§200.204. Notices of funding opportunities. — Inbound Citations

Sections 200.201 through 200.217 prescribe instructions and other pre-award matters to be used by Federal agencies in the program planning, announcement, application, and award processes.

Unless prohibited by Federal statute, the Federal agency must design and execute a merit review process of applications for discretionary Federal awards. The objective of a merit review process is to select recipients most likely to be successful in delivering results based on the program objectives as outlined in section § 200.202. A merit review is an objective process of evaluating Federal award applications in accordance with the written standards of the Federal agency. These standards should identify the number of people the agency requires to participate in the merit review process and provide opportunities for a diverse group of participants, including those representing underserved communities. The merit review process explained in this section must be described or incorporated by reference in the applicable funding opportunity. See appendix I to this part. See also § 200.204. The Federal agency must also periodically review its merit review process.

(1) The Federal agency must establish and maintain policies and procedures for conducting a risk assessment to evaluate the risks posed by applicants before issuing Federal awards. This assessment helps identify risks that may affect the advancement toward or the achievement of a project's goals and objectives. Risk assessments assist Federal managers in determining appropriate resources and time to devote to project oversight and monitor recipient progress. This assessment may incorporate elements such as the quality of the application, award amount, risk associated with the program, cybersecurity risks, fraud risks, and impacts on local jobs and the community. If the Federal agency determines that the Federal award will be made, specific conditions that address the assessed risk may be implemented in the Federal award. The risk criteria to be evaluated must be described in the announcement of the funding opportunity described in § 200.204.

(d) The Federal agency must include in each Federal award any specific terms and conditions that are in addition to the general terms and conditions. See also § 200.208. For loan and loan guarantee programs, the Federal agency must specify whether or not the Federal award has continuing compliance requirements. Whenever practicable, these specific terms and conditions should also be available on the Federal agency's website and in notices of funding opportunities (as outlined in § 200.204).

(a) The Federal agency may not use voluntary committed cost sharing as a factor during the merit review of applications or proposals for Federal research grants unless authorized by Federal statutes or agency regulations and specified in the notice of funding opportunity. Federal agencies are also discouraged from using voluntary committed cost sharing as a factor during the merit review of applications for other Federal financial assistance programs. If voluntary committed cost sharing is used for this purpose for other programs, the notice of funding opportunity must specify how an applicant's proposed cost sharing will be considered. See §§ 200.414, 200.204, and Appendix I.

(4) The Federal agency must include, in the notice of funding opportunity, the policies relating to indirect cost rate reimbursement or cost share as approved under paragraph (e). As appropriate, the Federal agency should incorporate discussion of these policies into its outreach activities with applicants before posting a notice of funding opportunity. See § 200.204.

In lieu of 2 CFR 200.201 through 200.204, 200.206, and 200.306, this section establishes project development, resource contributions, indirect cost reimbursement, and tuition remission provisions for non-assistance cooperative agreements.

(a) For competitive awards, the Department will design and execute a merit review process for applications as prescribed under 2 CFR 200.204 when issuing Federal financial assistance awards made under WIOA title I, subtitle D. This process will be described in the applicable funding opportunity announcement.

(k) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) means a formal announcement of the availability of a Federal funding opportunity published in the OMB-designated government-wide website Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) in accordance with § 38.725 and 2 CFR 200.1 and 200.204.

(b) Applications for grants for demonstration projects funded by the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery will be solicited in accordance with 2 CFR 200.204 and selections will be made on a competitive basis to the extent required by EPA policy.

(1) Applicants will be notified of the availability of funding for the FMA program pursuant to 2 CFR 200.203 and 200.204.

(1) All notices of funding opportunities for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements must be published on Grants.gov as described in 2 CFR 200.204(a). When notices of funding opportunities contain an information collection requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) or its implementing regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, USDA awarding agencies must seek and obtain OMB approval before collecting information from the public.

(i) Supplementary to the requirements at paragraph (b)(1), USDA awarding agencies may make use of other methods of disseminating public information concerning notices of funding opportunities. In doing so, USDA awarding agencies must:

(A) Pursue the broadest dissemination of information concerning notices of funding opportunities in order to reach the greatest number and diversity of potential applicants.

(B) Avoid any appearance that an unfair advantage has been provided to any entity, inclusive of the memberships or networks of such entities, which may arise from the use of any dissemination method.

(ii) Nothing in this part will be interpreted as to limit, impede, or otherwise prevent the attendance of any USDA awarding agency's staff, acting in their official capacity, at a conference, event, or similar activity, for the purposes of disseminating public information concerning notices of funding opportunities.