RFA_Guidelines_Revised.pdf

This is the NOAA Grants Management Division's Budget Narrative Guidance document, which provides detailed instructions for preparing budget narratives for federal grant applications. The guidance requires applicants to explain and justify all federal and non-federal expenditures by object class category as listed on the SF-424A form (or SF-424C for construction awards), with all budget narrative amounts matching the dollar amounts on required forms. Costs must be reasonable, allowable, allocatable, and necessary to the supported activity, subject to 2 CFR §200 requirements. For multi-year or multiple-year funding, applicants must provide separate budgets and justifications for each year and ensure no federal or non-Federal grant funds are expended for in-kind goods or services, transportation, travel, or expenses for any Federal employee.

The guidance details specific requirements for eight budget categories: Personnel (including position titles, salaries, time percentages, and justifications related to program objectives); Fringe Benefits (rates, computation methods, and breakdowns for rates exceeding 35%); Travel (domestic and foreign travel with itemized costs, justifications, and Fly America Act compliance); Equipment (items over one year useful life and per-unit cost exceeding $5,000, with lease versus purchase analysis); Supplies (itemized by quantity and cost per unit, with explanations for amounts exceeding $5,000 or 5% of the award); Contractual (separate budgets for each contract with method of selection, period of performance, scope of work, and accountability measures); Construction (only when authorized, using SF-424C form with detailed cost breakdowns); and Other (subawards and miscellaneous items with itemized costs and justifications). The document also addresses Indirect Charges (fixed, provisional, or pre-determined rates based on negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements), total direct and indirect costs, and Cost Share or Match requirements, with sample budget templates and justifications provided throughout.