Formula Grant News Updates

July 31, 2008

The FY 2008 tribal college endowment interest formula grant authorization letter is available.

July 8, 2008

The agenda and presentations for the July 11 formula grants-related teleconference are available below.

• Agenda
• Presentation

June 25, 2008

June 18, 2008

The agenda and presentations for the June 18 formula grants-related teleconference are available below.

• Agenda
• Presentation

• Electronic Submission Presentation

June 13, 2008

The packages for the Formula Grants Opportunities listed below were posted on Grants.gov Thursday, June 12.

• FY 2008 Animal Health Research and Disease Program Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 Hatch Act Formula Grant Opportunity - Regular
• FY 2008 Hatch Act Formula Grant Opportunity - Multistate

June 9, 2008

The nationwide, formula grants-related teleconference scheduled for June 11, has been cancelled. The next teleconference is scheduled for June 18. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

June 5, 2008

CSREES held its fifth nationwide formula grants teleconference on June 4, 2008. The agenda and presentations are available on the Formula Grants Teleconferences page.

May 29, 2008

CSREES held its fourth nationwide formula grants teleconference on May 28, 2008. The agenda and presentations are available on the Formula Grants Teleconferences page.

May 21, 2008

The nationwide, formula grants-related teleconference scheduled for May 21, has been cancelled. The next teleconference is scheduled for May 28. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

May 5, 2008
The packages for the Formula Grants Opportunities listed below were posted Friday, May 2. Use the Formula Grant Opportunity FY08 link under the Smith-Lever Act section on the Formula Grants Web site to access the packages.

• FY 2008 Smith-Lever Act Sections 3(b) and 3(c) Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 Smith-Lever Act Special Needs Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 District of Columbia Public Postsecondary Education Reorganization Act Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 Cotton Pest Management Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 Integrated Pest Management Formula Grant Opportunity

April 24, 2008

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will post the following on Wednesday, April 30, 2008.

• FY 2008 Smith-Lever Act Sections 3(b) and 3(c) Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 Smith-Lever Act Special Needs Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 District of Columbia Public Postsecondary Education Reorganization Act Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 Cotton Pest Management Formula Grant Opportunity
• FY 2008 Integrated Pest Management Formula Grant Opportunity

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

April 23, 2008

The Formula Grants Opportunity package for the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program was posted Wednesday, April 23. Use the Formula Grant Opportunity FY08 link under the McIntire-Stennis section on the Formula Grants Web site to access the package.

April 23, 2008

The Formula Grants Opportunity package for the Renewable Resources Extension Act was posted Wednesday, April 23. Use the Formula Grant Opportunity FY08 link under the Renewable Resources Extension Act section on the Formula Grants Web site to access the package.

April 17, 2008

Due to unforeseen delays, we will post the FY 2008 Renewable Resources Extension Act Formula Grant Opportunity and the FY 2008 McIntire-Stennis Formula Grant Opportunity on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

April 14, 2008

The Formula Grants Opportunity packages for both the 1890s Extension (Section 1444) and 1890s Research (Evans-Allen) were posted Monday, April 14. Use the Formula Grant links on the Formula Grants Web site to access the packages.

April 10, 2008

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be posting the Formula Grants Opportunity packages for both the 1890s Extension (Section 1444) and 1890s Research (Evans-Allen) grants on Monday, April 14. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

April 9, 2008

CSREES has updated its policy regarding administration of its formula grants.  The policy documents appear below.  

• Policy Update Memo (long)
• Policy Update Memo Attachment A
• Policy Update Memo Attachment B
• Policy Update Memo (short)

The first memo contains a detailed description of the policy change and its impact on the agency's administration of its formula grants.  The memo includes two attachments. Attachment A details the forms which will be required with the FY 2008 and FY 2009 SF-424 packages your institution will submit through Grants.gov.  Attachment B lists our anticipated release dates for Formula Grant Opportunity announcements, planned nationwide teleconference dates, and the due dates for the various SF-424M packages. 

The second memo is a shorter version of the more detailed memo, and is intended as a summary of that memo.  Please share each memo as widely as you deem necessary. We will transmit the FY 2008 allocation letters for most of the formula grant programs shortly. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during this transition period.

April 9, 2008

The nationwide, formula grants-related teleconference, scheduled for April 9, was postponed. When the event is rescheduled, constituents will be notified.

March 25, 2008

Update on formula grants-related teleconference, allocation letters, and announcements

CSREES is postponing the nationwide, formula grants-related teleconference scheduled for March 26. 

Formula allocation letters will be issued over the next two weeks. Once published, they will be transmitted both by e-mail and in the Formula Distribution section of each grant’s homepage.

The agency is also postponing the release of the Formula Grant Opportunity announcements.  Further information will be forthcoming. 

CSREES apologizes for any inconvenience caused by these developments.

March 20, 2008

Publication of Formula Grant Opportunities has been delayed; however, formula allocation letters will be forthcoming in the next two weeks.

October 26, 2007

Formula Funds News Update: 2008-06
CSRS and FERS Allotments  

Since final certifications of offset are not due until October 31, 2007, these allotments will not be released until the week of November 5, 2007. If your institution requires the funds to be released prior to November 5, 2007, please contact Arnita cross at across@csrees.usda.gov or at (202) 401-8982.

Formula Funds News Update: 2008-05
Processing SF-269s for Formula Grants  

Should we not have a record that your institution has filed a required SF-269, Financial Status Report, for a particular grant and year, we may hold your institution's funds until the form is received and accepted. In these cases, we will request that the form be sent directly to the Oversight Section instead of the Funds Management Section. Please bear in mind that we will not release funds until the SF-269 is received and accepted (that is, properly and accurately completed and submitted). These forms may be mailed, e-mailed in PDF format or faxed to Joseph Perez at (202) 401-7752.

Formula Funds News Update: 2008-04
McIntire Stennis FY 2007 Certification of Offset –Final Reallotment forms are due October, 31, 2007.

CSREES performed a reallotment of funds between grantees participating in the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Program in September, 2007 based upon final certifications of offset filed through September 25, 2007. The grant's authorizing legislation requires that entitlement to the reallotted funds be established by filing another final certification of offset. Therefore, grantees wishing to participate in the reallotment must file a supplemental final certification of offset by October 31, 2007. The FY 2007 Certification of Offset-Final Reallotment may be accessed at the McIntire-Stennis Research Reporting Forms webpage.

Formula Funds News Update: 2008-03
Hatch Regular, Hatch Multistate and McIntire Stennis FY 2008 Estimate Certification of Offset forms  

The FY 2007 Hatch Regular, Hatch Multistate and McIntire-Stennis allotments were significantly higher than those for FY 2006. Though we do not know exactly how much the FY 2008 allotments will be, we believe that FY 2008 funding for these grants will return to FY 2006 levels. Therefore, institutions which have already submitted their FY 2008 estimated certifications of offset using the FY 2007 indicated offset amounts do not need to resubmit the forms. The institutions which have not yet submitted their FY 2008 Estimate Certification of Offset forms may base their FY 2008 estimated offset amounts on the offset amounts indicated in the FY 2006 authorization letters for these three grants.

Formula Funds News Update: 2008-02
Revised and Final Renewable Resources Extension Act (RREA) Funds Allotment for FY 2007.

CSREES reprogrammed funds from grantees receiving the Renewable Resources Extension Act (RREA) formula grant to the National Focus Funds grant in September, 2007 based upon plans of work filed through September 24, 2007.

Formula Funds News Update: 2008-01
All of the FY 2007 Formula Grant Authorization 1088s and letters have been posted the CSREES web site.

To access these letters and schedules, please visit the Business With CSREES/Formula Funds page and click on the grant(s) for which you need information. The page provides information on the authorizing legislation; regulations, guidelines, and policies; general reporting requirements; CSREES contacts; and training opportunities, as well as the CSREES-1088s and authorization letters.

Please note that “formula Funds Bulletins” has been renamed “Formula Funds News Updates.”

January 18, 2007 (Revised)

Submission Deadline for FY07 McIntire-Stennis Applications Deadline is Extended to February 28, 2007

Formula funds News Update: 2007-01
McIntire-Stennis Goes Electronic

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) continues to fully support the intent of the President's Management Agenda initiative on Expanded E-Government and P.L. 106-107 by piloting its first formula program through Grants.gov. Applicants to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 McIntire-Stennis Program will be asked to submit the administrative portions of their application through Grants.gov. The submission guidelines and components within a Mandatory SF-424 package will be provided under the “Apply for Grants” section. CSREES also will post information related to this program and process on the McIntire-Stennis Formula Fund portion of its Web site. No changes will be made to the Current Research Information System reporting for FY 2007, the DHHS reporting (SF-272, Transactions Report due quarterly on the 15th of November, February, May, and August), or the CSREES financial reporting (SF-269, Financial Status Report, due December 31) for this program. This administrative change will have no effect on the allocation or distribution of McIntire-Stennis funds.

The Administrative Technical Representatives (ATRs) or their designees are encouraged to ensure their institutions are properly registered and positioned to submit electronically through Grants.gov. The registration process should be completed well in advance of submission due dates and involves three principle steps:

1) Registering your organization

a. Establishing a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number

b. Registering in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR)

2) Registering yourself as an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR)

3) Getting authorized as an AOR by your organization

Additional information and checklists can be found on Grants.gov to guide institutions through this registration process.

July 31, 2006

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-11
Revised Administrative Guidance on AREERA Targets

Since the Revised Administrative Guidance for Multistate Extension Activities and Integrated Research and Extension Activities has not yet been published, the existing established target percentages will apply to the FY 2007 requirements.

May 17, 2006

Formula Funds News Update: 2006-10
Change in Business Process for FY 2007 McIntire-Stennis funding

CSREES is gradually transitioning to using www.grants.gov for all of it’s formula grant awards. Prior to the start of each fiscal year, CSREES has required the submission of a Certification of Offset (Estimate) (except for the U.S. Territories), Certification Regarding Lobbying form, and Primary Contact Person form. Beginning in FY 2007, these forms will not be necessary for this program. Instead, CSREES will ask the recipients of McIntire-Stennis funding to complete an online application package at the www.grants.gov Web site. The package will include: SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance-Mandatory; SF-424, Supplemental form; SF-424, Senior/Key Person form. This package is not yet available for this grant on this Web site since we are still testing and working out details. However, your institution should be making plans on who or which office will be responsible for the submission of information on www.grants.gov for formula grants. In order to use this Web site, your organization must be registered and have a DUNS number. You may or may not wish to get a separate DUNS number for these transactions or for other reasons. In any case, please ensure that you decide in advance who will be responsible for this submission and how it will be handled at your institution. We will be sending you specific instructions in July 2006, for online form completion and submission.

This process will also eliminate the Certification of Offset (Final). Once the allocation amount is calculated for FY 2007 (after the President signs the Budget), and you are informed of the actual amount you are to match, we will request that you simply return to the www.grants.gov Web site and “update” your original application entry with the actual matching requirement you are able to match. The SF-269, Financial Status Report, should still be submitted via fax, regular mail, overnight mail, or e-mail, and the SF-272, Federal Transaction Report, should still be submitted online at the DHHS Web site.

Please note: This process will NOT affect your project submissions in the CRIS system. All forms previously submitted in the CRIS system will still be required. This process will remain unchanged for FY 2007, but we expect that at sometime in the distant future, all formula specific information will be entered at one location.

May 17, 2006

Formula Funds News Update: 2006-09
Certification Regarding Lobbying for 1890 Institutions Receiving Funding under the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, as amended, Section 3(d) (Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP))

Currently, the 1890 Land-grant Institutions (LGIs) submit a Certification Regarding Lobbying form for the extension formula funds received under Section 1444 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (NARETPA) for each fiscal year they receive an allocation. Beginning this fiscal year, the 1890 LGIs began receiving Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) funding authorized under Section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act. Since the funding authority for these funds differs from that of the Section 1444 funds, CSREES should have in its records a separate Certification Regarding Lobbying form for each fund type authorized under separate legislation. Therefore a Certification Regarding Lobbying form for EFNEP should be submitted for the current fiscal year by all 1890 LGI recipients. Please submit this form to CSREES before June 15, 2006, in order to ensure the prompt receipt of fourth quarter funding. You may access this form at the following link: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/business/reporting/efnep.html

March 27, 2006

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-08
Updated Formula Funds Reporting Pages and Third Quarter Funding

The numerous web pages for Formula Funds Reporting have been updated to include some revised reporting dates and also some revised forms, such as the Smith-Lever Budget and the EFNEP Budget. Please review the formula fund pages for which you may be responsible to ensure that you are current on information regarding reporting requirements. Reporting requirements are currently being reviewed by CSREES staff for the release of third quarter funding. http://www.csrees.usda.gov/business/reporting/form_report.html

The FY 2006 allocation amounts for the various Formula Funds are now posted on the web. Please go to the Formula Fund pages and select the fund type and “Formula Distribution” to view the allocations. http://www.csrees.usda.gov/business/awards/formula.html

January 31, 2006

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-07
Revised CSREES-REPT for FY 2005 AREERA Reporting

The revised CSREES-REPT, which can be accessed in fillable format on the Hatch Regular, Hatch Multistate, and Smith-Lever Reporting Web pages, should be used for AREERA reporting for FY 2005. As you may be aware, this report and brief summaries should accompany the Annual Report of Accomplishments and Results, which is due on April 1, 2006. Please see the “Instructions for Completion of the Revised CSREES-REPT” on one of the above-mentioned webpages from the Formula Funds Reporting Forms page, which can be accessed from the main menu at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/business/reporting/form_report.html.

January 24, 2006

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-06
Revised Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) Reporting Information

On January 11, 2006, Dr. Wells Willis, National Program Leader, for EFNEP emailed all EFNEP coordinators with guidelines to use in preparing the “Letter of Intent” for this program. As stated in her email, this letter is due to Dr. Willis no later than April 15, 2006. There is also a revised Budget form for the EFNEP program, which should be submitted to the Funds Management Section, as usual. Please see the Guidance for the Letter of Intent and the revised Budget form and worksheet on the EFNEP reporting page.

Additionally, as some of you may be aware, we are expecting a slight decrease in the FY 2006 EFNEP funding as previously reported to you, since there has been a recission of 1%. We expect to have the revised State allocations available by the end of February.

You will be notified at a later date of the due date for the Smith-Lever Budget.

December 27, 2005

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-05
Second Quarter Formula Fund Payments Released

We have released second quarter funding today for the following Formula Funds: Hatch Regular, Hatch Multi-state Research, McIntire-Stennis, Evans-Allen, Smith-Lever 3(b) & (c), and Section 1444 funds. The second quarter payments are based on the previous fiscal years funding levels. Though a budget has been signed by the President, we have not finalized the FY 2006 allocation amounts pending possible budget actions which may result from further Congressional discussions. The FY 2006 allocations will be released via email as soon as it is possible.

November 10, 2005

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-04
Formula Fund Payments Released

The current Continuing Resolution, which expires on November 18, 2005, authorizes funding for only a part of the first quarter payment. The first payment of first quarter formula funds has been released for the following research programs: Hatch Regular, Hatch Multi-state, Evans-Allen, McIntire-Stennis, and Animal Health and Disease. Extension program formula funds released are: Smith-Lever 3(b)&(c), Section 1444, and Civil Service Retirement System. This funding is available for immediate drawdown, and those institutions receiving deposits will receive the Distribution of Funding (authorization) letter within the next week. Additional funding will be released when legislatively authorized.

Please refer to the formula funds update Web site to watch for future bulletins on formula funds throughout the year.

Please use this Web site and click on programs in your Land-grant category (1862, 1862 territories, 1890, Tribal) to keep abreast of Due Dates and Reporting Requirements for formula programs.

November 1, 2005

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-03
CSREES-2008, Assurance Statement, for Extension Activities

The requirement for the CSREES-2008, Assurance Statement, for Extension Activities has been suspended until further notice.

October 20, 2005

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-02
First Quarter Funding

Since the FY 2006 Budget has not been finalized, President Bush signed a Continuing Resolution on September 30, 2005, which will continue Federal Government operations through November 18, 2005. This resolution specifies that activities should be continued at a rate consistent with the lower of: the FY 2005 appropriated amount; the FY 2006 amount provided by the House; or the FY 2006 amount provided by the Senate. If no funding is provided for an activity by both the House and Senate, that activity may not be continued. If funding is included in only one of the bills (i.e., either the House or Senate) the activity may be continued. An activity that is included in either or both of the FY 2006 bills that was not funded in FY 2005 can not be initiated.

We expect to release available formula funding to the 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions prior to October 31, 2005.

Calendar Change: Please disregard the previously posted October 31, 2005, Due Date for the Smith-Lever and the Section 1444 Budget. We will give you further notice on the appropriate Due Date. Thanks for your continued cooperation.

October 7, 2005

Formula Funds News Update : 2006-01
Revised Formula Funds Reporting Web Pages     

We have revised the Formula Funds Reporting Page to better assist you in keeping track of the forms and reports which are required by CSREES to receive your quarterly funding distributions.  We suggest that you bookmark the following web-link to access the table of contents listing of Formula Funds:   http://www.csrees.usda.gov/business/reporting/form_report.html .  The fund types on this page are grouped by recipient type (1862 Land-grant institutions, 1862 Land-grant institutions in the U.S. Territories, 1890 Land-grant institutions, and 1994 Tribal colleges).  Please refer to the individual formula pages for your recipient type periodically to look for changes in reporting dates or requirements.  You may also access this sight by following these steps:

• Go to www.csrees.usda.gov
• Move your cursor over the section in the blue horizontal bar which says “Business with CSREES”.  This will bring up a drop down panel.
• In the drop down panel, click “Planning and Reporting”
• Then select “Formula Fund Reporting”.
• This will display a table of contents listing for all Formula Fund Reporting. 
• Scroll down to your recipient type and select the formula fund you need forms or reporting information for under either “Research” or “Extension”.  Click on the desired formula fund. 
• You will then be directed to that Formula Fund's page where you may access the forms and reporting information.  Due Dates and Submission and Contact information are included for each form or report.
• Then click on the desired form or report.  You will then either be directed to a fillable form or to another website with instructions for completing the necessary online form or report.  (Please note that fillable forms for Funds Management Section (FMS) submission are not yet available in an “online” format.  The forms may be completed when they appear in Adobe Acrobat, but must be printed and signed for submission.  We would prefer if you could scan and submit these forms via email in .pdf format.  However, we will accept fax, regular or overnight mail.

If you question whether or not you must submit a Certification of Offset form for any particular formula type, simply refer to the “FY 2006 Estimate Worksheet” on that particular fund page.  If your institution is not included in the Estimate for that fund, a Certification of Offset is not required for that fund.  In the case of Animal Health and Disease Research, not being included in the Estimate, does not mean you will not receive these funds.  It only means that you do not have to submit a Certification of Offset form.  The matching requirement for this fund only applies to “States” receiving in excess of $100,000.  If there is more than one institution in the State receiving these funds, the matching requirement applies to both schools within that State.

New Requirement for Extension :  The CSREES-2008, Assurance Statement, is a requirement for extension formula funds.  This form is necessary in FY 2006 and all future years.  Submission of this form will offer CSREES assurance that the institution will provide humane treatment of animals, if ever used in extension activities during the fiscal year.  This form should be submitted by Extension Administrators/Directors receiving either Smith-Lever 3(b)&(c) or Section 1444 funding before October 31, 2006.

Our goal is to assist you in meeting the Formula Fund requirements, since failure to meet these requirements means that we “must” withhold your funding.   CSREES was audited by USDA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in 2004 regarding “improper payments” in prior years.  The report published in January 2005, addressed the issue of CSREES releasing funds in some cases when all requirements had not been met.  Currently, we are using a manual system, which accounts for error.  We have improved the manual system with a series of checklists and a new filing system to help reduce our margin of error.  We are moving toward an electronic tracking system in the future with automatic triggers to withhold funding and at some point, online submission of forms now manually prepared.  From time to time, you may receive an email from us regarding/requesting forms not received.  However, we are only able to notify institutions periodically, as time permits.

If you notice that a quarterly payment has not been received or that you can not access your funding, chances are you have either not met one of CSREES' requirements or have not submitted your SF-272, Federal Transactions Report, via the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Payment Management System.  Therefore, we suggest you check these Formula Fund Reporting Pages periodically as a reminder to yourselves to ensure that you are submitting documents on time.  (Perhaps, including this in your monthly task calendar would help serve as a reminder.)  

October 8, 2004

• Information regarding Hatch Multistate Research projects will be made available on November 15, 2004.

• First Quarter formula funds will be released as soon as the funding information is available from the Budget Office. Please understand that we will be thoroughly reviewing the appropriate requirements for each formula fund type. Funding for first quarter will be held if any of the following required documentation has not been received:

Hatch Regular, Hatch Multistate Research, Evans-Allen, Smith-Lever 3 (b) & (c), and Section 1444 funding:
An approved Plan of Work for FY 2003
An approved Plan of Work Update for FY 2005-2006
CSREES-REPT for FY 2003 and prior SF-269 for FY 2003 and prior
Estimated Certification of Offset for FY 2005

McIntire-Stennis, Animal Health:
Program of Research for FY 2005
Estimated Certification of Offset for FY 2005
SF-269 for FY 2003 and prior

Native American Endowment:
SF-269 for FY 2003

• Reminder:
SF-269s for FY 2004 for Evans-Allen are due December 1, 2004.
SF-269s for FY 2004 for Section 1444 are due December 31, 2004.
SF-269s for FY 2004 for Research formula funds for 1862 LGIs are due December 31, 2004.