CFR > Title 34 - Education > SUBTITLE A—Office of the Secretary, Department of Education > PART 76—STATE-ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS > SUBPART G—What Are the Administrative Responsibilities of the State and Its Subgrantees? (§76.700 to §76.783) > 76.703—When a State may begin to obligate funds.

76.703—When a State may begin to obligate funds.

(a) (1) The Secretary may establish, for a program subject to this part, a date by which a State must submit for review by the Department a State plan and any other documents required to be submitted under guidance provided by the Department under paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
(2) If the Secretary does not establish a date for the submission of State plans and any other documents required under guidance provided by the Department, the date for submission is three months before the date the Secretary may begin to obligate funds under the program.
(b) (1) This paragraph (b) describes the circumstances under which the submission date for a State plan may be deferred.
(2) If a State asks the Secretary in writing to defer the submission date for a State plan because of a Presidentially declared disaster that has occurred in that State, the Secretary may defer the submission date for the State plan and any other document required under guidance provided by the Department if the Secretary determines that the disaster significantly impairs the ability of the State to submit a timely State plan or other document required under guidance provided by the Department.
(3) (i) The Secretary establishes, for a program subject to this part, a date by which the program office must deliver guidance to the States regarding the contents of the State plan under that program.
(ii) The Secretary may only establish a date for the delivery of guidance to the States so that there are at least as many days between that date and the date that State plans must be submitted to the Department as there are days between the date that State plans must be submitted to the Department and the date that funds are available for obligation by the Secretary on July 1, or October 1, as appropriate.
(iii) If a State does not receive the guidance by the date established under paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, the submission date for the State plan under the program is deferred one day for each day that the guidance is late in being received by the State.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note: The following examples describe how the regulations in § 76.703(b)(3) would act to defer the date that a State would have to submit its State plan.

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 1. The Secretary decides that State plans under a forward-funded program must be submitted to the Department by May first. The Secretary must provide guidance to the States under this program by March first, so that the States have at least as many days between the guidance date and the submission date (60) as the Department has between the submission date and the date that funds are available for obligation (60). If the program transmits guidance to the States on February 15, specifying that State plans must be submitted by May first, States generally would have to submit State plans by that date. However, if, for example, a State did not receive the guidance until March third, that State would have until May third to submit its State plan because the submission date of its State plan would be deferred one day for each day that the guidance to the State was late.

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 2. If a program publishes the guidance in the Federal Register on March third, the States would be considered to have received the guidance on that day. Thus, the guidance could not specify a date for the submission of State plans before May second, giving the States 59 days between the date the guidance is published and the submission date and giving the Department 58 days between the submission date and the date that funds are available for obligation.
(c) (1) For the purposes of this section, the submission date of a State plan or other document is the date that the Secretary receives the plan or document.
(2) The Secretary does not determine whether a State plan is substantially approvable until the plan and any documents required under guidance provided by the Department have been submitted.
(3) The Secretary notifies a State when the Department has received the State plan and all documents required under guidance provided by the Department.
(d) If a State submits a State plan in substantially approvable form (or an amendment to the State plan that makes it substantially approvable), and submits any other document required under guidance provided by the Department, on or before the date the State plan must be submitted to the Department, the State may begin to obligate funds on the date that the funds are first available for obligation by the Secretary.
(e) If a State submits a State plan in substantially approvable form (or an amendment to the State plan that makes it substantially approvable) or any other documents required under guidance provided by the Department after the date the State plan must be submitted to the Department, and—
(1) The Department determines that the State plan is substantially approvable on or before the date that the funds are first available for obligation by the Secretary, the State may begin to obligate funds on the date that the funds are first available for obligation by the Secretary; or
(2) The Department determines that the State plan is substantially approvable after the date that the funds are first available for obligation by the Secretary, the State may begin to obligate funds on the earlier of the two following dates:
(i) The date that the Secretary determines that the State plan is substantially approvable.
(ii) The date that is determined by adding to the date that funds are first available for obligation by the Secretary—
(A) The number of days after the date the State plan must be submitted to the Department that the State plan or other document required under guidance provided by the Department is submitted; and
(B) If applicable, the number of days after the State receives notice that the State plan is not substantially approvable that the State submits additional information that makes the plan substantially approvable.
(f) Additional information submitted under paragraph (e)(2)(ii)(B) of this section must be signed by the person who submitted the original State plan (or an authorized delegate of that officer).
(g) (1) If the Department does not complete its review of a State plan during the period established for that review, the Secretary will grant pre-award costs for the period after funds become available for obligation by the Secretary and before the State plan is found substantially approvable.
(2) The period established for the Department's review of a plan does not include any day after the State has received notice that its plan is not substantially approvable.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note: The following examples describe how the regulations in § 76.703 would be applied in certain circumstances. For the purpose of these examples, assume that the grant program established an April 1 due date for the submission of the State plan and that funds are first available for obligation by the Secretary on July 1.

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 1. Paragraph (d): A State submits a plan in substantially approvable form by April 1. The State may begin to obligate funds on July 1.

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Example 2. Paragraph (e)(1): A State submits a plan in substantially approvable form on May 15, and the Department notifies the State that the plan is substantially approvable on June 20. The State may begin to obligate funds on July 1.

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 3. Paragraph (e)(2)(i): A State submits a plan in substantially approvable form on May 15, and the Department notifies the State that the plan is substantially approvable on July 15. The State may begin to obligate funds on July 15.

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 4. Paragraph (e)(2)(ii)(A): A State submits a plan in substantially approvable form on May 15, and the Department notifies the State that the plan is substantially approvable on August 21. The State may begin to obligate funds on August 14. (In this example, the plan is 45 days late. By adding 45 days to July 1, we reach August 14, which is earlier than the date, August 21, that the Department notifies the State that the plan is substantially approvable. Therefore, if the State chose to begin drawing funds from the Department on August 14, obligations made on or after that date would generally be allowable.)

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 5. Paragraph (e)(2)(i): A State submits a plan on May 15, and the Department notifies the State that the plan is not substantially approvable on July 10. The State submits changes that make the plan substantially approvable on July 20 and the Department notifies the State that the plan is substantially approvable on July 25. The State may begin to obligate funds on July 25. (In this example, the original submission is 45 days late. In addition, the Department notifies the State that the plan is not substantially approvable and the time from that notification until the State submits changes that make the plan substantially approvable is an additional 10 days. By adding 55 days to July 1, we reach August 24. However, since the Department notified the State that the plan was substantially approvable on July 25, that is the date that the State may begin to obligate funds.)

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 6. Paragraph (e)(2)(ii)(B): A State submits a plan on May 15, and the Department notifies the State that the plan is not substantially approvable on August 1. The State submits changes that make the plan substantially approvable on August 20, and the Department notifies the State that the plan is substantially approvable on September 5. The State may choose to begin drawing funds from the Department on September 2, and obligations made on or after that date would generally be allowable. (In this example, the original submission is 45 days late. In addition, the Department notifies the State that the plan is not substantially approvable and the time from that notification until the State submits changes that make the plan substantially approvable is an additional 19 days. By adding 64 days to July 1, we reach September 2, which is earlier than September 5, the date that the Department notifies the State that the plan is substantially approvable.)

Code of Federal Regulations

Example 7. Paragraph (g): A State submits a plan on April 15 and the Department notifies the State that the plan is not substantially approvable on July 16. The State makes changes to the plan and submits a substantially approvable plan on July 30. The Department had until July 15 to decide whether the plan was substantially approvable because the State was 15 days late in submitting the plan. The date the State may begin to obligate funds under the regulatory deferral is July 29 (based on the 15 day deferral for late submission plus a 14 day deferral for the time it took to submit a substantially approvable plan after having received notice). However, because the Department was one day late in completing its review of the plan, the State would get pre-award costs to cover the period of July 1 through July 29.
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(h) After determining that a State plan is in substantially approvable form, the Secretary informs the State of the date on which it could begin to obligate funds. Reimbursement for those obligations is subject to final approval of the State plan.

Code of Federal Regulations

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3, 3474, 6511(a) and 31 U.S.C. 6503)

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[45 FR 22517, Apr. 3, 1980. Redesignated at 45 FR 77368, Nov. 21, 1980, as amended at 60 FR 41294, Aug. 11, 1995; 61 FR 14484, Apr. 2, 1996]