§ 30.135-18 Project costs.

All costs incurred by a grantee in accomplishing the objectives of a grant project, not limited to those costs which are allowable in computing the final EPA grant amount or total Federal assistance.

§ 30.135-19 Project officer.

The EPA official designated in the grant agreement as the Agency's principal contact with the grantee on a particular grant. This person is the individual responsible for the performance and/or coordination of project monitoring.

§ 30.135-20 Project period.

The period of time specified in the grant agreement as estimated to be required for completion of the project for which Federal grant support has been requested. It is composed of one or more budget periods.

§ 30.135-21 Regional Administrator.

The Regional Administrator of one of the 10 EPA Regional Offices, or any person authorized to act for him.

§ 30.135-22 Subagreement.

A written agreement between an EPA grantee and another party (other than another public agency) and any tier of agreement thereunder for the furnishing of services, supplies, or equipment necessary to complete the project for which a grant was awarded. These agreements include contracts and subcontracts for personal and professional services, agreements with consultants, and purchase orders. [43 FR 28485, June 30, 1978]

Subpart A-Basic Policies

§ 30.200 Grant simplification goals and policy.

It is EPA policy that, consistent with protection of the public interest, procedures used in administering and implementing grant programs shall encourage the minimization of paperwork and intraagency decision procedures, and the best use of available manpower and funds, to prevent need

§ 30.215 Records of grant actions.

(a) An official EPA file shall be established for each EPA grant. To the extent that retained copies of documents do not represent all significant actions taken, suitable memoranda or summary statements of such undocumented actions must be prepared promptly and retained in the grant file.

(b) The grantee shall establish an official file for each grant received from EPA. The file should contain documentation of all actions taken with respect to the grant (see § 30.805).

§ 30.220 Consolidated grants.

A consolidated grant is a grant funded under more than one grant authority by EPA or a grant awarded in conjunction with one or more Federal agencies (e.g., Joint Funded Assistance). Application for and award and administration of a consolidated grant must conform to this subchapter, except as the Director, Grants Administration Division, may otherwise direct with respect to substatutory re

quirements. Those conditions and procedures will conform to this Subchapter to the greatest extent practicable.

[40 FR 20232, May 8, 1975, as amended at 43 FR 28485, June 30, 1978]

§ 30.225 Foreign grants.

(a) A foreign grant, as used in this part, means an EPA award for such project, all or any part of which will be performed in a foreign country by (1) a U.S. grantee, (2) a foreign grantee, or (3) an international organization.

(b) Grant applications for work performed in the United States shall generally be given preference over applications for similar work to be performed in a foreign country.

(c) Foreign grants shall comply with this subchapter and shall be awarded and administered pursuant to such additional conditions and procedures as may be established by EPA. Grants or agreements entered into with funds under the Scientific Activities Overseas Program which utilize U.S.-owned excess foreign currencies shall not be subject to this subchapter.

§ 30.225-1 Clearance requirements.

The total amount of foreign awards financed by EPA during a fiscal year may not exceed any ceilings on foreign obligations which may be established for that fiscal year by the Office of Management and Budget. Department of State clearance must be obtained by EPA through the EPA Office of International Activities prior to the award of a foreign grant.

§ 30.225-2 Criteria for award.

All of the following criteria must be met before a foreign grant may be awarded:

(a) The foreign proposal is outstanding or original in concept and important to the achievement of EPA program objectives;

(b) The proposed work must be performed outside the United States because of unusual personnel or material resources available, or other existing conditions;

(c) The proposed work is urgently needed by the sponsoring program office and constitutes a timely oppor

tunity which would be lost if not supported at this time; and

(d) An adequate level of funding cannot be obtained for the foreign work by the applicant without financial support from EPA.

§ 30.225-3 Allowability of costs.

(a) Travel costs are allowable for foreign grants if itemized in the application and approved by EPA as part of the grant agreement or if approved in writing by EPA in advance of each trip.

(b) Indirect costs are not allowable for foreign grants unless an established or provisional indirect cost rate is in effect at the time of grant award. In the case of a U.S. grantee performing only a part of a project in a foreign country, indirect costs are allowed for that part of the work performed in the United States.

[40 FR 20232, May 8, 1975, as amended at 41 FR 20656, May 20, 1976; 43 FR 28485, June 30, 1978]

§ 30.225-4 Payments.

(a) All payments will be made in U.S. currency unless otherwise specified in the grant agreement. If payment is made in foreign currency, payments will be in an amount equal at the time of payment to the United States dollars awarded.

(b) Refunds and rebates should be made in the currency of the original payment and shall be in an amount equal, at the time of payment, to United States dollars awarded.

§ 30.230 Grants administration review.

The Director, Grants Administration Division, shall conduct such review, as he deems appropriate, of the administration of each EPA grant program or of grants awarded by a particular EPA office to determine compliance with the policies and procedures of this subchapter and to determine further steps necessary to implement § 30.200. § 30.235 Disclosure of information.

(a) EPA policy concerning release of information under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, is stated in Part 2 of this chapter. Applicants

for grants, grantees, and their contractors should be aware that information provided to EPA is subject to disclosure to others pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. In addition EPA acquires the right, unless otherwise provided in a grant agreement, to use and disclose project data, pursuant to Appendix C to this part.

(b) Any person who submits to EPA any information under this part, and who desires that EPA not disclose any or all of the information, may place on (or attach to) the information, at the time it is submitted to EPA, a cover sheet, stamp or typed legend, or other suitable form of notice employing language such as "trade secret," "proprietary," or "business confidential." Allegedly confidential portions of otherwise non-confidential documents should be clearly identified by the business, and may be submitted separately to facilitate identification and handling by EPA. Applicants should also comply with further instructions in application forms concerning the assertion of confidentiality claims. See §§ 2.203 and 2.204 of this chapter.

(c) Unless a specific provision (special condition) in the grant otherwise provides, information submitted in an application or other submission with a restrictive marking will nevertheless be subject to the Government's duty to disclose information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and the Government's rights to utilize data pursuant to Appendix C of this part.

[40 FR 20232, May 8, 1975, as amended at 41 FR 36918, Sept. 1, 1976]

§ 30.245 Fraud and other unlawful or corrupt practices.

(a) The award and administration of EPA grants, and of subagreements awarded by grantees under those grants, must be accomplished free from bribery, graft, kickbacks, and other corrupt practices. The grantee bears the primary responsibility for the prevention, detection and cooperation in the prosecution of any such conduct; Federal administrative or other legally available remedies will be pursued, however, to the extent appropriate.

(b) The grantee must effectively pursue available State or local legal and administrative remedies, and take appropriate remedial action with respect to any allegations or evidence of such illegality or corrupt practices which are brought to its attention. The grantee must advise the Project Officer immediately when such allegation or evidence comes to its attention, and must periodically advise the Project Officer of the status and ultimate disposition of any matter, including those referred pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) If any allegations, evidence or even appearance of such illegality or corrupt practices comes to the attention of the EPA Project Officer, he must promptly report briefly in writing the substance of the allegations or evidence to the Director, EPA Security and Inspection Division. When so advised by the Director, EPA Security and Inspection Division, he must bring the matter to the attention of the grantee for action.

(d) If any allegations, evidence or even appearance of such illegality or corrupt practices comes to the attention of any other EPA employee, he must promptly report briefly in writing the substance of the allegation or evidence to the Director, EPA Security and Inspection Division.

(e) A person, firm, or organization which is demonstrated upon adequate evidence to have been involved in bribery or other unlawful or corrupt practices on a Federally-assisted project may be determined nonresponsible and ineligible by the Director, Grant Administration Division, or an EPA grant award or for the award of a contract under an EPA grant, pursuant to § 30.340-2(c). The Director, Grants Administration Division, shall make such determination whenever he determines there is adequate evidence of such involvement, after opportunity for conference (with right of counsel) has been afforded to the affected person, firm, or organization. Such determination shall be binding upon EPA grant personnel. The Director, Grants Administration Division, shall notify EPA grant personnel and other appropriate persons of such determination or of any termination, modifi

cation, or suspension of the determination. The grantee may appeal a determination of the Director, Grants Administration Division, made pursuant to this section (see Subpart J of this part).

Subpart B-Application and Award

§ 30.300 Preapplication procedures.

(a) Informal inquiries by potential grant applicants prior to application submission are encouraged to expedite preparation and evaluation of the grant application documents. Such inquiries may relate to procedural or substantive matters and may range from informal telephone advice to prearranged briefings of individuals or classes of potential applicants. Questions should be directed to the appropriate Environmental Protection Agency program office from which funding is being sought or to the grants administration office in Headquarters or in the region in which the applicant is located. Inquiries may be directed to State officials for applications which include State participation in the review process (e.g., grants for construction of treatment works.)

(b) Submission of preapplications to EPA is encouraged for all research, demonstration, and training grant programs to (1) establish communication between EPA and the applicant; (2) determine applicant's eligibility; (3) determine how well the project can compete with similar applications; and (4) eliminate any proposal which has no chance for funding.

(c) An applicant submitting a preapplication to the grants administration office shall be promptly notified that (1) the preapplication has been received; (2) it has been forwarded to the appropriate program for an expression of interest, and (3) the program office will contact the applicant directly regarding possible followup action.

(d) Generally, preapplication processing requires 45 days and is not part of the 90 day review period for formal grant applications.

8 30.305 A-95 procedures.

(a) Office of Management and Budget Circular A-95 (revised) (41 FR

2052, January 13, 1976) provides for State and areawide clearinghouse evaluation, review, and coordination of Federally-assisted programs and projects. Therefore, applicants applying for a planning, program, survey, demonstration, or construction grant must comply with appropriate coordination procedures outlined in the A-95 Circular. Generally, coordination is required prior to submitting an application. However, in certain cases clearinghouses will be afforded the opportunity to comment during the initial phases of project work in conjunction with the development of plans and application materials.

(b) A-95 procedures include but are not limited to the provisions set forth below in § 30.305-1 through § 30.305-8. [41 FR 20656, May 20, 1976]

§ 30.305-1 Specific areas of clearinghouse evaluation.

The following specific areas are normally considered during clearinghouse evaluation. It should be recognized, however, that clearinghouses are responsible for the comprehensive planning needs of their jurisdictional area and may, therefore, consider areas other than those listed.

(a) The extent to which the project is consistent with or contributes to the fulfillment of the State, areawide, and local comprehensive plans.

(b) The extent to which the proposed project:

(1) Duplicates, runs counter to, or needs to be coordinated with other projects or activities being carried out in or affecting the area; or

(2) Might be revised to increase its effectiveness or efficiency.

(c) The extent to which the project contributes to the achievement of State, areawide, and local objectives and priorities relating to natural and human resources and economic and community development as specified in Section 401 of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968, including: (1) Appropriate land uses for housing, commercial, industrial, government, institutional, and other purposes;

(2) Wise development and consideration of natural resources, including