(a)(1) A recipient that made an unallowable expenditure or otherwise failed to account properly for funds shall return an amount that is proportional to the extent of the harm its violation caused to an identifiable Federal interest associated with the program under which it received the grant or cooperative agreement.

(2) An identifiable Federal interest under paragraph (a)(1) of this section includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(i) Serving only eligible beneficiaries.

(ii) Providing only authorized services or benefits.

(iii) Complying with expenditure requirements and conditions, such as set-aside, excess cost, maintenance of effort, comparability, supplement-not-supplant, and matching requirements.

(iv) Preserving the integrity of planning, application, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements.

(v) Maintaining accountability for the use of funds.

(b) The appendix to this part contains examples that illustrate how the standards for proportionality apply. The examples present hypothetical cases and do not represent interpretations of any actual program statute or regulation.