As used in this part and in section 224 of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) Director means the Director of ACTION.

(b) Locally Generated Contributions means all contributions generated by the grantee in support of the grant, including non-ACTION Federal, State, local government and privately raised contributions.

(c) Amount Required by the Director means the proportion of the non-Federal contribution (including in-kind contributions) for a grant or contract made under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended, required by the Director in order to receive ACTION funds. This proportion is generally 10% for the Foster Grandparent Program/Senior Companion Program (FGP/SCP) and generally 10%, 20% and 30% for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in the first, second, and subsequent years respectively. The “amount required by the Director” is also called the “local match.”

(d) In Excess of the Amount Required by the Director means of the total locally generated contributions, the amount over and above the percentage match (generally 10% for FGP/SCP and 10%, 20% and 30% for RSVP in the first, second, and subsequent years respectively) required by the Director of ACTION to be raised from non-ACTION sources to support the grant.

(e) Inconsistent with the Provisions of This Act means expenditures not in support of ACTION programs, as defined by the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended. For example:

(1) Inconsistency with the age threshold for volunteers for all Older American Volunteer Programs (OAVP);

(2) Inconsistency with the low income test for the FGP and SCP programs;

(3) Variations from the approved stipend levels for the FGP and SCP programs;

(4) Inconsistency with the prohibition against political activity under all the OAVP programs; and/or

(5) Unreasonable cost for a low-cost volunteer program.

ACTION's implementation of section 224 of the DVSA is based on fundamental principles regarding the Congressional intent of the Section as well as the Executive Branch's policy on Federal financial assistance to grantees. These principles include:

(a) That ACTION may not restrict grantees' use of excess contributions as long as those expenditures are “not inconsistent” with the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended;

(b) That grantees are to fully account for and document expenditures of non-Federal contributions, regardless of whether they are used to meet ACTION's local match requirement or are in excess of the requirement; and

(a) Expenditures of locally generated non-Federal contributions required by the Director as matching funds must meet the requirements specified in ACTION's Grant Management and Program Operations Handbook, ACTION Order 2650.2, as amended, and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended. Copies of ACTION's Grants Management and Program Operations Handbook, ACTION Order 2650.2, as amended, are available at ACTION, 1100 Vermont Avenue, NW., Room 9200, Washington, DC 20525.

(b) All expenditures by the grantee of Federal and non-Federal funds (including expenditures from excess locally generated contributions) in support of the grant are subject to ACTION authorized audits.

(c) ACTION will not restrict the manner in which locally generated contributions in excess of the required match are expended if these expenditures are not inconsistent with the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended.