(3) Proposed costs must be analyzed in detail to ensure consistency with applicable cost principles.

(4) Budget categories are not stipulated in making an award. However, budgets are submitted by an applicant and reviewed for purposes of establishing the amount to be awarded.

(5) Payments must be made in the same manner as other financial assistance awards, except that when determined appropriate by the cognizant program official and contracting officer a lump sum payment may be made.

(6) Recipients must certify in writing to the contracting officer at the end of the project that the activity was completed or the level of effort was expended, however should the activity or effort not be carried out, the recipient would be expected to make appropriate reimbursements.

(7) Periodic reports may be established for each award so long as they are not more frequently than quarterly.

(8) Changes in principal investigator or project leader, scope of effort, or institution, must receive the prior approval of the Department.

§ 600.30 Cost sharing.

In addition to the requirements of § 600.123 or $600.224, the following requirements apply to research, development, and demonstration projects:

(a) When DOE awards financial assistance for research, development, and demonstration projects where the primary purpose of the project is the ultimate commercialization and utilization of technology by the private sector and when there are reasonable expectations that the recipient will receive significant present or future economic benefits beyond the instant award as a result of the performance of the project, cost sharing shall be required. Unless the cost sharing is required by statute, a waiver of the requirement on a single-case or class basis may be approved by the cognizant Program Assistant Secretary or designee.

(b) Except as provided in section 3002 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, 42 U.S.C. 13542, or program rule, DOE will decide, on a case-by-case basis, the

amount of cost sharing required for a particular project.

(c) Factors in addition to those specified in §600.123 or $600.224, which may be considered when negotiating cost sharing for research, development, and demonstration projects include the potential benefits to a recipient resulting from the project and the length of time before a project is likely to be commercially successful.

Subpart B-Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements With Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, Other NonProfit Organizations and Commercial Organizations

SOURCE: 59 FR 53266, Oct. 21, 1994, unless otherwise noted.

GENERAL

$600.100 Purpose.

This subpart implements OMB Circular A-110 and establishes uniform administrative requirements for grants and agreements awarded to institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other non-profit and commercial organizations. It also establishes rules governing subawards to institutions of higher education, hospitals, and nonprofit and commercial organizations (including grants and cooperative agreements administered by State. local and Indian Tribal governments). § 600.101 Definitions.

Accrued expenditures means the charges incurred by the recipient during a given period requiring the provision of funds for:

(1) Goods and other tangible property received;

(2) Services performed by employees, contractors, subrecipients, and other payees; and,

(3) Other amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current services or performance is required.

Accrued income means the sum of:

(1) Earnings during a given period from services performed by the recipient, and goods and other tangible property delivered to purchasers, and

(2) Amounts becoming owed to the recipient for which no current services or performance is required by the recipient.

Acquisition cost of equipment means the net invoice price of the equipment, including the cost of modifications, attachments, accessories, or auxiliary apparatus necessary to make the property usable for the purpose for which it was acquired. Other charges, such as the cost of installation, transportation, taxes, duty or protective in-transit insurance, shall be included or excluded from the unit acquisition cost in accordance with the recipient's regular accounting practices.

Advance means a payment made by Treasury check or other appropriate payment mechanism to a recipient upon its request either before outlays are made by the recipient or through the use of predetermined payment schedules.

Award means financial assistance that provides support or stimulation to accomplish a public purpose. Awards include grants and other agreements in the form of money or property in lieu of money, by DOE to an eligible recipient. The term does not include: technical assistance, which provides services instead of money; other assistance in the form of loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, or insurance; direct payments of any kind to individuals; and, contracts which are required to be entered into and administered under procurement laws and regulations.

Cash contributions means the recipient's cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the recipient by third parties.

Closeout means the process by which DOE determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work of the award have been completed by the recipient and DOE.

Contract means a procurement contract under an award or subaward, and a procurement subcontract under a recipient's or subrecipient's contract.

Cost sharing or matching means that portion of project or program costs not borne by DOE.

Date of completion means the date on which all work under an award is completed or the date on the award document, or any supplement or amend

ment thereto, on which DOE sponsorship ends.

Disallowed costs means those charges to an award that the DOE determines to be unallowable, in accordance with the applicable Federal cost principles or other terms and conditions contained in the award.

Equipment means tangible nonexpendable personal property including exempt property charged directly to the award having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5000 or more per unit. However, consistent with recipient policy, lower limits may be established.

Excess property means property under the control of any Federal awarding agency that, as determined by the head thereof, is no longer required for its needs or the discharge of its responsibilities.

Exempt property means tangible personal property acquired in whole or in part with Federal funds, where the Federal awarding agency has statutory authority to vest title in the recipient without further obligation to the Federal Government. An example of exempt property authority is contained in the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act (31 U.S.C. 6306), for property acquired under an award to conduct basic or applied research by a non-profit institution of higher education or non-profit organization whose principal purpose is conducting scientific research.

Federal awarding agency means the Federal agency that provides an award to the recipient.

Federal funds authorized means the total amount of Federal funds obligated by the Federal Government for use by the recipient. This amount may include any authorized carryover of unobligated funds from prior funding periods when permitted by agency regulations or agency implementing instructions.

Federal share of real property, equipment, or supplies means that percentage of the property's acquisition costs and any improvement expenditures paid with Federal funds.

Funding period or budget period means the period of time when DOE funding is available for obligation by the recipient.

Intangible property and debt instruments means, but is not limited to, trademarks, copyrights, patents and patent applications and such property as loans, notes and other debt instruments, lease agreements, stock and other instruments of property ownership, whether considered tangible or intangible.

Obligations means the amounts of orders placed, contracts and grants awarded, services received and similar transactions during a given period that require payment by the recipient during the same or a future period.

Outlays or expenditures means charges made to the project or program. They may be reported on a cash or accrual basis. For reports prepared on a cash basis, outlays are the sum of cash disbursements for direct charges for goods and services, the amount of indirect expense charged, the value of third party in-kind contributions applied and the amount of cash advances and payments made to subrecipients. For reports prepared on an accrual basis, outlays are the sum of cash disbursements for direct charges for goods and services, the amount of indirect expense incurred, the value of in-kind contributions applied, and the net increase (or decrease) in the amounts owed by the recipient for goods and other property received, for services performed by employees, contractors, subrecipients and other payees and other amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current services or performance are required.

Personal property means property of any kind except real property. It may be tangible, having physical existence, or intangible, having no physical existence, such as copyrights, patents, or securities.

Prior approval means written approval by a contracting officer evidencing prior consent.

Program income means gross income earned by the recipient that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the award (see exclusions in §§ 600.124 (e) and (h)). Program income includes, but is not limited to, income from fees for services performed, the use or rental of real or personal property acquired under federally-funded projects, the sale of com

modities or items fabricated under an award, license fees and royalties on patents and copyrights, and interest on loans made with award funds. Interest earned on advances of DOE funds is not program income. Except as otherwise provided in this subpart, program regulations, or the terms and conditions of the award, program income does not include the receipt of principal on loans, rebates, credits, discounts, etc., or interest earned on any of them.

Project costs means all allowable costs, as set forth in the applicable Federal cost principles, incurred by a recipient and the value of the contributions made by third parties in accomplishing the objectives of the award during the project period.

Project period means the period established in the award document during which DOE sponsorship begins and ends.

Property means, unless otherwise stated, real property, equipment, intangible property and debt instruments.

Real property means land, including land improvements, structures and appurtenances thereto, but excludes movable machinery and equipment.

Recipient means an organization receiving financial assistance directly from DOE to carry out a project or program. The term includes public and private institutions of higher education, public and private hospitals, and other quasi-public and private nonprofit organizations such as, but not limited to, community action agencies, research institutes, educational associations, and health centers. The term shall include commercial organizations which are recipients, subrecipients, or contractors or subcontractors of recipients or subrecipients. The term does not include government-owned contractor-operated facilities or research centers providing continued support for mission-oriented, large-scale programs that are government-owned or controlled, or are designated as federallyfunded research and development centers.

Research and development means all research activities, both basic and applied, and all development activities

that are supported at universities, colleges, and other non-profit institutions. "Research" is defined as a systematic study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge or understanding of the subject studied. "Development" is the systematic use of knowledge and understanding gained from research directed toward the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods, including design and development of prototypes and processes. The term research also includes activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction function.

Small award means a grant or cooperative agreement not exceeding the small purchase threshold fixed at 41 U.S.C. 403(11) (currently $25,000).

Subaward means an award of financial assistance in the form of money, or property in lieu of money, made under an award by a recipient to an eligible subrecipient or by a subrecipient to a lower tier subrecipient. The term includes financial assistance when provided by any legal agreement, even if the agreement is called a contract, but does not include procurement of goods and services nor does it include any form of assistance which is excluded from the definition of "award" above.

Subrecipient means the legal entity to which a subaward is made and which is accountable to the recipient for the use of the funds provided. The term may include foreign or international organizations (such as agencies of the United Nations).

Supplies means all personal property excluding equipment, intangible property, and debt instruments as defined in this section, and inventions of a contractor conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the performance of work under a funding agreement ("subject inventions"), as defined in 37 CFR part 401, "Rights to Inventions Made by Nonprofit Organizations and Small Business Firms Under Government Grants. Contracts, and Cooperative Agreements."

Suspension means an action by DOE that temporarily withdraws DOE sponsorship under an award, pending cor

rective action by the recipient or pending a decision to terminate the award by the DOE. Suspension of an award is a separate action from suspension under DOE regulations implementing E.O.'s 12549 and 12689, "Debarment and Suspension" (see 10 CFR part 1036).

Termination means the cancellation of DOE sponsorship, in whole or in part, under an agreement at any time prior to the date of completion.

Third party in-kind contributions means the value of non-cash contributions provided by non-Federal third parties. Third party in-kind contributions may be in the form of real property, equipment, supplies and other expendable property, and the value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the project or program.

Unliquidated obligations, for financial reports prepared on a cash basis, means the amount of obligations incurred by the recipient that have not been paid. For reports prepared on an accrued expenditure basis, they represent the amount of obligations incurred by the recipient for which an outlay has not been recorded.

Unobligated balance means the portion of the funds authorized by DOE that has not been obligated by the recipient and is determined by deducting the cumulative obligations from the cumulative funds authorized.

Unrecovered indirect cost means the difference between the amount awarded and the amount which could have been awarded under the recipient's approved negotiated indirect cost rate.

Working capital advance means a procedure whereby funds are advanced to the recipient to cover its estimated disbursement needs for a given initial period.

$600.104 Subawards.

Unless sections of this subpart specifically exclude subrecipients from coverage, all DOE recipients, including State, local and Indian tribal governments, shall apply the provisions of this subpart to subrecipients performing work under awards if such subrecipients are institutions of higher education, hospitals, other non-profit organizations or commercial organizations. Thus, this subpart is applicable to those types of organizations regardless of the type of recipient receiving the primary award. State and local government subrecipients are subject to the provisions of 10 CFR part 600, subpart C, "Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments."

PRE-AWARD REQUIREMENTS

§ 600.110 Purpose.

Sections 600.111 through 600.117 prescribe forms and instructions and other pre-award matters to be used in applying for DOE awards.

$ 600.111 Pre-award policies.

(a) Use of Grants and Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts. In each instance, the DOE shall decide on the appropriate award instrument (i.e., grant, cooperative agreement, or contract). The Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act (31 U.S.C. 6301-08) governs the use of grants, cooperative agreements and contracts. A grant or cooperative agreement shall be used only when the principal purpose of a transaction is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by Federal statute. The statutory criterion for choosing between grants and cooperative agreements is that for the latter, "substantial involvement is expected between the executive agency and the State, local government, or other recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated in the agreement." Contracts shall be used when the principal purpose is acquisition of property or services for the

direct benefit or use of the Federal Government.

(b) Public Notice and Priority Setting. DOE will, whenever practical, notify the public of its intended funding priorities for discretionary grant programs, unless funding priorities are established by Federal statute.

§ 600.112 Forms for applying for Federal assistance.

(a) General. An application for an award shall be on the form or in the format specified in a program rule, in the solicitation, or in these regulations (see $600.10). When the SF-424 form is not used, DOE shall indicate whether the application is subject to review by the State under E.O. 12372. DOE may also require applicants to complete

(1) The Notice of Energy RD&D Project (DOE Form 538) if the application is for a research, development, or demonstration project; or

(2) The Federal Assistance Management Summary Report (DOE F 4600.5) or the Federal Assistance Milestone Plan (DOE F 4600.3) as a baseline plan in accordance with the terms and conditions of award if required by program rule or the solicitation. If a solicitation other than a program rule requires the use of one or both of these forms. the solicitation shall contain an explanation of how the information to be provided relates to the objectives of the program.

(b) Budgetary information. DOE may request and the applicant shall submit the minimum budgetary information necessary to evaluate the costs of the proposed project.

(1) Applicants for research awards. other than State, local, or Indian tribal governments, will use DOE budget forms ERF 4620.1 and ERF 4620.1A. All other applicants shall use the budget formats established in the solicitation or program regulations.

(2) DOE may, subsequent to receipt of an application, request additional information from an applicant when necessary for clarification or to make informed preaward determinations.

(c) Continuation and renewal applications. DOE may require that an application for a continuation or renewal award (see § 600.26 (b) and (c)) be made