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CHAPTER 1-110

OSMRE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION

OF OUR ASSISTANCE AGREEMENTS

1-110-00 What does this chapter do?

1-110-10 Who approves OSMRE assistance agreements?

1-110-20 Who is responsible to manage our assistance agreements?

1-110-30 Who is responsible for our policy on financial assistance?

1-110-40 Who is responsible for financial management of our assistance programs?

1-110-50 How will our offices communicate with each other when they carry out financial 

assistance responsibilities?

1-110-00 What does this chapter do?

This chapter explains how we, OSMRE, assign the responsibilities for managing our financial 

assistance programs to our offices. This information applies to all OSMRE assistance programs.

1-110-10 Who approves OSMRE assistance agreements?

A. The Director of OSMRE is authorized to approve each assistance award. The Director 

delegates this authority to the Regional Directors, who may delegate it further.

B. By approving the assistance award, the authorized official certifies that, in his or her 

opinion, the agreement is in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, 

Departmental, and OSMRE assistance and program policies. 

C. No authorized official can be required to approve an assistance agreement unless the 

official is fully satisfied with the award. 

1-110-20 Who is responsible to manage our assistance agreements?

The Regional Directors manage our regional offices and the field and area offices within each 

region. They are responsible for award and management of OSMRE assistance agreements. 

They may delegate these functions to any of the offices or staff they manage. The office which 

awards a particular assistance agreement will also manage it after award. The awarding offices 

are responsible for the following activities: 

A. Receive and review assistance applications. Work with recipients to resolve all issues. 

Approve and process grant and cooperative agreement awards.

B. Determine availability of funds for award. Approve obligations and deobligations of 

assistance funds.

C. Coordinate with the Office of Communications to announce awards.
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D. Coordinate with the Division of Financial Management on assistance funding and 

financial management issues.

E. Administer the awarded assistance agreements. Process and approve necessary 

amendments and budget revisions.

F. Receive, review, and take any necessary action on performance and financial reports by 

assistance agreement recipients.

G. Conduct oversight of program and project operations supported by assistance funds. 

Conduct reviews of recipient financial and operational systems. Resolve issues with 

recipients.

H. Work with recipients to resolve audit findings and recommendations.

I. Work with recipients to get assistance budget estimates. Provide analysis and 

recommendations on recipients' budget estimates.

J. Maintain the official assistance agreement files.

1-110-30 Who is responsible for our policy on financial assistance?

The Assistant Director, Program Support (AD-PS), in OSMRE headquarters, is responsible for 

the programmatic and administrative policy on financial assistance. Under the AD-PS, the 

Division of Reclamation Support has the following responsibilities related to assistance policy 

and management:

A. Develop, maintain, and coordinate national policy and uniform procedures for assistance 

administration. Develop agency-wide guidance on assistance programs. 

B. Provide procedures and direction for reviews or special studies of financial assistance 

programs to assess compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and 

procedures.

C. Advise OSMRE management on financial assistance issues.

D. Maintain liaison with the Department of the Interior, the Office of Management and 

Budget, and other Federal agencies on assistance policy issues and procedures.

E. Initiate, conduct or assist in assistance training sessions for recipients and OSMRE staff. 

F. Develop procedures for the distribution of assistance program funds. Coordinate with the 

Regional Directors and Division of Financial Management to prepare the annual 
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regulatory and AML grant distributions.

1-110-40 Who is responsible for financial management of our assistance programs?

The Assistant Director, Finance and Administration (AD-F&A), in OSMRE Headquarters, is 

responsible for providing financial management support to the agency. Under the AD-F&A, the 

Division of Financial Management (DFM), located in Denver, Colorado, has the following 

responsibilities to support OSMRE assistance programs:

A. Maintain the official accounting records for assistance transactions.

B. Coordinate with Treasury to manage the system to transfer assistance funds to recipients.

C. Monitor and report information on financial assistance operations.

D. Calculate the annual AML fund distributions in coordination with the AD-PS.

1-110-50 How will our offices communicate with each other when they carry out financial 

assistance responsibilities?

A. With multiple offices involved in financial assistance, it is particularly important that all 

these offices establish and maintain open, clear, and effective channels of communication 

with each other. Offices must share information regarding their decisions and actions, 

especially on matters with wide applicability to other assistance operations, in order to 

ensure consistency in financial assistance operations throughout OSMRE.

B. OSMRE established its National Grants Team to promote coordination and consistency 

between offices involved in financial assistance operations. The Team includes all 

OSMRE staff whose primary responsibility is financial assistance. The Team 

communicates and meets regularly to identify assistance issues, develop resolutions, and 

share ideas and methods.