PKG00294414.pdf

This document is the NOAA Grants Management Division's Budget Narrative Guidance for federal grant applications. It provides detailed instructions for applicants to prepare budget narratives explaining and justifying all federal and non-federal expenditures by object class category as listed on the SF-424A (Section B) for non-construction awards and SF-424C for construction awards. All budget narratives must match dollar amounts on required forms and the SF-424, with separate budgets and justifications required for each year in multi-year awards. Costs must be reasonable, allowable, allocable, and necessary to the supported activity under 2 CFR §200.

The guidance covers specific budget categories with detailed requirements: Personnel (including position names, salaries, percent of time, and months paid, with guidance that administrative and clerical staff should normally be treated as indirect costs unless specific conditions are met); Fringe Benefits (requiring fringe benefit rates and computation methods, with rates above 35% requiring detailed breakdowns unless a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement exists); Travel (distinguishing domestic and foreign travel with specific justifications, origin/destination, duration, costs per diem and lodging); Equipment (defined as tangible property with useful life exceeding one year and per-unit cost exceeding or equal to the capitalization level, typically $5,000, requiring lease versus purchase analysis for items over $5,000); Supplies (requiring itemized lists with unit costs and justifications, with explanations required for items exceeding $5,000 or five percent of the award); Contractual (requiring separate budgets for each contract with method of selection, performance period, scope of work, and accountability measures); Construction (allowable only when program legislation or DOC authorization exists); and Other (including subawards and miscellaneous items, with detailed training activity costs). The document also addresses Total Direct Charges, Indirect Charges (including fixed, provisional, and pre-determined rates with guidance on using negotiated indirect cost rate agreements), and Cost Share or Match requirements, which must be documented and meet the same level of detail as federal funds.