§ 3015.46 - Interest earned on advances of grant funds.

(a) Except when exempted by Federal statute (see paragraph (b) of this section for the principal exemption), recipients shall remit to the Federal government any interest or other investment income earned on advances of USDA grant funds. This includes any interest or investment income earned by subrecipients and cost-type contractors on advances to them that result from advances of USDA grant funds to the recipient. Unless the recipient receives other instructions from the responsible USDA awarding agency, the recipient shall remit the amount due by check or money order payable to the awarding agency. This requirement may not be administratively waived.

(b) In accordance with the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4213), States, as defined in the Act, shall not be accountable to the Federal government for interest or investment income earned by the State itself, or by its subrecipents, where this income is attributable to grants-in-aid, as defined in the Act.¹

¹ “State” is defined in the Act to include any agency or instrumentality of a State, and the definition does not exclude a hospital or institution of higher education which is such an agency or instrumentality. “Grant-in-aid” is defined in the Act to exclude payments under research and development contracts or grants which are awarded directly and on similar terms to all qualifying organizations, whether public or private. (42 U.S.C. 4201)

(c) Recipients are cautioned that they are subject to the provisions of Subpart L for minimizing the time between the transfer of advances and their disbursement. Those provisions apply even if there is no accountability to the Federal government for interest or other investment income earned on the advances.