Sections 34.11 through 34.17 prescribe standards for financial management systems; methods for making payments; and rules for cost sharing and matching, program income, revisions to budgets and program plans, audits, allowable costs, and fee and profit.

(a) Recipients shall be allowed and encouraged to use existing financial management systems established for doing business in the commercial marketplace, to the extent that the systems comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the minimum standards in this section. As a minimum, a recipient's financial management system shall provide:

(1) Effective control of all funds. Control systems must be adequate to ensure that costs charged to Federal funds and those counted as the recipient's cost share or match are consistent with requirements for cost reasonableness, allowability, and allocability in the applicable cost principles (see § 34.17) and in the terms and conditions of the award.

(2) Accurate, current and complete records that document for each project funded wholly or in part with Federal funds the source and application of the Federal funds and the recipient's required cost share or match. These records shall:

(i) Contain information about receipts, authorizations, assets, expenditures, program income, and interest.

(ii) Be adequate to make comparisons of outlays with budgeted amounts for each award (as required for programmatic and financial reporting under § 34.41. Where appropriate, financial information should be related to performance and unit cost data. Note that unit cost data are generally not appropriate for awards that support research.

(3) To the extent that advance payments are authorized under § 34.12, procedures that minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds to the recipient from the Government and the recipient's disbursement of the funds for program purposes.

(4) The recipient shall have a system to support charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages, whether treated as direct or indirect costs. Where employees work on multiple activities or cost objectives, a distribution of their salaries and wages will be supported by personnel activity reports which must:

(i) Reflect an after the fact distribution of the actual activity of each employee.

(ii) Account for the total activity for which each employee is compensated.

(iii) Be prepared at least monthly, and coincide with one or more pay periods.

(b) Where the Federal Government guarantees or insures the repayment of money borrowed by the recipient, the DoD Component, at its discretion, may require adequate bonding and insurance if the bonding and insurance requirements of the recipient are not deemed adequate to protect the interest of the Federal Government.

(c) The DoD Component may require adequate fidelity bond coverage where the recipient lacks sufficient coverage to protect the Federal Government's interest.

(d) Where bonds are required in the situations described above, the bonds shall be obtained from companies holding certificates of authority as acceptable sureties, as prescribed in 31 CFR part 223, “Surety Companies Doing Business with the United States.”

(a) Methods available. Payment methods for awards with for-profit organizations are:

(1) Reimbursement. Under this method, the recipient requests reimbursement for costs incurred during a time period. In cases where the recipient submits each request for payment to the grants officer, the DoD payment office reimburses the recipient by electronic funds transfer or check after approval of the request by the grants officer designated to do so.

(2) Advance payments. Under this method, a DoD Component makes a payment to a recipient based upon projections of the recipient's cash needs. The payment generally is made upon the recipient's request, although predetermined payment schedules may be used when the timing of the recipient's needs to disburse funds can be predicted in advance with sufficient accuracy to ensure compliance with paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section.

(b) Selecting a method. (1) The preferred payment method is the reimbursement method, as described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section

(2) Advance payments, as described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, may be used in exceptional circumstances, subject to the following conditions:

(i) The grants officer, in consultation with the program official, must judge that advance payments are necessary or will materially contribute to the probability of success of the project contemplated under the award (e.g., as startup funds for a project performed by a newly formed company). The rationale for the judgment shall be documented in the award file.

(ii) Cash advances shall be limited to the minimum amounts needed to carry out the program.

(iii) Recipients and the DoD Component shall maintain procedures to ensure that the timing of cash advances is as close as is administratively feasible to the recipients' disbursements of the funds for program purposes, including direct program or project costs and the proportionate share of any allowable indirect costs.

(iv) Recipients shall maintain advance payments of Federal funds in interest-bearing accounts, and remit annually the interest earned to the administrative grants officer responsible for post-award administration (the grants officer shall forward the payment to the responsible payment office, for return to the Department of Treasury's miscellaneous receipts account), unless one of the following applies:

(A) The recipient receives less than $120,000 in Federal awards per year.

(B) The best reasonably available interest bearing account would not be expected to earn interest in excess of $250 per year on Federal cash balances.

(C) The depository would require an average or minimum balance so high that it would not be feasible within the expected Federal and non-Federal cash resources.

(c) Frequency of payments. For either reimbursements or advance payments, recipients shall be authorized to submit requests for payment at least monthly.

(d) Forms for requesting payment. DoD Components may authorize recipients to use the SF-270, 1 “Request for Advance or Reimbursement;” the SF-271, 2 “Outlay Report and Request for Reimbursement for Construction Programs;” or prescribe other forms or formats as necessary.

(e) Timeliness of payments. Payments normally will be made within 30 calendar days of the receipt of a recipient's request for reimbursement or advance by the office designated to receive the request (for further information about timeframes for payments, see 32 CFR 22.810(c)(3)(ii)).

(f) Precedence of other available funds. Recipients shall disburse funds available from program income, rebates, refunds, contract settlements, audit recoveries, and interest earned on such funds before requesting additional cash payments.

(g) Withholding of payments. Unless otherwise required by statute, grants officers shall not withhold payments for proper charges made by recipients during the project period for reasons other than the following:

(1) A recipient has failed to comply with project objectives, the terms and conditions of the award, or Federal reporting requirements, in which case the grants officer may suspend payments in accordance with § 34.52.

(2) The recipient is delinquent on a debt to the United States (see definitions of “debt” and “delinquent debt” in 32 CFR 22.105). In that case, the grants officer may, upon reasonable notice, withhold payments for obligations incurred after a specified date, until the debt is resolved.

(a) Acceptable contributions. All contributions, including cash contributions and third party in-kind contributions, shall be accepted as part of the recipient's cost sharing or matching when such contributions meet all of the following criteria:

(1) They are verifiable from the recipient's records.

(2) They are not included as contributions for any other federally-assisted project or program.

(3) They are necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of project or program objectives.

(4) They are allowable under § 34.17.

(5) They are not paid by the Federal Government under another award, except:

(i) Costs that are authorized by Federal statute to be used for cost sharing or matching; or

(ii) Independent research and development (IR&D) costs. In accordance with the for-profit cost principle in 48 CFR 31.205-18(e), use of IR&D as cost sharing is permitted, whether or not the Government decides at a later date to reimburse any of the IR&D as allowable indirect costs. In such cases, the IR&D must meet all of the criteria in paragraphs (a) (1) through (4) and (a) (6) through (8) of this section.

(6) They are provided for in the approved budget, when approval of the budget is required by the DoD Component.

(7) If they are real property or equipment, whether purchased with recipient's funds or donated by third parties, they must have the grants officer's prior approval if the contributions' value is to exceed depreciation or use charges during the project period (paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(4)(ii) of this section discuss the limited circumstances under which a grants officer may approve higher values). If a DoD Component requires approval of a recipient's budget (see paragraph (a)(6) of this section), the grants officer's approval of the budget satisfies this prior approval requirement, for real property or equipment items listed in the budget.

(8) They conform to other provisions of this part, as applicable.

(b) Valuing and documenting contributions—(1) Valuing recipient's property or services of recipient's employees. Values shall be established in accordance with the applicable cost principles in § 34.17, which means that amounts chargeable to the project are determined on the basis of costs incurred. For real property or equipment used on the project, the cost principles authorize depreciation or use charges. The full value of the item may be applied when the item will be consumed in the performance of the award or fully depreciated by the end of the award. In cases where the full value of a donated capital asset is to be applied as cost sharing or matching, that full value shall be the lesser of the following:

(i) The certified value of the remaining life of the property recorded in the recipient's accounting records at the time of donation; or

(ii) The current fair market value. However, when there is sufficient justification, the grants officer may approve the use of the current fair market value of the donated property, even if it exceeds the certified value at the time of donation to the project. The grants officer may accept the use of any reasonable basis for determining the fair market value of the property.

(2) Valuing services of others' employees. When an employer other than the recipient furnishes the services of an employee, those services shall be valued at the employee's regular rate of pay plus an amount of fringe benefits and overhead (at an overhead rate appropriate for the location where the services are performed) provided these services are in the same skill for which the employee is normally paid.

(3) Valuing volunteer services. Volunteer services furnished by professional and technical personnel, consultants, and other skilled and unskilled labor may be counted as cost sharing or matching if the service is an integral and necessary part of an approved project or program. Rates for volunteer services shall be consistent with those paid for similar work in the recipient's organization. In those instances in which the required skills are not found in the recipient organization, rates shall be consistent with those paid for similar work in the labor market in which the recipient competes for the kind of services involved. In either case, paid fringe benefits that are reasonable, allowable, and allocable may be included in the valuation.

(4) Valuing property donated by third parties. (i) Donated supplies may include such items as office supplies or laboratory supplies. Value assessed to donated supplies included in the cost sharing or matching share shall be reasonable and shall not exceed the fair market value of the property at the time of the donation.

(ii) Normally only depreciation or use charges for equipment and buildings may be applied. However, the fair rental charges for land and the full value of equipment or other capital assets may be allowed, when they will be consumed in the performance of the award or fully depreciated by the end of the award, provided that the grants officer has approved the charges. When use charges are applied, values shall be determined in accordance with the usual accounting policies of the recipient, with the following qualifications:

(A) The value of donated space shall not exceed the fair rental value of comparable space as established by an independent appraisal of comparable space and facilities in a privately-owned building in the same locality.

(B) The value of loaned equipment shall not exceed its fair rental value.

(5) Documentation. The following requirements pertain to the recipient's supporting records for in-kind contributions from third parties:

(i) Volunteer services shall be documented and, to the extent feasible, supported by the same methods used by the recipient for its own employees.

(ii) The basis for determining the valuation for personal services and property shall be documented.

(a) DoD Components shall apply the standards in this section to the disposition of program income from projects financed in whole or in part with Federal funds.

(b) Recipients shall have no obligation to the Government, unless the terms and conditions of the award provide otherwise, for program income earned:

(1) From license fees and royalties for copyrighted material, patents, patent applications, trademarks, and inventions produced under an award. Note, however, that the Patent and Trademark Amendments (35 U.S.C. Chapter 18), as implemented in § 34.25, apply to inventions made under a research award.

(2) After the end of the project period. If a grants officer anticipates that an award is likely to generate program income after the end of the project period, the grants officer should indicate in the award document whether the recipient will have any obligation to the Federal Government with respect to such income.

(c) If authorized by the terms and conditions of the award, costs incident to the generation of program income may be deducted from gross income to determine program income, provided these costs have not been charged to the award.

(d) Other than any program income excluded pursuant to paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, program income earned during the project period shall be retained by the recipient and used in one or more of the following ways, as specified in program regulations or the terms and conditions of the award:

(1) Added to funds committed to the project by the DoD Component and recipient and used to further eligible project or program objectives.

(2) Used to finance the non-Federal share of the project or program.

(3) Deducted from the total project or program allowable cost in determining the net allowable costs on which the Federal share of costs is based.

(e) If the terms and conditions of an award authorize the disposition of program income as described in paragraph (d)(1) or (d)(2) of this section, and stipulate a limit on the amounts that may be used in those ways, program income in excess of the stipulated limits shall be used in accordance with paragraph (d)(3) of this section.

(f) In the event that the terms and conditions of the award do not specify how program income is to be used, paragraph (d)(3) of this section shall apply automatically to all projects or programs except research. For awards that support research, paragraph (d)(1) of this section shall apply automatically unless the terms and conditions specify another alternative or the recipient is subject to special award conditions, as indicated in § 34.4.

(g) Proceeds from the sale of property that is acquired, rather than fabricated, under an award are not program income and shall be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Property Standards (see §§ 34.20 through 34.25).

(a) The budget plan is the financial expression of the project or program as approved during the award process. It may include either the sum of the Federal and non-Federal shares, or only the Federal share, depending upon DoD Component requirements. It shall be related to performance for program evaluation purposes whenever appropriate.

(b) Recipients are required to report deviations from budget and program plans, and request prior approvals for budget and program plan revisions, in accordance with this section.

(c) Recipients shall immediately request, in writing, prior approval from the cognizant grants officer when there is reason to believe that within the next seven calendar days a programmatic or budgetary revision will be necessary for certain reasons, as follows:

(1) The recipient always must obtain the grants officer's prior approval when a revision is necessary for either of the following two reasons (i.e., these two requirements for prior approval may never be waived):

(i) A change in the scope or the objective of the project or program (even if there is no associated budget revision requiring prior written approval).

(ii) A need for additional Federal funding.

(2) The recipient must obtain the grants officer's prior approval when a revision is necessary for any of the following six reasons, unless the requirement for prior approval is waived in the terms and conditions of the award (i.e., if the award document is silent, these prior approvals are required):

(i) A change in a key person specified in the application or award document.

(ii) The absence for more than three months, or a 25 percent reduction in time devoted to the project, by the approved project director or principal investigator.

(iii) The inclusion of any additional costs that require prior approval in accordance with applicable cost principles for Federal funds and recipients' cost share or match, in § 34.17 and § 34.13, respectively.

(iv) The inclusion of pre-award costs. All such costs are incurred at the recipient's risk (i.e., the DoD Component is under no obligation to reimburse such costs if for any reason the recipient does not receive an award, or if the award is less than anticipated and inadequate to cover such costs).

(v) A “no-cost” extension of the project period that does not require additional Federal funds and does not change the approved objectives or scope of the project.

(vi) Any subaward, transfer or contracting out of substantive program performance under an award, unless described in the application and funded in the approved awards. This provision does not apply to the purchase of supplies, material, or general support services, except that procurement of equipment or other capital items of property always is subject to the grants officer's prior approval under § 34.21(a), if it is to be purchased with Federal funds, or § 34.13(a)(7), if it is to be used as cost sharing or matching.

(3) The recipient also must obtain the grants officer's prior approval when a revision is necessary for either of the following reasons, if specifically required in the terms and conditions of the award document (i.e., if the award document is silent, these prior approvals are not required):

(i) The transfer of funds among direct cost categories, functions and activities for awards in which the Federal share of the project exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold and the cumulative amount of such transfers exceeds or is expected to exceed 10 percent of the total budget as last approved by the DoD Component. No DoD Component shall permit a transfer that would cause any Federal appropriation or part thereof to be used for purposes other than those consistent with the original intent of the appropriation.

(ii) For awards that provide support for both construction and nonconstruction work, any fund or budget transfers between the two types of work supported.

(d) Within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the recipient's request for budget revisions, the grants officer shall review the request and notify the recipient whether the budget revisions have been approved. If the revision is still under consideration at the end of 30 calendar days, the grants officer shall inform the recipient in writing of the date when the recipient may expect the decision.

(a) Any recipient that expends $750,000 or more in a year under Federal awards shall have an audit made for that year by an independent auditor, in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section. The audit generally should be made a part of the regularly scheduled, annual audit of the recipient's financial statements. However, it may be more economical in some cases to have the Federal awards separately audited, and a recipient may elect to do so, unless that option is precluded by award terms and conditions, or by Federal laws or regulations applicable to the program(s) under which the awards were made.

(b) The auditor shall determine and report on whether:

(1) The recipient has an internal control structure that provides reasonable assurance that it is managing Federal awards in compliance with Federal laws and regulations, and with the terms and conditions of the awards.

(2) Based on a sampling of Federal award expenditures, the recipient has complied with laws, regulations, and award terms that may have a direct and material effect on Federal awards.

(c) The recipient shall make the auditor's report available to DoD Components whose awards are affected.

(d) The requirement for an annual independent audit is intended to ascertain the adequacy of the recipient's internal financial management systems and to curtail the unnecessary duplication and overlap that usually results when Federal agencies request audits of individual awards on a routine basis. Therefore, a grants officer:

(1) Shall consider whether the independent audit satisfies his or her requirements, before requesting any additional audits; and

(2) When requesting an additional audit, shall:

(i) Limit the scope of such additional audit to areas not adequately addressed by the independent audit.

(ii) Coordinate the audit request with the Federal agency with the predominant fiscal interest in the recipient, as the agency responsible for the scheduling and distribution of audits. If DoD has the predominant fiscal interest in the recipient, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) is responsible for monitoring audits, ensuring resolution of audit findings, and distributing audit reports. When an additional audit is requested and DoD has the predominant fiscal interest in the recipient, DCMA shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that the additional audit builds upon the independent audit or other audits performed in accordance with this section.

(e) There may be instances in which Federal auditors have recently performed audits, are performing audits, or are planning to perform audits, of a recipient. In these cases, the recipient and its Federal cognizant agency should seek to have the non-Federal, independent auditors work with the Federal auditors to develop a coordinated audit approach, to minimize duplication of audit work.

(f) Audit costs (including a reasonable allocation of the costs of the audit of the recipient's financial statement, based on the relative benefit to the Government and the recipient) are allowable costs of DoD awards.

Allowability of costs shall be determined in accordance with the cost principles applicable to the type of entity incurring the costs, as follows:

(a) For-profit organizations. Allowability of costs incurred by for-profit organizations that are recipients of prime awards from DoD Components, and those that are subrecipients under prime awards to other organizations, is to be determined in accordance with:

(1) The for-profit cost principles in 48 CFR parts 31 and 231 (in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, or DFARS, respectively).

(2) The supplemental information on allowability of audit costs, in § 34.16(f).

(b) Other types of organizations. Allowability of costs incurred by other types of organizations that may be subrecipients under a prime award to a for-profit organization is determined as follows:

(1) Institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, States, local governments, and Indian tribes. Allowability is determined in accordance with the cost principles in subpart E of OMB guidance in 2 CFR part 200. Note that 2 CFR 200.401(c) provides that a nonprofit organization listed in appendix VIII to 2 CFR part 200 is subject to the FAR and DFARS cost principles specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for for-profit organizations.

(2) Hospitals. Allowability is determined in accordance with the cost principles identified in appendix IX to 2 CFR part 200 (currently 45 CFR part 75).

In accordance with 32 CFR 22.205(b), grants and cooperative agreements shall not:

(a) Provide for the payment of fee or profit to the recipient.

(b) Be used to carry out programs where fee or profit is necessary to achieving program objectives.

Sections 34.21 through 34.25 set forth uniform standards for management, use, and disposition of property. DoD Components shall encourage recipients to use existing property-management systems, to the extent that the systems meet these minimum requirements.

(a) Prior approval for acquisition with Federal funds. Recipients may purchase real property or equipment in whole or in part with Federal funds under an award only with the prior approval of the grants officer.

(b) Title. Title to such real property or equipment shall vest in the recipient upon acquisition. Unless a statute specifically authorizes a DoD Component to vest title in the recipient without further obligation to the Government, and the DoD Component elects to do so, the title shall be a conditional title. Title shall vest in the recipient subject to the conditions that the recipient:

(1) Use the real property or equipment for the authorized purposes of the project until funding for the project ceases, or until the property is no longer needed for the purposes of the project.

(2) Not encumber the property without approval of the grants officer.

(3) Use and dispose of the property in accordance with paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section.

(c) Federal interest in real property or equipment offered as cost-share. A recipient may offer the full value of real property or equipment that is purchased with recipient's funds or that is donated by a third party to meet a portion of any required cost sharing or matching, subject to the prior approval requirement in § 34.13(a)(7). If a recipient does so, the Government has a financial interest in the property, a share of the property value attributable to the Federal participation in the project. The property therefore shall be considered as if it had been acquired in part with Federal funds, and shall be subject to the provisions of paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3) of this section, and to the provisions of § 34.23.

(d) Use. If real property or equipment is acquired in whole or in part with Federal funds under an award, and the award provides that title vests conditionally in the recipient, the real property or equipment is subject to the following:

(1) During the time that the real property or equipment is used on the project or program for which it was acquired, the recipient shall make it available for use on other projects or programs, if such other use will not interfere with the work on the project or program for which the real property or equipment was originally acquired. Use of the real property or equipment on other projects will be in the following order of priority:

(i) Activities sponsored by DoD Components' grants, cooperative agreements, or other assistance awards;

(ii) Activities sponsored by other Federal agencies' grants, cooperative agreements, or other assistance awards;

(iii) Activities under Federal procurement contracts, or activities not sponsored by any Federal agency. If so used, use charges shall be assessed to those activities. For real property or equipment, the use charges shall be at rates equivalent to those for which comparable real property or equipment may be leased. The use charges shall be treated as program income.

(2) After Federal funding for the project ceases, or when the real property or equipment is no longer needed for the purposes of the project, the recipient may use the real property or equipment for other projects, insofar as:

(i) There are Federally sponsored projects for which the real property or equipment may be used. If the only use for the real property or equipment is for projects that have no Federal sponsorship, the recipient shall proceed with disposition of the real property or equipment, in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section.

(ii) The recipient obtains written approval from the grants officer to do so. The grants officer shall ensure that there is a formal change of accountability for the real property or equipment to a currently funded, Federal award.

(iii) The recipient's use of the real property or equipment for other projects is in the same order of priority as described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section.

(e) Disposition. (1) When an item of real property or equipment is no longer needed for Federally sponsored projects, the recipient shall proceed as follows:

(i) If the property that is no longer needed is equipment (rather than real property), the recipient may wish to replace it with an item that is needed currently for the project. In that case, the recipient may use the original equipment as trade-in or sell it and use the proceeds to offset the costs of the replacement equipment, subject to the approval of the responsible agency (i.e., the DoD Component or the Federal agency to which the DoD Component delegated responsibility for administering the equipment).

(ii) The recipient may elect to retain title, without further obligation to the Federal Government, by compensating the Federal Government for that percentage of the current fair market value of the real property or equipment that is attributable to the Federal participation in the project.

(iii) If the recipient does not elect to retain title to real property or equipment (see paragraph (e)(1)(ii) of this section), or request approval to use equipment as trade-in or offset for replacement equipment (see paragraph (e)(1)(i) of this section), the recipient shall request disposition instructions from the responsible agency.

(2) If a recipient requests disposition instructions, in accordance with paragraph (e)(1)(iii) of this section, the responsible grants officer shall:

(i) For equipment (but not real property), consult with the Federal program manager and judge whether the age and nature of the equipment warrant a screening procedure, to determine whether the equipment is useful to a DoD Component or other Federal agency. If a screening procedure is warranted, the responsible agency shall determine whether the equipment can be used to meet a DoD Component's requirement. If no DoD requirement is found, the responsible agency shall report the availability of the equipment to the General Services Administration, to determine whether a requirement for the equipment exists in other Federal agencies.

(ii) For either real property or equipment, issue instructions to the recipient for disposition of the property no later than 120 calendar days after the recipient's request. The grants officer's options for disposition are to direct the recipient to:

(A) Transfer title to the real property or equipment to the Federal Government or to an eligible third party provided that, in such cases, the recipient shall be entitled to compensation for its attributable percentage of the current fair market value of the real property or equipment, plus any reasonable shipping or interim storage costs incurred. If title is transferred to the Federal Government, it shall be subject thereafter to provisions for Federally owned property in § 34.22.

(B) Sell the real property or equipment and pay the Federal Government for that percentage of the current fair market value of the property that is attributable to the Federal participation in the project (after deducting actual and reasonable selling and fix-up expenses, if any, from the sale proceeds). When the recipient is authorized or required to sell the real property or equipment, proper sales procedures shall be established that provide for competition to the extent practicable and result in the highest possible return.

(3) If the responsible agency fails to issue disposition instructions within 120 calendar days of the recipient's request, as described in paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section, the recipient shall dispose of the real property or equipment through the option described in paragraph (e)(2)(ii)(B) of this section.

(a) Annual inventory. Recipients shall submit annually an inventory listing of all Federally owned property in their custody (property furnished by the Federal Government, rather than acquired by the recipient with Federal funds under the award), to the DoD Component or other Federal agency responsible for administering the property under the award.

(b) Use on other activities. (1) Use of federally owned property on other activities is permissible, if authorized by the DoD Component responsible for administering the award to which the property currently is charged.

(2) Use on other activities will be in the following order of priority:

(i) Activities sponsored by DoD Components' grants, cooperative agreements, or other assistance awards;

(ii) Activities sponsored by other Federal agencies' grants, cooperative agreements, or other assistance awards;

(iii) Activities under Federal procurement contracts, or activities not sponsored by any Federal agency. If so used, use charges shall be assessed to those activities. For real property or equipment, the use charges shall be at rates equivalent to those for which comparable real property or equipment may be leased. The use charges shall be treated as program income.

(c) Disposition of property. Upon completion of the award, the recipient shall report the property to the responsible agency. The agency may:

(1) Use the property to meet another Federal Government need (e.g., by transferring accountability for the property to another Federal award to the same recipient, or by directing the recipient to transfer the property to a Federal agency that needs the property, or to another recipient with a currently funded award).

(2) Declare the property to be excess property and either:

(i) Report the property to the General Services Administration, in accordance with the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 483(b)(2)), as implemented by General Services Administration regulations at 41 CFR 101-47.202; or

(ii) Dispose of the property by alternative methods, if there is statutory authority to do so (e.g., DoD Components are authorized by 15 U.S.C. 3710(i), the Federal Technology Transfer Act, to donate research equipment to educational and nonprofit organizations for the conduct of technical and scientific education and research activities. Such donations shall be in accordance with the DoD implementation of E.O. 12999 (3 CFR, 1996 Comp., p. 180), “Educational Technology: Ensuring Opportunity for All Children in the Next Century,” as applicable.) Appropriate instructions shall be issued to the recipient by the responsible agency.

The recipient's property management system shall include the following, for property that is Federally owned, and for equipment that is acquired in whole or in part with Federal funds, or that is used as matching share:

(a) Property records shall be maintained, to include the following information:

(1) A description of the property.

(2) Manufacturer's serial number, model number, Federal stock number, national stock number, or any other identification number.

(3) Source of the property, including the award number.

(4) Whether title vests in the recipient or the Federal Government.

(5) Acquisition date (or date received, if the property was furnished by the Federal Government) and cost.

(6) Information from which one can calculate the percentage of Federal participation in the cost of the property (not applicable to property furnished by the Federal Government).

(7) The location and condition of the property and the date the information was reported.

(8) Ultimate disposition data, including date of disposal and sales price or the method used to determine current fair market value where a recipient compensates the Federal Government for its share.

(b) Federally owned equipment shall be marked, to indicate Federal ownership.

(c) A physical inventory shall be taken and the results reconciled with the property records at least once every two years. Any differences between quantities determined by the physical inspection and those shown in the accounting records shall be investigated to determine the causes of the difference. The recipient shall, in connection with the inventory, verify the existence, current utilization, and continued need for the property.

(d) A control system shall be in effect to insure adequate safeguards to prevent loss, damage, or theft of the property. Any loss, damage, or theft of property shall be investigated and fully documented; if the property was owned by the Federal Government, the recipient shall promptly notify the Federal agency responsible for administering the property.

(e) Adequate maintenance procedures shall be implemented to keep the property in good condition.

(a) Title shall vest in the recipient upon acquisition for supplies acquired with Federal funds under an award.

(b) Upon termination or completion of the project or program, the recipient shall retain any unused supplies. If the inventory of unused supplies exceeds $5,000 in total aggregate value and the items are not needed for any other Federally sponsored project or program, the recipient shall retain the items for use on non-Federal sponsored activities or sell them, but shall, in either case, compensate the Federal Government for its share.

(a) Patents. Grants and cooperative agreements with:

(1) Small business concerns shall comply with 35 U.S.C. Chapter 18, as implemented by 37 CFR part 401, which applies to inventions made under grants and cooperative agreements with small business concerns for research and development. 37 CFR 401.14 provides a standard clause that is required in such grants and cooperative agreements in most cases, 37 CFR 401.3 specifies when the clause shall be included, and 37 CFR 401.5 specifies how the clause may be modified and tailored.

(2) For-profit organizations other than small business concerns shall comply with 35 U.S.C. 210(c) and Executive Order 12591 (3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 220) (which codifies a Presidential Memorandum on Government Patent Policy, dated February 18, 1983).

(i) The Executive order states that, as a matter of policy, grants and cooperative agreements should grant to all for-profit organizations, regardless of size, title to patents made in whole or in part with Federal funds, in exchange for royalty-free use by or on behalf of the Government (i.e., it extends the applicability of 35 U.S.C. Chapter 18, to the extent permitted by law, to for-profit organizations other than small business concerns).

(ii) 35 U.S.C. 210(c) states that 35 U.S.C. Chapter 18 is not intended to limit agencies' authority to agree to the disposition of rights in inventions in accordance with the Presidential memorandum codified by the Executive order. It also states that such grants and cooperative agreements shall provide for Government license rights required by 35 U.S.C. 202(c)(4) and march-in rights required by 35 U.S.C. 203.

(b) Copyright, data and software rights. Requirements concerning data and software rights are as follows:

(1) The recipient may copyright any work that is subject to copyright and was developed under an award. DoD Components reserve a royalty-free, nonexclusive and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work for Federal purposes, and to authorize others to do so.

(2) Unless waived by the DoD Component making the award, the Federal Government has the right to:

(i) Obtain, reproduce, publish or otherwise use for Federal Government purposes the data first produced under an award.

(ii) Authorize others to receive, reproduce, publish, or otherwise use such data for Federal purposes.

Section 34.31 sets forth requirements necessary to ensure:

(a) Compliance of recipients' procurements that use Federal funds with applicable Federal statutes and executive orders.

(b) Proper stewardship of Federal funds used in recipients' procurements.

The following requirements pertain to recipients' procurements funded in whole or in part with Federal funds or with recipients' cost-share or match:

(a) Reasonable cost. Recipients procurement procedures shall make maximum practicable use of competition, or shall use other means that ensure reasonable cost for procured goods and services.

(b) Pre-award review of certain procurements. Prior to awarding a procurement contract under an award, a recipient may be required to provide the grants officer administering the award with pre-award documents (e.g., requests for proposals, invitations for bids, or independent cost estimates) related to the procurement. Recipients will only be required to provide such documents for the grants officer's pre-award review in exceptional cases where the grants officer judges that there is a compelling need to do so. In such cases, the grants officer must include a provision in the award that states the requirement.

(c) Contract provisions. (1) Contracts in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold shall contain contractual provisions or conditions that allow for administrative, contractual, or legal remedies in instances in which a contractor violates or breaches the contract terms, and provide for such remedial actions as may be appropriate.

(2) All contracts in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold shall contain suitable provisions for termination for default by the recipient or for termination due to circumstances beyond the control of the contractor.

(3) All negotiated contracts in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold shall include a provision permitting access of the Department of Defense, the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, to any books, documents, papers, and records of the contractor that are directly pertinent to a specific program, for the purpose of making audits, examinations, excerpts, and transcriptions.

(4) All contracts, including those for amounts less than the simplified acquisition threshold, awarded by recipients and their contractors shall contain the procurement provisions of Appendix A to this part, as applicable.

Sections 34.41 and 34.42 prescribe requirements for monitoring and reporting financial and program performance and for records retention.

Grants officers may use the provisions of subparts A and B of 2 CFR part 1134 for awards to for-profit organizations, or may include equivalent technical and financial reporting requirements that ensure reasonable oversight of the expenditure of appropriated funds. As a minimum, equivalent requirements must include:

(a) Periodic reports (at least annually, and no more frequently than quarterly) addressing both program status and business status, as follows:

(1) The program portions of the reports must address progress toward achieving program performance goals, including current issues, problems, or developments.

(2) The business portions of the reports shall provide summarized details on the status of resources (federal funds and non-federal cost sharing or matching), including an accounting of expenditures for the period covered by the report. The report should compare the resource status with any payment and expenditure schedules or plans provided in the original award; explain any major deviations from those schedules; and discuss actions that will be taken to address the deviations.

(3) When grants officers previously authorized advance payments, pursuant to § 34.12(a)(2), they should consult with the program official and consider whether program progress reported in the periodic report, in relation to reported expenditures, is sufficient to justify continued authorization of advance payments.

(b) Unless inappropriate, a final performance report that addresses all major accomplishments under the award.

(a) This section sets forth requirements for records retention and access to records for awards to recipients.

(b) Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to an award shall be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report. The only exceptions are the following:

(1) If any litigation, claim, or audit is started before the expiration of the 3-year period, the records shall be retained until all litigation, claims or audit findings involving the records have been resolved and final action taken.

(2) Records for real property and equipment acquired with Federal funds shall be retained for 3 years after final disposition.

(3) When records are transferred to or maintained by the DoD Component that made the award, the 3-year retention requirement is not applicable to the recipient.

(4) Indirect cost rate proposals, cost allocations plans, and related records, for which retention requirements are specified in § 34.42(g).

(c) Copies of original records may be substituted for the original records if authorized by the grants officer.

(d) The grants officer shall request that recipients transfer certain records to DoD Component custody when he or she determines that the records possess long term retention value. However, in order to avoid duplicate recordkeeping, a grants officer may make arrangements for recipients to retain any records that are continuously needed for joint use.

(e) DoD Components, the Inspector General, Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, have the right of timely and unrestricted access to any books, documents, papers, or other records of recipients that are pertinent to the awards, in order to make audits, examinations, excerpts, transcripts and copies of such documents. This right also includes timely and reasonable access to a recipient's personnel for the purpose of interview and discussion related to such documents. The rights of access in this paragraph are not limited to the required retention period, but shall last as long as records are retained.

(f) Unless required by statute, no DoD Component shall place restrictions on recipients that limit public access to the records of recipients that are pertinent to an award, except when the DoD Component can demonstrate that such records shall be kept confidential and would have been exempted from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) if the records had belonged to the DoD Component making the award.

(g) Indirect cost proposals, cost allocation plans, and other cost accounting documents (such as documents related to computer usage chargeback rates), along with their supporting records, shall be retained for a 3-year period, as follows:

(1) If a recipient is required to submit an indirect-cost proposal, cost allocation plan, or other computation to the cognizant Federal agency, for purposes of negotiating an indirect cost rate or other rates, the 3-year retention period starts on the date of the submission. This retention requirement also applies to subrecipients submitting similar documents for negotiation to the recipient.

(2) If the recipient or the subrecipient is not required to submit the documents or supporting records for negotiating an indirect cost rate or other rates, the 3-year retention period for the documents and records starts at the end of the fiscal year (or other accounting period) covered by the proposal, plan, or other computation.

(h) If the information described in this section is maintained on a computer, recipients shall retain the computer data on a reliable medium for the time periods prescribed. Recipients may transfer computer data in machine readable form from one reliable computer medium to another. Recipients' computer data retention and transfer procedures shall maintain the integrity, reliability, and security of the original computer data. Recipients shall also maintain an audit trail describing the data transfer. For the record retention time periods prescribed in this section, recipients shall not destroy, discard, delete, or write over such computer data.

Sections 34.51 through 34.53 set forth uniform procedures for suspension, termination, enforcement, and disputes.

(a) Awards may be terminated in whole or in part only in accordance with one of the following:

(1) By the grants officer, if a recipient materially fails to comply with the terms and conditions of an award.

(2) By the grants officer with the consent of the recipient, in which case the two parties shall agree upon the termination conditions, including the effective date and, in the case of partial termination, the portion to be terminated.

(3) By the recipient upon sending to the grants officer written notification setting forth the reasons for such termination, the effective date, and, in the case of partial termination, the portion to be terminated. The recipient must provide such notice at least 30 calendar days prior to the effective date of the termination. However, if the grants officer determines in the case of partial termination that the reduced or modified portion of the award will not accomplish the purposes for which the award was made, he or she may terminate the award in its entirety.

(b) If costs are allowed under an award, the responsibilities of the recipient referred to in § 34.61(b), including those for property management as applicable, shall be considered in the termination of the award, and provision shall be made for continuing responsibilities of the recipient after termination, as appropriate.

(a) Remedies for noncompliance. If a recipient materially fails to comply with the terms and conditions of an award, whether stated in a Federal statute, regulation, assurance, application, or notice of award, the grants officer may, in addition to imposing any of the special conditions outlined in § 34.4, take one or more of the following actions, as appropriate in the circumstances:

(1) Temporarily withhold cash payments pending correction of the deficiency by the recipient or more severe enforcement action by the grants officer and DoD Component.

(2) Disallow (that is, deny both use of funds and any applicable matching credit for) all or part of the cost of the activity or action not in compliance.

(3) Wholly or partly suspend or terminate the current award. In the case of termination, the recipient will be reimbursed for allowable costs incurred prior to termination, with the possible exception of those for activities and actions described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(4) Withhold further awards for the project or program.

(5) Take other remedies that may be legally available.

(b) Hearings and appeals. In taking an enforcement action, the grants officer and DoD Component shall provide the recipient an opportunity for hearing, appeal, or other administrative proceeding to which the recipient is entitled under any statute or regulation applicable to the action involved (see § 34.53 and 32 CFR 22.815).

(c) Effects of suspension and termination. Costs of a recipient resulting from obligations incurred by the recipient during a suspension or after termination of an award are not allowable unless the grants officer expressly authorizes them in the notice of suspension or termination or subsequently. Other recipient costs during suspension or after termination which are necessary and not reasonably avoidable are allowable if the costs:

(1) Result from obligations which were properly incurred by the recipient before the effective date of suspension or termination, are not in anticipation of it, and in the case of a termination, are noncancellable; and

(2) Would be allowable if the award were not suspended or expired normally at the end of the funding period in which the termination takes effect.

(d) Relationship to debarment and suspension. The enforcement remedies identified in this section, including suspension and termination, do not preclude a recipient from being subject to debarment and suspension under 2 CFR part 1125.

Recipients have the right to appeal certain decisions by grants officers. In resolving such issues, DoD policy is to use Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques, to the maximum practicable extent. See 32 CFR 22.815 for standards for DoD Components' dispute resolution and formal, administrative appeal procedures.