The requirements in this section apply to competitive grants and cooperative agreements unless otherwise authorized by Federal statute. Merit review procedures must be described or incorporated by reference in NOFOs (see 2 CFR part 200, appendix I, and 2 CFR 200.203). Pre-award considerations for both discretionary competitive and noncompetitive awards shall take into account the alignment of the award's purpose, goals, and measurement with the current DOI Government Performance and Results Act Strategic Plan including, the mission statement, vision, values, goals, objectives, strategies, and performance metrics therein, unless otherwise prohibited by statute.

(a) Competition in grant and cooperative agreement awards. Competition is expected in awarding discretionary funds, unless otherwise directed by Congress. When grants and cooperative agreements are awarded competitively, DOI requires that the competitive process be fair and impartial, that all applicants be evaluated only on the criteria stated in the announcement, and that no applicant receive an unfair competitive advantage. All competitive funding announcements, and all modifications/amendments to those announcements, must be posted on Grants.gov (www.grants.gov).

(b) Independent objective evaluation of financial assistance applications and proposals. Bureaus and offices must conduct reviews of applications submitted in response to the announcement and for selecting applicants for award following established merit review procedures. Bureaus and offices must conduct comprehensive, impartial, and objective review of applications based on the criteria contained in the announcement by individuals who have no conflicts of interest with respect to the competing proposal/applications or applicants. Bureaus and offices must ensure reviewers are qualified, applications are scored on the basis of announced criteria, consideration is given to the level of applicant risk and past performance, applications are ranked, and funding determinations are made.

(c) Evaluation and Selection Plan for notice of funding opportunities. Bureaus and offices must develop an Evaluation and Selection Plan in concert with the notice of funding opportunity to ensure consistency, and to outline and document the selection process. The Evaluation and Selection Plan should be finalized prior to the release of the notice of funding opportunity. An Evaluation and Selection Plan is comprised of five basic elements:

(1) Merit review factors and sub-factors;

(2) A rating system (e.g., adjectival, color coding, numerical, or ordinal);

(3) Evaluation standards or descriptions that explain the basis for assignment of the various rating system grades/scores;

(4) Program policy factors; and

(5) The basis for selection.

(d) Basic review standards. Bureaus and offices must initially screen applications/proposals to ensure that they meet the standards in paragraphs (e) through (g) of this section before they are subjected to a detailed evaluation utilizing a merit review process specified in paragraph (h) of this section. The review system should include three phases: Initial Screening, Threshold Screening, and a Merit Review Evaluation Screening. Bureaus and offices may remove an application from funding consideration if it does not pass the basic eligibility screening per paragraphs (e) through (g) of this section.

(e) Completeness. Bureaus and offices may return applications/proposals that are incomplete or otherwise fail to meet the requirements of the Grants.gov announcement to the applicant to be corrected, modified, or supplemented, or may reject the application/proposal outright. Until the application/proposal meets the substantive requirements of the announcement and this part, it shall not be given detailed evaluation. Bureaus and offices may use discretion to determine the length of time for applicants to resolve application deficiencies.

(f) Timeliness. Bureaus and offices must consider the timeliness of the application submission. Applications that are submitted beyond the announced deadline date must be removed from the review process.

(g) Threshold Screening. Bureaus and offices are responsible for screening applications and proposals for the adequacy of the budget and compliance with statutory and other requirements. The SF-424 and budget information (SF-424A, SF-424C, or OMB-approved alternate budget data collection) must be reviewed according to Department of the Interior policy.

(h) Merit Review Evaluation Screening. This is the final review stage where the technical merit of the application/proposal is reviewed. In the absence of a program rule or statutory requirement, program officials shall develop criteria that include all aspects of technical merit. Bureaus and offices shall develop criteria that are conceptually independent of each other, but all-encompassing when taken together. While criteria will vary, the basic criteria shall focus reviewers' attention on the project's underlying merit (i.e., significance, approach, and feasibility). The criteria shall focus not only on the technical details of the proposed project but also on the broader importance or potential impact of the project. The criteria shall be easily understood.

(i) Risk assessments. Bureaus and offices must also consider risk thresholds during application/proposal review process. Elements to be considered may include organization; single audit submissions, past performance; availability of necessary resources, equipment, or facilities; financial strength and management capabilities; and procurement procedures; or procedures for selecting and monitoring subrecipients or sub-vendors, if applicable. For all non-Federal entities that receive an award, the Financial Assistance Officer must document the risk analysis.

(j) Requirements for proposal evaluators. Upon receipt of a Memorandum of Appointment, each proposal evaluator and advisor must sign and return a Conflict of Interest Certificate to the Financial Assistance Officer. If an actual or potential conflict of interest exists, the appointee may not evaluate or provide advice on a potential applicant's proposal until the conflict has been resolved or mitigated. Further, each proposal evaluator or advisor must agree to comply with any notice or limitation placed on the application. Upon completion of the review, the proposal evaluator or advisor shall return or destroy all copies of the application and accompanying proposals (or abstracts) to DOI; and unless authorized by the Financial Assistance Officer or agency designee, the reviewer shall not contact the non-Federal entity concerning any aspect of the application.

(a) Requirements for domestic for-profit entities. (1) Section 1402.207(a) contains standard award terms and conditions that always apply to for-profit entities and § 1402.207(b) contains terms that apply to sub-awards or contracts with for-profit entities over the simplified acquisition threshold. Bureaus and offices must incorporate into awards to domestic for-profit organizations the award terms and conditions that always apply, either directly or by reference.

(2) Bureaus and offices may apply the administrative guidelines in subparts A through D of 2 CFR part 200, the cost principles at 48 CFR part 31, subpart 31.2, and the procedures for negotiating indirect costs (detailed in § 1402.414) to domestic for-profit entities.

(3) Depending on the nature of a particular program, offices and bureaus may additionally develop program-specific administrative guidelines for domestic for-profits based on the requirements in 2 CFR part 200, subparts A through D, but may not apply more restrictive requirements than the requirements in 2 CFR part 200, subparts A through D, unless approved by OMB through a request to the Director, Office of Grants Management.

(b) Requirements for award terms and conditions. Bureau and office award terms and conditions must be managed in accordance with the requirements in 2 CFR 200.211, Information contained in a Federal award.

(a) The following financial assistance award terms and conditions always apply to domestic for-profit entities:

(1) 2 CFR part 25, Universal Identifier and System for Award Management.

(2) 2 CFR part 170, Reporting Subawards and Executive Compensation Information.

(3) 2 CFR part 175, Award Term for Trafficking in Persons.

(4) 2 CFR part 1400, government-wide debarment and suspension (non-procurement).

(5) 2 CFR part 1401, Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Financial Assistance).

(6) 43 CFR part 18, New Restrictions on Lobbying. Submission of an application also represents the applicant's certification of the statements in 43 CFR part 18, appendix A, Certification Regarding Lobbying.

(7) 41 U.S.C. 4712,Whistleblower. The requirement in this paragraph (a)(7) applies to all awards issued after July 1, 2013.

(8) 41 U.S.C. 6306,Prohibition. No member of or delegate to the United States Congress or Resident Commissioner shall be admitted to any share or part of this award, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom; this paragraph (a)(8) shall not be construed to extend to an award made to a corporation for the public's general benefit.

(9) Executive Order 13513, Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging while Driving. Recipients are encouraged to adopt and enforce policies that ban text messaging while driving, including conducting initiatives of the type described in section 3(a) of the Executive Order.

(10) 2 CFR part 183, Never Contract With the Enemy.

(11) 2 CFR 200.216, Prohibition on Certain Telecommunication and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment.

(12) All applicable Executive orders.

(b) The following financial assistance award terms and conditions always apply to non-profit and domestic for-profit entities. The recipient shall insert the following clause in all subawards and contracts related to the prime award that are over the simplified acquisition threshold, as defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation:

(c) The following award terms and conditions apply to for-profit recipients as specified in 2 CFR 200.101:

(1) Administrative requirements: 2 CFR part 200, subparts A through D.

(2) Cost principles: 48 CFR part 31, subpart 31.2, Contracts with Commercial Organizations.

(3) Indirect cost rate negotiations. For information on indirect cost rate negotiations, contact the Interior Business Center (IBC) Indirect Cost Services Division by telephone at (916) 566-7111 or by email at [email protected]. Visit the IBC Indirect Cost Services Division website at http://www.doi.gov/ibc/services/Indirect_Cost_Services/index.cfm for more information.