145.25—Revision of budget and program plans.
(a)
The budget plan is the financial expression of the project or program as approved during the award process. It may include either the Federal and non-Federal share, or only the Federal share, depending upon Department requirements. It shall be related to performance for program evaluation purposes whenever appropriate.
(b)
Recipients are required to report deviations from budget and program plans, and request prior approvals for budget and program plan revisions, in accordance with this section, unless, at the discretion of the Grants Officer, a small percentage variance is allowed by the terms of the grant or cooperative agreement.
(c)
For nonconstruction awards, recipients shall request prior approvals from the Department for one or more of the following program or budget related reasons.
(1)
Change in the scope or the objective of the project or program (even if there is no associated budget revision requiring prior written approval).
(3)
The absence for more than three months, or a 25 percent reduction in time devoted to the project, by the approved project director or principal investigator.
(5)
The transfer of amounts budgeted for indirect costs to absorb increases in direct costs, or vice versa, if approval is required by the Department.
(6)
The inclusion, unless waived by the Department, of costs that require prior approval in accordance with OMB Circular A-21, “Cost Principles for Institutions of Higher Education,” OMB Circular A-122, “Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations,” or 45 CFR part 74 appendix E, “Principles for Determining Costs Applicable to Research and Development under Grants and Contracts with Hospitals,” or 48 CFR part 31, “Contract Cost Principles and Procedures,” as applicable.
(7)
The transfer of funds allotted for training allowances (direct payment to trainees) to other categories of expense.
(8)
Unless described in the application and funded in the approved awards, the subaward, transfer or contracting out of any work under an award. This provision does not apply to the purchase of supplies, material, equipment or general support services.
(d)
No other prior approval requirements for specific items described by this regulation may be imposed unless a deviation has been approved by OMB.
(e)
Except for requirements listed in paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(4) of this section, Grants Officers are authorized, at their option, to waive cost-related and administrative prior written approvals required by this regulation and OMB Circulars A-21 and A-122. Such waivers may include authorizing recipients to do any one or more of the following.
(1)
Incur pre-award costs 90 calendar days prior to award or more than 90 calendar days with the prior approval of the Department. All pre-award costs are incurred at the recipient's risk (i.e., the Department is under no obligation to reimburse such costs if for any reason the recipient does not receive an award or if the award is less than anticipated and inadequate to cover such costs).
(2)
Initiate a one-time extension of the expiration date of the award of up to 12 months unless one or more of the following conditions apply. For one-time extensions, the recipient must notify the Department in writing with the supporting reasons and revised expiration date at least 10 days before the expiration date specified in the award. This one-time extension may not be exercised merely for the purpose of using unobligated balances.
(4)
For awards that support research, unless the Department provides otherwise in the award, the prior approval requirements described in paragraph (e) are automatically waived (i.e., recipients need not obtain such prior approvals) unless one of the conditions included in paragraph (e)(2) applies.
(f)
The Department may, at its option, restrict the transfer of funds among direct cost categories or programs, functions and activities for awards in which the Federal share of the project exceeds $100,000 and the cumulative amount of such transfers exceeds or is expected to exceed 10 percent of the total budget as last approved by the Grants Officer. Grants Officers shall not permit a transfer that would cause any Federal appropriation or part thereof to be used for purposes other than those consistent with the original intent of the appropriation.
(g)
All other changes to nonconstruction budgets, except for the changes described in paragraph (j), do not require prior approval.
(h)
For construction awards, recipients shall request prior written approval promptly from the Grants Officer for budget revisions whenever paragraphs (h) (1), (2) or (3) of this section apply.
(3)
A revision is desired which involves specific costs for which prior written approval requirements may be imposed consistent with applicable OMB cost principles listed in § 145.27.
(i)
No other prior approval requirements for specific items may be imposed unless a deviation has been approved by OMB.
(j)
When the Department makes an award that provides support for both construction and nonconstruction work, the Department may require the recipient to request prior approval from the Department before making any fund or budget transfers between the two types of work supported.
(k)
For both construction and nonconstruction awards, the Department shall require recipients to notify the Department in writing promptly whenever the amount of Federal authorized funds is expected to exceed the needs of the recipient for the project period by more than $5,000 or five percent of the Federal award, whichever is greater. This notification shall not be required if an application for additional funding is submitted for a continuation award.
(l)
When requesting approval for budget revisions, recipients shall use the budget forms that were used in the application unless the Grants Officer indicates a letter of request suffices.
(m)
Within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the request for budget revisions, the Grants Officer shall review the request and notify the recipient whether the budget revisions have been approved. If the revision is still under consideration at the end of 30 calendar days, the Grants Officer shall inform the recipient in writing of the date when the recipient may expect the decision.