on any information the system contains about the non-Federal entity itself; and

(5) HHS awarding agencies will consider that non-Federal entity's comments in determining whether the non-Federal entity is qualified for the future Federal award.

(d) If an HHS awarding agency enters information into the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM about a determination that a non-Federal entity is not qualified for a Federal award and subsequently:

(1) Learns that any of that information is erroneous, the HHS awarding agency must correct the information in the system within three business days;

(2) Obtains an update to that information that could be helpful to other Federal awarding agencies, the HHS awarding agency is strongly encouraged to amend the information in the system to incorporate the update in a timely way.

(e) HHS awarding agencies shall not post any information that will be made publicly available in the non-public segment of the designated integrity and performance system that is covered by a disclosure exemption under the Freedom of Information Act. If the recipient asserts within seven calendar days to the HHS awarding agency that posted the information that some or all of the information made publicly available is covered by a disclosure exemption under the Freedom of Information Act, the HHS awarding agency that posted the information must remove the posting within seven calendar days of receiving the assertion. Prior to reposting the releasable information, the HHS awarding agency must resolve the issue in accordance with the agency's Freedom of Information Act procedures.

Non-federal entities are subject to the non-procurement debarment and suspension regulations implementing Executive Orders 12549 and 12689, 2 CFR parts 180 and 376. These regulations restrict awards, subawards and contracts with certain parties that are debarred, suspended or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal assistance programs or activities.

The Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, 15 U.S.C. 205, declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for United States trade and commerce. HHS awarding agencies will follow the provisions of Executive Order 12770.

Recipients are subject to the restrictions on lobbying as set forth in 45 CFR part 93.

(a) This section contains provisions that apply to awards to commercial organizations. These provisions are in addition to other applicable provisions of this part, or they make exceptions from other provisions of this part for awards to commercial organizations.

(b) Prohibition against profit. Except for awards under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs (15 U.S.C. 638), no HHS funds may be paid as profit to any recipient even if the recipient is a commercial organization. Profit is any amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs.

(c) Program income. Except for grants for research, program income earned by a commercial organization may not be used to further eligible project or program objectives except in the SBIR and STTR programs.

(d)(1) Commercial organizations that receive awards (including for-profit hospitals) have two options regarding audits:

(i) A financial related audit of a particular award in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, in those cases where the commercial organization receives awards under only one HHS program; or, if awards are received under multiple HHS programs, a financial related audit of all awards in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; or

(ii) An audit that meets the requirements contained in subpart F.

(2) Commercial organizations that receive annual awards totaling less than the audit requirement threshold in subpart F are exempt from HHS audit requirements for that year, but records must be available for review by appropriate officials of Federal agencies or the Government Accountability Office. (See § 75.501).

(a) In order for an HHS awarding agency to make a Federal award to a Federal agency, the HHS awarding agency must have statutory authority that makes such Federal agency explicitly eligible for a Federal award.

(b) All provisions of this part and other HHS regulations apply to Federal entities receiving Federal awards, except for the following:

(1) Except for grants for research, any program income earned by a Federal institution must be used under the deduction alternative. Any program income earned after the end of grant support should be returned to the United States Treasury.

(2) No salary or fringe benefit payments may be made from HHS awarding agency grant funds to support career, career-conditional, or other Federal employees (civilian or uniformed services) without permanent appointments at a Federal institution receiving a grant. While the level of effort required for the project must be allowed by the recipient as part of each individual's official duties, salary costs associated with an individual participating in an official capacity as a Federal employee under a grant to that Federal institution are not allowable costs under an HHS awarding agency grant.

(3) Federal agencies may not be reimbursed for indirect costs under Federal awards.

The funds provided under this part must be administered in compliance with the standards set forth in 45 CFR part 87.