(a) General. (1) The purpose of the Community Development Technical Assistance Program is to increase the effectiveness with which States, units of general local government, and Indian tribes plan, develop, and administer assistance under title I and section 810 of the Act. Title I programs are the Entitlement Program (24 CFR part 570, subpart D); the section 108 Loan Guarantee Program (24 CFR part 570, subpart M); the Urban Development Action Grant Program (24 CFR part 570, subpart G); the HUD-administered Small Cities Program (24 CFR part 570, subpart F); the State-administered Program for Non-Entitlement Communities (24 CFR part 570, subpart I); the grants for Indian Tribes program (24 CFR part 571); and the Special Purpose Grants for Insular Areas, Community Development Work Study and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (24 CFR part 570, subpart E).

(2) Funding under this section is awarded for the provision of technical expertise in planning, managing or carrying out such programs including the activities being or to be assisted thereunder and other actions being or to be undertaken for the purpose of the program, such as increasing the effectiveness of public service and other activities in addressing identified needs, meeting applicable program requirements (e.g., citizen participation, nondiscrimination, 2 CFR part 200, increasing program management or capacity building skills, attracting business or industry to CDBG assisted economic development sites or projects, assisting eligible CDBG subrecipients such as neighborhood nonprofits or small cities in how to obtain CDBG funding from cities and States. The provision of technical expertise in other areas which may have some tangential benefit or effect on a program is insufficient to qualify for funding.

(3) Awards may be made pursuant to HUD solicitations for assistance applications or procurement contract proposals issued in the form of a publicly available document which invites the submission of applications or proposals within a prescribed period of time. HUD may also enter into agreements with other Federal agencies for awarding the technical assistance funds:

(i) Where the Secretary determines that such funding procedures will achieve a particular technical assistance objective more effectively and the criteria for making the awards will be consistent with this section, or

(ii) The transfer of funds to the other Federal agency for use under the terms of the agreement is specifically authorized by law. The Department will not accept or fund unsolicited proposals.

(b) Definitions. (1) Areawide planning organization (APO) means an organization authorized by law or local agreement to undertake planning and other activities for a metropolitan or non-metropolitan area.

(2) Technical assistance means the facilitating of skills and knowledge in planning, developing and administering activities under title I and section 810 of the Act in entities that may need but do not possess such skills and knowledge, and includes assessing programs and activities under title I.

(c) Eligible applicants. Eligible applicants for award of technical assistance funding are:

(1) States, units of general local government, APOs, and Indian Tribes; and

(2) Public and private non-profit or for-profit groups, including educational institutions, qualified to provide technical assistance to assist such governmental units to carry out the title I or Urban Homesteading programs. An applicant group must be designated as a technical assistance provider to a unit of government's title I program or Urban Homesteading program by the chief executive officer of each unit to be assisted, unless the assistance is limited to conferences/workshops attended by more than one unit of government.

(d) Eligible activities. Activities eligible for technical assistance funding include:

(1) The provision of technical or advisory services;

(2) The design and operation of training projects, such as workshops, seminars, or conferences;

(3) The development and distribution of technical materials and information; and

(4) Other methods of demonstrating and making available skills, information and knowledge to assist States, units of general local government, or Indian Tribes in planning, developing, administering or assessing assistance under title I and Urban Homesteading programs in which they are participating or seeking to participate.

(e) Ineligible activities. Activities for which costs are ineligible under this section include:

(1) In the case of technical assistance for States, the cost of carrying out the administration of the State CDBG program for non-entitlement communities;

(2) The cost of carrying out the activities authorized under the title I and Urban Homesteading programs, such as the provision of public services, construction, rehabilitation, planning and administration, for which the technical assistance is to be provided;

(3) The cost of acquiring or developing the specialized skills or knowledge to be provided by a group funded under this section;

(4) Research activities;

(5) The cost of identifying units of governments needing assistance (except that the cost of selecting recipients of technical assistance under the provisions of paragraph (k) is eligible); or

(6) Activities designed primarily to benefit HUD, or to assist HUD in carrying out the Department's responsibilities; such as research, policy analysis of proposed legislation, training or travel of HUD staff, or development and review of reports to the Congress.

(f) Criteria for competitive selection. In determining whether to fund competitive applications or proposals under this section, the Department will use the following criteria:

(1) For solicited assistance applications. The Department will use two types of criteria for reviewing and selecting competitive assistance applications solicited by HUD:

(i) Evaluation criteria: These criteria will be used to rank applications according to weights which may vary with each competition:

(A) Probable effectiveness of the application in meeting needs of localities and accomplishing project objectives;

(B) Soundness and cost-effectiveness of the proposed approach;

(C) Capacity of the applicant to carry out the proposed activities in a timely and effective fashion;

(D) The extent to which the results may be transferable or applicable to other title I or Urban Homesteading program participants.

(ii) Program policy criteria: These factors may be used by the selecting official to select a range of projects that would best serve program objectives for a particular competition:

(A) Geographic distribution;

(B) Diversity of types and sizes of applicant entities; and

(C) Diversity of methods, approaches, or kinds of projects.

(2) For competitive procurement contract bids/proposals. The Department's criteria for review and selection of solicited bids/proposals for procurement contracts will be described in its public announcement of the availability of an Invitation for Bids (IFB) or a Request for Proposals (RFP). The public notice, solicitation and award of procurement contracts, when used to acquire technical assistance, shall be procured in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR chapter 1) and the HUD Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR chapter 24).

(g) Submission procedures. Solicited assistance applications shall be submitted in accordance with the time and place and content requirements described in the Department's NOFA. Solicited bids/proposals for procurement contracts shall be submitted in accordance with the requirements in the IFB or RFP.

(h) Approval procedures—(1) Acceptance. HUD's acceptance of an application or proposal for review does not imply a commitment to provide funding.

(2) Notification. HUD will provide notification of whether a project will be funded or rejected.

(3) Form of award. (i) HUD will award technical assistance funds as a grant, cooperative agreement or procurement contract, consistent with this section, the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977, 31 U.S.C. 6301-6308,the,and.

(ii) When HUD's primary purpose is the transfer of technical assistance to assist the recipients in support of the title I or Section 810 programs, an assistance instrument (grant or cooperative agreement) will be used. A grant instrument will be used when substantial Federal involvement is not anticipated. A cooperative agreement will be used when substantial Federal involvement is anticipated. When a cooperative agreement is selected, the agreement will specify the nature of HUD's anticipated involvement in the project.

(iii) A contract will be used when HUD's primary purpose is to obtain a provider of technical assistance to act on the Department's behalf. In such cases the Department will define the specific tasks to be performed. However, nothing in this section shall preclude the Department from awarding a procurement contract in any other case when it is determined to be in the Department's best interests.

(4) Administration. Project administration will be governed by the terms of individual awards and relevant regulations. As a general rule, proposals will be funded to operate for one to two years, and periodic and final reports will be required.

(i) Environmental and intergovernmental review. The requirements for Environmental Reviews and Intergovernmental Reviews do not apply to technical assistance awards.

(j) Selection of recipients of technical assistance. Where under the terms of the funding award the recipient of the funding is to select the recipients of the technical assistance to be provided, the funding recipient shall publish, and publicly make available to potential technical assistance recipients, the availability of such assistance and the specific criteria to be used for the selection of the recipients to be assisted. Selected recipients must be entities participating or planning to participate in the title I or Urban Homesteading programs or activities for which the technical assistance is to be provided.