45736 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 171 / Friday, September 4, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

as under the order. This rule provides 

the same partial exemption under the 

import regulation so it conforms to the 

changes under the order. 

This action represents a small 

increase in costs for imports of Vintage 

RipesTM, primarily from costs associated 

with developing and maintaining an IP 

program. However, the costs are 

minimal. This results in increased sales 

of Vintage RipesTM. Consequently, the 

benefits of this action more than offset 

the associated costs. 

This final rule will not impose any 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements beyond the IP program on 

either small or large tomatoes importers. 

As with all Federal marketing order 

programs, reports and forms are 

periodically reviewed to reduce 

information requirements and 

duplication by industry and public 

sector agencies. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E–Government Act, to promote the 

use of the Internet and other 

information technologies to provide 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

Additionally, except for applicable 

domestic regulations, USDA has not 

identified any relevant Federal rules 

that duplicate, overlap or conflict with 

this final rule. Further, the public 

comment received concerning the 

proposal did not address the initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis. 

A proposed rule concerning this 

action was published in the Federal 

Register on March 9, 2009 (74 FR 9969). 

The rule was made available through 

the Internet by USDA and the Office of 

the Federal Register. A 60-day comment 

period ending May 8, 2009, was 

provided to allow interested persons to 

respond to the proposal. 

One comment was received during 

the comment period in response to the 

proposal. The commenter agreed that 

heirloom tomatoes are gaining favor in 

the marketplace, and recognized that 

such tomatoes have difficulty meeting 

size and shape requirements under the 

order. He stated that the exemption 

provided in this rule should include all 

heirloom tomatoes. 

As previously discussed, the 

Committee is concerned that granting 

broad exemptions for unspecified 

heirloom-type tomatoes could result in 

the shipment of U.S. No. 3 grade 

tomatoes of standard commercial 

varieties, weakening the integrity and 

the effectiveness of the order. To 

prevent this and ensure that only the 

specified varieties are shipped under 

the exemption granted, the exemption 

has been tied to continued participation 

in the IP program developed by USDA. 

Further, this is the second exemption of 

this type to be issued, and other 

producers of heirloom-type tomatoes are 

free to seek similar exemptions. 

Therefore, this rule exempts only 

Vintage RipesTM, and the exemption is 

contingent upon maintenance of 

positive program status under USDA’s 

IP program. 

Accordingly, no changes will be made 

to the rule as proposed, based on the 

comment received. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov

/AMSv1.o/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?

template=TemplateN&page=Marketing

OrdersSmallBusinessGuide. Any 

questions about the compliance guide 

should be sent to Jay Guerber at the 

previously mentioned address in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

In accordance with section 8e of the 

Act, the United States Trade 

Representative has concurred with the 

issuance of this final rule. 

After consideration of all relevant 

matter presented, including the 

information and recommendation 

submitted by the Committee and other 

available information, it is hereby found 

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth, 

will tend to effectuate the declared 

policy of the Act. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 980 

Food grades and standards, Imports, 

Marketing agreements, Onions, Potatoes, 

Tomatoes. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 980 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 980—VEGETABLES; IMPORT 

REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 980 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

§ 980.212 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 980.212, paragraph (b)(1) all 

references to ‘‘UglyRipeTM’’ are revised 

to read ‘‘UglyRipeTM and Vintage 

RipesTM’’. 

Dated: August 31, 2009. 

Rayne Pegg, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E9–21353 Filed 9–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service 

7 CFR Part 3430 

RIN 0524–AA28 

Competitive and Noncompetitive NonFormula Federal Assistance 

Programs—General Award 

Administrative Provisions and 

Program-Specific Administrative 

Provisions for the Specialty Crop 

Research Initiative 

AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Cooperative State 

Research, Education, and Extension 

Service (CSREES) is publishing as a 

final rule one set of administrative 

requirements that contain elements 

common to all of the competitive and 

noncompetitive non-formula Federal 

assistance programs the Agency 

administers. In a relatively short period 

of time, this allows CSREES to apply 

basic rules to Federal assistance 

programs that had been operating 

without them, including new nonformula Federal assistance programs 

created by the enactment of the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

(FCEA) and to efficiently implement 

changes to programs with existing 

regulations as required by FCEA. The 

provisions in subparts A through E 

serve as a single Agency resource 

codifying current practices simply and 

coherently for almost all CSREES 

competitive and noncompetitive nonformula Federal assistance programs 

except the Small Business Innovation 

Research (SBIR) Program and the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP). As specific rules are 

developed for each CSREES Federal 

assistance program, CSREES will 

propose adding a subpart for that 

Federal assistance program to this 

regulation. This final rule is published 

with a first set of program-specific 

Federal assistance regulations as subpart 

F for the Specialty Crop Research 

Initiative, authorized under section 412 

of the Agricultural Research, Extension, 

and Education Reform Act of 1998, as 

added by section 7311 of FCEA. 

DATES: Effective Date: September 4, 

2009, except that §§ 3430.56 and 

3430.58(b) shall apply only to a grant or 

cooperative agreement awarded on or 

after September 4, 2009 or to a grant or 

cooperative agreement awarded prior to 

that date that receives additional funds 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 171 / Friday, September 4, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 45737 

from the awarding agency on or after 

that date. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ellen Danus, Chief, Policy and 

Oversight Branch, Office of Extramural 

Programs, Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, STOP 2299; 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–2299; Voice: 

202–205–5667; Fax: 202–401–7752; 

E-mail: edanus@csrees.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Summary 

Authority 

This rulemaking is authorized by 

section 1470 of the National 

Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

Teaching Policy Act of 1977 

(NARETPA), as amended, Public Law 

95–113 (7 U.S.C. 3316). It furthers the 

streamlining and standardization efforts 

initiated by the Federal Financial 

Assistance Management Improvement 

Act of 1999, Public Law 106–107 (31 

U.S.C. 6101 note), which sunset in 

November 2007, and is in accordance 

with the efforts of CSREES and the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) to 

streamline and simplify the entire 

Federal assistance process while 

meeting the ever-increasing 

accountability and transparency 

standards. 

Context 

CSREES has published administrative 

provisions specific to some of the nonformula Federal assistance programs it 

administers. These provisions appear in 

7 CFR parts 3400, Special Research 

Grants Program; 3401, Rangeland 

Research Grants Program; 3402, Food 

and Agricultural Sciences National 

Needs Graduate and Postgraduate 

Fellowship Grants Program; 3405, 

Higher Education Challenge Grants 

Program; 3406, 1890 Institution 

Capacity Building Grants Program; 

3411, National Research Initiative 

Competitive Grants Program; and 3415, 

Biotechnology Risk Assessment 

Research Grants Program. This final rule 

applies to all competitive and 

noncompetitive non-formula Federal 

assistance programs administered by 

CSREES (including the programs in 7 

CFR parts 3400 through 3402, 3405, 

3406, 3411, and 3415), except for the 

Small Business Innovation Research 

(SBIR) Program with implementing 

regulations codified at 7 CFR part 3403 

and the Veterinary Medicine Loan 

Repayment Program (VMLRP) with 

implementing regulations codified at 7 

CFR part 3431. Where the 

administrative provisions in this 

regulation conflict with existing 

regulations for CSREES-administered 

non-formula Federal assistance 

programs (i.e., 7 CFR parts 3400 through 

3402, 3405, 3406, 3411, and 3415), this 

regulation will supersede. 

Purpose 

A primary function of CSREES is the 

fair, effective, and efficient 

administration of Federal assistance 

programs implementing agricultural 

research, education, and extension 

programs. The Agency’s development 

and publication of regulations for its 

non-formula Federal assistance 

programs serve to enhance its 

accountability and standardize 

procedures across the Federal assistance 

programs it administers while providing 

transparency to the public. More than 

thirty Federal assistance programs 

administered by CSREES are not 

currently governed by administrative 

provisions; and CSREES’ existing 

administrative provisions fail to take 

advantage of basic similarities between 

non-formula Federal assistance 

programs and the Federal governmentwide efforts to standardize and 

streamline the entire Federal assistance 

process from pre-award through 

closeout and post-award. The 

cumulative effect is duplicative, 

confusing language, contrary to the 

needs and demands of applicants and 

awardees for consistent and clear 

Federal assistance policies and 

procedures. 

This rulemaking attempts to solve the 

problem by addressing the elements 

common to all of the competitive and 

noncompetitive Federal assistance 

programs CSREES administers. In this 

way, the Agency is applying basic rules 

to Federal assistance programs that had 

been operating without them and can 

quickly implement regulations for any 

new program. In addition, this rule 

serves as a single resource, except for 

the SBIR, VMLRP, and formula grant 

programs, that codifies current 

processes simply and coherently. 

This final rule allows CSREES to 

finally document and codify the Federal 

assistance policies and business 

practices it sought to standardize and 

streamline in concert with other Federal 

grant-making agencies in response to 

various laws (including Pub. L. 106– 

107), regulations, and Presidential, 

Departmental, and Agency directives 

and initiatives. As of fiscal year 2008, 

CSREES published program solicitations 

or Requests For Applications (RFAs) in 

an Agency-wide template (incorporating 

the Federal government-wide 

requirements and standards) on the 

Grants.gov Web site; accepted all 

applications (using the SF–424 form 

families) via Grants.gov; required all 

competitive and noncompetitive nonformula Federal assistance programs to 

submit all progress and final technical 

reports via the Current Research 

Information System (CRIS); and as of 

July 1, 2008, implemented a more 

comprehensive and updated set of 

award terms and conditions that are 

consistent with other Federal grantmaking agencies, yet address the unique 

needs of CSREES programs and USDA 

and CSREES business practices. This 

final rule also addresses various issues 

related to audit findings and 

recommendations from the USDA Office 

of Inspector General (e.g., timely 

closeout of expired awards and 

restriction of grant funds 90 days after 

the expiration date). In response to 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) Circular A–123 on Internal 

Controls, Improper Payments 

Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) (Pub. L. 

107–300), and other oversight and 

monitoring requirements, CSREES seeks 

to clearly establish and implement 

monitoring and oversight procedures 

and systems to ensure that Federal 

assistance funds are being efficiently 

and effectively expended in accordance 

with program authorities and Federal 

assistance laws and regulations. 

Alternatives 

CSREES considered publishing 

separate rules for each uncovered 

Federal assistance program. However, 

this would defeat the purposes of recent 

laws, regulations, and Presidential, 

Departmental, and Agency initiatives to 

standardize and streamline the entire 

award cycle. Furthermore, it would be 

a time consuming practice to draft and 

publish a final rule for each uncovered 

program. On the other hand, this final 

rule provides clearer, more consistent 

and effective Federal assistance policies 

and procedures for the awardee that will 

contribute to more efficient and 

effective program delivery and 

potentially result in less audit findings 

and disallowed costs. The Agency 

expects this final rule to contribute to 

and facilitate more consistent processes 

across Federal assistance programs 

within CSREES and across USDA and 

the Federal Government. By making 

better use of standard administrative 

provisions, CSREES also anticipates 

being able to publish clearer and more 

consistent RFAs within a shorter time 

frame and provide applicants, awardees, 

staff, and the public with one 

comprehensive set of administrative 

provisions. 


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Compliance 

As implemented, applicants who fail 

to comply with the new administrative 

provisions may not have their 

applications considered for funding by 

CSREES, may have their award 

suspended or terminated, or may be 

billed for disallowed costs. This penalty 

provision can be enforced and is critical 

to CSREES’ fair, effective, and efficient 

administration of Federal assistance 

programs. It is anticipated that having 

one set of administrative provisions 

codified in one part will assist 

applicants and awardees in 

understanding and complying with 

Federal assistance laws and regulations, 

as well as the intent of the authorizing 

legislation. 

Organization 

CSREES organized the regulation as 

follows: Subparts A through E provide 

administrative provisions for all 

competitive and noncompetitive nonformula awards. Subparts F and 

thereafter apply to specific CSREES 

programs. 

CSREES is, to the extent practical, 

using the following subpart template for 

each program authority: (1) 

Applicability of regulations; (2) 

purpose; (3) definitions (those in 

addition to or different from § 3430.2); 

(4) eligibility; (5) project types and 

priorities; (6) funding restrictions; and 

(7) matching requirements. Subparts F 

and thereafter contain the above seven 

components in this order, to the extent 

practical. Additional sections may be 

added for a specific program if there are 

additional requirements or a need for 

additional rules for the program (e.g., 

additional reporting requirements). 

Subpart F—Specialty Crop Research 

Initiative 

As stated above, this final rulemaking 

includes the program-specific rules as 

subpart F for the Specialty Crop 

Research Initiative (SCRI), which is 

authorized under section 412 of the 

Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 

7632), as added by section 7311 of 

FCEA. 

Through this program-specific 

regulation under subpart F, § 3430.202, 

CSREES is defining ‘‘integrated project,’’ 

‘‘specialty crop,’’ and ‘‘transdisciplinary.’’ Subpart F, at § 3430.203, 

also specifies the eligible program 

applicants. Section 3430.204 provides 

that CSREES can develop and 

implement new activities and focus 

areas not identified in § 3430.201 based 

on input provided by stakeholders and 

as determined by CSREES. Section 

3430.205 states the specific program 

funding restrictions and provides that, 

subject to § 3430.54, indirect costs are 

allowable. Section 3430.206 states the 

specific matching requirements for this 

program, that these matching 

requirements cannot be waived, and 

that use of indirect costs as in-kind 

matching contributions is subject to 

§ 3430.52. Section 3430.207 states that 

the term of a SCRI grant shall not exceed 

10 years. 

II. Response to Comments and 

Revisions Included in Final Rule 

Response to Comments 

On August 1, 2008, CSREES 

published 7 CFR 3430, subparts A 

through F, as an interim rule with a 

request for comments. CSREES received 

four comments on the interim rule 

during the 90-day comment period from 

the following organizations: American 

Society for Horticulture Science; Farm 

Bill Implementation Assistance 

Committee, National Association of 

State Universities and Land-Grant 

Colleges (NASULGC); Purdue 

University; and The Council on 

Government Relations, which submitted 

a joint statement with NASULGC. All 

four comments focused on the 100 

percent matching requirement for the 

SCRI program and the institutions’ 

inability to use unrecovered indirect 

costs in excess of the statutory cap of 22 

percent as part of the matching 

contribution for the Federal funds 

awarded. Three of the organizations 

were speaking on behalf of their 

member institutions. With the 

application of these regulations, many 

of the institutions felt that they were, in 

essence, contributing more than half of 

the cost of the project effort and that 

CSREES was misinterpreting and 

misapplying the U.S. Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) Federal 

assistance circulars as well as Federalwide and Departmental assistance 

regulations. 

In promulgating these regulations, 

CSREES strived to provide the 

maximum flexibility and to limit both 

the financial and administrative burden 

to its applicants and awardees while 

adhering to the intent of the legislation 

and accountability standards. CSREES 

has determined that, absent specific 

statutory authority, it has no authority 

to allow institutions to use indirect 

costs in excess of the maximum allowed 

indirect cost rate (e.g., 22 percent for 

grants, pursuant to 7 U.S.C. 3310) to 

satisfy the matching requirement. This 

has been the longstanding policy of 

CSREES with regard to matching 

requirements and the use of indirect 

costs as a matching contribution. 

However, in response to the community, 

Congress enacted section 736 as part of 

the Agriculture, Rural Development, 

Food and Drug Administration, and 

Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

2009 (Pub. L. 111–8, div. A), to allow 

institutions to use unrecovered indirect 

costs not otherwise charged against the 

grant toward the matching contribution 

for the SCRI program, consistent with 

the indirect cost rate approved for the 

recipient. Consequently, because section 

736 applies only in FY 2009, the 

appropriate sections of the final rule 

have not been revised in this regard 

(althoughf §§ 3430.52, 3430.205, and 

3430.206 have been modified as a 

matter of clarification). This new 

authority for FY 2009 is explained, 

however, in the FY 2009 RFA for this 

program. Subpart F will be revised if 

and when this provision becomes a 

permanent change to the SCRI authority. 

In addition, § 3430.54 is revised to 

state that the indirect cost rates for 

grants and cooperative agreements are 

determined in accordance with the 

applicable assistance regulations and 

cost principles unless superseded by 

another authority. 

Under applicable assistance 

regulations and cost principles, the 

negotiated indirect cost rates would 

apply to both grants and cooperative 

agreements administered by CSREES. 

However, section 1462(a) of NARETPA 

(7 U.S.C. 3310(a)) establishes a statutory 

indirect cost rate cap of 22 percent for 

any CSREES grant. Prior to the FCEA 

amendment increasing the cap from 19 

to 22 percent, a general provision of the 

annual appropriations act set the 

indirect cost rate cap for competitive 

grants at 20 percent; however, the 

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food 

and Drug Administration, and Related 

Agencies Appropriations Act, 2009, did 

not include that general provision for 

FY 2009. The FY 2009 appropriations 

act did, however, include a general 

provision setting the indirect cost rate 

cap for cooperative agreements to 

nonprofit institutions (including 

educational institutions) at 10 percent 

for awards supported with these 

appropriated funds. 

Revisions Included in the Final Rule 

This final rule was revised throughout 

to apply this regulation to not only 

grants but to Federal assistance 

cooperative agreements, which was the 

original intention in the interim rule. 

Subpart A of the regulation was 

revised slightly to add definitions for 

award, cooperative agreement, and 

program announcement to § 3430.202. 


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Subpart B was revised to clearly 

define the differences between optional 

and required letters of intent and to 

clarify the eligibility of foreign entities 

(i.e., individuals and foreign 

organizations). Subpart C was revised to 

make several minor clarifications 

regarding the type of review for 

competitive versus noncompetitive 

awards, and subpart D was revised by 

adding § 3430.42 on special award 

conditions. 

Subpart E was revised to add the U.S. 

Department of the Treasury’s 

Automated Standard Application for 

Payments (ASAP) system as an 

electronic payment system, as CSREES 

is currently transitioning to this system 

as part of USDA’s implementation of a 

new accounting system, Financial 

Management Modernization Initiative 

(FMMI), on October 1, 2009. Along with 

this implementation, CSREES is 

currently exploring options for the 

implementation of the Federal Financial 

Report (FFR) required by October 1, 

2009, as CSREES has been using the 

U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services’ Payment Management System 

(DHHS–PMS) since January 1991. 

Currently, awardees provide their PSC– 

272, Federal Cash Transactions Reports, 

through the DHHS–PMS. Once the 

business process for the FFR is 

established, CSREES will revise its 

Terms and Conditions and will update 

this subpart which will coincide with 

the revisions associated with the 

establishment of the National Institute 

of Food and Agriculture effective 

October 1, 2009. 

Subpart E also was revised to make 

clarifying changes regarding indirect 

cost rates and use of indirect costs as inkind matching contributions 

(§§ 3430.52(b), 3430.54). The previous 

sections on technical reporting 

(§ 3430.54), financial reporting 

(§ 3430.55), and project meetings 

(§ 3430.56) were renumbered as 

§§ 3430.55, 3430.56, and 3430.57, 

respectively. The previous section on 

hearings and appeals (§ 3430.57) was 

expanded and added as a new 

§ 3430.62. 

CSREES also added sections to clarify 

policies and procedures on prior 

approvals (i.e., subcontracts and no-cost 

extensions of time) (§ 3430.58); review 

of disallowed costs (§ 3430.59); 

suspension, termination, and 

withholding of support (§ 3430.60); and 

debt collection (§ 3430.61). The 

previous § 3430.58 was re-titled 

‘‘Expiring appropriations’’ from 

‘‘Closeout’’ (and renumbered as 

§ 3430.63) and was expanded to include 

procedures for Federal assistance 

awards supported with other Federal 

agencies’ funds (transferred via an 

interagency agreement) and to specify 

that final draws need to be executed by 

no later than June 30th of the final year 

(although the 90-day period beyond the 

award expiration date is later) to allow 

CSREES to properly bill and close-out 

the interagency agreements before the 

end of the Federal fiscal year. 

As mentioned earlier and based on 

USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) 

audits and annual OMB Circular No. A– 

123 reviews, CSREES is establishing 

stricter internal controls to ensure that 

Federal assistance funds are no longer 

available for draw-down to the awardee 

beyond 90 days of the expiration date. 

In response, CSREES incorporated in 

this final regulation (§§ 3430.56, 

3430.58) procedures for requesting an 

extension to submit a final SF–269, 

Financial Status Report; for requesting a 

no-cost extension of time; and for the 

approval of draw requests beyond the 

90-day period in extenuating 

circumstances, as determined by 

CSREES. 

Subpart F was revised in § 3430.203 

by removing the reference to eligibility 

of individuals and foreign entities, 

which is already addressed in § 3430.16. 

Section 3430.205 was revised by 

removing provisions regarding indirect 

costs, which are addressed in §§ 3430.52 

and 3430.54. Also, a new § 3430.207 

was added to provide that the statutory 

maximum grant term is 10 years. 

Other technical and clarifying edits 

are made throughout subparts A through 

F. 

III. Future Rulemaking Activities for 7 

CFR Part 3430 

CSREES is publishing this rule as 

final and these regulations apply to all 

CSREES competitive and 

noncompetitive non-formula programs 

(including the programs implemented 

by 7 CFR part 3400, Special Research 

Grants Program; 7 CFR part 3401, 

Rangeland Research Grants Program; 7 

CFR part 3402, Food and Agricultural 

Sciences National Needs Graduate and 

Postgraduate Fellowship Grants 

Program; 7 CFR part 3405, Higher 

Education Challenge Grants Program; 7 

CFR part 3406, 1890 Institution 

Capacity Building Grants Program; 7 

CFR part 3411, National Research 

Initiative Competitive Grants Program; 

and 7 CFR part 3415, Biotechnology 

Risk Assessment Research Grants 

Program). Where these parts conflict 

with a provision in this rule, this rule 

takes precedence. As stated previously, 

this regulation will not apply to the 

SBIR Program and VMLRP. Within the 

next three years, CSREES plans to 

cancel all of the existing programspecific regulations identified in 7 CFR 

and incorporate these program-specific 

regulations as separate subparts under 

this part 3430. In addition, CSREES is 

currently drafting a CSREES Grants 

Policy Manual, which while 

incorporating the regulations under this 

part, will apply to both grants and 

Federal assistance cooperative 

agreements and provide more specific 

instructions, detailed explanations, and 

background for potential applicants, 

awardees, Agency and Departmental 

staff, and the public. 

Per section 7511 of the FCEA, the 

Secretary shall establish within the 

Department an agency to be known as 

the ‘National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture.’ Effective no later than 

October 1, 2009, the Secretary shall 

transfer the authorities (including all 

budget authorities, available 

appropriations, and personnel), duties, 

obligations, and related legal and 

administrative functions of CSREES to 

the National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture. Consequently, it is 

anticipated that this rule will undergo 

future regulatory action within the next 

12 months. At that time, the regulation 

also will be updated to incorporate the 

implementation of the FFR as well as 

the Agency’s implementation of the U.S. 

Department of the Treasury’s ASAP 

system as the Agency’s electronic 

payment management system. 

IV. Administrative Requirements 

Executive Order 12866 

This action has been determined not 

significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866, and therefore, has not 

been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget. This final rule 

will not create a serious inconsistency 

or otherwise interfere with an action 

taken or planned by another agency; nor 

will it materially alter the budgetary 

impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, 

or loan programs; nor will it have an 

annual effect on the economy of $100 

million or more; nor will it adversely 

affect the economy, a sector of the 

economy, productivity, competition, 

jobs, the environment, public health or 

safety, or State, local, or tribal 

governments or communities in a 

material way. Furthermore, it does not 

raise a novel legal or policy issue arising 

out of legal mandates, the President’s 

priorities or principles set forth in the 

Executive Order. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 

This final rule has been reviewed in 

accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended by 

the Small Business Regulatory 


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45740 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 171 / Friday, September 4, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5 

U.S.C. 601–612. The Department 

concluded that the rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The rule does not involve regulatory 

and informational requirements 

regarding businesses, organizations, and 

governmental jurisdictions subject to 

regulation. 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

The Department certifies that this 

final rule has been assessed in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq., (PRA). The Department 

concludes that this final rule does not 

impose any new information 

requirements; however, the burden 

estimates were increased for existing 

approved information collections 

associated with this rule due to 

additional applicants. These estimates 

were provided to OMB. In addition to 

the SF–424 form families (i.e., Research 

and Related and Mandatory), SF–272, 

Federal Cash Transactions Report, and 

SF–269, Financial Status Reports, 

CSREES has three currently approved 

OMB information collections associated 

with this rulemaking: OMB Information 

Collection No. 0524–0042, CSREES 

Current Research Information System 

(CRIS); No. 0524–0041, CSREES 

Application Review Process; and No. 

0524–0026, Assurance of Compliance 

with the Department of Agriculture 

Regulations Assuring Civil Rights 

Compliance and Organizational 

Information. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

This final regulation applies to the 

following Federal assistance programs 

administered by CSREES including 

10.200, Grants for Agricultural 

Research—Special Research Grants; 

10.206, Grants for Agricultural 

Research—Competitive Research Grants; 

10.210, Food and Agricultural Sciences 

National Needs Graduate Fellowship 

Grants; 10.215, Sustainable Agriculture 

Research and Education; 10.216, 1890 

Institution Capacity Building Grants; 

10.217, Higher Education Challenge 

Grants; 10.219, Biotechnology Risk 

Assessment Research; 10.220, Higher 

Education Multicultural Scholars 

Program; 10.221, Tribal Colleges 

Education Equity Grants; 10.223, 

Hispanic Serving Institutions Education 

Grants; 10.225, Community Food 

Projects; 10.226, Secondary and TwoYear Postsecondary Agriculture 

Education Challenge Grants; 10.227, 

1994 Institutions Research Program; 

10.228, Alaska Native Serving and 

Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions 

Education Grants; 10.303, Integrated 

Programs; 10.304, Homeland Security— 

Agricultural; 10.305, International 

Science and Education Grants; 10.306, 

Biodiesel; 10.307, Organic Agriculture 

Research and Extension Initiative; 

10.308, Resident Instruction for Insular 

Area Activities; 10.309, Specialty Crop 

Research Initiative; 10.310, Agriculture 

and Food Research Initiative; 10.311, 

Beginning Farmer and Rancher 

Development Initiative; 10.312, Biomass 

Research and Development Initiative; 

10.314, New Era Rural Technology 

Program; and 10.500, Cooperative 

Extension Service. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

and Executive Order 13132 

The Department has reviewed this 

final rule in accordance with the 

requirements of Executive Order No. 

13132 and the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1501 et 

seq., and has found no potential or 

substantial direct effects on the States, 

on the relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. As there is no 

Federal mandate contained herein that 

could result in increased expenditures 

by State, local, or tribal governments or 

by the private sector, the Department 

has not prepared a budgetary impact 

statement. 

Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

The Department has reviewed this 

final rule in accordance with Executive 

Order 13175 and has determined that it 

does not have ‘‘tribal implications.’’ The 

final rule does not ‘‘have substantial 

direct effects on one or more Indian 

tribes, on the relationship between the 

Federal Government and Indian tribes, 

or on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

government and Indian tribes.’’ 

Clarity of This Regulation 

Executive Order 12866 and the 

President’s Memorandum of June 1, 

1998, require each agency to write all 

rules in plain language. The Department 

invites comments on how to make this 

final rule easier to understand. 

List of Subjects 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Agricultural research, 

Education, Extension, Federal 

assistance. 

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Cooperative State 

Research, Education, and Extension 

Service is amending Chapter XXXIV of 

Title 7 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations to revise part 3430 to read 

as follows: 

PART 3430—COMPETITIVE AND 

NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA 

FEDERAL ASISTANCE PROGRAMS— 

GENERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATIVE 

PROVISIONS 

Subpart A—General Information 

Sec. 

3430.1 Applicability of regulations. 

3430.2 Definitions. 

3430.3 Deviations. 

3430.4 Other applicable statutes and 

regulations. 

Subpart B—Pre-award: Solicitation and 

Application 

3430.11 Competition. 

3430.12 Requests for applications. 

3430.13 Letter of intent to submit an 

application. 

3430.14 Types of applications; types of 

award instruments. 

3430.15 Stakeholder input. 

3430.16 Eligibility requirements. 

3430.17 Content of an application. 

3430.18 Submission of an application. 

3430.19 Resubmission of an application. 

3430.20 Acknowledgment of an 

application. 

3430.21 Confidentiality of applications and 

awards. 

Subpart C—Pre-award: Application Review 

and Evaluation 

3430.31 Guiding principles. 

3430.32 Preliminary application review. 

3430.33 Selection of reviewers. 

3430.34 Evaluation criteria. 

3430.35 Review of noncompetitive 

applications. 

3430.36 Procedures to minimize or 

eliminate duplication of effort. 

3430.37 Feedback to applicants. 

Subpart D—Award 

3430.41 Administration. 

3430.42 Special award conditions. 

Subpart E—Post-award and Closeout 

3430.51 Payment. 

3430.52 Cost sharing and matching. 

3430.53 Program income. 

3430.54 Indirect costs. 

3430.55 Technical reporting. 

3430.56 Financial reporting. 

3430.57 Project meetings. 

3430.58 Prior approvals. 

3430.59 Review of disallowed costs. 

3430.60 Suspension, termination, and 

withholding of support. 

3430.61 Debt collection. 

3430.62 Award appeals procedures. 

3430.63 Expiring appropriations. 

Subpart F—Specialty Crop Research 

Initiative 

3430.200 Applicability of regulations. 

3430.201 Purpose. 

3430.202 Definitions. 

3430.203 Eligibility. 

3430.204 Project types and priorities. 


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3430.205 Funding restrictions. 

3430.206 Matching requirements. 

3430.207 Other considerations. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 3316; Pub. L. 106–107 

(31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

Subpart A—General Information 

§ 3430.1 Applicability of regulations. 

(a) General. This part provides agency 

specific regulations regarding the 

application for, and evaluation, award, 

and post-award administration of, 

Cooperative State Research, Education, 

and Extension Service (CSREES) 

awards, and is supplementary to the 

USDA uniform assistance regulations at 

7 CFR parts 3016 (State, local, and tribal 

governments), 3019 (institutions of 

higher education, hospitals, and 

nonprofits), and 3015 (all others), as 

applicable. These regulations apply to 

the following types of Federal assistance 

awards: Grants and cooperative 

agreements. 

(b) Competitive programs. This part 

applies to all agricultural research, 

education, and extension competitive 

and related programs for which CSREES 

has administrative or other authority, as 

well as any other Federal assistance 

program delegated to the CSREES 

Administrator. In cases where 

regulations of this part conflict with 

existing regulations of CSREES in Title 

7 (i.e., 7 CFR parts 3400 through 3499) 

of the Code of Federal Regulations, 

regulations of this part shall supersede. 

This part does not apply to the Small 

Business Innovation Research (SBIR) 

Program (7 CFR part 3403) and the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) authorized under 

section 1415A of the National 

Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

Teaching Policy Act of 1977 

(NARETPA) (7 U.S.C. 3151a). 

(c) Noncompetitive programs. 

Subparts A, B, D, and E, as well as 

§ 3430.35 of subpart C, apply to all 

noncompetitive agricultural research, 

education, and extension programs 

administered by CSREES, as well as any 

other Federal assistance program 

delegated to the CSREES Administrator. 

(d) Federal assistance programs 

administered on behalf of other 

agencies. Subparts A through E, as 

appropriate, apply to competitive and 

noncompetitive grants and cooperative 

agreements administered on behalf of 

other agencies of the Federal 

Government. Requirements specific to 

these Federal assistance programs will 

be included in the program solicitations 

or requests for applications (RFAs). 

(e) Federal assistance programs 

administered jointly with other 

agencies. Subparts A through E, as 

appropriate, apply to competitive and 

noncompetitive grants and cooperative 

agreements administered jointly with 

other agencies of the Federal 

Government. Requirements specific to 

these Federal assistance programs will 

be included in the appropriate program 

solicitations or RFAs published by both 

or either agency. 

(f) Formula fund grants programs. 

This part does not apply to any of the 

formula grant programs administered by 

CSREES. Formula funds are the research 

funds provided to 1862 Land-Grant 

Institutions and agricultural experiment 

stations under the Hatch Act of 1887 (7 

U.S.C. 361a, et seq.); extension funds 

provided to 1862 Land-Grant 

Institutions under sections 3(b) and 3(c) 

of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(b) 

and (c)) and section 208(c) of the 

District of Columbia Public 

Postsecondary Education 

Reorganization Act, Public Law 93–471; 

agricultural extension and research 

funds provided to 1890 Land-Grant 

Institutions under sections 1444 and 

1445 of NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3221 and 

3222); expanded food and nutrition 

education program funds authorized 

under section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever 

Act (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) to the 1862 LandGrant Institutions and the 1890 LandGrant Institutions; extension funds 

under the Renewable Resources 

Extension Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1671, 

et seq.) for the 1862 Land-Grant 

institutions and the 1890 Land-Grant 

Institutions; research funds provided to 

the 1862 Land-Grant Institutions, 1890 

Land-Grant Institutions, and forestry 

schools under the McIntire-Stennis 

Cooperative Forestry Act (16 U.S.C. 

582a, et seq.); and animal health and 

disease research funds provided to 

veterinary schools and agricultural 

experiment stations under section 1433 

of NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3195). 

§ 3430.2 Definitions. 

As used in this part: 

1862 Land-Grant Institution means an 

institution eligible to receive funds 

under the Act of July 2, 1862, as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 301, et seq.). Unless 

otherwise stated for a specific program, 

this term includes a research foundation 

maintained by such an institution. 

1890 Land-Grant Institution means 

one of those institutions eligible to 

receive funds under the Act of August 

30, 1890, as amended (7 U.S.C. 321, et 

seq.), including Tuskegee University 

and West Virginia State University. 

Unless otherwise stated for a specific 

program, this term includes a research 

foundation maintained by such an 

institution. 

1994 Land-Grant Institution means 

one of those institutions as defined in 

section 532 of the Equity in Educational 

Land-Grant Status Act of 1994, as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 301 note). These 

institutions are commonly referred to as 

Tribal Colleges or Universities. 

Administrator means the 

Administrator of CSREES and any other 

officer or employee of the CSREES to 

whom the authority involved is 

delegated. 

Advisory Board means the National 

Agricultural Research, Extension, 

Education, and Economics Advisory 

Board (as established under section 

1408 of NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3123). 

Agricultural research means research 

in the food and agricultural sciences. 

Applied research means research that 

includes expansion of the findings of 

fundamental research to uncover 

practical ways in which new knowledge 

can be advanced to benefit individuals 

and society. 

Authorized Departmental Officer or 

ADO means the Secretary or any 

employee of the Department with 

delegated authority to issue or modify 

award instruments on behalf of the 

Secretary. 

Authorized Representative or AR 

means the President or Chief Executive 

Officer of the applicant organization or 

the official, designated by the President 

or Chief Executive Officer of the 

applicant organization, who has the 

authority to commit the resources of the 

organization to the project. 

Award means financial assistance that 

provides support or stimulation to 

accomplish a public purpose. Awards 

may be grants or cooperative 

agreements. 

Budget period means the interval of 

time (usually 12 months) into which the 

project period is divided for budgetary 

and reporting purposes. 

Cash contributions means the 

recipient’s cash outlay, including the 

outlay of money contributed to the 

recipient by non-Federal third parties. 

College or university means, unless 

defined in a separate subpart, an 

educational institution in any State 

which: 

(1) Admits as regular students only 

persons having a certificate of 

graduation from a school providing 

secondary education, or the recognized 

equivalent of such a certificate; 

(2) Is legally authorized within such 

State to provide a program of education 

beyond secondary education; 

(3) Provides an educational program 

for which a bachelor’s degree or any 

other higher degree is awarded; 

(4) Is a public or other nonprofit 

institution; and 


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(5) Is accredited by a nationally 

recognized accrediting agency or 

association. Unless otherwise stated for 

a specific program, this term includes a 

research foundation maintained by such 

an institution. 

Cooperative agreement means the 

award by the Authorized Departmental 

Officer of funds to an eligible awardee 

to assist in meeting the costs of 

conducting for the benefit of the public, 

an identified project which is intended 

and designed to accomplish the purpose 

of the program as identified in the 

program solicitation or RFA, and where 

substantial involvement is expected 

between CSREES and the awardee when 

carrying out the activity contemplated 

in the agreement. 

Department means the United States 

Department of Agriculture. 

Education activity or teaching activity 

means formal classroom instruction, 

laboratory instruction, and practicum 

experience in the food and agricultural 

sciences and other related matters such 

as faculty development, student 

recruitment and services, curriculum 

development, instructional materials 

and equipment, and innovative teaching 

methodologies. 

Established and demonstrated 

capacity means that an organization has 

met the following criteria: 

(1) Conducts any systematic study 

directed toward new or fuller 

knowledge and understanding of the 

subject studied; or, 

(2) Systematically relates or applies 

the findings of research or scientific 

experimentation to the application of 

new approaches to problem solving, 

technologies, or management practices; 

and 

(3) Has facilities, qualified personnel, 

independent funding, and prior projects 

and accomplishments in research or 

technology transfer. 

Extension means informal education 

programs conducted in the States in 

cooperation with the Department. 

Extension activity means an act or 

process that delivers science-based 

knowledge and informal educational 

programs to people, enabling them to 

make practical decisions. 

Food and agricultural sciences means 

basic, applied, and developmental 

research, extension, and teaching 

activities in food and fiber, agricultural, 

renewable energy and natural resources, 

forestry, and physical and social 

sciences, including activities relating to 

the following: 

(1) Animal health, production, and 

well-being. 

(2) Plant health and production. 

(3) Animal and plant germ plasm 

collection and preservation. 

(4) Aquaculture. 

(5) Food safety. 

(6) Soil, water, and related resource 

conservation and improvement. 

(7) Forestry, horticulture, and range 

management. 

(8) Nutritional sciences and 

promotion. 

(9) Farm enhancement, including 

financial management, input efficiency, 

and profitability. 

(10) Home economics. 

(11) Rural human ecology. 

(12) Youth development and 

agricultural education, including 4–H 

clubs. 

(13) Expansion of domestic and 

international markets for agricultural 

commodities and products, including 

agricultural trade barrier identification 

and analysis. 

(14) Information management and 

technology transfer related to 

agriculture. 

(15) Biotechnology related to 

agriculture. 

(16) The processing, distributing, 

marketing, and utilization of food and 

agricultural products. 

Fundamental research means research 

that increases knowledge or 

understanding of the fundamental 

aspects of phenomena and has the 

potential for broad application, and has 

an effect on agriculture, food, nutrition, 

or the environment. 

Graduate degree means a Master’s or 

doctoral degree. 

Grant means the award by the 

Authorized Departmental Officer of 

funds to an eligible grantee to assist in 

meeting the costs of conducting for the 

benefit of the public, an identified 

project which is intended and designed 

to accomplish the purpose of the 

program as identified in the program 

solicitation or RFA. 

Grantee means the organization 

designated in the grant award document 

as the responsible legal entity to which 

a grant is awarded. 

Insular area means the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 

American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands, the 

Federated States of Micronesia, the 

Republic of the Marshall Islands, the 

Republic of Palau, and the Virgin 

Islands of the United States. 

Integrated project means a project 

incorporating two or three components 

of the agricultural knowledge system 

(research, education, and extension) 

around a problem area or activity. 

Land-grant Institutions means the 

1862 Land-Grant Institutions, 1890 

Land-Grant Institutions, and 1994 LandGrant Institutions. 

Matching or cost sharing means that 

portion of allowable project or program 

costs not borne by the Federal 

Government, including the value of inkind contributions. 

Merit review means an evaluation of a 

proposed project or elements of a 

proposed program whereby the 

technical quality and relevance to 

regional or national goals are assessed. 

Merit reviewers means peers and other 

individuals with expertise appropriate 

to conduct merit review of a proposed 

project. 

Methodology means the project 

approach to be followed. 

Mission-linked research means 

research on specifically identified 

agricultural problems which, through a 

continuum of efforts, provides 

information and technology that may be 

transferred to users and may relate to a 

product, practice, or process. 

National laboratories include Federal 

laboratories that are government-owned 

contractor-operated or governmentowned government-operated. 

Non-citizen national of the United 

States means a person defined in the 

Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 

U.S.C. 1101(a)(22), who, though not a 

citizen of the United States, owes 

permanent allegiance to the United 

States. When eligibility is claimed 

solely on the basis of permanent 

allegiance, documentary evidence from 

the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

Services as to such eligibility must be 

made available to CSREES upon request. 

Peer reviewers means experts or 

consultants qualified by training and 

experience to give expert advice on the 

scientific and technical merit of 

applications or the relevance of those 

applications to one or more of the 

application evaluation criteria. Peer 

reviewers may be adhoc or convened as 

a panel. 

Prior approval means written 

approval by an Authorized 

Departmental Officer evidencing prior 

consent. 

Private research organization means 

any non-governmental corporation, 

partnership, proprietorship, trust, or 

other organization. 

Private sector means all non-public 

entities, including for-profit and 

nonprofit commercial and noncommercial entities, and including 

private or independent educational 

associations. 

Program announcement (PA) means a 

detailed description of the RFA without 

the associated application package(s). 

CSREES will not solicit or accept 

applications in response to a PA. 

Program Officer means a CSREES 

individual (often referred to as a 

National Program Leader) who is 

responsible for the technical oversight 


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of the award on behalf of the 

Department. 

Project means the particular activity 

within the scope of the program 

supported by an award. 

Project Director or PD means the 

single individual designated by the 

awardee in the application and 

approved by the Authorized 

Departmental Officer who is responsible 

for the direction and management of the 

project, also known as a Principal 

Investigator (PI) for research activities. 

Project period means the total length 

of time, as stated in the award document 

and modifications thereto, if any, during 

which Federal sponsorship begins and 

ends. 

Research means any systematic study 

directed toward new or fuller 

knowledge and understanding of the 

subject studied. 

Scientific peer review means an 

evaluation of the technical quality of a 

proposed project and its relevance to 

regional or national goals, performed by 

experts with the scientific knowledge 

and technical skills to conduct the 

proposed research work. 

Secretary means the Secretary of 

Agriculture and any other officer or 

employee of the Department to whom 

the authority involved is delegated. 

State means any one of the fifty 

States, the District of Columbia, and the 

insular areas. 

Third party in-kind contributions 

means the value of non-cash 

contributions of property or services 

provided by non-Federal third parties, 

including real property, equipment, 

supplies and other expendable property, 

directly benefiting and specifically 

identifiable to a funded project or 

program. 

Under Secretary means the Under 

Secretary for Research, Education, and 

Economics. 

United States means the several 

States, the District of Columbia, and the 

insular areas. 

Units of State government means all 

State institutions, including the formal 

divisions of State government (i.e., the 

official State agencies such as 

departments of transportation and 

education), local government agencies 

(e.g., a county human services office), 

and including State educational 

institutions (e.g., public colleges and 

universities). 

§ 3430.3 Deviations. 

Any request by the applicant or 

awardee for a waiver of or deviation 

from any provision of this part shall be 

submitted to the ADO identified in the 

agency specific requirements. CSREES 

shall review the request and notify the 

applicant/awardee, within 30 calendar 

days from the date of receipt of the 

deviation request, whether the request 

to deviate has been approved. If the 

deviation request is still under 

consideration at the end of 30 calendar 

days, CSREES shall inform the 

applicant/awardee in writing of the date 

when the applicant/awardee may expect 

the decision. 

§ 3430.4 Other applicable statutes and 

regulations. 

Several Federal statutes and 

regulations apply to Federal assistance 

applications considered for review and 

to project grants and cooperative 

agreements awarded under CSREES 

Federal assistance programs. These 

include, but are not limited to: 

7 CFR Part 1, subpart A—USDA 

implementation of the Freedom of 

Information Act. 

7 CFR Part 3—USDA implementation 

of OMB Circular No. A–129, regarding 

debt management. 

7 CFR Part 15, subpart A—USDA 

implementation of Title VI of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964, as amended. 

7 CFR Part 331 and 9 CFR Part 121— 

USDA implementation of the 

Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act 

of 2002. 

7 CFR Part 3015—USDA Uniform 

Federal Assistance Regulations, 

implementing OMB directives (i.e., 

OMB Circular Nos. A–21, A–87, and 

A–122, now relocated at 2 CFR Parts 

220, 225, and 230) and incorporating 

provisions of 31 U.S.C. 6301–6308 

(formerly the Federal Grant and 

Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977, 

Pub. L. 95–224), as well as general 

policy requirements applicable to 

recipients of Departmental financial 

assistance. 

7 CFR Part 3016—USDA 

implementation of Administrative 

Requirements for Grants and 

Cooperative Agreements to State and 

Local Governments. 

7 CFR Part 3017—USDA 

implementation of Governmentwide 

Debarment and Suspension 

(Nonprocurement). 

7 CFR Part 3018—USDA 

implementation of Restrictions on 

Lobbying. Imposes prohibitions and 

requirements for disclosure and 

certification related to lobbying on 

recipients of Federal contracts, grants, 

cooperative agreements, and loans. 

7 CFR Part 3019—USDA 

implementation of OMB Circular No. 

A–110, Uniform Administrative 

Requirements for Grants and 

Agreements with Institutions of Higher 

Education, Hospitals, and Other 

Nonprofit Organizations (now relocated 

at 2 CFR part 215). 

7 CFR Part 3021—USDA 

implementation of Governmentwide 

Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace 

(Financial Assistance). 

7 CFR Part 3052—USDA 

implementation of OMB Circular No. 

A–133, Audits of States, Local 

Governments, and Non-Profit 

Organizations. 

7 CFR Part 3407—CSREES procedures 

to implement the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 

amended. 

29 U.S.C. 794 (section 504, 

Rehabilitation Act of 1973) and 7 CFR 

Part 15b (USDA implementation of 

statute)—prohibiting discrimination 

based upon physical or mental handicap 

in Federally assisted programs. 

35 U.S.C. 200 et seq.—Bayh-Dole Act, 

promoting the utilization of inventions 

arising from federally supported 

research or development; encouraging 

maximum participation of small 

business firms in federally supported 

research and development efforts; and 

promoting collaboration between 

commercial concerns and nonprofit 

organizations, including universities, 

while ensuring that the Government 

obtains sufficient rights in federally 

supported inventions to meet the needs 

of the Government and protect the 

public against nonuse or unreasonable 

use of inventions (implementing 

regulations are contained in 37 CFR Part 

401). 

Subpart B—Pre-award: Solicitation and 

Application 

§ 3430.11 Competition. 

(a) Standards for competition. Except 

as provided in paragraph (b) of this 

section, CSREES will enter into grants 

and cooperative agreements, unless 

restricted by statute, only after 

competition. 

(b) Exception. The CSREES ADO and 

the designated Agency approving 

official may make a determination in 

writing that competition is not deemed 

appropriate for a particular transaction. 

Such determination shall be limited to 

transactions where it can be adequately 

justified that a noncompetitive award is 

in the best interest of the Federal 

Government and necessary to the goals 

of the program. 

§ 3430.12 Requests for applications. 

(a) General. For each competitive and 

noncompetitive non-formula program, 

CSREES will prepare a program 

solicitation (also called a request for 

applications (RFA)), in accordance with 

the Office of Management and Budget 


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(OMB) policy directive, 68 FR 37370– 

37379 (June 23, 2003), establishing a 

standard format for Federal agency 

announcements (i.e., program 

solicitations or RFAs) of funding 

opportunities under programs that 

award discretionary grants or 

cooperative agreements. This policy 

directive requires the content of the 

RFA to be organized in a sequential 

manner beginning with overview 

information followed by the full text of 

the announcement and will apply 

unless superseded by statute or another 

OMB policy directive. The RFA may 

include all or a portion of the following 

items: 

(1) Contact information. 

(2) Directions for interested 

stakeholders or beneficiaries to submit 

written comments in a published 

program solicitation or RFA. 

(3) Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) number. 

(4) Legislative authority and 

background information. 

(5) Purpose, priorities, and fund 

availability. 

(6) Program-specific eligibility 

requirements. 

(7) Program-specific restrictions on 

the use of funds, if Applicable. 

(8) Matching requirements, if 

applicable. 

(9) Acceptable types of applications. 

(10) Types of projects to be given 

priority consideration, including 

maximum anticipated awards and 

maximum project lengths, if applicable. 

(11) Program areas, if applicable. 

(12) Funding restrictions, if 

applicable. 

(13) Directions for obtaining 

additional requests for applications and 

application forms. 

(14) Information about how to obtain 

application forms and the instructions 

for completing such forms. 

(15) Instructions and requirements for 

submitting applications, including 

submission deadline(s). 

(16) Explanation of the application 

evaluation Process. 

(17) Specific evaluation criteria used 

in the review Process. 

(18) Type of Federal assistance 

awards (i.e., grants and/or cooperative 

agreements). 

(b) RFA variations. Where programspecific requirements differ from the 

requirements established in this part, 

program solicitations will also address 

any such variation(s). Variations may 

occur in the following: 

(1) Award management guidelines. 

(2) Restrictions on the delegation of 

fiscal responsibility. 

(3) Required approval for changes to 

project plans. 

(4) Expected program outputs and 

reporting requirements, if applicable. 

(5) Applicable Federal statutes and 

regulations. 

(6) Confidential aspects of 

applications and awards, if applicable. 

(7) Regulatory information. 

(8) Definitions. 

(9) Minimum and maximum budget 

requests, and whether applications 

outside of these limits will be returned 

without further review. 

(c) Program announcements. 

Occasionally, CSREES will issue a 

program announcement (PA) to alert 

potential applicants and the public 

about new and ongoing funding 

opportunities. These PAs may provide 

tentative due dates and are released 

without associated application 

packages. Hence, no applications are 

solicited under a PA. PAs are 

announced in the Federal Register or on 

the CSREES Web site. 

§ 3430.13 Letter of intent to submit an 

application. 

(a) General. CSREES may request or 

require that prospective applicants 

notify program staff of their intent to 

submit an application, identified as 

‘‘letter of intent’’. If applicable, the 

request or requirement will be included 

in the RFA, along with directions for the 

preparation and submission of the letter 

of intent, the type of letter of intent, and 

any relevant deadlines. There are two 

types of letters of intent: optional and 

required. 

(b) Optional letter of intent. Entities 

interested in submitting an application 

for a CSREES award should complete 

and submit a ‘‘Letter of Intent to Submit 

an Application’’ by the due date 

specified in the RFA. This does not 

obligate the applicant in any way, but 

will provide useful information to 

CSREES in preparing for application 

review. Applicants that do not submit a 

letter of intent by the specified due date 

are still allowed to submit an 

application by the application due date 

specified in the RFA, unless otherwise 

specified in the RFA. 

(c) Required letter of intent. Certain 

programs may require that the 

prospective applicants submit a letter of 

intent for specific programs. This type 

of letter is evaluated by the program 

staff for suitability to the program and 

in regard to program priorities, needs, 

and scope. Invitations to submit a full 

application will be issued by the 

Program Officer or his or her 

representative. For programs requiring a 

letter of intent, applications submitted 

without prior approval of the letter of 

intent by the program staff will be 

returned without review. Programs 

requiring a specific letter of intent will 

be specified in the RFA. 

§ 3430.14 Types of applications; types of 

award instruments. 

(a) Types of applications. The type of 

application acceptable may vary by 

funding opportunity. The RFA will 

stipulate the type of application that 

may be submitted to CSREES in 

response to the funding opportunity. 

Applicants may submit the following 

types of applications as specified in the 

RFA. 

(1) New. An application that is being 

submitted to the program for the first 

time. 

(2) Resubmission. This is a project 

application that has been submitted for 

consideration under the same program 

previously but has not been approved 

for an award under the program. For 

competitive programs, this type of 

application is evaluated in competition 

with other pending applications in the 

area to which it is assigned. 

Resubmissions are reviewed according 

to the same evaluation criteria as new 

applications. In addition, applicants 

must respond to the previous panel 

review summaries, unless waived by 

CSREES. 

(3) Renewal. An application 

requesting additional funding for a 

period subsequent to that provided by a 

current award. For competitive 

programs, a renewal application 

competes with all other applications. 

Renewal applications must be 

developed as fully as though the 

applicant is applying for the first time. 

Renewal applicants also must have filed 

a progress report via Current Research 

Information System (CRIS), unless 

waived by CSREES. 

(4) Continuation. A noncompeting 

application for an additional funding/ 

budget period within a previously 

approved project. 

(5) Revision. An application that 

proposes a change in the Federal 

Government’s financial obligations or 

contingent liability from an existing 

obligation; or, any other change in the 

terms and conditions of the existing 

award. 

(6) Resubmitted renewal. This is a 

project application that has been 

submitted for consideration under the 

same program previously. This type of 

application has also been submitted for 

renewal under the same program but 

was not approved. For competitive 

programs, this type of application is 

evaluated in competition with other 

pending applications in the area to 

which it is assigned. Resubmitted 

renewal applications are reviewed 

according to the same evaluation criteria 


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as new applications. Applicants must 

respond to the previous panel review 

summaries and file a progress report via 

CRIS, unless waived by CSREES. 

(b) Types of award instruments. The 

following is a list of corresponding 

categories of award instruments issued 

by CSREES. 

(1) Standard. This is an award 

instrument by which CSREES agrees to 

support a specified level of effort for a 

predetermined project period without 

the announced intention of providing 

additional support at a future date. 

(2) Renewal. This is an award 

instrument by which CSREES agrees to 

provide additional funding under a 

standard award as specified in 

paragraph (b)(1) of this section for a 

project period beyond that approved in 

an original or amended award, provided 

that the cumulative period does not 

exceed any statutory time limitation of 

the award. 

(3) Continuation. This is an award 

instrument by which CSREES agrees to 

support a specified level of effort for a 

predetermined period of time with a 

statement of intention to provide 

additional support at a future date, 

provided that performance has been 

satisfactory, appropriations are available 

for this purpose, and continued support 

would be in the best interest of the 

Federal Government and the public. 

(4) Supplemental. This is an award 

instrument by which CSREES agrees to 

provide small amounts of additional 

funding under a standard, renewal, or 

continuation award as specified in 

paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(3) of 

this section and may involve a shortterm (usually six months or less) 

extension of the project period beyond 

that approved in an original or amended 

award, but in no case may the 

cumulative period of the project, 

including short term extensions, exceed 

any statutory time limitation of the 

award. 

(c) Obligation of the Federal 

Government. Neither the acceptance of 

any application nor the award of any 

project shall commit or obligate the 

United States in any way to make any 

renewal, supplemental, continuation, or 

other award with respect to any 

approved application or portion of an 

approved application. 

§ 3430.15 Stakeholder input. 

Section 103(c)(2) of the Agricultural 

Research, Extension, and Education 

Reform Act of 1998 (AREERA) (7 U.S.C. 

7613(c)(2)) requires the Secretary to 

solicit and consider input on each 

program RFA from persons who 

conduct agricultural research, 

education, and extension for use in 

formulating future RFAs for competitive 

programs. CSREES will provide 

instructions for submission of 

stakeholder input in the RFA. CSREES 

will consider any comments received 

within the specified timeframe in the 

development of the future RFAs for the 

program. 

§ 3430.16 Eligibility requirements. 

(a) General. Program-specific 

eligibility requirements appear in the 

subpart applicable to each program and 

in the RFAs. 

(b) Foreign entities—(1) Awards to 

institutions. Unless specifically allowed, 

foreign commercial and non-profit 

institutions are not considered eligible 

to apply for and receive CSREES 

awards. 

(2) Awards to individuals. Unless 

otherwise specified, only United States 

citizens, non-citizen nationals of the 

United States, and lawful permanent 

residents of the United States are 

eligible to apply for and receive CSREES 

awards. 

(c) Responsibility determination. In 

addition to program-specific eligibility 

requirements, awards will be made only 

to responsible applicants. Specific 

management information relating to an 

applicant shall be submitted on a onetime basis, with updates on an asneeded basis, as part of the 

responsibility determination prior to an 

award being made under a specific 

CSREES program, if such information 

has not been provided previously under 

this or another CSREES program. 

CSREES will provide copies of forms 

recommended for use in fulfilling these 

requirements as part of the pre-award 

process. Although an applicant may be 

eligible based on its status as one of 

these entities, there are factors that may 

exclude an applicant from receiving 

Federal financial and nonfinancial 

assistance and benefits under a CSREES 

program (e.g., debarment or suspension 

of an individual involved or a 

determination that an applicant is not 

responsible based on submitted 

organizational management 

information). 

§ 3430.17 Content of an application. 

The RFA provides instructions on 

how to access a funding opportunity. 

The funding opportunity contains the 

application package, which includes the 

forms necessary for completion of an 

application in response to the RFA, as 

well as the application instructions. The 

application instructions document, 

‘‘CSREES Grants.gov Application Guide: 

A Guide for Preparation and Submission 

of CSREES Applications via 

Grants.gov,’’ is intended to assist 

applicants in the preparation and 

submission of applications to CSREES. 

It is also the primary document for use 

in the preparation of CSREES 

applications via Grants.gov. 

§ 3430.18 Submission of an application. 

(a) When to submit. The RFA will 

provide deadlines for the submission of 

letters of intent, if requested and 

required, and applications. CSREES may 

issue separate RFAs and/or establish 

separate deadlines for different types of 

applications, different award 

instruments, or different topics or 

phases of the Federal assistance 

programs. If applications are not 

received by applicable deadlines, they 

will not be considered for funding. 

Exceptions will be considered only 

when extenuating circumstances exist, 

as determined by CSREES, and 

justification and supporting 

documentation are provided to CSREES. 

(b) What to submit. The contents of 

the applicable application package, as 

well as any other information, are to be 

submitted by the due date. 

(c) Where to submit. The RFA will 

provide addresses for submission of 

letters of intent, if requested or required, 

and applications. It also will indicate 

permissible methods of submission (i.e., 

electronic, e-mail, hand-delivery, U.S. 

Postal Service, courier). Conformance 

with preparation and submission 

instructions is required and will be 

strictly enforced unless a deviation had 

been approved. CSREES may establish 

additional requirements. CSREES may 

return without review applications that 

are not consistent with the RFA 

instructions. 

§ 3430.19 Resubmission of an application. 

(a) Previously unfunded applications. 

(1) Applications that are resubmitted to 

a program, after being previously 

submitted but not funded by that 

program, must include the following 

information: 

(i) The CSREES-assigned proposal 

number of the previously submitted 

application. 

(ii) Summary of the previous 

reviewers’ comments. 

(iii) Explanation of how the previous 

reviewers’ comments or previous panel 

summary have been addressed in the 

current application. 

(2) Resubmitting an application that 

has been revised based on previous 

reviewers’ critiques does not guarantee 

the application will be recommended 

for funding. 

(b) Previously funded applications. (1) 

CSREES competitive programs are 

generally not designed to support 

multiple Federal assistance awards 


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activities that are essentially repetitive 

in nature. PDs who have had their 

projects funded previously are 

discouraged from resubmitting 

relatively identical applications for 

further funding. Applications that are 

sequential continuations or new stages 

of previously funded projects must 

compete with first-time applications, 

and should thoroughly demonstrate 

how the proposed project expands 

substantially on previously funded 

efforts and promotes innovation and 

creativity beyond the scope of the 

previously funded project. 

(2) An application may be submitted 

only once to CSREES. The submission 

of duplicative or substantially similar 

applications concurrently for review by 

more than one program will result in the 

exclusion of the redundant applications 

from CSREES consideration. 

§ 3430.20 Acknowledgment of an 

application. 

The receipt of all letters of intent and 

applications will be acknowledged by 

CSREES. Applicants who do not receive 

an acknowledgement within a certain 

number of days (as established in the 

RFA, e.g., 15 and 30 days) of the 

submission deadline should contact the 

program contact. Once the application 

has been assigned a proposal number by 

CSREES, that number should be cited 

on all future correspondence. 

§ 3430.21 Confidentiality of applications 

and awards. 

(a) General. Names of submitting 

institutions and individuals, as well as 

application contents and evaluations, 

will be kept confidential, except to 

those involved in the review process, to 

the extent permissible by law. 

(b) Identifying confidential and 

proprietary information in an 

application. If an application contains 

proprietary information that constitutes 

a trade secret, proprietary commercial or 

financial information, confidential 

personal information, or data affecting 

the national security, it will be treated 

in confidence to the extent permitted by 

law, provided that the information is 

clearly marked by the proposer with the 

term ‘‘confidential and proprietary 

information’’ and that the following 

statement is included at the bottom of 

the project narrative or any other 

attachment included in the application 

that contains such information: ‘‘The 

following pages (specify) contain 

proprietary information which (name of 

proposing organization) requests not to 

be released to persons outside the 

Government, except for purposes of 

evaluation.’’ 

(c) Disposition of applications. By 

law, the Department is required to make 

the final decisions as to whether the 

information is required to be kept in 

confidence. Information contained in 

unsuccessful applications will remain 

the property of the proposer. However, 

the Department will retain for three 

years one file copy of each application 

received; extra copies will be destroyed. 

Public release of information from any 

application submitted will be subject to 

existing legal requirements. Any 

application that is funded will be 

considered an integral part of the award 

and normally will be made available to 

the public upon request, except for 

designated proprietary information that 

is determined by the Department to be 

proprietary information. 

(d) Submission of proprietary 

information. The inclusion of 

proprietary information is discouraged 

unless it is necessary for the proper 

evaluation of the application. If 

proprietary information is to be 

included, it should be limited, set apart 

from other text on a separate page, and 

keyed to the text by numbers. It should 

be confined to a few critical technical 

items that, if disclosed, could jeopardize 

the obtaining of foreign or domestic 

patents. Trade secrets, salaries, or other 

information that could jeopardize 

commercial competitiveness should be 

similarly keyed and presented on a 

separate page. Applications or reports 

that attempt to restrict dissemination of 

large amounts of information may be 

found unacceptable by the Department 

and constitute grounds for return of the 

application without further 

consideration. Without assuming any 

liability for inadvertent disclosure, the 

Department will limit dissemination of 

such information to its employees and, 

where necessary for the evaluation of 

the application, to outside reviewers on 

a confidential basis. An application may 

be withdrawn at any time prior to the 

final action thereon. 

Subpart C—Pre-award: Application 

Review and Evaluation 

§ 3430.31 Guiding principles. 

The guiding principle for Federal 

assistance application review and 

evaluation is to ensure that each 

proposal is treated in a consistent and 

fair manner regardless of regional and 

institutional affiliation. After the 

evaluation process by the review panel, 

CSREES, through the program officer, 

ensures that applicants receive 

appropriate feedback and comments on 

their proposals, and processes the 

awards in as timely a manner as 

possible. 

§ 3430.32 Preliminary application review. 

Prior to technical examination, a 

preliminary review will be made of all 

applications for responsiveness to the 

administrative requirements set forth in 

the RFA. Applications that do not meet 

the administrative requirements may be 

eliminated from program competition. 

However, CSREES retains the right to 

conduct discussions with applicants to 

resolve technical and/or budget issues, 

as deemed necessary by CSREES. 

§ 3430.33 Selection of reviewers. 

(a) Requirement. CSREES is 

responsible for performing a review of 

applications submitted to CSREES 

competitive award programs in 

accordance with section 103(a) of 

AREERA (7 U.S.C. 7613(a)). Reviews are 

undertaken to ensure that projects 

supported by CSREES are of high 

quality and are consistent with the goals 

and requirements of the funding 

program. Applications submitted to 

CSREES undergo a programmatic 

evaluation to determine the worthiness 

of Federal support. The scientific peer 

review or merit review is performed by 

peer or merit reviewers and also may 

entail an assessment by Federal 

employees. 

(b) CSREES Peer Review System. The 

CSREES Application Review Process is 

accomplished through the use of the 

CSREES Peer Review System (PRS), a 

Web-based system which allows 

reviewers and potential reviewers to 

update personal information and to 

complete and submit reviews 

electronically to CSREES. 

(c) Relevant training and experience. 

Reviewers will be selected based upon 

training and experience in relevant 

scientific, extension, or education fields 

taking into account the following 

factors: 

(1) Level of relevant formal scientific, 

technical education, and extension 

experience of the individual, as well as 

the extent to which an individual is 

engaged in relevant research, education, 

or extension activities. 

(2) Need to include as reviewers 

experts from various areas of 

specialization within relevant scientific, 

education, and extension fields. 

(3) Need to include as reviewers other 

experts (e.g., producers, range or forest 

managers/operators, and consumers) 

who can assess relevance of the 

applications to targeted audiences and 

to program needs. 

(4) Need to include as reviewers 

experts from a variety of organizational 

types (e.g., colleges, universities, 

industry, State and Federal agencies, 

private profit and nonprofit 

organizations) and geographic locations. 


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(5) Need to maintain a balanced 

composition of reviewers with regard to 

minority and female representation and 

an equitable age distribution. 

(6) Need to include reviewers who 

can judge the effective usefulness to 

producers and the general public of 

each application. 

(d) Confidentiality. The identities of 

reviewers will remain confidential to 

the maximum extent possible. 

Therefore, the names of reviewers will 

not be released to applicants. If it is 

possible to reveal the names of 

reviewers in such a way that they 

cannot be identified with the review of 

any particular application, this will be 

done at the end of the fiscal year or as 

requested. Names of submitting 

institutions and individuals, as well as 

application content and peer 

evaluations, will be kept confidential, 

except to those involved in the review 

process, to the extent permitted by law. 

Reviewers are expected to be in 

compliance with CSREES 

Confidentiality Guidelines. Reviewers 

provide this assurance through PRS. 

(e) Conflicts of interest. During the 

evaluation process, extreme care will be 

taken to prevent any actual or perceived 

conflicts of interest that may impact 

review or evaluation. For the purpose of 

determining conflicts of interest, the 

academic and administrative autonomy 

of an institution shall be determined. 

Reviewers are expected to be in 

compliance with CSREES Conflict-ofInterest Guidelines. Reviewers provide 

this assurance through PRS. 

§ 3430.34 Evaluation criteria. 

(a) General. To ensure any project 

receiving funds from CSREES is 

consistent with the broad goals of the 

funding program, the content of each 

proposal/application submitted to 

CSREES will be evaluated based on a 

pre-determined set of review criteria. It 

is the responsibility of the Program 

Officer to develop, adopt, adapt, or 

otherwise establish the criteria by which 

proposals are to be evaluated. It may be 

appropriate for the Program Officer to 

involve other scientists or stakeholders 

in the development of criteria, or to 

extract criteria from legislative authority 

or appropriations language. The review 

criteria are described in the RFA and 

shall not include criteria concerning any 

cost sharing or matching requirements 

per section 103(a)(3) of AREERA 

(7 U.S.C. 7613(a)(3)). 

(b) Guidance for reviewers. In order 

that all potential applicants for a 

program have similar opportunities to 

compete for funds, all reviewers will 

receive from the Program Officer a 

description of the review criteria. 

Reviewers are instructed to use those 

same evaluation criteria, and only those 

criteria, to judge the merit of the 

proposals they review. 

§ 3430.35 Review of noncompetitive 

applications. 

(a) General. Some projects are 

directed by either authorizing 

legislation and/or appropriations to 

specifically support a designated 

institution or set of institutions for 

particular research, education, or 

extension topics of importance to the 

nation, a State, or a region. Although 

these projects may be awarded 

noncompetitively, these projects or 

activities are subject to the same 

application process, award terms and 

conditions, Federal assistance laws and 

regulations, reporting and monitoring 

requirements, and post-award 

administration and closeout policies 

and procedures as competitive Federal 

assistance programs. The only 

difference is these applications are not 

subject to a competitive peer or merit 

review process at the Agency level. 

(b) Requirements. All noncompetitive 

applications recommended for funding 

are required to be reviewed by the 

program officer and, as required, other 

Departmental and CSREES officials; and 

the review documented by the CSREES 

program officer. For awards 

recommended for funding at or greater 

than $10,000, an independent review 

and a unit review by program officials 

are required. 

§ 3430.36 Procedures to minimize or 

eliminate duplication of effort. 

CSREES may implement appropriate 

business processes to minimize or 

eliminate the awarding of CSREES 

Federal assistance that unnecessarily 

duplicates activities already being 

sponsored under other awards, 

including awards made by other Federal 

agencies. Business processes may 

include the review of the Current and 

Pending Support Form; documented 

CRIS searches prior to award; the 

conduct of PD workshops, conferences, 

meetings, and symposia; and agency 

participation in Federal Governmentwide and other committees, taskforces, 

or groups that seek to solve problems 

related to agricultural research, 

education, and extension and other 

activities delegated to the CSREES 

Administrator. 

§ 3430.37 Feedback to applicants. 

Copies of individual reviews and/or 

summary reviews, not including the 

identity of reviewers, will be sent to the 

applicant PDs after the review process 

has been completed. 

Subpart D—Award 

§ 3430.41 Administration. 

(a) General. Within the limit of funds 

available for such purpose, the CSREES 

ADO shall make Federal assistance 

awards to those responsible, eligible 

applicants whose applications are 

judged most meritorious under the 

procedures set forth in the RFA. The 

date specified by the CSREES ADO as 

the effective date of the award shall be 

no later than September 30th of the 

Federal fiscal year in which the project 

is approved for support and funds are 

appropriated for such purpose, unless 

otherwise permitted by law. It should be 

noted that the project need not be 

initiated on the award effective date, but 

as soon thereafter as practical so that 

project goals may be attained within the 

funded project period. All funds 

awarded by CSREES shall be expended 

solely for the purpose for which the 

funds are awarded in accordance with 

the approved application and budget, 

the regulations, the terms and 

conditions of the award, the applicable 

Federal cost principles, and the 

Department’s assistance regulations 

(e.g., parts 3015, 3016, and 3019 of 7 

CFR). 

(b) Notice of Award. The notice of 

award document (i.e., Form CSREES– 

2009, Award Face Sheet) will provide 

pertinent instructions and information 

including, at a minimum, the following: 

(1) Legal name and address of 

performing organization or institution to 

whom the Administrator has awarded a 

grant or cooperative agreement. 

(2) Title of project. 

(3) Name(s) and institution(s) of 

Project Director(s). 

(4) Identifying award number 

assigned by CSREES or the Department. 

(5) Project period. 

(6) Total amount of CSREES financial 

assistance approved. 

(7) Legal authority(ies) under which 

the grant or cooperative agreement is 

awarded. 

(8) Appropriate CFDA number. 

(9) Approved budget plan (that may 

be referenced). 

(10) Other information or provisions 

(including the Terms and Conditions) 

deemed necessary by CSREES to carry 

out its respective awarding activities or 

to accomplish the purpose of a 

particular grant or cooperative 

agreement. 

§ 3430.42 Special award conditions. 

(a) General. CSREES may, with 

respect to any award, impose additional 

conditions prior to or at the time of any 

award when, in the judgment of 

CSREES, such conditions are necessary 


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to ensure or protect advancement of the 

approved project, the interests of the 

public, or the conservation of grant or 

cooperative agreement funds. CSREES 

may impose additional requirements if 

an applicant or recipient has a history 

of poor performance; is not financially 

stable; has a management system that 

does not meet prescribed standards; has 

not complied with the terms and 

conditions of a previous award; or is not 

otherwise responsible. 

(b) Notification of additional 

requirements. When CSREES imposes 

additional requirements, CSREES will 

notify the recipient in writing as to the 

following: The nature of the additional 

requirements; the reason why the 

additional requirements are being 

imposed; the nature of the corrective 

actions needed; the time allowed for 

completing the corrective actions; and 

the method for requesting 

reconsideration of the additional 

requirements imposed. 

(c) Form CSREES–2009, Award Face 

Sheet. These special award conditions, 

as applicable, will be added as a special 

provision to the award terms and 

conditions and identified on the Form 

CSREES–2009, Award Face Sheet, for 

the award. 

(d) Removal of additional 

requirements. CSREES will promptly 

remove any additional requirements 

once the conditions that prompted them 

have been corrected. 

Subpart E—Post-Award and Closeout 

§ 3430.51 Payment. 

(a) General. All payments will be 

made in advance unless a deviation is 

accepted (see § 3430.3) or as specified in 

paragraph (b) of this section. All 

payments to the awardee shall be made 

via the U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services’ Payment Management 

System (DHHS–PMS), U.S. Department 

of the Treasury’s Automated Standard 

Application for Payments (ASAP) 

system, or another electronic funds 

transfer (EFT) method, except for 

awards to other Federal agencies. 

Awardees are expected to request funds 

via DHHS–PMS, ASAP, or other 

electronic payment system for 

reimbursement basis in a timely 

manner. 

(b) Reimbursement method. CSREES 

shall use the reimbursement method if 

it determines that advance payment is 

not feasible and that the awardee does 

not maintain or demonstrate the 

willingness to maintain written 

procedures that minimize the time 

elapsing between the transfer of funds 

and disbursement by the awardee, and 

financial management systems that meet 

the standards for fund control and 

accountability. 

§ 3430.52 Cost sharing and matching. 

(a) General. Awardees may be 

required to match the Federal funds 

received under a CSREES award. The 

required percentage of matching, type of 

matching (e.g., cash and/or in-kind 

contributions), sources of match (e.g., 

non-Federal), and whether CSREES has 

any authority to waive the match will be 

specified in the subpart applicable to 

the specific Federal assistance program, 

as well as in the RFA. 

(b) Indirect Costs as in-kind matching 

contributions. Indirect costs may be 

claimed under the Federal portion of the 

award budget or, alternatively, indirect 

costs may be claimed as a matching 

contribution (if no indirect costs are 

requested under the Federal portion of 

the award budget). However, unless 

explicitly authorized in the RFA, 

indirect costs may not be claimed on 

both the Federal portion of the award 

budget and as a matching contribution, 

unless the total claimed on both the 

Federal portion of the award budget and 

as a matching contribution does not 

exceed the maximum allowed indirect 

costs or the institution’s negotiated 

indirect cost rate, whichever is less. An 

awardee may split the allocation 

between the Federal and non-Federal 

portions of the budget only if the total 

amount of indirect costs charged to the 

project does not exceed the maximum 

allowed indirect costs or the 

institution’s negotiated indirect cost 

rate, whichever is less. For example, if 

an awardee’s indirect costs are capped 

at 22 percent pursuant to section 

1462(a) of NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3310(a)), 

the awardee may request 11 percent of 

the indirect costs on both the Federal 

portion of the award and as a matching 

contribution. Or, the awardee may 

request any similar percentage that, 

when combined, does not exceed the 

maximum indirect cost rate of 22 

percent. 

§ 3430.53 Program income. 

(a) General. CSREES shall apply the 

standards set forth in this subpart in 

requiring awardee organizations to 

account for program income related to 

projects financed in whole or in part 

with Federal funds. 

(b) Addition method. Unless 

otherwise provided in the authorizing 

statute, in accordance with the terms 

and conditions of the award, program 

income earned during the project period 

shall be retained by the awardee and 

shall be added to funds committed to 

the project by CSREES and the awardee 

and used to further eligible project or 

program objectives. Any specific 

program deviations will be identified in 

the individual subparts. 

(c) Award terms and conditions. 

Unless the program regulations 

identified in the individual subpart 

provide otherwise, awardees shall 

follow the terms and conditions of the 

award. 

§ 3430.54 Indirect costs. 

Indirect cost rates for grants and 

cooperative agreements shall be 

determined in accordance with the 

applicable assistance regulations and 

cost principles, unless superseded by 

another authority. Use of indirect costs 

as in-kind matching contributions is 

subject to § 3430.52(b). 

§ 3430.55 Technical reporting. 

(a) Requirement. All projects 

supported with Federal funds under this 

part must be documented in the Current 

Research Information System (CRIS). 

(b) Initial Documentation in the CRIS 

Database. Information collected in the 

‘‘Work Unit Description’’ (Form AD– 

416) and ‘‘Work Unit Classification’’ 

(Form AD–417) is required upon project 

initiation for all new awards in CRIS 

(i.e., prior to award). 

(c) Annual CRIS Reports. Unless 

stated differently in the award terms 

and conditions, an annual 

‘‘Accomplishments Report’’ (Form AD– 

421) is due 90 calendar days after the 

award’s anniversary date (i.e., one year 

following the month and day on which 

the project period begins and each year 

thereafter up until a final report is 

required). An annual report covers a 

one-year period. In addition to the Form 

AD–421, the following information, 

when applicable, must be submitted to 

the programmatic contact person 

identified in block 14 of the Award Face 

Sheet (Form CSREES–2009): a 

comparison of actual accomplishments 

with the goals established for the 

reporting period (where the output of 

the project can be expressed readily in 

numbers, a computation of the cost per 

unit of output should be considered if 

the information is considered useful); 

the reasons for slippage if established 

goals were not met; and additional 

pertinent information including, when 

appropriate, analysis and explanation of 

cost overruns or unexpectedly high unit 

costs. The annual report of ‘‘Funding 

and Staff Support’’ (Form AD–419) is 

due February 1 of the year subsequent 

to the Federal fiscal year being reported. 

(d) CRIS Final Report. The CRIS final 

report, ‘‘Accomplishments Report’’ 

(Form AD–421), covers the entire period 

of performance of the award. The report 

should encompass progress made 


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during the entire timeframe of the 

project instead of covering 

accomplishments made only during the 

final reporting segment of the project. In 

addition to providing the information 

required under paragraph (c) of this 

section, the final report must include 

the following when applicable: a 

disclosure of any inventions not 

previously reported that were conceived 

or first actually reduced to practice 

during the performance of the work 

under the award; a written statement on 

whether or not the awardee elects (or 

plans to elect) to obtain patent(s) on any 

such invention; and an identification of 

equipment purchased with any Federal 

funds under the award and any 

subsequent use of such equipment. 

(e) CRIS Web Site Via Internet. The 

CRIS database is available to the public 

on the worldwide web. CRIS project 

information is available via the Internet 

CRIS Web site at http:// 

cris.csrees.usda.gov. To submit forms 

electronically, the CRIS forms Web site 

can be accessed through the CRIS Web 

site or accessed directly at http:// 

cwf.uvm.edu/cris. 

(f) Additional reporting requirements. 

Awardees may be required to submit 

other technical reports or submit the 

CRIS reports more frequently than 

annually. Additional requirements for a 

specific Federal assistance program are 

described in the applicable subpart after 

subpart E and are identified in the RFA. 

The Award Face Sheet (Form CSREES– 

2009) also will specify these additional 

reporting requirements as a special 

provision to the award terms and 

conditions. 

§ 3430.56 Financial reporting. 

(a) SF–269, Financial Status Report. 

Unless stated differently in the award 

terms and conditions, a final SF–269, 

Financial Status Report, is due 90 days 

after the expiration of the award and 

should be submitted to the Awards 

Management Branch (AMB) at Awards 

Management Branch; Office of 

Extramural Programs, CSREES; U.S. 

Department of Agriculture; STOP 2271; 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW.; 

Washington, DC 20250–2271. The 

awardee shall report program outlays 

and program income on the same 

accounting basis (i.e., cash or accrual) 

that it uses in its normal accounting 

system. When submitting a final SF– 

269, Financial Status Report, the total 

matching contribution, if required, 

should be shown in the report. The final 

SF–269 must not show any unliquidated 

obligations. If the awardee still has valid 

obligations that remain unpaid when 

the report is due, it shall request an 

extension of time for submitting the 

report pursuant to paragraph (c) of this 

section; submit a provisional report 

(showing the unliquidated obligations) 

by the due date; and submit a final 

report when all obligations have been 

liquidated, but no later than the 

approved extension date. SF–269, 

Financial Status Reports, must be 

submitted by all awardees, including 

Federal agencies and national 

laboratories. 

(b) Awards with Required Matching. 

For awards requiring a matching 

contribution, an annual SF–269, 

Financial Status Report, is required and 

this requirement will be indicated on 

the Award Face Sheet, Form CSREES– 

2009, in which case it must be 

submitted no later than 45 days 

following the end of the budget or 

reporting period. 

(c) Requests for an extension to 

submit a final SF–269, Financial Status 

Report—(1) Before the due date. 

Awardees may request, prior to the end 

of the 90-day period following the 

award expiration date, an extension to 

submit a final SF–269, Financial Status 

Report. This request should include a 

provisional report pursuant to 

paragraph (a) of this section, as well as 

an anticipated submission date and a 

justification for the late submission. 

Subject to § 3430.63 or other statutory or 

agency policy limitations, funds will 

remain available for drawdown during 

this period. 

(2) After the due date. Requests are 

considered late when they are submitted 

after the 90-day period following the 

award expiration date. Requests to 

submit a final SF–269, Financial Status 

Report, will only be considered, up to 

30 days after the due date, in 

extenuating circumstances. This request 

should include a provisional report 

pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, 

as well as an anticipated submission 

date, a justification for the late 

submission, and a justification for the 

extenuating circumstances. However, 

such requests are subject to § 3430.63 or 

any other statutory or agency policy 

limitations. If an awardee needs to 

request additional funds, procedures in 

paragraph (d) of this section apply. 

(d) Overdue SF–269, Financial Status 

Reports. Awardees with overdue SF– 

269, Financial Status Reports, or other 

required financial reports (as identified 

in the award terms and conditions), will 

have their applicable balances at 

DHHS–PMS, ASAP, or other electronic 

payment system restricted or placed on 

‘‘manual review,’’ which restricts the 

awardee’s ability to draw funds, thus 

requiring prior approval from CSREES. 

If any remaining available balances are 

needed by the awardee (beyond the 90- 

day period following the award 

expiration date) and the awardee has 

not requested an extension to submit a 

final SF–269, Financial Status Report, 

the awardee will be required to contact 

AMB to request permission to draw any 

additional funds and will be required to 

provide justification and documentation 

to support the draw. Awardees also will 

need to comply with procedures in 

paragraph (c) of this section. AMB will 

approve these draw requests only in 

extenuating circumstances, as 

determined by CSREES. 

(e) SF–272, Federal Cash Transactions 

Report. Awardees receiving electronic 

payments through DHHS–PMS are 

required to submit their SF–272, Federal 

Cash Transactions Report, via the 

DHHS–PMS by the specified dates. 

Failure to submit this quarterly report 

by the due date may result in funds 

being restricted by DHHS–PMS. 

Awardees not receiving payments 

through DHHS–PMS may be exempt 

from this reporting requirement. 

(f) Additional reporting requirements. 

CSREES may require additional 

financial reporting requirements as 

follows: CSREES may require forecasts 

of Federal cash requirements in the 

‘‘Remarks’’ section of the report; and 

when practical and deemed necessary, 

CSREES may require awardees to report 

in the ‘‘Remarks’’ section the amount of 

cash advances received in excess of 

three days (i.e., short narrative with 

explanations of actions taken to reduce 

the excess balances). When CSREES 

needs additional information or more 

frequent reports, a special provision will 

be added to the award terms and 

conditions and identified on the Form 

CSREES–2009, Award Face Sheet. 

Should CSREES determine that an 

awardee’s accounting system is 

inadequate, additional pertinent 

information to further monitor awards 

may be requested from the awardee 

until such time as the system is brought 

up to standard, as determined by 

CSREES. This additional reporting 

requirement will be required via a 

special provision to the award terms 

and conditions and identified on the 

Form CSREES–2009, Award Face Sheet. 

§ 3430.57 Project meetings. 

In addition to reviewing (and 

monitoring the status of) progress and 

final technical reports and financial 

reports, CSREES Program Officers may 

use regular and periodic conference 

calls to monitor the awardee’s 

performance as well as PD conferences, 

workshops, meetings, and symposia to 

not only monitor the awards, but to 

facilitate communication and the 

sharing of project results. These 


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opportunities also serve to eliminate or 

minimize CSREES funding unneeded 

duplicative project activities. Required 

attendance at these conference calls, 

conferences, workshops, meetings, and 

symposia will be identified in the RFA 

and the awardee should develop a 

proposal accordingly. 

§ 3430.58 Prior approvals. 

(a) Subcontracts. No more than 50 

percent of the award may be 

subcontracted to other parties without 

prior written approval of the ADO 

except contracts to other Federal 

agencies. Any subcontract awarded to a 

Federal agency under an award must 

have prior written approval of the ADO. 

To request approval, a justification for 

the proposed subcontractual 

arrangements, a performance statement, 

and a detailed budget for the 

subcontract must be submitted to the 

ADO. 

(b) No-cost extensions of time—(1) 

General. Awardees may initiate a onetime no-cost extension of the expiration 

date of the award of up to 12 months 

unless one or more of the following 

conditions apply: the terms and 

conditions of the award prohibit the 

extension; the extension requires 

additional Federal funds; and the 

extension involves any change in the 

approved objectives or scope of the 

project. For the first no-cost extension, 

the awardee must notify CSREES in 

writing with the supporting reasons and 

revised expiration date at least 10 days 

before the expiration date specified in 

the award. 

(2) Additional requests for no-cost 

extensions of time before expiration 

date. When more than one no-cost 

extension of time or an extension of 

more than 12 months is required, the 

extension(s) must be approved in 

writing by the ADO. The awardee 

should prepare and submit a written 

request (which must be received no later 

than 10 days prior to the expiration date 

of the award) to the ADO. The request 

must contain, at a minimum, the 

following information: the length of the 

additional time required to complete the 

project objectives and a justification for 

the extension; a summary of the 

progress to date; an estimate of the 

funds expected to remain unobligated 

on the scheduled expiration date; a 

projected timetable to complete the 

portion(s) of the project for which the 

extension is being requested; and 

signature of the AR and the PD. 

(3) Requests for no-cost extensions of 

time after expiration date. CSREES may 

consider and approve requests for nocost extensions of time up to 120 days 

following the expiration of the award. 

These will be approved only for 

extenuating circumstances, as 

determined by CSREES. The awardee’s 

AR must submit the requirements 

identified under paragraph (b)(2) of this 

section as well as an ‘‘extenuating 

circumstance’’ justification and a 

description of the actions taken by the 

awardee to minimize these requests in 

the future. 

(4) Other requirements. No-cost 

extensions of time may not be exercised 

merely for the purpose of using 

unobligated balances. All extensions are 

subject to any statutory term limitations 

as well as any expiring appropriation 

limitations under § 3430.63. 

§ 3430.59 Review of disallowed costs. 

(a) Notice. If the CSREES Office of 

Extramural Programs (OEP) determines 

that there is a basis for disallowing a 

cost, CSREES OEP shall provide the 

awardee written notice of its intent to 

disallow the cost. The written notice 

shall state the amount of the cost and 

the factual and legal basis for 

disallowing it. 

(b) Awardee response. Within 60 days 

of receiving written notice of CSREES 

OEP’s intent to disallow the cost, the 

awardee may respond with written 

evidence and arguments to show the 

cost is allowable, or that CSREES, for 

equitable, practical, or other reasons, 

shall not recover all or part of the 

amount, or that the recovery should be 

made in installments. The 60-day time 

period may be extended for an 

additional 30 days upon written request 

by the awardee; however, such request 

for an extension of time must be made 

before the expiration of the 60-day time 

period specified in this paragraph. An 

extension of time will be granted only 

in extenuating circumstances. 

(c) Decision. Within 60 days of 

receiving the awardee’s written 

response to the notice of intent to 

disallow the cost, CSREES OEP shall 

issue a management decision stating 

whether or not the cost has been 

disallowed, the reasons for the decision, 

and the method of appeal that has been 

provided under this section. If the 

awardee does not respond to the written 

notice under paragraph (a) of this 

section within the time frame specified 

in paragraph (b) of this section, CSREES 

OEP shall issue a management decision 

on the basis of the information available 

to it. The management decision shall 

constitute the final action with respect 

to whether the cost is allowed or 

disallowed. In the case of a questioned 

cost identified in the context of an audit 

subject to 7 CFR part 3052, the 

management decision will constitute the 

management decision under 7 CFR 

3052.405(a). 

(d) Demand for payment. If the 

management decision under paragraph 

(c) of this section constitutes a finding 

that the cost is disallowed and, 

therefore, that a debt is owed to the 

Government, CSREES OEP shall provide 

the required demand and notice 

pursuant to 7 CFR 3.11. 

(e) Review process. Within 60 days of 

receiving the demand and notice 

referred to in paragraph (d) of this 

section, the awardee may submit a 

written request to the CSREES OEP 

Deputy Administrator for a review of 

the final management decision that the 

debt exists and the amount of the debt. 

Within 60 days of receiving the written 

request for a review, the CSREES OEP 

Deputy Administrator (or other senior 

CSREES official designated by the 

CSREES OEP Deputy Administrator) 

will issue a final decision regarding the 

debt. Review by the CSREES OEP 

Deputy Administrator or designee 

constitutes, and will be in accordance 

with, the administrative review 

procedures provided for debts under 7 

CFR part 3, subpart F. 

§ 3430.60 Suspension, termination, and 

withholding of support. 

(a) General. If an awardee has failed 

to materially comply with the terms and 

conditions of the award, CSREES may 

take certain enforcement actions, 

including, but not limited to, 

suspending the award pending 

corrective action, terminating the award 

for cause, and withholding of support. 

(b) Suspension. CSREES generally 

will suspend (rather than immediately 

terminate) an award to allow the 

awardee an opportunity to take 

appropriate corrective action before 

CSREES makes a termination decision. 

CSREES may decide to terminate the 

award if the awardee does not take 

appropriate corrective action during the 

period of suspension. CSREES may 

terminate, without first suspending, the 

award if the deficiency is so serious as 

to warrant immediate termination. 

Termination for cause may be appealed 

under the CSREES award appeals 

procedures specified in § 3430.62. 

(c) Termination. An award also may 

be terminated, partially or wholly, by 

the awardee or by CSREES with the 

consent of the awardee. If the awardee 

decides to terminate a portion of the 

award, CSREES may determine that the 

remaining portion of the award will not 

accomplish the purposes for which the 

award was originally made. In any such 

case, CSREES will advise the awardee of 

the possibility of termination of the 

entire award and allow the awardee to 


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withdraw its termination request. If the 

awardee does not withdraw its request 

for partial termination, CSREES may 

initiate procedures to terminate the 

entire award for cause. 

(d) Withholding of support. 

Withholding of support is a decision not 

to make a non-competing continuation 

award within the current competitive 

segment. Support may be withheld for 

one or more of the following reasons: 

Adequate Federal funds are not 

available to support the project; an 

awardee failed to show satisfactory 

progress in achieving the objectives of 

the project; an awardee failed to meet 

the terms and conditions of a previous 

award; or for whatever reason, 

continued funding would not be in the 

best interests of the Federal 

Government. If a non-competing 

continuation award is denied (withheld) 

because the awardee failed to comply 

with the terms and conditions of a 

previous award, the awardee may 

appeal that determination under 

§ 3430.62. 

§ 3430.61 Debt collection. 

The collection of debts owed to 

CSREES by awardees, including those 

resulting from cost disallowances, 

recovery of funds, unobligated balances, 

or other circumstances, are subject to 

the Department’s debt collection 

procedures as set forth in 7 CFR part 3, 

and, with respect to cost disallowances, 

§ 3430.59. 

§ 3430.62 Award appeals procedures. 

(a) General. CSREES permits 

awardees to appeal certain post-award 

adverse administrative decisions made 

by CSREES. These include: termination, 

in whole or in part, of an award for 

failure of the awardee to carry out its 

approved project in accordance with the 

applicable law and the terms and 

conditions of award or for failure of the 

awardee otherwise to comply with any 

law, regulation, assurance, term, or 

condition applicable to the award; 

denial (withholding) of a non-competing 

continuation award for failure to 

comply with the terms of a previous 

award; and determination that an award 

is void (i.e., a decision that an award is 

invalid because it was not authorized by 

statute or regulation or because it was 

fraudulently obtained). Appeals of 

determinations regarding the 

allowability of costs are subject to the 

procedures in § 3430.59. 

(b) Appeal Procedures. The formal 

notification of an adverse determination 

will contain a statement of the 

awardee’s appeal rights. As the first 

level in appealing an adverse 

determination, the awardee must submit 

a request for review to the CSREES 

official specified in the notification, 

detailing the nature of the disagreement 

with the adverse determination and 

providing supporting documents in 

accordance with the procedures 

contained in the notification. The 

awardee’s request to CSREES for review 

must be received within 60 days after 

receipt of the written notification of the 

adverse determination; however, an 

extension may be granted if the awardee 

can show good cause why an extension 

is warranted. 

(c) Decision. If the CSREES decision 

on the appeal is adverse to the awardee 

or if an awardee’s request for review is 

rejected, the awardee then has the 

option of submitting a request to the 

CSREES OEP Deputy Administrator for 

further review. The decision of the 

CSREES OEP Deputy Administrator is 

considered final. 

§ 3430.63 Expiring appropriations. 

(a) CSREES awards supported with 

agency appropriations. Most CSREES 

awards are supported with annual 

appropriations. On September 30th of 

the 5th fiscal year after the period of 

availability for obligation ends, the 

funds for these appropriations accounts 

expire per 31 U.S.C. 1552 and the 

account is closed, unless otherwise 

specified by law. Funds that have not 

been drawn through DHHS–PMS, 

ASAP, or other electronic payment 

system by the awardee or disbursed 

through any other system or method by 

August 31st of that fiscal year are 

subject to be returned to the U.S. 

Department of the Treasury after that 

date. The August 31st requirement also 

applies to awards with a 90-day period 

concluding on a date after August 31st 

of that fifth year. Appropriations cannot 

be restored after expiration of the 

accounts. More specific instructions are 

provided in the CSREES award terms 

and conditions. 

(b) CSREES awards supported with 

funds from other Federal agencies 

(reimbursable funds). CSREES may 

require that all draws and 

reimbursements for awards supported 

with reimbursable funds (from other 

Federal agencies) be completed prior to 

June 30th of the 5th fiscal year after the 

period of availability for obligation ends 

to allow for the proper billing, 

collection, and close-out of the 

associated interagency agreement before 

the appropriations expire. The June 30th 

requirement also applies to awards with 

a 90-day period concluding on a date 

after June 30th of that fifth year. 

Appropriations cannot be restored after 

expiration of the accounts. More 

specific instructions are provided in the 

CSREES award terms and conditions. 

Subpart F—Specialty Crop Research 

Initiative 

§ 3430.200 Applicability of regulations. 

The regulations in this subpart apply 

to the program authorized under section 

412 of the Agricultural Research, 

Extension, and Education Reform Act of 

1998 (7 U.S.C. 7632). 

§ 3430.201 Purpose. 

(a) Focus areas. The purpose of this 

program is to address the critical needs 

of the specialty crop industry by 

developing and disseminating sciencebased tools to address needs of specific 

crops and their regions, including the 

following five focus areas: 

(1) Research in plant breeding, 

genetics, and genomics to improve crop 

characteristics, such as— 

(i) Product, taste, quality, and 

appearance; 

(ii) Environmental responses and 

tolerances; 

(iii) Nutrient management, including 

plant nutrient uptake efficiency; 

(iv) Pest and disease management, 

including resistance to pests and 

diseases resulting in reduced 

application management strategies; and 

(v) Enhanced phytonutrient content. 

(2) Efforts to identify and address 

threats from pests and diseases, 

including threats to specialty crop 

pollinators. 

(3) Efforts to improve production 

efficiency, productivity, and 

profitability over the long term 

(including specialty crop policy and 

marketing). 

(4) New innovations and technology, 

including improved mechanization and 

technologies that delay or inhibit 

ripening. 

(5) Methods to prevent, detect, 

monitor, control, and respond to 

potential food safety hazards in the 

production and processing of specialty 

crops, including fresh produce. 

(b) Other. CSREES will award 

research and extension, including 

integrated, grants to eligible institutions 

listed in § 3430.203. In addition to the 

focus areas identified in this section, 

CSREES may include additional 

activities or focus areas that will further 

address the critical needs of the 

specialty crop industry. Some of these 

activities or focus areas may be 

identified by stakeholder groups or by 

CSREES in response to emerging critical 

needs of the specialty crop industry. 

§ 3430.202 Definitions. 

The definitions applicable to the 

program under this subpart include: 


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Integrated project means a project that 

incorporates the research and extension 

components of the agricultural 

knowledge system around a problem 

area or activity. 

Specialty crop means fruits and 

vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and 

horticulture and nursery crops 

(including floriculture). 

Trans-disciplinary means a multidiscipline approach that brings 

biological and physical scientists 

together with economists and social 

scientists to address challenges in a 

holistic manner. 

§ 3430.203 Eligibility. 

Eligible applicants for the grant 

program implemented under this 

subpart include: Federal agencies, 

national laboratories; colleges and 

universities (offering associate’s or 

higher degrees); research institutions 

and organizations; private organizations 

or corporations; State agricultural 

experiment stations; individuals; and 

groups consisting of 2 or more entities 

identified in this sentence. 

§ 3430.204 Project types and priorities. 

For each RFA, CSREES may develop 

and include the appropriate project 

types and focus areas (in addition to the 

five focus areas identified in § 3430.201) 

based on the critical needs of the 

specialty crop industry as identified 

through stakeholder input and deemed 

appropriate by CSREES. Of the funds 

made available each fiscal year, not less 

than 10 percent of these funds shall be 

allocated for each of the five focus areas 

identified in § 3430.201. In making 

awards for this program, CSREES will 

give higher priority to projects that are 

multistate, multi-institutional, and 

multidisciplinary; and include explicit 

mechanisms to communicate the results 

to producers and the public. 

§ 3430.205 Funding restrictions. 

(a) Prohibition against construction. 

Funds made available under this 

subpart shall not be used for the 

construction of a new building or 

facility or the acquisition, expansion, 

remodeling, or alteration of an existing 

facility (including site grading and 

improvement, and architect fees). 

(b) Indirect costs. Subject to § 3430.54, 

indirect costs are allowable. 

§ 3430.206 Matching requirements. 

(a) Requirement. Grantees are 

required to provide funds or in-kind 

support from non-Federal sources in an 

amount that is at least equal to the 

amount provided by the Federal 

government. The matching contribution 

must be provided from non-Federal 

sources except when authorized by 

statute. The matching requirements 

under this subpart cannot be waived. 

(b) Indirect costs. Use of indirect costs 

as in-kind matching contributions is 

subject to § 3430.52. 

§ 3430.207 Other considerations. 

The term of a grant under this subpart 

shall not exceed 10 years. 

Signed at Washington, DC, on August 28, 

2009. 

Colien Hefferan, 

Administrator, Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–21264 Filed 9–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–22–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

13 CFR Parts 120, 121, 124, 126 and 

134 

RIN 3245–AF64 

Agency Titling Procedure Revision; 

Nomenclature Changes 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of correcting 

amendments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA) is amending its 

regulations to correct omissions and 

errors in its final rule titled Agency 

Titling Procedure Revision; 

Nomenclature Changes which appeared 

in the Federal Register on August 30, 

2007. In the Agency Titling Procedure 

Revision rule SBA amended its 

regulations to change the titles of certain 

SBA officials to conform to titles that 

are commonly used across the Federal 

Government. However, several 

references to SBA titles were 

inadvertently excluded in the original 

rule and there were some name changes 

that were not properly made. This 

notice will correct the improperly made 

changes and include the omitted title 

changes. 

DATES: Effective Dates: These 

corrections are effective on September 4, 

2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Napoleon Avery, Chief Human Capital 

Officer, Office of Human Capital 

Management, Office of Management and 

Administration, Small Business 

Administration, 409 3rd Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20416. Tel: (202) 205– 

6780 and e-mail: 

napolean.avery@sba.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SBA 

published a final rule in the Federal 

Register on August 30, 2007, (72 FR 

50037), which amended its regulations 

to reflect the new titles of certain SBA 

officials. The new titles conform SBA’s 

management titles with those commonly 

used across the Federal Government. No 

changes were made to the 

responsibilities, reporting relationship, 

or other regulatory duties of the SBA 

officials whose titles are changed. 

However, several SBA titles were 

inadvertently left unchanged. In 

addition, several title changes were 

improperly made and need to be 

corrected. This Notice of Correction will 

incorporate these additional title 

changes and will correct the improperly 

made changes. 

Savings Provision 

This Notice of Correcting Amendment 

shall constitute notice that all references 

to the old titles cited in SBA rules 

affected by this Notice in any 

documents, statements, or other 

communications, in any form or media, 

and whether made before, on, or after 

the effective date of this Notice, shall be 

deemed to be references to the new 

titles. Any actions undertaken in the 

name of or on behalf of these SBA 

officials under the old title, whether 

taken before, on, or after the effective 

date of this Notice, shall be deemed to 

have been taken in the name of the SBA 

official under the new title. 

List of Subjects 

13 CFR Part 120 

Community development, Loan 

programs—business, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Small 

businesses. 

13 CFR Part 121 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Government procurement, 

Government property, Grant programs— 

business, Loan programs—business, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Small business. 

13 CFR Part 124 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Government procurement, 

Minority businesses, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Technical 

assistance. 

13 CFR Part 126 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Government procurement, 

Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Small businesses. 

13 CFR Part 134 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Organization and 

functions (Government agencies). 


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