14 C.F.R. Subpart 1274.1—General
Title 14 - Aeronautics and Space
The following policy guidelines establish uniform requirements for NASA cooperative agreements awarded to commercial firms. (a) The business relationship between NASA and the recipient of a cooperative agreement differs from the relationship that exists between NASA and the recipient of a grant. Under the auspices of a grant, there is very little involvement and interaction between NASA and the grantee (other than a few administrative, funding, and reporting requirements, or in some cases matching of funds). Under a cooperative agreement, because of its substantial involvement, NASA assumes a higher degree of responsibility for the technical performance outcomes and associated financial costs of research activities. In some cooperative agreement projects, NASA may be required to indemnify the recipient (to the extent authorized by Congress). While the principal purpose of NASA's involvement and commitment of resources is to stimulate or support research activity, a major incentive for involvement by commercial firms (particularly where costs are shared) is the profit potential from marketable products expected to result from the cooperative agreement project. (b) Cooperative agreements (in areas or research relevant to NASA's mission) are ordinarily entered into with commercial firms to— (1) Support research and development; (2) Provide technology transfer from the Government to the recipient; or (3) Develop a capability among U.S. firms to potentially enhance U.S. competitiveness. (c) Projects that normally result in a cooperative agreement award to a commercial entity are projects that: (1) Are not intended for the direct benefit of NASA; (2) Are expected to benefit the general public; (3) Require substantial cost sharing; and (4) Have commercial applications and profit generating potential. (d) The principal purpose of cooperative agreements is to stimulate research to benefit the general public through the criteria stated in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section. Since all research activities must be within NASA's authorized expenditure of appropriations, there may be instances where NASA can derive incidental use or benefits while preserving the principal purpose of the cooperative agreement. However, a careful balance must be established and maintained in the cooperative agreement's technical and business objectives, so that the principal purpose of the project serves to benefit the general public (i.e., technology will transfer from the Government to the public and the commercial partner expects a marketable product to result). If a cooperative agreement is awarded when the proper award instrument should have been a contract (because the primary purpose of the award is for the direct benefit of NASA), the cooperative agreement award can be protested. Thus, before pursuing any incidental benefits that materialize under a cooperative agreement, NASA Centers should ensure that the advice of legal counsel is obtained. Administrator. The Administrator or Deputy Administrator of NASA. Agreement officer. A Government employee (usually a Contracting Officer or Grant Officer) who has been delegated the authority to negotiate, award, or administer the cooperative agreement. Most often Contracting Officers are delegated this authority for the more complex cooperative agreement projects. Assistant Administrator for Procurement. The head of the Office of Procurement, NASA Headquarters (Code H). Cash contributions. The cash invested in a given program or project by the Federal Government and/or recipient. The recipient's cash contributions may include money contributed by third parties. Closeout. The process by which NASA determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work of the award have been completed by the recipient and NASA. Commercial item. The definition in FAR 2.101 is applicable. Consortium. A consortium is a group of organizations that enter into an agreement to collaborate for the purposes of the cooperative agreement with NASA. The agreement to collaborate can take the form of a legal entity such as a partnership or joint venture but it is not necessary that such an entity be created. A consortium may be made up of firms that normally compete for commercial or Government business or may be made up of firms that perform complementary functions in a given industry. Cooperative agreement. As defined by 31 U.S.C. 6305, cooperative agreements are financial assistance instruments used to stimulate or support activities for authorized purposes and in which the Government participates substantially in the performance of the effort. This Part 1274 covers only cooperative agreements with commercial firms where resource sharing is involved. Cooperative agreements with other types of organizations are covered by 14 CFR Part 1260. Cooperative agreement notice (CAN). Publication on Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) or NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS) websites advertising the solicitation of competitive proposals for the award of a cooperative agreement. Cost sharing. Arrangement whereby the Government and the recipient share the funding requirements of a program or project at an agreed upon ratio or percentage (normally 50/50). Normally, the Government's payment of its share of the costs is contingent upon the accomplishment of tangible milestones (preferred method). Any payment arrangement that is based on a method other than the accomplishment of tangible milestones (e.g., a reimbursable arrangement where NASA pays a share of incurred costs, regardless of the accomplishment of tangible milestones) must be approved through the deviation process discussed in 1274.106. Date of completion. The date on which all work under an award is completed or the date on the award document, or any supplement or amendment thereto, on which NASA sponsorship ends. Days. Calendar days, unless otherwise indicated. General purpose equipment. Equipment which is usable for other than research, medical, scientific, or technical activities, whether or not special modifications are needed to make them suitable for a particular purpose. Examples of general purpose equipment include office equipment and furnishings, air conditioning equipment, reproduction and printing equipment, motor vehicles, and automatic data processing equipment. Government furnished equipment. Equipment in the possession of, or acquired directly by, the Government and subsequently delivered, or otherwise made available, to a recipient and equipment procured by the recipient with Government funds under a cooperative agreement. In most cases, Government furnished equipment will be counted as part of the Government's in-kind or non-cash contributions to the cooperative agreement for the purpose of determining the share ratio. Incremental funding. A method of funding a cooperative agreement where the funds initially allotted to the cooperative agreement are less than the award amount. Additional funding is added as described in §1274.918. Non-cash or in-kind contributions. May be in the form of personnel resources (where cost accounting methods allow accumulation of such costs), real property, equipment, supplies and other expendable property, and the value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the project or program. Costs incurred by NASA to provide the services of one of its support contractors to perform part of NASA's requirements under a cooperative agreement shall be included as part of NASA's cost share, and will be counted as an in-kind contribution to the cooperative agreement. Recipient. An organization receiving financial assistance under a cooperative agreement to carry out a project or program. A recipient may be an individual firm, including sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, or a consortium of business entities. Research misconduct is defined in 14 CFR 1275.101. NASA policies and procedures regarding Research misconduct are set out in 14 CFR part 1275, “Investigation of Research Misconduct.” Resource contributions. The total value of resources provided by either party to the cooperative agreement including both cash and non-cash contributions. Subcontracting dollar threshold. The dollar amount of the cooperative agreement subject to the small business subcontracting policies (includes small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, historically underutilized small business, small disadvantaged business, women-owned business concerns, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and minority educational institutions). For cooperative agreements, the dollar threshold to which the small business subcontracting policies apply, is established by the total amount of NASA's cash contributions. Suspension. An action by NASA or the recipient that temporarily discontinues efforts under an award, pending corrective action or pending a decision to terminate the award. Technical officer. The official of the cognizant NASA office who is responsible for monitoring the technical aspects of the work under a cooperative agreement. A Contracting Officer's Technical Representative may serve as a Technical Officer. Termination. The cancellation of a cooperative agreement in whole or in part, by either party at any time prior to the date of completion. [67 FR 45790, July 10, 2002, as amended at 70 FR 28809, May 19, 2005] For awards subject to this part, all administrative requirements of codified program regulations, program manuals, handbooks and other non-regulatory materials which are inconsistent with the requirements of this part shall be superseded, except to the extent they are required by statute, or authorized in accordance with the deviations provision in §1274.106. (a) Once the decision is made by a Headquarters program office or Center procurement personnel, to pursue the Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN) process, for which the total NASA resources to be expended equal or exceed $10 million (cash plus non-cash contributions), a notification shall immediately be provided to the Assistant Administrator for Procurement (Code HS). The notification(s) shall be forwarded by the cognizant Headquarters program office or the Center procurement office (as applicable). For any CAN where NASA's cash contributions are expected to equal or exceed $10 million, Headquarters program office or Center procurement personnel shall also notify the Assistant Administrator for Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (Code K). All such notifications, as described in paragraph (b) of this section, shall evidence concurrence by the cognizant Center Procurement Officer. These review requirements also apply where an unsolicited proposal is received from a commercial firm (or from a team of recipients where one of more team members is a commercial firm), and the planned award document is a cooperative agreement. (b) The notification shall be accomplished by sending an electronic mail (e-mail) message to the following address at NASA Headquarters: [email protected]. The notification must include the following information, as a minimum— (1) Identification of the cognizant Center and program office; (2) Description of the proposed program for which proposals are to be solicited; (3) Rationale for decision to use a CAN rather than other types of solicitations; (4) The amount of Government funding to be available for award(s); (5) Estimate of the number of cooperative agreements to be awarded as a result of the CAN; (6) The percentage of cost-sharing to be required; (7) Tentative schedule for release of CAN and award of cooperative agreements; (8) If the term of the cooperative agreement is anticipated to exceed 3 years and/or if the Government cash contribution is expected to exceed $20M, address anticipated changes, if any, to the provisions (see §1274.207); and (9) If the cooperative agreement is for programs/projects that provide aerospace products or capabilities, (e.g., provision of space and aeronautics systems, flight and ground systems, technologies and operations), a statement that the requirements of NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7120.4 and NASA Policy Guidance (NPG) 7120.5 have been met. This affirmative statement will include a specific reference to the signed Program Commitment Agreement. (c) Code HS will respond by e-mail message to the sender, with a copy of the message to the Procurement Officer and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, within five (5) working days of receipt of this initial notification. The response will address the following: (1) Whether Code HS agrees or disagrees with the appropriateness for using a CAN for the effort described, (2) Whether Code HS will require review and approval of the CAN before its issuance, (3) Whether Code HS will require review and approval of the selected offeror's cost sharing arrangement (e.g., cost sharing percentage; type of contribution (cash, labor, etc.)). (4) Whether Code HS will require review and approval of the resulting cooperative agreement(s). (d) If a response from Code HS is not received within 5 working days of notification, the program office or Center may proceed with release of the CAN and award of the cooperative agreements as described. (e) Before issuance, each field-generated CAN shall be approved by the installation director or designee, with the concurrence of the procurement officer. Each Headquarters generated CAN shall be approved by the cognizant Program Associate Administrator or designee, with concurrence of the Headquarters Offices of General Counsel (Code GK), External Relations (Code I), Safety & Mission Assurance (Code Q), and Procurement (Code HS). (a) The Assistant Administrator for Procurement may grant exceptions for classes of, or individual cooperative agreements and deviations from the requirements of this Regulation when exceptions are not prohibited by statute. (b) A deviation is required for any of the following: (1) When a prescribed provision set forth in this regulation for use verbatim is modified or omitted. (2) When a provision is set forth in this regulation, but not prescribed for use verbatim, and the installation substitutes a provision which is inconsistent with the intent, principle, and substance of the prescribed provision. (3) When a NASA form or other form is prescribed by this regulation, and that form is altered or another form is used in its place. (4) When limitations, imposed by this regulation upon the use of a provision, form, procedure, or any other action, are not adhered to. (c) Requests for authority to deviate from this regulation will be forwarded to Headquarters, Program Operations Division (Code HS). Such requests, signed by the Procurement Officer, shall contain as a minimum— (1) A full description of the deviation and identification of the regulatory requirement from which a deviation is sought; (2) Detailed rationale for the request, including any pertinent background information; (3) The name of the recipient and identification of the cooperative agreement affected, including the dollar value. (4) A statement as to whether the deviation has been re quested previously, and, if so, circumstances of the previous request(s); and (5) A copy of legal counsel's concurrence or comments. Cooperative agreements may result from recipient proposals submitted in response to the publication of a NASA Research Announcement (NRA), a Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN), or other Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). BAA's, NRA's and CAN's are normally promulgated through publicly accessible Government-wide announcements such as those published under the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps), and/or the NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS). Prior to publicizing the CAN, see §1274.105.
Title 14: Aeronautics and Space
PART 1274—COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH COMMERCIAL FIRMS
Subpart 1274.1—General
§ 1274.101 Purpose.
§ 1274.102 Scope.
§ 1274.103 Definitions.
§ 1274.104 Effect on other issuances.
§ 1274.105 Review requirements.
§ 1274.106 Deviations.
§ 1274.107 Publication of requirements.
