22.810—Payments.
(a) Purpose.
This section prescribes policies and grants officers' post-award responsibilities, with respect to payments to recipients of grants and cooperative agreements.
(b) Policy.
(1)
It is Governmentwide policy to minimize the time elapsing between any payment of funds to a recipient and the recipient's disbursement of the funds for program purposes (see 32 CFR 32.22(a) and 33.21(b), and the implementation of the Cash Management Improvement Act at 31 CFR part 205 ).
(2)
It also is a Governmentwide requirement to use electronic funds transfer (EFT) in the payment of any grant for which an application or proposal was submitted or renewed on or after July 26, 1996, unless the recipient has obtained a waiver by submitting to the head of the pertinent Federal agency a certification that it has neither an account with a financial institution nor an authorized payment agent. This requirement is in 31 U.S.C. 3332, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 ( section 31001(x)(1)(A), Pub. L. 104-134), and as implemented by Department of Treasury regulations at 31 CFR part 208. As a matter of DoD policy, this requirement applies to cooperative agreements, as well as grants. Within the Department of Defense, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service implements this EFT requirement, and grants officers have collateral responsibilities at the time of award, as described in § 22.605(c), and in postaward administration, as described in § 22.810(c)(3)(iv).
(3)
Expanding on these Governmentwide policies, DoD policy is for DoD Components to use electronic commerce, to the maximum extent practicable, in the portions of the payment process for grants and cooperative agreements for which grants officers are responsible. In cases where recipients submit each payment request to the grants officer, this includes using electronic methods to receive recipients' requests for payment and to transmit authorizations for payment to the DoD payment office. Using electronic methods will improve timeliness and accuracy of payments and reduce administrative burdens associated with paper-based payments.
(c) Post-award responsibilities.
In cases where the recipient submits each payment request to the grants officer, the administrative grants officer designated to handle payments for a grant or cooperative agreement is responsible for:
(1)
Handling the recipient's requests for payments in accordance with DoD implementation of Governmentwide guidance (see 32 CFR 32.22, 33.21, or 34.12, as applicable).
(3)
Maintaining a close working relationship with the personnel in the finance and accounting office responsible for making the payments. A good working relationship is necessary, to ensure timely and accurate handling of financial transactions for grants and cooperative agreements. Administrative grants officers:
(i)
Should be generally familiar with policies and procedures for disbursing offices that are contained in Chapter 19 of Volume 10 of the DoD Financial Management Regulation (the FMR, DoD 7000.14-R 15 ).
Code of Federal Regulations
Footnote(s): 15 See footnote 13 to § 22.715(a)(4) .
(ii)
Shall forward authorizations to the designated payment office expeditiously, so that payments may be made in accordance with the timely payment guidelines in Chapter 19 of Volume 10 of the FMR. Unless alternative arrangements are made with the payment office, authorizations should be forwarded to the payment office at least 3 working days before the end of the period specified in the FMR. The period specified in the FMR is:
(A)
No more than seven calendar days after receipt of the recipient's request by the administrative grants officer, whenever electronic commerce is used (i.e., EDI to request and authorize payments and electronic funds transfer (EFT) to make payments).
(B)
No more than thirty calendar days after receipt of the recipient's request by the administrative grants officer, when it is not possible to use electronic commerce and paper transactions are used.
(C)
No more than seven calendar days after each date specified, when payments are authorized in advance based on a predetermined payment schedule, provided that the payment schedule was received in the disbursing office at least 30 calendar days in advance of the date of the scheduled payment.
(iii)
Shall ensure that the recipients' Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is included with each payment authorization forwarded to the payment office. This is a statutory requirement of 31 U.S.C. 3325, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 ( section 31001(y), Pub. L. 104-134).
(iv)
For each award that is required to be paid by EFT (see § 22.605(c) and ( § 22.810(b)(2) ), shall prominently indicate that fact in the payment authorization.
[63 FR 12164, Mar. 12, 1998, as amended at 70 FR 49467, Aug. 23, 2005]