§ 740.7 Administration of financial assistance. ( a ) Grants under this part shall comply with the requirements of: ( 1 ) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-102, Revised, (34 CFR part 256), entitled “Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants-in-Aid to State and Local Governments;”
( 2 ) Federal Management Circular (FMC) 74-4 (34 CFR part 255), entitled “Cost Principles Applicable to Grants and Contracts with State and Local Governments;”
( 3 ) OMB Circular A-73 (34 CFR part 251), entitled “Audit of Federal Operations and Programs;”
( 4 ) OMB Circular A-95, entitled “Evaluation, Review and Coordination of Federal and Federally assisted Programs and Projects;”
( 5 ) Treasury Circular (TC) 1075, entitled “Regulations Governing Withdrawals of Cash from the Treasury for Advances under Federal Grants and other Programs;”
( 6 ) TC 1082, entitled, “Notification to States of Grants-in-Aid Information”; and
( 7 ) Other procedures which the Council may from time to time prescribe for the administration of financial assistance.
( b ) The planning process as required by these guidelines and assisted by WRC Title III program funds shall reflect the concepts of the Council's 1979 publication, *A Unified National Program for Floodplain Management,* and the concepts of floodplain and wetlands identification, avoidance and mitigation as described in the Council's *Floodplain Management Guidelines* (43 FR 6030). In the application for financial assistance, the State shall assure the Council that the following planning concepts have been or will be integrated into the planning process: ( 1 ) Determination of whether proposed activities would be located in floodplains or wetlands, or, even if located outside of them, would have the potential to affect floodplains or wetlands;
( 2 ) Avoidance of performing activities within floodplains or wetlands wherever there is a practicable alternative;
( 3 ) Where avoidance of floodplains cannot be achieved, minimization of adverse impacts and support of floodplain development, and preservation and restoration of natural and beneficial floodplain values; and
( 4 ) Where avoidance of wetlands cannot be achieved, minimization of adverse impacts and support of new construction in wetlands, and preservation and enhancement of natural and beneficial wetlands values.
( c ) Program funds must be obligated within the grant period unless the Council, based on written request, grants an exception or extension to this time limitation. The repeated occurrence of unobligated program funds at the end of the grant period will be considered in determining the need for assistance in subsequent years pursuant to § 740.6(d)(5).
( d ) The procurement standards, practices, rules and policies of the State as customarily applied, if in accordance with Attachment O of OMB Circular A-102, shall govern for procurement costs incurred in an approved program.
( e ) For all matching funds the sources of a State's cost share shall have no bearing on whether or not such costs can be matched by Federal funds except that: ( 1 ) Other Federal funds or property cannot be used for matching purposes unless specifically permitted by Federal law;
( 2 ) Program funds shall not be used to match Federal funds under any other federally aided program;
( 3 ) Non-Federal funds used to match other federally aided programs shall not be used to match funds provided under the Act; and
( 4 ) Federal funds provided through this program, if duly matched through the requirements of this part, may be used as non-Federal contributions for Level B studies beginning in Fiscal Year 1981.
( f ) Any cost incurred for water management planning may be employed for matching a grant awarded under the Act except as specified in this section. Such expenditures must be reasonable, documentable, and directly applicable to the approved program.
( g ) Program funds may not be used for: ( 1 ) Items whose costs are not allowable under the provision of FMC 74-4;
( 2 ) Contributions, dues or assessments to support headquarters offices of interstate commissions, compacts, councils, interagency committees, or other similar organizations;
( 3 ) Scholarly or scientific investigations for purposes other than addressing water management problems, needs, concerns or interests specifically identified and explained in the approved program as a priority consideration;
( 4 ) Construction, payment of subsidies, or purchase of land or easements;
( 5 ) Purchase of equipment with a unit cost of $1,500 or more without prior approval of the Council; and
( 6 ) Purchase of equipment with a unit cost of less than $1,500 when the cumulative cost of such equipment in any one grant period exceeds 1 percent of the grant award, without prior approval of the Council.
( h ) Federal funds may not be used to substitute for State and local funds that would have been made available for water management planning programs in the absence of the grant funds provided under this part. Federal funds may be used to supplement and complement existing water management planning programs. It does not prevent drawing matching shares from individual programs or from existing agency appropriations, budgets, or resources so long as expenditures are not substituted by Federal funds for the purposes of the Act.
( i ) Payments shall be made in accordance with Attachment J of OMB Circular A-102 and TC 1075. Grant funds shall be requested only on an as needed basis.
( j ) Financial management procedures shall comply with Attachment G of OMB Circular A-102 and with TC 1075. The applicable Federal requirements shall apply to the State and to local governments or non-governmental entities that receive funds as a sub-grantee for the purposes of the Act.