14 C.F.R. § 1260.11 Evaluation and selection.
Title 14 - Aeronautics and Space
(a) Technical evaluation of proposals will be conducted by the cognizant NASA technical office and may be based on peer reviews. (b) Under NRA's, AO's, other BAA's, and CAN's, the selecting official will furnish documentation requested by the grant officer, (including a copy of the NRA, selection statement, and peer review evaluation if requested), to confirm that the award is being made as a result of a selection under a NRA, AO, other BAA, or CAN. The technical office will forward to the grant office a completed award package, including a funded procurement request, technical evaluation of the proposed budget, and other support documentation, and any data deliverables that may be required when potentially hazardous operations, such as those related to flight and/or mission critical ground systems have been proposed (e.g. Payload Safety Data Review Package) at least 29 days prior to the requested award date, or before the expiration of the funded period in the case of the renewal of an existing effort. (c) If a proposal is not selected, the proposer will be notified by the selecting official in accordance with the procedures set forth in the NRA, AO, CAN, or BAA. (d) For unsolicited proposals, see §1260.17. (e) For awards made non-competitively, written justifications for equipment or travel will be submitted by the technical office for grant officer approval when more than half of the proposed budget is for equipment or travel and associated indirect cost. The justification shall describe the extent to which the equipment or travel is necessary. The grant officer's signature on the award will indicate approval of the justification. (f) The evaluation of the proposal budget will conform to the following procedure: (1) The technical officer will review the proposer's estimated cost for conformance to program requirements and fund availability. The results of this review shall be recorded in Column B of the proposed Budget Summary Form (Exhibit A to subpart A of this part 1260, available at the address given in Exhibit A). New budgets are not required when the program office recommended funding is within twenty percent (20 percent) of the proposed amount, provided that, if requested by the proposer, a revised scope of work based on the recommended funding is submitted by the proposer for acceptance by the technical officer. However, when funding decreases in equipment and/or subcontracts are involved, the cognizant program office is required to identify the cost element(s) affected by the change in funding level. (2) The grant officer will review the budget, and any changes made by the technical officer, to identify any item which may be unallowable under the cost principles, or which appears unreasonable or unnecessary. The grant officer will complete Column C of the Budget Summary after discussing significant changes with the recipient and/or technical office. Requests for details from the recipient should be limited. (3) The grant officer will address requests for direct charge of equipment in the negotiation summary, and state whether the purchase is approved as a direct cost. (g) 42 U.S.C. 2459d prohibits NASA from funding any grant for longer than one year if the effect is to provide a guaranteed customer base for new commercial space hardware or services. The only exception would be if an Appropriations Act specifies the new commercial space hardware or services to be used. (h) NASA reserves the right to either fully fund or incrementally fund grants based on fiscal law and program considerations. Incremental funding of grants and cooperative agreements shall conform to the following procedure: (1) When the period of performance for a grant crosses Government Fiscal Years, the grant will usually be incrementally funded, using appropriations from different Government Fiscal Years. In other circumstances, incremental funding may be appropriate. The special condition at §1260.53, Incremental Funding, will be included in any grant that is incrementally funded. The grant officer will determine the number of incremental funding actions that will be allowed. (2) Specific limitations on incremental funding are as follows: (i) Grants that are funded using appropriations from different Government Fiscal Years should provide funding from the prior fiscal year that carries at least one month into the subsequent fiscal year in order to facilitate transition of the grant to the subsequent fiscal year's funding cycle. (ii) Only those grants whose anticipated funding exceeds $100,000 of appropriations from a single Government Fiscal Year may be incrementally funded within that fiscal year's appropriations. (iii) Incremental funding actions to obligate or deobligate funds shall not total less than $25,000 unless the action is necessary to comply with the requirement to use appropriations from different Government Fiscal Years, to fully fund a grant, to close out a grant, or to make a corrective accounting adjustment. (3) On an exception basis, and with the concurrence of the installation Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Deputy CFO for Resources, the procurement officer may waive the restrictions set forth in paragraphs (h)(2)(i) through (h)(2)(iii) of this section for individual funding actions on individual grants. The procurement officer shall maintain a record of all such approvals during the fiscal year. (4) The restrictions set forth in paragraphs (h)(2)(i) through (h)(2)(iii) of this section are not applicable during the period of a continuing resolution. During such a period, NASA will nonetheless endeavor to fund individual grants using reasonably sized increments. (i) Proposals for efforts that involve printing, binding, and duplicating in excess of 25,000 pages are subject to the Government Printing and Binding Regulations, No. 26, February 1990, S. Pub. 101–9, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, published by the Congressional Joint Committee on Printing. The technical office will refer such proposals to the Installation Central Printing Management Officer (ICPMO). The grant officer will be advised in writing of the results of the ICPMO review. (j) The provision at §1260.30, Rights in Data, is to be inserted as a standard provision into grants and cooperative agreements that don't require cost sharing. Additional language is required for cost sharing and/or matching efforts, and in cooperative agreements, as set forth in the provision. (k) By acceptance of a grant (containing the provision at §1260.34) the recipient agrees that it is in compliance with the Clean Air and Federal Water Pollution Control Acts. The Administrator may approve exemptions from this prohibition under certain circumstances under Executive Order 11738. Requests for exemptions or renewals thereof shall be made to the Office of Procurement, NASA Headquarters, Program Operations Division (Code HS), Washington, DC 20546. (l) Requests for acquisition of property may be made by a recipient either as part of the original budget proposal or subsequent to award. Comprehensive guidance on evaluating requests for acquisition of property, vesting of title, and administration issues, is set forth at §1260.74. [65 FR 62900, Oct. 19, 2000, as amended at 66 FR 54121, Oct. 26, 2001; 67 FR 30544, May 7, 2002; 68 FR 28709, May 27, 2003; 68 FR 35290, June 13, 2003]
Title 14: Aeronautics and Space
PART 1260—GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS
Subpart A—General
Pre-Award Requirements
§ 1260.11 Evaluation and selection.
