§ 4280.122 - Selecting RES and EEI grant applications for award.

§ 4280.122 Awarding and administering Selecting RES and EEI grants.

The Agency will award and administer

grant applications for award.

Unless otherwise provided for in a Federal Register notice, RES and EEI grants grant applications will be processed in accordance with Departmental Regulations and with paragraphs (a) through (h) of this section.

(a) Letter of Conditions. A Letter of Conditions will be prepared by the Agency, establishing conditions that must be agreed to by the Applicant before any obligation of funds can occur. Upon reviewing the conditions and requirements in the Letter of Conditions, the Applicant must complete, sign, and return the Form RD 1942-46, “Letter of Intent to Meet Conditions,” and Form RD 1940-1, “Request for Obligation of Funds,” to the Agency if they accept the conditions of the grant; or if certain conditions cannot be met, the Applicant may propose alternate conditions to the Agency. The Agency must concur with any changes proposed to the Letter of Conditions by the Applicant before the application will be further processed.

(b) Insurance requirements. Agency approved insurance coverage must be maintained for 3 years after the Agency has approved the final performance report unless this requirement is waived or modified by the Agency in writing. Insurance coverage shall include, but is not limited to:

(1) Property insurance, such as fire and extended coverage, will normally be maintained on all structures and equipment.

(2) Liability.

(3) National flood insurance is required in accordance with 7 CFR part 1806, subpart B, if applicable.

(4) Business interruption insurance for projects with Total Project Costs of more than $200,000.

(c) Forms and certifications. The forms specified in paragraphs (c)(1) through (8) of this section will be attached to the Letter of Conditions

Complete applications will be evaluated, processed, and subsequently ranked, and will compete for funding, subject to the availability of grant funding. Each State will receive two grant allocations, an allocation of grant funds restricted to funding requests of $20,000 or less, and an allocation of grant funds which are unrestricted and can fund any size funding request.

(a) RES and EEI grant applications. Complete RES and EEI grant applications, including combination grant and guaranteed loan requests, regardless of the amount of funding requested, are eligible to compete in two competitions within a Federal fiscal year - a State competition and a National competition.

(1) To be competed in the State and National competitions, complete applications must be received by the applicable State Office by 4:30 p.m. local time no later than March 31. If March 31 falls on a non-business day or a federally-observed holiday, the next Federal business day will be considered the last day for receipt of a complete application. Complete applications received after this date and time will be processed in the subsequent fiscal year.

(2) All eligible RES and EEI grant applications that remain unfunded after completion of the State competition will be competed in a National competition.

paragraphs

(b) RES and EEI grant applications requesting $20,000 or less. Complete RES and EEI grant applications, including combination grant and guaranteed loan requests, requesting $20,000 or less are eligible to compete in up to five competitions - two State competitions and a National set-aside competition for grants of $20,000 or less, as well as the two competitions referenced in paragraph (a) of this section.

The forms specified in

(

c)(

1)

through (7) of this section and all of the certifications must be submitted prior to grant approval. The form specified in paragraph (c)(8) of this section, which is to be completed by contractors, does not need to be returned to the Agency, but must be kept on file by the grantee.

(1) Form RD 1942-46, “Letter of Intent to Meet Conditions.”

(2) Form RD 1940-1.

(3) Form AD-1049, “Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (Grants) Alternative 1-For Grantees Other than Individuals.”

(4) Form SF-LLL, “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,” if the grant exceeds $100,000 and/or if the grantee has made or agreed to make payment using funds other than Federal appropriated funds to influence or attempt to influence a decision in connection with the application.

(5) Form AD-1047, “Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters-Primary Covered Transactions.”

(6) Form RD 400-1, “Equal Opportunity Agreement,” or successor form.

(7) Form RD 400-4, “Assurance Agreement,” or successor form.

(8) Form AD-1048, as signed by the contractor or other lower tier party.

(d) Evidence of Matching Funds and other funds. If an Applicant submitted written evidence of Matching Funds and other funds with the application, the Applicant is responsible for ensuring that such written evidence is still in effect (i.e., not expired) when the grant is executed. If the Applicant did not submit written evidence of Matching Funds and other funds with the application, the Applicant must submit such written evidence that is in effect before the Agency will execute the Financial Assistance Agreement. In either case, written evidence of Matching Funds and other funds needed to complete the project must be provided to the Agency before execution of the Financial Assistance Agreement and must be in effect (i.e., must not have expired) at the time Financial Assistance Agreement is executed.

(e) SAM number. Before the Financial Assistance Agreement can be executed, the number and expiration date of the Applicant's SAM number are required.

(f) Financial Assistance Agreement. Once the requirements specified in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section have been met, the Financial Assistance Agreement can be executed by the grantee and the Agency. The grantee must abide by all requirements contained in the Financial Assistance Agreement, this subpart, and any other applicable Federal statutes or regulations. Failure to follow these requirements might result in termination of the grant and adoption of other available remedies.

(g) Grant approval. The grantee will be sent a copy of the executed Form RD 1940-1, the approved scope of work, and the Financial Assistance Agreement.

(h) Power Purchase Agreement. Where applicable, the grantee shall provide to the Agency a copy of the executed Power Purchase Agreement within 12 months from the date that the Financial Assistance Agreement is executed, unless otherwise approved by the Agency

For complete RES and EEI grant applications for grants requesting $20,000 or less, there will be two State competitions each Federal fiscal year. Complete applications for $20,000 or less that are received by the Agency by 4:30 p.m. local time on October 31 of the Federal fiscal year will be competed against each other. Complete applications for $20,000 or less that are received by the Agency by 4:30 p.m. local time on March 31 of the Federal fiscal year and any applications for $20,000 or less that were not ready to compete or were not funded from the prior competition, will be competed against each other. If either October 31 or March 31 falls on a weekend or a federally observed holiday, the next Federal business day will be considered the last day for receipt of a complete application. Complete applications received after 4:30 p.m. local time on March 31, regardless of the postmark on the application, will be processed in the subsequent fiscal year.

(2) All eligible RES and EEI grant applications requesting $20,000 or less that remain unfunded after completion of the State competition for applications received by March 31 will be competed in the National competition.

(c) Ranking of applications. The Agency will rank complete eligible applications using the scoring criteria specific in § 4280.121. Higher scoring applications will receive first consideration.

(d) Funding selected applications. As applications are funded, if insufficient funds remain to fund the next highest scoring application, the Agency may elect to fund a lower scoring application. Before this occurs, the Agency will provide the applicant of the higher scoring application the opportunity to reduce the amount of the applicant's grant request to the amount of funds available. If the applicant agrees to lower its grant request, the applicant must certify that the purposes of the project will be met and provide the remaining total funds needed to complete the project. If two or more applications score the same and if remaining funds are insufficient to fund each such application, the Agency will notify the applicants that they may either accept a proportional amount of funds or submit their total request for the next available competition. At its discretion, the Agency may also elect to allow any remaining multi-year funds to be carried over to the next fiscal year rather than selecting a lower scoring application.

(e) Handling of ranked applications not funded. Based on the availability of funding, a ranked application might not be funded. Handling of unfunded applications depends on whether the request is more or less than $20,000.

(1) All complete and eligible applications requesting $20,000 or less may be competed in up to five competitions within a Federal fiscal year and if not selected for funding, the Agency will discontinue consideration of the applications.

(2) The Agency will discontinue consideration for funding all complete and eligible applications requesting more than $20,000 that are not selected for funding after the State and National competitions for the Federal fiscal year.

(f) Commencement of the project. Not all grant applications that compete for funding will receive an award. Thus, the applicant assumes all risks if the applicant chooses to purchase the proposed equipment or start construction of the proposed project after the complete application has been received by the Agency, but before the applicant is notified as to whether or not they have been selected for an award.