USDA-FAS-10960-0200-10-24-0006.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

FAS Agricultural Export Market Challenge

Application Submission Deadline: September 14, 2024

Summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, International Climate Hub, announces this funding opportunity to support the Technical Agricultural Assistance Program by issuing a new award(s). This opportunity is available to state cooperative institutions and other colleges and universities in the United States and is intended to support FAS initiatives to better engage with the economists, analysts, and foreign service officers of tomorrow.

A. Program Description

FAS requests applications from interested applicants to design, plan, and implement the FAS

Agricultural Export Market Challenge (“Challenge”) for the 2024-2025 academic year. Subject to availability of funding, the selected applicant may be funded to support the challenge activity for two additional years (i.e. 2025-2026 and 2026-2027).

Launched as a pilot program in 2021, the Challenge is an immersive learning experience targeted to upper-level undergraduates attending a minority-serving educational institution. The

Challenge is designed to increase student awareness around the work of FAS, pique student interest in a career in international trade and within the agency, and provide a rich learning experience, while fostering FAS’ relationships with participating institutions.

In the Challenge, students simulate the work that FAS performs every day in global food and agricultural trade. The simulated export case study in the Challenge will help students gain knowledge and skills across the disciplines of economics, diplomacy, scientific analysis, marketing, and trade policy. The students will develop and propose a market entry strategy for an

American company that is seeking export sales opportunities for a hypothetical U.S. food or agricultural product in the students’ recommended overseas target market.

The Challenge is held in the spring, though preparatory work can begin as early as the preceding summer. FAS accepts a number of teams to participate each year, using a lottery if more teams express interest than the project has capacity. Additional information about past Challenge events can be found at: https://www.fas.usda.gov/market-challenge

Program Objectives

The Challenge has three primary objectives:

1) Offer an experiential learning opportunity to students at minority-serving institutions

(MSIs) that familiarizes them with the mission and daily work of FAS;

2) Generate interest from MSI students in exploring careers in international trade, in general, and at FAS, in particular; and

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service https://www.fas.usda.gov/market-challenge

3) Expand the network of relationships between FAS and academic leaders at MSIs in a way that complements the existing National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) platform and USDA Liaison infrastructure.

The recipient of this cooperative agreement will work closely with FAS staff. Transparent communications that include email, phone, and video conference calls throughout the period of performance are critical to the success of this project. A complete set of performance expectations is included in Section F.

The recipient will advise FAS on how to work with academic institutions and undergraduate students to carry out this case study project; collaborate with FAS to identify appropriate topics for, and draft, the text of the case study; facilitate and moderate hands-on workshops; and arrange programming presented by FAS officials. The recipient, in coordination with FAS, will organize and host all events for the students and professors participating in the Challenge, which may be either online or hybrid.

The recipient will also work with FAS to develop outreach and public affairs materials and survey the participating students and professors to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the

Challenge. Recipient will collaborate with FAS to develop and administer a participant survey prior to and after the simulation to gauge learning outcomes and level of awareness of

USDA/FAS as a career path. The recipient will present a final report to FAS summarizing the activities and the effectiveness of the program.

The outreach and intake process to identify participating teams will begin in the fall of each program cycle, which is broadly aligned to the academic year. The Challenge will take place in the spring of each program cycle over a period of approximately six to eight weeks. There will be a kick-off session and a final session during which student teams will present their work and hear from FAS officials. Additional sessions may be offered to include briefings by FAS Foreign

Service Officers and subject matter experts to train the students on core skills needed to complete the Challenge including research, analysis, writing, briefings, and use of FAS programs and overseas offices.

The recipient will make the logistical arrangements with the winning student team (estimated to include 5 students and one faculty mentor) to spend at least 2 days/one night in Washington, D.C., to include one full day of meetings with USDA leadership.

Funding Opportunity Number

USDA-FAS-10960-0200-10.-24-0006

Assistance Listing Number

10.960 Technical Agricultural Assistance

Authorizing Legislation

National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, PL 95-113, as amended, 7 USC § 3291

B. Federal Award Information

Total Available Federal Funding: $250,000

The initial funding amount will be $85,000. Subject to availability of funding, a cumulative total of $250,000, may be available throughout the period of performance of the award, including extensions if authorized. See Section H, Other Information, for additional information on incremental funding.

Anticipated Number of Awards: 1

Cost Share/Match Requirement: None/Not Required

Projected Period of Performance Start: September 29, 2024

Projected Period of Performance End: September 28, 2025

Type of Assistance Instrument:

USDA/FAS anticipates that a Cooperative Agreement will be funded pursuant to this funding opportunity.

This type of agreement provides for substantial involvement between USDA/FAS and/or other

USDA agencies, and the selected applicant in the performance of the project. This may include:

• close monitoring of the successful applicant’s performance to verify the results proposed by the applicant;

• collaboration during performance of the scope of work;

• in accordance with 2 CFR 200.317 and 2 CFR 200.318, review of proposed procurement;

• approving qualifications of key personnel (USDA will not select the recipient’s employees or contractors; but may disallow costs for specific individuals where required by statute or regulation); and

• review and comment on reports prepared under the cooperative agreement (the final decision on the content of reports rests with the recipient).

Additional Awards

USDA/FAS reserves the right to make additional awards under this solicitation, consistent with

Agency policy and guidance, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than 6 months after the original selection decisions.

No Awards

USDA/FAS reserves the right to make no awards under this competition.

C. Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants: Nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), other than institutions of higher education

All applicants must have an active registration in the U.S. Government System for Award

Management (www.sam.gov) before the application submission deadline of the announcement;

applicants with inactive, expired, pending, or excluded listings will be deemed ineligible.

Exceptions, waivers, or extensions will not be considered. Please contact the program officer(s) listed in Section G, Federal Awarding Agency Contact, if you have questions about this requirement. Applicants with inactive, expired, pending, or excluded listings will be deemed ineligible. Exceptions, waivers, or extensions will not be considered. Please contact the program officer(s) listed in Section G, Federal Awarding Agency Contact, if you have questions about this requirement.

Cost Share/Match Requirement: None/Not Required

Ineligible activities: If an application is submitted that includes any ineligible tasks or activities, that portion of the application will be ineligible for funding and may, depending on the extent to which it affects the application, render the entire application ineligible for funding.

Applicants should utilize active/nonexpired forms available on grants.gov.

Multiple Applications/Awards

An individual applicant may not submit more than one application in response to this NOFO, and may be offered more than one award.

Substantial Compliance

All applications will be reviewed for eligibility and must meet the eligibility requirements described in Section C to be considered eligible. Applicants deemed ineligible for funding consideration as a result of the threshold eligibility review will be notified within 4 calendar days of the ineligibility determination.

Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section D of this solicitation or else they will be rejected. However, where a page limit is expressed in Section D with respect to the application, or parts thereof, pages in excess of the page limitation will not be reviewed. Applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in application format, including selecting a legible font type and size for use in the application.

While these guidelines may establish the minimum type size requirements, applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in selection of an appropriate font for use in the application.

Evidence of Eligibility

Applicants are responsible for including documentation, if necessary, establishing that they meet the stated eligibility requirements, when it is not immediately obvious. Applicants should not presume that USDA/FAS is sufficiently familiar with their organization that this is unnecessary, and USDA/FAS will not make assumptions as to the nature of the applicant’s organization.

http://www.sam.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/sf-424-family.html

D. Application and Submission Information

This announcement contains all information necessary to apply to this funding opportunity.

Deadline for Question Submission: September 6, 2024

Submission Dates and Times

Application Submission Deadline: September 13, 2024 at 11:59pm EDT (UTC -04:00)

Applications received after this time will not be accepted. Applicants are advised to make their submissions 1-2 days before this deadline in case of computer problems.

Anticipated Award Date: September 20, 2024

Content and Form of Application Submission

A complete application package must include:

• Standard Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance, showing the Unique Entity

Identifier, and signed by the applicant.

• Standard Form SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs, showing the budget categorization. Applicants are advised to consult 2 CFR 200 Subpart E for guidance on proper categorization of cost items. An improper categorization will not itself be grounds for a determination of ineligibility, but may delay approval and/or adversely impact the application’s evaluation scoring.

• A detailed budget and narrative, in which cost items are quantified and described in sufficient detail to enable USDA/FAS to independently determine that the proposed costs are reasonable and allowable for the project and consistent with applicable regulations.

o Since this award will be incrementally funded, the detailed budget and narrative should reflect a total of up to $250,000 for 3 years with a break down for every year, including up to $85,000 for the first year.

o If indirect costs are included in the budget, attach a copy of the latest indirect cost rate agreement negotiated with a cognizant federal agency. If a negotiated indirect cost agreement does not exist, please attach a description of the basis for the indirect cost calculation. If electing to utilize the de minimis rate, consistent with

2 CFR 200.414(f), please include a statement of election.

• A detailed project narrative or plan of operation, not to exceed 10 pages, which describes:

o How the project is expected to assist MSI students with understanding the daily work of FAS and to acquire insights into careers in government and the private sector engaged in international trade;

o How the project will provide students with a networking experience through interaction with FAS staff and outside experts, and generate interest from students in exploring pathways to careers at FAS;

o How the project will foster information sharing, collaboration, partnerships, and networks, and can complement existing NIFA programming (including, but not limited to, the NextGen program) and USDA Liaison infrastructure.

o How the project will provide an engaging and immersive experience for students while utilizing best practices for online training as well as online and hybrid events.

o The applicant’s experience in teaching students on relevant topics such as agribusiness, international agricultural trade economics and policy, biotechnology, food safety, climate smart agriculture, and sustainability;

o The applicant’s experience in developing programs on diversity and inclusion and career development training for minority students;

o The applicant’s experience in teaching with case study methods;

o The applicant’s understanding of work with undergraduate students from a variety of academic, personal, and geographic backgrounds, and ability to advise FAS on relevant considerations and best practices;

o The applicant’s access to subject matter expertise to develop a case study on selected topic;

o The applicant’s knowledge of the work of FAS in supporting U.S. agricultural exports and food security.

• Standard Form SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, if applicable to the applicant.

• Internal Revenue Service issued 501(c) determination letter, if applicable to the applicant.

Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

Each applicant is required to:

(i) Have an active registration in SAM before submitting its application;

(ii) Have assented to the federal assistance certifications in the SAM platform;

(iii) Provide a valid Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in its application; and

(iv) Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency.

SAM.gov Registration Instructions

Organizations applying to this funding opportunity must have an active SAM.gov registration. If you have never done business with the Federal Government, you will need to register your organization in SAM.gov. If you do not have a SAM.gov account, then you will create an account using login.gov1 to complete your SAM.gov registration. SAM.gov registration is FREE.

The process for entity registrations includes obtaining Unique Entity ID (UEI), a 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned an entity by SAM.gov, and requires assertions, representations and certifications, and other information about your organization. Please review the Entity

Registration Checklist for details on this process.

Entities outside the United States (defined at 2 CFR 200.1 as “foreign organizations” and

“foreign public entities”) must obtain a NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE)

Code prior to SAM.gov registration An NCAGE is required for all foreign entities prior to registering in SAM.gov. You can complete the registration once you enter the NCAGE. You can submit your request for an NCAGE Code by going to the NATO Support Activity (NSPA)

NCAGE Request Tool at CAGE/NCAGE Code Request which contains detailed instructions.

1 Login.gov a secure sign in service used by the public to sign into Federal Agency systems including SAM.gov and

Grants.gov. For help with login.gov accounts you should visit http://login.gov/help.

https://login.gov/ https://www.fsd.gov/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=622e0a761b8fe114cc45ea04bc4bcb9a https://www.fsd.gov/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=622e0a761b8fe114cc45ea04bc4bcb9a https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-A/subject-group-ECFR2a6a0087862fd2c/section-200.1#p-200.1(Foreign%20organization) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-A/subject-group-ECFR2a6a0087862fd2c/section-200.1#p-200.1(Foreign%20public%20entity) https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/CageTool/home http://login.gov/help

If you have done business with the Federal Government previously, you can check your entity status using your government issued UEI to determine if your registration is active. SAM.gov requires you renew your registration every 365 days to keep it active.

Please note that SAM.gov registration is different than obtaining a UEI only. Obtaining an UEI only validates your organization’s legal business name and address. Please review the Frequently

Asked Question on the difference for additional details.

Organizations should ensure that their SAM.gov registration includes a current e-Business

(EBiz) point of contact name and email address. The EBiz point of contact is critical for

Grants.gov Registration and system functionality.

Contact the Federal Service Desk for help with your SAM.gov account, to resolve technical issues or chat with a help desk agent: (866) 606-8220. The Federal Service desk hours of operation are Monday – Friday 8am – 8pm ET.

Intergovernmental Review

Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs, may be applicable to awards resulting from this announcement. USDA implemented the Executive Order in 2 CFR

415.5. USDA/FAS may require applicants selected for funding to provide a copy of their application to their State Point of Contact (SPOC) for review. These reviews are not required before submitting an application. Only applicants that USDA/FAS selects for funding under this announcement are subject to the Intergovernmental Review requirement. For more information about USDA’s implementation for Intergovernmental Review, please visit https://www.usda.gov/ocfo/federal-financial-assistance-policy/intergovernmental-review#:~:text=Executive%20Order%20(EO)%2012372%2C,of%20proposed%20Federal%20fi nancial%20assistance.

Funding Restrictions

Generally, funds may not be used in any manner that is prohibited by applicable regulations, including 2 CFR Part 200 or 2 CFR Part 400. Awards issued pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity may only be used for the purpose set forth in the award, consistent with the statutory authority for the award. Capital expenses, such as the purchase of equipment, not entirely attributable to this award, must be pro-rated.

For example, agreement funds and other support may not be used for matching contributions for other federal grants or cooperative agreements, lobbying, or intervention in federal regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings. Federal employees are prohibited from acting as an agent of the applicant in any capacity (paid or unpaid) on any proposal submitted under this program. Also, federal funds may not be used to sue the Federal Government or any other government entity.

Compensation for personal services: Employees, consultants, or other personnel, including those of subrecipients, and regardless of the method of engagement, may not exceed the pro-rata equivalent of GS-15 on the General Schedule (for 2024, $159,950 per year, $612.84 per day, or https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0051214&sys_kb_id=dd40f4ef1b9641d0937fa64ce54bcb7a&spa=1 https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0051214&sys_kb_id=dd40f4ef1b9641d0937fa64ce54bcb7a&spa=1 https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp https://www.usda.gov/ocfo/federal-financial-assistance-policy/intergovernmental-review#:~:text=Executive%20Order%20(EO)%2012372%2C,of%20proposed%20Federal%20financial%20assistance https://www.usda.gov/ocfo/federal-financial-assistance-policy/intergovernmental-review#:~:text=Executive%20Order%20(EO)%2012372%2C,of%20proposed%20Federal%20financial%20assistance https://www.usda.gov/ocfo/federal-financial-assistance-policy/intergovernmental-review#:~:text=Executive%20Order%20(EO)%2012372%2C,of%20proposed%20Federal%20financial%20assistance

$76.60 per hour). Non-monetizable fringe benefits, such as health insurance coverage, are not included to this ceiling.

Indirect Costs: In general, costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective but not readily assignable to specific awards, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved, are considered indirect costs. These may include facilities not specific to individual projects, enterprise-wide services such as IT, and enterprise management. Pursuant to

USDA Departmental Regulation DR2255-001, a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement

(NICRA) with a cognizant U.S. Government agency will be honored, except where prohibited by statute.

Other Submission Information

Applications should be submitted through the ezFedGrants system at https://grants.fms.usda.gov/

Applicants who require assistance with any USDA-managed computer system should reach out to the program officer(s) listed in Section G, Federal Awarding Agency Contact, at least 5 business days in advance of the application submission deadline. Applicants should provide as much detail as possible to facilitate resolution of the issue.

E. Application Review Information

Review and Selection Process

In all cases, the agency will conduct an initial responsiveness review of all applications submitted to determine:

1) the application was submitted on time as specified in this announcement (See Section

D. Application and Submission Information);

2) the applicant is eligible (see Section C. Eligibility Information);

3) all the required forms and documents are submitted no later than the Application

Submission Deadline specified in Section D. Application and Submission Information, Content and Form of Application Submission.

If an applicant is determined to be ineligible or an application is determined to be incomplete, the agency will notify the applicant prior to commencing with evaluation of applications, usually within 4 business days of the Application Submission Deadline. An applicant that feels such a determination is made in error may request reconsideration, highlighting evidence supporting their claim, by email to the program officer(s) listed in Section G, Federal Awarding Agency

Contact, within 3 business days of notification.

The agency will convene a review panel, which may include both federal and non-federal reviewers, to review the eligible applications against the evaluation criteria described below. The reviewers will ensure that the applicant is capable of delivering the programs/activities as described in the announcement based on the applicant’s project narrative and assign a score and provide summary comments based on the evaluation criteria identified below. The review panel will make a recommendation list to the selecting official, who is not a member of the panel.

The selecting official may select applications out of rank order in consideration of strategic program priorities, such as geographical distribution, incorporation of minority-serving institutions, or congressional directive. Selection determinations are final and cannot be appealed.

Evaluation Criteria

Factor 1: Impact of the proposed activities

Applicants will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which they demonstrate the design and execution of the FAS Agricultural Export Market Challenge are expected to: (40 points)

• assist MSI students with understanding the daily work of FAS and to acquire insights into careers in government and the private sector engaged in international trade; (15 points)

• provide students with a networking experience through interaction with FAS staff and outside experts; (10 points)

• generate interest from students in exploring pathways to careers at FAS; and (5 points)

• provide an engaging and immersive experience for students while utilizing best practices for online training as well as online and hybrid events. (10 points)

Factor 2: Professional Experience

Applicants will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which they demonstrate professional experience in diversity and inclusion educational programs and training in related academic disciplines including: (30 points)

• The applicant’s proposal describes experience in teaching students on relevant topics such as agribusiness, international agricultural trade economics and policy, biotechnology, food safety, climate smart agriculture, and sustainability; (3 points)

• The applicant’s proposal describes experience in developing programs on diversity and inclusion and career development training for minority students; (3 points)

• The applicant’s proposal describes experience in teaching with case study methods; (10 points)

• The applicant’s proposal describes their ability to work with undergraduate students from a variety of academic, personal, and geographic backgrounds, and can advise FAS on relevant considerations and best practices; (5 points)

• The applicant’s proposal describes possession of or access to subject matter expertise to develop a case study on selected topic; (7 points) and

• The applicant’s proposal describes knowledge of the work of FAS in supporting U.S.

agricultural exports and food security. (2 points)

Factor 3: Professional Detailed Budget and Budget Narrative

Applicants will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which they demonstrate reasonableness, cost-effectiveness, and adequacy of the proposed budget to accomplish the project, along with the extent to which the budget documents are detailed, organized, in-scope, and appropriate including: (10 points)

• applicant’s demonstration of appropriate cost for the number of activities and length of the program, and clearly outlines all program-related costs; and

• applicant’s use of a clear budget narrative with associated explanation of sufficient detail that the agency can determine the reasonableness and allowability of each cost item accompanying the budget table to address each line item therein.

Factor 4: Professional Formatting, Spelling and Grammar

Applicants will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which they demonstrate professional organization and formatting through the project narrative and supporting documents with limited spelling and grammatical errors. (10 points)

Factor 5: Enhance USDA/FAS relationships with students and faculty at MSIs

Applicants will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which they demonstrate the ability to share information, collaborate, partner and network with complimentary USDA programs (e.g., NextGen program and USDA Liaison Infrastructure) (10 points)

Integrity in Performance

Prior to making a Federal award, the Federal awarding agency is required by 31 USC 3321 and

41 USC 2313 to review information available through any OMB-designated repositories of government-wide eligibility qualification or financial integrity information. Therefore application evaluation criteria may include the following risk based considerations of the applicant: (1) financial stability; (2) quality of management systems and ability to meet management standards; (3) history of performance in managing federal award; (4) reports and findings from audits; and (5) ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other requirements.

Conflict of Interest

The Applicant’s Conflict of Interest (COI) Point of Contact as defined in USDA/FAS Conflict of

Interest Policy must notify the USDA/FAS contact identified in Section G of this solicitation of any actual or potential conflict of interest that they are aware of that may provide the Applicant with an unfair competitive advantage in competing for USDA/FAS financial assistance awards within 10 calendar days of becoming aware of the conflict of interest. Examples of an unfair competitive advantage include but are not limited to situations in which an USDA/FAS employee reviewed and commented on or drafted all or part of an applicant’s application. Note that USDA/FAS does not generally consider receiving information from an USDA/FAS employee limited to whether the applicant or the applicant’s proposed project is eligible to compete for funding to confer an unfair competitive advantage. In addition, assistance agreements made under this solicitation will include a term and condition notifying recipients of their COI disclosure obligations and responsibilities under the award including the need to have systems in place to address, resolve and disclose COIs to USDA/FAS.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

Federal Award Notices

Successful applicants will be notified of the status of their application/award by email. This notification is not authorization to proceed, and such notification should be construed as provisional.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/3321 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/41/2313

Administrative and National Policy Requirements

All successful applicants for all grant and cooperative agreements are required to comply with the applicable General Administrative Terms and Conditions, which can be found at https://www.fas.usda.gov/grants/general_terms_and_conditions/default.asp. The applicant is presumed to have read, understood, and accepted these terms when accepting a USDA/FAS award. Applicants with questions about the applicable terms should contact the program officer(s) listed in Section G, Federal Awarding Agency Contact.

The applicable Terms and Conditions will be for the last year specified at that URL.

Before accepting an award, the applicant should carefully read the award package for instructions on administering the award and the terms and conditions associated with responsibilities under Federal Awards. Recipients must accept all conditions in this NOFO as well as any Special Terms and Conditions in the Notice of Award to receive an award under this program.

Subaward and Executive Compensation Reporting

Applicants must ensure that they have the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the subaward and executive total compensation reporting requirements established at 2 CFR

170, unless they quality for an exception from the requirements, should they be selected for funding.

Mandatory Disclosures

As required by 2 CFR 200.113, non-federal entities or applicants for a Federal award must disclose, in a timely manner, in writing to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity all violations of Federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations potentially affecting the Federal award. Failure to make required disclosures can result in any of the remedies described in 2 CFR 200.339 including suspension and debarment.

Reporting

Financial Reports, using form SF-425, Federal Financial Report (FFR), must be submitted annually, within 30 days of the end of the reporting period. A final financial report must be submitted within 120 days of the end date of the agreement.

Performance Progress Reports must be submitted annually, within 30 days of the end of the reporting period. A final performance progress report must be submitted within 120 days of the end date of the agreement. The recipient may use any appropriate format for performance progress reports, provided the report includes:

a) A comparison of actual accomplishments to those projected for the period;

b) The reasons why established goals were not met, if appropriate; and

c) Additional pertinent information including, when appropriate, analysis and explanation of cost overruns or high unit costs.

Recipients are encouraged to include photographs and other supplemental material in performance progress reports. For awards in which the total lifetime value exceeds $500,000, additional reporting may be required as described in Appendix XII to 2 CFR 200.

https://www.fas.usda.gov/grants/general_terms_and_conditions/default.asp https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-170.210 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-170.210 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-B/section-200.113 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFR86b76dde0e1e9dc/section-200.339 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/2/appendix-XII_to_part_200

Monitoring

USDA/FAS through its authorized representatives, has the right, at all reasonable times, to make site visits to review project accomplishments and management control systems and to provide such technical assistance as may be required. During site visits, USDA/FAS will review recipients’ files related to the program.

As part of any monitoring and program evaluation activities, grant recipients must permit

USDA/FAS, upon reasonable notice, to review assistance agreement-related records and to interview the organization’s staff and clients regarding the program, and to respond in a timely and accurate manner to FAS requests for information relating to the program.

Closeout

Within 120 days after the end of the period of performance, recipients must submit a final FFR and final progress report detailing all accomplishments and a qualitative summary of the impact of those accomplishments throughout the period of performance. After final reports have been reviewed and approved by the agency, and any residual amount due to the recipient or due to be returned to the agency, the award is subject to closeout. Acceptance of final reports by the agency constitutes a closeout of the award with no further notice or obligation to either party.

This acceptance will indicate the period of performance has expired, and any remaining funds will be deobligated. Records must be retained for a minimum of three years after the final reports are submitted.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact

For all inquiries, contact:

Name: Angel Gonzalez

Email Address: Angel.Gonzalez@usda.gov

Phone Number: (202) 690-5455

Hours of Operation: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm CDT

H. Other Information

Incremental Funding

This award will be incrementally funded with a potential cumulative total of up to $250,000 over the three-year period of performance. The first year of funding will be up to $85,000. The detailed budget and narrative should reflect a total budget of $250,000 spent over three years with a break down for every year.

All incremental funding will be based on funding availability, satisfactory performance, and other applicable considerations.

Budget Revisions

Transfers of funds between direct cost categories in the approved budget when such cumulative transfers among those direct cost categories exceed ten percent of the total budget approved in this Award require written approval from the agency. The total budget amount may not be increased without a bilaterally executed amendment to the award.

Post-award program income

In the event program income becomes available to the recipient post-award, it is the recipient’s responsibility to notify the USDA/FAS Program Manager to explain how that development occurred, as part of their request for guidance and/or approval. If approval is granted, an award modification will be issued with an explanatory note in the remarks section of the face page concerning guidance and/or options pertaining to the recipient’s approved request. All instances of program income shall be listed in the progress and financial reports.

Electronic Signatures

Consistent with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN Act), USDA/FAS uses and accepts electronic signatures for application and award documents.

USDA/FAS will neither solicit nor send physical copies of documents.