§ 550.2 - Definitions.

Accrued expenditures means the charges incurred by the Cooperator during a given period requiring the provision of funds for:

(1) Goods and other tangible property received;

(2) Services performed by employees, contractors, subrecipients, and other payees; and

(3) Other amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current services or performance is required.

Acquisition cost of equipment means the net invoice price of the equipment, including the cost of modifications, attachments, accessories, or auxiliary apparatus necessary to make the property usable for the purpose for which it was acquired. Other charges, such as the cost of installation, transportation, taxes, duty or protective in-transit insurance, shall be included or excluded from the unit acquisition cost in accordance with the Cooperator's regular accounting practices.

Advance means a payment made to a Cooperator upon its request either before outlays are made by the Cooperator or through the use of predetermined payment schedules.

Authorized Departmental Officer (ADO) means the REE Agency's official delegated authority to negotiate, award, administer, suspend, and terminate non-assistance cooperative agreements.

Authorized Departmental Officer's Designated Representative (ADODR) means the REE Agency's technical representative, acting within the scope of delegated authority, who is responsible for participating with the Cooperator in the accomplishment of a cooperative agreement's objectives and monitoring and evaluating the Cooperator's performance.

Award means a non-assistance cooperative agreement which provides money or in-kind services or property in lieu of money, to an eligible Cooperator. The term does not include: Financial assistance awards in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, or insurance; direct payments of any kind to individuals; and contracts which are required to be entered into and administered under procurement laws and regulations.

CFR means the Code of Federal Regulations.

Closeout means the process by which a REE Agency determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work under the agreement has been completed by the Cooperator and REE Agency.

Contract means a procurement contract entered into by the cooperator or a subcontractor of the cooperator pursuant to the cooperative agreement.

Cooperator means any State agricultural experiment station, State cooperative extension service, all colleges and universities, other research or education institutions and organizations, Federal and private agencies and organizations, individuals, and any other party, either foreign or domestic, receiving an award from a REE Agency.

Disallowed costs means those charges incurred under the cooperative agreement that REE determines to be unallowable, in accordance with the applicable Federal cost principles or other terms and conditions contained in the cooperative agreement.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) means electronic payment methods used to transfer funds to a Cooperator's bank account (including HHS/PMS).

Equipment means tangible nonexpendable personal property contributed or acquired by either an REE Agency or by the Cooperator, having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5000 or more per unit. However, consistent with Cooperator policy, lower limits may be established.

Funding period means the period of time when Federal funding is available for obligation by the Cooperator.

HHS-PMS means the Department of Health and Human Services/Payment Management System (also see EFT).

i-Edison (Interagency Edison) is a database, which provides Federal grantee/Cooperator organizations and participating Federal agencies with the technology to electronically manage extramural invention portfolios in compliance with Federal reporting requirements.

Intangible property means, trademarks, copyrights, patents and patent applications.

Obligations means the amounts of orders placed, contracts and grants awarded, services received and similar transactions during a given period that require payment by the Cooperator during the same or a future period.

OMB means the Office of Management and Budget.

Outlays or expenditures means charges made to the project or program. Outlays and expenditures also include cash disbursements for direct charges for goods and services, the amount of indirect expense incurred, the value of in-kind contributions applied, and the net increase (or decrease) in the amounts owed by the Cooperator for goods and other property received, for services performed by employees, contractors, subrecipients, and other payees and other amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current services or performance are required.

Peer Review is a process utilized by REE Agencies to:

(1) Determine if agency sponsored research projects have scientific merit and program relevance;

(2) Provide peer input and make improvements to project design and technical approaches;

(3) Provide insight on how to conduct the highest quality research in support of Agency missions and programs.

Personal property means property of any kind except real property. It may be tangible, having physical existence, or intangible, having no physical existence, such as copyrights, patents, or securities.

Principle Investigator (PI) means the individual, designated by the Cooperator, responsible for directing and monitoring the performance, the day-to-day activities, and the scientific and technical aspects of the Cooperator's portion of a REE funded project. The PI works jointly with the ADODR in the development of project objectives and all other technical and performance related aspects of the program or project. See additional responsibilities of PI in §550.32.

Prior approval means written approval by an ADO evidencing prior consent.

Program income means gross income earned by the Cooperator that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the award. Program income includes, but is not limited to, income from fees for services performed, the use or rental of real or personal property acquired under federally funded projects, the sale of commodities or items fabricated under an award, and license fees and royalties on patents and copyrights. Program income does not include the receipt of principal on loans, rebates, credits, discounts, etc., or interest earned on any of them, or interest earned on advances of Federal funds.

Project costs means all allowable costs, incurred by the Cooperator and the REE Agency toward the completion of the project.

Project period means the period established in the cooperative agreement during which Federal contributions begin and end.

Property means, unless otherwise stated, personal property, equipment, intangible property.

Publications mean all types of paper based media including electronic and audio media.

Real property means land, including land improvements, structures and appurtenances thereto, but excludes movable machinery and equipment.

REE Agency means the USDA Agency that enters into a cooperative agreement with the cooperator.

State Cooperative Institutions are defined in statute as institutions designated or receiving funds pursuant to:

(1) The First Morrill Act—The Land Grant Institutions.

(2) The Second Morrill Act—The 1890 Institutions.

(3) The Hatch Act of 1887—The State Agricultural Experiment Stations.

(4) The Smith-Lever Act—The State Extension Services.

(5) The McIntire-Stennis Act of 1962—The Cooperating Forestry Schools.

(6) Public Law 95-113, Section 1430—A college or university having an accredited college of veterinary medicine or a department of veterinary science or animal pathology or similar unit conducting animal health and disease research in a State Agricultural Experiment Station.

(7) Public Law 97-98, Section 1475b—Colleges, universities, and Federal laboratories having a demonstrated capacity in aquaculture research.

(8) Public Law 97-98, Section 1480—Colleges, universities, and Federal laboratories having a demonstrated capacity of rangeland research.

(9) Equity in Educational Land—Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note) 1994 Institutions.

Subaward means an award in the form of money or in-kind services or property in lieu of money, made under an award by a Cooperator to an eligible subrecipient or by a subrecipient to a lower tier subrecipient.

Subrecipient means the legal entity to which a subaward is made and which is accountable to the Cooperator for the use of the funds provided. The term may include foreign or international organizations (such as agencies of the United Nations) at the discretion of the REE Agency.

Supplies means all personal property excluding equipment, intangible property, as defined in this section, and inventions of a contractor conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the performance of work under a funding agreement (“subject inventions”), as defined in 37 CFR part 401, “Rights to Inventions Made by Nonprofit Organizations and Small Business Firms Under Government Grants, Contracts, and Cooperative Agreements.”

Suspension means an action by a REE Agency that temporarily withdraws Federal sponsorship under an award, pending corrective action by the Cooperator or pending a decision to terminate the award by the REE Agency. Suspension of an award is a separate action from suspension under Federal Agency regulations implementing Executive Orders 12549 and 12689, “Debarment and Suspension.”

Termination means the cancellation of Federal sponsorship, in whole or in part, under an agreement at any time prior to the date of completion.

Unliquidated obligations are the amount of obligations incurred by the Cooperator for which an outlay has not been recorded.

Unobligated balance means the portion of the funds authorized by the REE Agency that has not been obligated by the Cooperator and is determined by deducting the cumulative obligations from the cumulative funds authorized.

Unrecovered indirect cost means the difference between the amount awarded and the amount, which could have been awarded under the Cooperator's approved negotiated indirect cost rate.

U.S.C. means the United States Code.

USDA means the United States Department of Agriculture.