633.322—Sanctions for violation of the Act.
(a)
Pursuant to sections 164 (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, the Secretary may impose appropriate sanctions and corrective actions for violations of the Act, regulations, or grant terms and conditions. Additionally, sanctions may include the following:
(1)
Offsetting debts, arising from misexpenditure of grant funds, against amounts to which the grantee is or may be entitled under the Act, except as provided in section (e)(1) of the Act. The debt shall be fully satisfied when the Secretary reduces amounts allotted to the grantee by the amount of the misexpenditure; and
(2)
Determining the amount of Federal cash maintained by the grantee or its subgrantee or contractor in excess of reasonable grant needs, establishing a debt for the amount of such excessive cash, and charging interest on that debt.
(b)
Except for actions under section 164(f) and 167 of the Act, to establish a debt or violation subject to sanction and/or corrective action, the Secretary shall utilize initial and final determination procedures outlined in 20 CFR part 636.
(c)
To impose a sanction or corrective action regarding a violation of section 167 of the Act, the Secretary shall utilize the procedures of 29 CFR part 31.
(d)
(1)
The Secretary shall hold the grantee responsible for all funds under the grant. The grantee shall hold its subgrantees and contractors responsible for JTPA funds received through the grant.
(2)
The Secretary shall determine the liability of the grantee for misexpenditures of grant funds in accordance with section 164(e) of the Act, including the requirement that the grantee shall have taken prompt and appropriate corrective actions for misexpenditures by a subgrantee or contractor.
(3)
Prompt, appropriate, and aggressive debt collection action to recover any funds misspent by subgrantees or contractors ordinarily shall be considered a part of the corrective action required by section 164(e)(2)(D) of the Act.
(4)
In making the determination required by section 164(e)(2) of the Act, the Secretary may determine, based on a request from the grantee, that the grantee may forego certain collection actions against a subgrantee or contractor where that subgrantee or contractor was not at fault with respect to the liability criteria set forth in section 164(e)(2)(A) through section 164(e)(2)(D) of the Act. The Secretary shall consider such requests in assessing whether the grantee's corrective action was appropriate in light of section 164(e)(2)(D) of the Act.
(5)
The grantee shall not be released from liability for misspent funds under the determination required by section 164(e) of the Act until the Secretary determines that further collection action, either by the grantee or subgrantee or contractor, would be inappropriate or would prove futile.
(e)
Nothing in this section shall preclude the Secretary from imposing a sanction directly against a subgrantee or contractor as authorized in section 164(e)(3) of the Act. In such a case, the Secretary shall inform the grantee of the Secretary's action.