(a) General. Within the limit of funds available for such purpose, the awarding official shall make awards for cooperative agreements to those applicants whose proposals are judged most meritorious in the announced program areas under the evaluation criteria and procedures set forth in this part. The date specified by the Assistant Administrator for Cooperative Services as the beginning of the project period shall be no later than September 30 of the Federal fiscal year in which the project is approved and funds are appropriated for such purpose, unless otherwise permitted by law. All funds awarded under this part shall be expended solely in accordance with the methods identified in approved application and budget, the regulations of this part, the terms and conditions of the award, the Grants and Agreements regulations of the Department of Agriculture as currently codified in 2 CFR parts 400, 415, 417, 418, and 421.

(b) Cooperative agreement award document and notice of award—(1) Cooperative agreement award document. The award document shall include at a minimum the following:

(i) Legal name and address of performing organization or institution to whom the Assistant Administrator for Cooperative Services has competitively awarded funds under the terms of this part;

(ii) Title of project;

(iii) Name(s) and address(es) of principal investigator(s) chosen to direct and control approved activities;

(iv) Identifying cooperative agreement number assigned by RDA or its successor agency;

(v) Project period, specifying the amount of time the Agency intends to support the project without requiring recompetition for funds;

(vi) Total amount of Agency financial assistance approved by the Assistant Administrator for Cooperative Services during the project period;

(vii) Legal authority(ies) under which the cooperative agreement is awarded;

(viii) Approved budget plan for categorizing allocable project funds to accomplish the stated purpose of the cooperative agreement award; and

(ix) Other information or provisions deemed necessary by RDA or its successor agency to carry out its agreement activities or to accomplish the purpose of a particular cooperative agreement.

(2) Notice of award. The notice of award of funds for the cooperative agreement will be in the form of a letter providing pertinent instructions or information to the cooperator.

(c) Types of cooperative agreement instruments. The types of cooperative agreements shall be as follows:

(1) New agreement. This is an agreement instrument by which RDA or its successor agency agrees to support a specified level of effort for a project not supported previously under this program. This type of agreement is approved on the basis of an RDA or its successor agency Staff evaluation review and recommendation.

(2) Renewal agreement. This is an agreement instrument by which RDA or its successor agency agrees to provide additional funding for a project beyond the period approved in an original or amended agreement, provided that the cumulative period does not exceed the statutory limitation. When a renewal application is submitted, it must include a summary of progress to date from the previous agreement period. A renewal agreement shall be based upon new application, de novo review and staff evaluation, new recommendation and approval, and a new award instrument.

(3) Supplemental agreement. This is an instrument by which RDA or its successor agency agrees to provide small amounts of additional funding under a new or renewal cooperative agreement as specified in paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section and may involve a short-term (usually one year or less) extension of the project period beyond that approved in an original or amended award, but in no case may the cumulative period for the project exceed the statutory limitation. A supplement is awarded only if required to assure adequate completion of the original scope of work and if there is sufficient justification to warrant such action. A request of this nature will not require additional review.

(d) Obligation of the Federal Government. The approval of any application or the award of any funds for a cooperative agreement shall not commit nor obligate the United States in any way to make any renewal, supplemental, continuation, or other award with respect to any approved application or portion of an approved application.

(e) Obligation of the cooperator. The cooperator shall be responsible for:

(1) Making a brief quarterly progress reports at the end of each December, March, June and September to the FSROC program staff for the duration of the research project;

(2) Presenting a final administrative report on the project at the end of the research project; and

(3) Preparing and publishing a report(s) of research findings for dissemination to interested producers, cooperatives, and agencies. Include recognition to financial and other assistance received from the FSROC program.