§ 22.325 Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority institutions (MIs).

Increasing the ability of HBCUs and MIS to participate in federally funded, university programs is an objective of Executive Order 12876 (3 CFR, 1993 Comp., p. 671) and 10 U.S.C. 2323. Grants officers shall include appropriate provisions in Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) or other announcements for programs in which awards to institutions of higher education are anticipated, in order to promote participation of HBCUS and MIS in such programs. Also, whenever practicable, grants officers shall reserve appropriate programmatic areas for exclusive competition among HBCUS and MIs when preparing announcements for such programs.

Subpart D-Recipient Qualification Matters-General Policies and Procedures

§ 22.400 Purpose.

The purpose of this subpart is to specify policies and procedures for grants officers' determination of recipient qualifications prior to award.

§ 22.405 Policy.

(a) General. Grants officers normally shall award grants or cooperative agreements only to qualified recipients that meet the standards in § 22.415. This practice conforms with the Governmentwide policy, stated at 32 CFR 25.115(a), to do business only with responsible persons.

(b) Exception. In exceptional circumstances, grants officers may make awards to recipients that do not fully meet the standards in §22.415 and include special award conditions that are appropriate to the particular situation, in accordance with 32 CFR 32.14, 33.12, or 34.4.

§ 22.410 Grants officers' responsibilities.

The grants officer is responsible for determining a recipient's qualification prior to award. The grants officer's signature on the award document shall signify his or her determination that either:

(a) The potential recipient meets the standards in §22.415 and is qualified to receive the grant or cooperative agreement; or

(b) An award is justified to a recipient that does not fully meet the standards, pursuant to §22.405(b). In such cases, grants officers shall document in the award file the rationale for making an award to a recipient that does not fully meet the standards.

§ 22.415 Standards.

To be qualified, a potential recipient must:

(a) Have the management capability and adequate financial and technical resources, given those that would be made available through the grant or cooperative agreement, to execute the program of activities envisioned under the grant or cooperative agreement.

(b) Have a satisfactory record of executing such programs or activities (if a prior recipient of an award).

(c) Have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics.

(d) Be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive a grant or cooperative agreement under applicable laws and regulations (see § 22.420(c)).

§ 22.420 Pre-award procedures.

(a) The appropriate method to be used and amount of effort to be expended in deciding the qualification of a potential recipient will vary. In deciding on the method and level of effort, the grants officer should consider factors such as:

(1) DoD's past experience with the recipient;

(2) Whether the recipient has previously received cost-type contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements from the Federal Government; and

(3) The amount of the prospective award and complexity of the project to be carried out under the award.

(b) There is no DoD-wide requirement to obtain a pre-award credit report, audit, or any other specific piece of information. On a case-by-case basis, the grants officer will decide whether there is a need to obtain any such information to assist in deciding whether the recipient meets the standards in §22.415 (a), (b), and (c).

(1) Should the grants officer in a particular case decide that a pre-award credit report, audit, or survey is needed, he or she should consult first with the appropriate grants administration office (identified in § 22.710), and decide whether pre-existing surveys or audits of the recipient, such as those of the recipient's internal control systems under OMB Circular A-1332 will satisfy the need (see § 22.715(a)(1)).

(2) If, after consulting with the grants administration office, the grants officer decides to obtain a credit report, audit, or other information, and the report or other information discloses that a potential recipient is delinquent on a debt to an agency of the United States Government, then:

(i) The grants officer shall take such information into account when determining whether the potential recipient is qualified with respect to the grant or cooperative agreement; and

(ii) If the grants officer decides to make the award to the recipient, unless there are compelling reasons to do otherwise, the grants officer shall delay the award of the grant or cooperative agreement until payment is made or satisfactory arrangements are made to repay the debt.

(c) In deciding whether a recipient is otherwise qualified and eligible in accordance with the standard in

§ 22.415(d), the grants officer shall ensure that the potential recipient:

(1) Is not identified on the Governmentwide "List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs" as being debarred, suspended, or otherwise ineligible to receive the award. The grants officer shall check the list of such parties for:

(i) Potential recipients of prime awards, as described at 32 CFR 25.505(d);

(ii) A recipient's principals (e.g., officers, directors, or other key employees, as defined at 32 CFR 25.105); and

(iii) Potential recipients of subawards, where DoD Component approval of such principals or lower-tier

2 Contact the Office of Management and Budget, EOP Publications, 725 17th St. NW, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.

recipients is required under the terms of the award (see 32 CFR 25.505(e)).

(2) Has provided all certifications and assurances required by Federal statute, Executive order, or codified regulation, unless they are to be addressed in award terms and conditions at the time of award (see § 22.510).

(3) Meets any eligibility criteria that may be specified in the statute authorizing the specific program under which the award is being made (see § 22.210(a)(2)).

(d) Grants officers shall obtain each recipient's Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN, which may be the Social Security Number for an individual and Employer Identification Number for a business or non-profit entity) and notify the recipient that the TIN is being obtained for purposes of collecting and reporting on any delinquent amounts that may arise out of the recipient's relationship with the Government. Obtaining the TIN and so notifying the recipient is a statutory requirement of 31 U.S.C. 7701, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (section 31001(i)(1), Pub. L. 104–134).

Subpart E-National Policy Matters

§ 22.505 Purpose.

The purpose of this subpart is to supplement other regulations that implement national policy requirements, to the extent that it is necessary to provide additional guidance to DoD grants officers. The other regulations that implement national policy requirements include:

(a) The other parts of the DoDGARS (32 CFR parts 32, 33, and 34) that implement the Governmentwide guidance in OMB Circulars A-1023 and A-1104 on administrative requirements for grants and cooperative agreements. Those parts address some national policy matters that appear in the OMB Circulars.

(b) DoD regulations other than the DODGARS.

(c) Other Federal agencies' regulations.

3 See footnote 2 to § 22.420(b)(1). 4 See footnote 2 to § 22.420(b)(1).

(a) Certifications (1) Policy. Certifications of compliance with national policy requirements are to be obtained from recipients only for those national policies where a statute, Executive order, or codified regulation specifically states that a certification is required. Other national policy requirements may be addressed by obtaining representations or assurances (see paragraph (b) of this section). Grants officers should utilize methods for obtaining certifications, in accordance with Executive Order 12866 (3 CFR, 1993 Comp., p. 638), that minimize administration and paperwork.

(2) Procedures. (i) When necessary, grants officers may obtain individual, written certifications.

(ii) Whenever possible, and to the extent consistent with statute and codified regulation, grants officers should identify the certifications that are required for the particular type of recipient and program, and consolidate them into a single certification provision that cites them by reference.

some

(A) Appendix A to this part lists the common certifications and cites their applicability. Because certifications (e.g., the certification on lobbying in Appendix A to this part) are required by law to be submitted at the time of proposal, rather than at the time of award, Appendix A to this part includes language that may be used for incorporating common certifications by reference into a proposal.

(B) If a grants officer elects to have proposers incorporate certifications by reference into their proposals, he or she must do so in one of the two following ways. When required by statute or codified regulation, the solicitation must include the full text of the certifications that proposers are to provide by reference. In other cases, the grants officer may include language in the solicitation that informs the proposers where the full text may be found (e.g., in documents or computer network sites that are readily available to the public) and offers to provide it to proposers upon request.

(C) Grants officers may incorporate certifications by reference in award documents when doing so is consistent

with statute and codified regulation. Note that a statute requires submission of the lobbying certification in Appendix A to this part at the time of proposal, and that 32 CFR 25.510(a) requires submission of certifications regarding debarment and suspension at the time of proposal. The provision that a grants officer would use to incorporate certifications in award documents, when consistent with statute and codified regulation, would be similar to the provision in Appendix A to this part, except that it would be modified to state that the recipient is providing the required certifications by signing the award document or by accepting funds under the award.

(b) Representations and assurances. Many national policies, either in statute or in regulation, require recipients of grants and cooperative agreements to make representations or provide assurances (rather than certifications) that they are in compliance with the policies. As discussed in § 22.610(b), Appendix B to this part suggests award terms and conditions that may be used to address several of the more commonly applicable national policy requirements. These terms and conditions may be used to obtain required assurances and representations, if the grants officer wishes to do so at the time of award, rather than through the use of the standard application form (SF-4245) or other means at the time of proposal.

$22.515 Provisions of annual appropriations acts.

An annual appropriations act can include general provisions stating national policy requirements that apply to the use of funds (e.g., obligation

5 For copies of Standard Forms listed in this part, contact regional grants administration offices of the Office of Naval Research. Addresses for the offices are listed in the "DoD Directory of Contract Administration Services Components," DLAH 4105.4, which can be obtained either from: Defense Logistics Agency, Publications Distribution Division (DASC-WDM), 8725 John J. Kingman Rd., Suite 0119, Fort Belvoir, VA 220606220; or from the Defense Contract Management Command home page at http:// www.dcmc.dcrb.dla.mil.”

through a grant or cooperative agreement) appropriated by the act. Because these requirements are of limited duration (the period during which a given year's appropriations are available for obligation), and because they can vary from year to year and from one agency's appropriations act to another agency's, the grants officer must know the agency(ies) and fiscal year(s) of the appropriations being obligated by a given grant or cooperative agreement, and may need to consult legal counsel if he or she does not know the requirements applicable to those appropriations.

§ 22.520 Military recruiting on campus.

(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to implement section 558 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Pub. L. 103–337), as it specifically affects grants and cooperative agreements (note that section 558 appears as a note to 10 U.S.C. 503). This section thereby supplements DoD's primary implementation of section 558, in 32 CFR part 216, "Military Recruiting and Reserve Officer Training Corps Program Access to Institutions of Higher Education.”

(b) Definitions specific to this section. In this section:

(1) Directory information has the following meaning, given in section 558(c) of Pub. L. 103-337. It means, with respect to a student, the student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, level of education, degrees received, and the most recent previous educational institution enrolled in by the student.

(2) Institution of higher education has a different meaning in this section than it does in the rest of this part. The meaning of the term in other sections of this part is given at §22.105. In this section, "institution of higher education" (IHE) has the following meaning, given at 32 CFR 216.3. The term means a domestic college, university, or subelement thereof providing postsecondary school courses of study, including foreign campuses of such domestic institutions. The term includes junior colleges, community colleges, and institutions providing courses leading to undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. The term does not

include entities that operate exclusively outside the United States, its territories, and possessions. A subelement of an IHE is a discrete (although not necessarily autonomous) organizational entity that may establish policy or practices affecting military recruiting and related actions (e.g., an undergraduate school, law school, medical school, or other graduate school).

(c) Statutory requirement. No funds available to the Department of Defense may be provided by grant to any institution of higher education that either has a policy of denying or that effectively prevents the Secretary of Defense from obtaining, for military recruiting purposes, entry to campuses or access to students on campuses or access to directory information pertaining to students.

(d) Policy.—(1) Applicability to subordinate elements of institutions of higher education. 32 CFR part 216, DoD's primary implementation of section 558, establishes procedures by which the Department of Defense identifies institutions of higher education that have a policy or practice described in paragraph (c) of this section. In cases where those procedures lead to a determination that specific subordinate elements of an institution of higher education have such a policy or practice, rather than the institution as a whole, 32 CFR part 216 provides that the prohibition on use of DoD funds applies only to those subordinate elements.

(2) Applicability to cooperative agreements. As a matter of DoD policy, the restrictions of section 558, as implemented by 32 CFR part 216, apply to cooperative agreements, as well as

grants.

(3) Deviations. Grants officers may not deviate from any provision of this section without obtaining the prior approval of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering. Requests for deviations shall be submitted, through appropriate channels, to: Director for Research, ODDR&E(R), 3080 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301–3080.

(e) Grants officers' responsibilities. A grants officer shall:

(1) Not award any grant or cooperative agreement to an institution of higher education that has been identified pursuant to the procedures of 32

CFR part 216. Such institutions are identified on the Governmentwide "List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs," as being ineligible to receive awards of DoD funds (note that 32 CFR 25.505(d) requires the grants officer to check the list prior to determining that a recipient is qualified to receive an award).

(2) [Reserved].

(3) Not consent to any subaward of DoD funds to such an organization, under a grant or cooperative agreement to any recipient, if such subaward requires the grants officer's consent.

(4) Include the clause in paragraph (f) of this section in each grant or cooperative agreement with an institution of higher education. Note that this requirement does not flow down (i.e., recipients are not required to include the clause in subawards).

(5) If an institution of higher education refuses to accept the clause in paragraph (f) of this section:

(i) Determine that the institution is not qualified with respect to the award. The grants officer may award to an alternative recipient.

(ii) Transmit the name of the institution, through appropriate channels, to the Director for Accession Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy, OASD(FMP), 4000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-4000. This will allow OASD(FMP) to decide whether to initiate an evaluation of the institution under 32 CFR part 216, to determine whether it is an institution that has a policy or practice described in paragraph (c) of this section.

(f) Clause for award documents. The following clause is to be included in grants and cooperative agreements with institutions of higher education: "As a condition for receipt of funds available to the Department of Defense (DoD) under this award, the recipient agrees that it is not an institution of higher education (as defined in 32 CFR part 216) that has a policy of denying, and that it is not an institution of higher education that effectively prevents, the Secretary of Defense from obtaining for military recruiting purposes: (A) Entry to campuses or access to students on campuses; or (B) access to directory information pertaining to students. If the recipient is deter

mined, using the procedures in 32 CFR part 216, to be such an institution of higher education during the period of performance of this agreement, and therefore to be in breach of this clause, the Government will cease all payments of DoD funds under this agreement and all other DoD grants and cooperative agreements to the recipient, and it may suspend or terminate such grants and agreements unilaterally for material failure to comply with the terms and conditions of award."

§ 22.525 Paperwork Reduction Act.

Grants officers shall include appropriate award terms or conditions, if a recipient's activities under an award will be subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3500, et seq.):

(a) Generally, the Act only applies to Federal agencies-it requires agencies to obtain clearance from the Office of Management and Budget before collecting information using forms, schedules, questionnaires, or other methods calling either for answers to:

(1) Identical questions from ten or more persons other than agencies, instrumentalities, or employees of the United States.

(2) Questions from agencies, instrumentalities, or of employees the United States which are to be used for statistical compilations of general public interest.

(b) The Act applies to similar collections of information by recipients of grants or cooperative agreements only when:

(1) A recipient collects information at the specific request of the awarding Federal agency; or

(2) The terms and conditions of the award require specific approval by the agency of the information collection or the collection procedures.

§ 22.530 Metric system of measurement.

(a) Statutory requirement. The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 205) and implemented by Executive Order 12770 (3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 343), states that:

(1) The metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce.