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Late Applications, Denials and/or Appeal 

Procedures

CONTENTS

PURPOSE................................................................................................................................ 2

POLICY REGARDING LATE APPLICATIONS ............................................................................... 3

WHAT IS A LATE APPLICATION? ............................................................................................... 3

HOW DOES AMS DETERMINE IF AN APPLICATION IS LATE?..................................................... 3

WHEN WILL LATE APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS BE CONSIDERED FOR COMPETITIVE REVIEW? 3

REQUESTING A LATE APPLICATION SUBMISSION.................................................................. 4

WINDOW OF CONSIDERATION FOR LATE APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS................................ 4

TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH GRANTS.GOV ................................................................................ 4

WILL AMS GRANT ADVANCE PERMISSION FOR LATE SUBMISSION?........................................ 4

POLICY REGARDING NONRESPONSIVE OR INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS................................. 4

WHAT IS A NONRESPONSIVE APPLICATION?............................................................................ 5

HOW IS AN APPLICATION DETERMINED TO BE NONRESPONSIVE?.......................................... 5

HOW CAN A NONRESPONSIVE APPLICATION BE CONSIDERED FOR COMPETITIVE REVIEW?... 5

HOW TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION OF AN APPLICATION....................... 5

WINDOW OF CONSIDERATION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF AN APPLICATION..................... 6

CAN AN APPLICATION RECEIVE ADVANCE PERMISSION TO BE NONRESPONSIVE TO THE RFA?

................................................................................................................................................. 6

POLICY REGARDING APPEAL PROCEDURES ............................................................................ 6

HOW CAN AN APPLICANT APPEAL A DECISION TO REMOVE THEIR APPLICATION FROM 

CONSIDERATION? .................................................................................................................... 6

HOW CAN AN AMS GRANT RECIPIENT APPEAL A DECISION ABOUT THEIR GRANT AWARD? ... 8
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PURPOSE

This document provides information on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural 

Marketing Service’s (AMS) policies related to the submission of late and/or nonresponsive grant 

applications. These policies apply to grant applications that are: 

1. submitted late, nonresponsive, and/or rejected during the initial qualification screening, 

2. not selected for an award during the administrative review, or 

3. dissatisfied with a post-award administrative decision. 

Incomplete applications or unjustified dissatisfaction with a post award decision does not 

constitute grounds for an appeal. 
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POLICY REGARDING LATE APPLICATIONS

Grant applications must be submitted on time, through the means published in the 

corresponding Request for Applications(RFA). The RFA cover page lists the application due date 

and time. The Program Solicitation Information and Submission Date and Time section provide 

additional information. AMS encourages applicants to submit their applications well in advance 

of the posted due date. 

AMS will NOT consider applications submitted after the specified due date unless the applicant 

provides documentation of an extenuating circumstance that prevented their timely submission 

of the grant application. Extenuating circumstances are defined as a catastrophic incident or a 

technical issue related to government systems (e.g., a Grants.gov outage or malfunction).

Catastrophic incident, as defined by 6 U.S.C. 311(3), means any natural disaster, an act of 

terrorism, or other man-made disasters that results in extraordinary levels of casualties or 

damage or disruption severely affecting the population (including mass evacuations), 

infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, or government functions in an area.

Technical issue, in a case where there is a technical issue with Grants.gov, the applicant has to 

obtain a Grants.gov helpdesk case number by contacting Grants.gov’s Applicant Support group 

and work with the group to validate the technical issue that prevented the timely submission of 

the grant application.

WHAT IS A LATE APPLICATION? 

A late application is any grant application submitted or resubmitted after the application due 

date and time listed in the RFA.

HOW DOES AMS DETERMINE IF AN APPLICATION IS LATE? 

Grants.gov attaches a date and time stamp to the application when it is electronically

submitted. 

Most AMS grant programs have a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. An application is 

considered on time when submitted at or before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the specified 

closing date. It is late when submitted at or after 12:00 (midnight) Eastern Time on the day 

following the specified closing date. 

WHEN WILL LATE APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS BE CONSIDERED FOR 

COMPETITIVE REVIEW? 

AMS will consider grant applications that were not submitted by the deadline on a case-by-case 

basis. AMS will only accept late applications if the applicant has documented evidence of 

extenuating circumstances or technical issues that have prevented the timely submission of an 
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application. Documentation could include screenshots or emails from helpdesks documenting 

system access problems. 

REQUESTING A LATE APPLICATION SUBMISSION

After the grant application submission due date has passed, applicants should contact the email 

address listed under the Agency Contacts section of the RFA to request a late application

submission. All requests must be submitted by letter and signed by the organization 

representative. 

Applicants must provide documentation to substantiate their extenuating circumstance claim. 

The applicant letter must include the reason for missing the deadline, and demonstrable 

evidence of an extenuating circumstance. Once AMS receives the documentation, AMS will 

follow its appeal procedures and inform applicants of its decision. If an applicant does not 

submit documentation to substantiate their claim, AMS will not consider the request. 

WINDOW OF CONSIDERATION FOR LATE APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS

Requests to consider late grant applications for a competitively reviewed RFA must be received 

by AMS within 2 weeks (14 calendar days) of the published application due date to be 

considered for the applicable competitive review under this late policy. Requests received after 

that time will not be considered.

TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH GRANTS.GOV

Applicants must follow the directions in the RFA (Grants.gov Application Submission and 

Receipt Procedures and Requirements section) to ensure the timely submission of a grant 

application. AMS will investigate reports of technical issues with Grants.gov on a case-by-case 

basis once it confirms a documented extenuating circumstance.

NOTE: Problems with computer systems at the applicant organization, Adobe compatibility 

settings issues, failure to follow instructions in the RFA, orfailure to complete required 

registrations(e.g., Grants.gov, Sams.gov, UEI Number, etc.) by the submission deadline are NOT 

considered government system issues and do not constitute grounds for an appeal. The RFA 

explains the time required to complete these registration requirements.

WILL AMS GRANT ADVANCE PERMISSION FOR LATE SUBMISSION? 

No. AMS will not grant advanced permission to submit an application after the application due 

date. 

POLICY REGARDING NONRESPONSIVE OR INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS

Grant applications must include all required documents and information requested in the 

corresponding Request for Applications(RFA). Required documents and information are listed in

the Application and Submission Information section of each RFA. When an applicant submits 
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duplicate applications before the application due date, AMS will accept the last validated 

application that is electronically submitted through Grants.gov as the final submission. 

AMS will decline to consider any grant application submitted for competitive review and

considered nonresponsive to the requirements in the RFA unless the applicant justifies how the 

application’s contents and documents meet the RFA requirements. AMS will not accept 

required documents or attachments after the application deadline.

WHAT IS A NONRESPONSIVE APPLICATION? 

Grant applications are considered nonresponsive when they do not meet the requirements 

listed in the RFA, including, but not limited to: aligning with the legislative purpose of the 

program, being an eligible applicant, submitting the application to the correct grant program; 

and/or providing all required documents and information. Incomplete applications are also 

considered nonresponsive due to missing information, documents, or attachments. 

HOW IS AN APPLICATION DETERMINED TO BE NONRESPONSIVE? 

AMS performs an initial qualification screening of all applications submitted by the application 

deadline to determine whether the content responds to the RFA. This includes verifying that all 

required documents and attachmentsin the Application and Submission Information section of

the RFA are part of the application package, and that the application was submitted to the 

correct grant program.

HOW CAN A NONRESPONSIVE APPLICATION BE CONSIDERED FOR COMPETITIVE 

REVIEW? 

AMS will consider grant applications that were determined nonresponsive due to extenuating 

circumstances on a case-by-case basis depending on the applicant’s explanation and 

documentation. Extenuating circumstances are catastrophic incidents as defined by 6 U.S.C. 

311(3) or validated technical issues on the side of the government which prevented applicants 

from applying by the posted due date (e.g., a Grants.gov outage or malfunction).

NOTE: Problems with computer systems at the applicant organization, Adobe compatibility 

settings issues, failure to follow instructions in the RFA, or failure to attach documents to the 

application package correctly are not considered system issues.

HOW TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION OF AN APPLICATION

If an applicant receives notification that their grant application will not be considered for 

competitive review and they would like to that decision to be reconsidered, the applicant 

should contact the email address listed in the Agency Contacts section of the RFA. All requests 

must be submitted in writing and include the information below:

• Grant Program Name
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• Application Number

• Grants.gov Number 

• Applicant Point of Contact Responsible for the Appeal 

• Project Title

• Justification for reconsideration

• Documentation substantiating applicant’s claim of an extenuating circumstance 

Once AMS receives the request and associated documentation, AMS will follow its review 

procedures. The applicant will be informed of the results of the review. If documentation is 

not submitted that substantiates the applicant’s claim, AMS will not consider the request. 

WINDOW OF CONSIDERATION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF AN APPLICATION

Requests to reconsider grant applications deemed nonresponsive to the RFA must be received 

by AMS within 2 weeks (14 calendar days) of the receipt of the application’s declination letter 

to be reconsidered for the applicable competitive review under this nonresponsive policy. If 

documentation is submitted that substantiates applicant’s claim after the deadline above, AMS 

will not consider the request. 

CAN AN APPLICATION RECEIVE ADVANCE PERMISSION TO BE NONRESPONSIVE 

TO THE RFA?

No. AMS will not grant advanced permission to submit an application that is nonresponsive to 

the RFA.

POLICY REGARDING APPEAL PROCEDURES

HOW CAN AN APPLICANT APPEAL A DECISION TO REMOVE THEIR APPLICATION 

FROM CONSIDERATION?

If AMS rejects an applicant’s grant application during the initial qualification screening or the 

administrative review, the applicant may file an appeal for reconsideration. To file an appeal, 

the applicant should contact the email address listed under “Agency Contact” section of the 

RFA and provide additional documentation to be considered.

1) Late, Non-Responsive, or Rejected application During the initial Qualification Screening

a) To file an appeal, applicants must email AMS within 14 calendar days of the application 

deadline or receipt of the written rejection email, as demonstrated through the time 

stamp on the email. AMS strictly enforces this deadline and will not grant extensions. 

The request must contain:

i) Grant Program name, 
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ii) Application number, 

iii) Grants.gov number, 

iv) Their name and email, or the name and email of the person responsible for the 

appeal,

v) The project title, 

vi) A detailed statement describing their reason for filing an appeal, and

vii) Fact-based statements and reasoning to support their appeal. 

b) The Team Lead will review the information and request additional information from the 

applicant and consult with Branch Chief and/or Division Director. 

c) AMS will send a written decision to the applicant within 15 business days. The decision 

will either grant or deny the appeal.

d) The Branch Chief or Division Director decision serves as the final agency decision. 

If AMS approves the appeal to submit an application, the approval does not guarantee a 

funding award. The approval only indicates that AMS will consider the application for review. 

2) Not Selected for an Award During the Administrative Review

a) If AMS declines an applicant’s award, the applicant may request an informal discussion 

to clarify the declination decision with the Team Lead or Branch Chief. 

b) If the applicant is dissatisfied with AMS’ explanation, the applicant may appeal by 

emailing a letter addressed to the Division Director no later than 14 calendar days from 

after the declination notice. AMS strictly enforces this deadline and will not grant 

extensions. The letter must:

i) Include a copy of the adverse determination, 

ii) Identify the issue(s) in dispute,

iii) Contain a full statement of the applicant’s position with respect to their issue(s), 

including pertinent facts, supportive reasoning, and documentation to support their 

claim.

AMS will not consider any new application information that would not have been 

available at the time the application was submitted. 

c) The Director will review the appeal information and communicate the decision within 15 

business days of receiving the appeal letter. If the appellant believes the Division made a 

substantive or procedural error in the decision, the appellant may submit a second 

appeal request for further review by the Deputy Administrator. The applicant must 

submit additional facts or evidence to support their position and justify the request for 

additional review. 

d) If the same appeal is submitted twice without additional facts or support evidence, AMS 

will deny the repeated appeal. 

e) The Deputy Administrator or designee will provide the final review regarding the appeal 
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and communicate the decision within 15 business days of receiving the appeal package. 

The Deputy administrator serve as the final agency decision per 2 CFR § 415.1 (c). 

HOW CAN AN AMS GRANT RECIPIENT APPEAL A DECISION ABOUT THEIR GRANT 

AWARD?

1) Dissatisfied with a Post Award Decision

If a grant recipient wants to appeal an AMS decision, such as disallowing costs, the grant

recipient should contact the AMS contact identified in their Notice of Award under block 9 and 

10. The steps below describe the procedures for an appeal. 

a) AMS allows recipients to appeal certain post-award adverse administrative decisions 

made by AMS. These decisions could include the withholding of payments, partial 

suspension of an award, and imposed special awards conditions. These decisions 

typically result from a recipient’s failure to carry out the approved project in accordance 

with the applicable law and the terms and conditions of the award. AMS may also take 

action if an applicant’s actions otherwise fail to comply with the award requirements.

b) A grant recipient who is dissatisfied with a post-award decision may request a clarifying 

discussion with the Team Lead. If the recipient believes AMS made a substantive or 

procedural error in its post- award decision, the recipient may appeal the determination 

for further review by the Branch Chief. The appeal letter must: 

i) Explain the decision or action they are appealing, 

ii) Describe what happened, and 

iii) Include any documentation that substantiates the appeal. 

c) The Branch Chief will review and/or consult with the Division Director to review the 

matter. The Branch Chief or Division Director will communicate the decision within 30 

business days. The Branch Chief or the Division Director decision is final and may not be 

appealed further.