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CHAPTER 1-140

ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT NUMBERING AND FILES ORGANIZATION 

1-140-00 What does this chapter do? 

1-140-10 How is your assistance agreement number assigned?

1-140-20 Who maintains our official assistance agreement files? 

1-140-30 Will we keep our official files on paper or in electronic form?

1-140-40 What must we include in our official assistance agreement files?

1-140-50 How should we organize our official assistance agreement files?

1-140-00 What does this chapter do? 

This chapter explains how we assign identifying numbers to assistance agreements awarded by 

us, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). It also explains our 

requirements for our official assistance agreement files. It outlines how we organize our official 

agreement file. These rules apply to all OSMRE assistance programs.

1-140-10 How is your assistance agreement number assigned?

A. All assistance agreement numbers are automatically assigned by our electronic grant 

system. 

B. The system uses the following numbering structure.

1. The first digit is the letter “S”, which is the Department’s code for OSMRE. 

2. The next two numbers show the Federal fiscal year when we originally awarded 

the agreement. 

3. The next two letters show the type of agreement. The first letter is “A” for 

financial assistance. OSMRE grants normally are “AF” for a formula grant 

(AML) or “AP” for a project grant (Regulatory). “AC” is normally used for 

cooperative agreements (Watershed, Applied Science).

4. The final five numbers are automatically assigned by the system in sequential 

order.

1-140-20 Who maintains our official assistance agreement files? 

A. The office that awarded the agreement is responsible for our official assistance agreement 

files. 
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B. The official file for each grant or cooperative agreement will be established and 

maintained by the appropriate grants specialist in our awarding office.

1-140-30 Will we keep our official files on paper or in electronic form?

Departmental policy requires us to keep the complete official assistance agreement file on paper. 

Some information in the hard copy files will be duplicated in the electronic grant system or in 

additional electronic files. All records in the electronic grant system must be printed and filed in 

the official assistance agreement file. 

1-140-40 What must we include in our official assistance agreement files?

Each official assistance agreement file must contain at least the following items.

A. All items received from the recipient.

B. Complete award documents for the original agreement and all amendments. 

C. Information sent to the recipient with the award.

D. Findings and recommendations from application reviews and all other documentation 

from reviewing the application or processing the award.

E. Recipient performance, financial and other reports.

F. Monitoring statements or other documentation of our review of recipient performance or 

reports.

G. All correspondence from or to the recipient or any other party related to the agreement.

1-140-50 How should we organize our official assistance agreement files?

Our awarding office must keep the official files for its assistance agreements in a consistent 

format. The standard format is in a six-segment file folder, with the most recent information, or 

activities on top, organized as follows:

A. Segment 1 is the Approved Application, amendments, letter revision requests, and final 

closeout submissions. This segment contains the complete application as we approved it 

in our original award, amendment applications, and letter requests.

1. Recipients transmittal letter or email.

2. Our notification to the recipient confirming receipt of application.
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3. SF 424 (Application for Federal Assistance).

4. Recipient submitted documents related to intergovernmental coordination (E.O. 

12372).

5. Budget request with all required backup information.

6. Program narrative.

7. Any assurances, certifications or disclosure reports required for this application. 

8. Indirect Cost Rate agreement approved by the cognizant Federal agency.

9. Any supporting information included with the assistance application.

10. Letter revisions to the application.

We will group these materials by application version (i.e., initial application, amendment 

request, or letter revision request). All material should be dated.

B. Segment 2, Award Document packages, which includes the following documents.

1. Approved Award Document from our electronic grant system, including approved 

amendments.

2. Grants Monitoring Checklists.

3. Letters of Approval.

4. Our notifications to recipients of approved applications, amendments, and all 

closeout documentation (i.e. final financial and programmatic reports and reviews 

and associated checklists).

5. Our internal review and approval documents, including Findings and 

Recommendation memos, Financial and Program review documentation, 

congressional notifications, and funds availability confirmations.

Do not include letters from the recipient in this segment. They belong either in segment 

1 (if the correspondence is part of the application or a letter revision request) or in 

segment 6 with Miscellaneous Correspondence. 

C. Segment 3, Support and Review Documentation, which includes the following 

documents.
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1. Documentation of eligibility for Federal Financial Assistance, including Excluded 

Parties, single audit requirements, our intergovernmental coordination (E.O. 

12372) efforts, and the FA Risk Assessment Checklist.

D. Segment 4, Documentations of trip reports, drawdown analyses, or other visits to the 

recipient.

E. Segment 5, Non-closeout Financial and Performance Reporting Documents, contains the 

following documents. This segment will not be used as the basis for financial auditing; 

therefore, duplicates of all detailed financial documents, and records contained in the 

recipient's files are not needed.

1. Financial Report.

2. Narrative performance report.

3. Monitoring statements documenting OSMRE reviews.

4. Documentation of any report extensions requested and granted

5. Copy of current milestone plan.

F. Segment 6, Miscellaneous Correspondence and Reports, includes the following 

documents.

1. General correspondence and correspondence providing general guidance

concerning the grant. 

2. News releases, news clippings, recipient newsletters.

3. Letters from members of Congress, the public, and OSMRE responses.