NSDI Cooperative Agreements Program Administrative Guidance

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number - 15-809
OMB Control Number 1028-0084 (Expiration Date 1/31/2015)

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1. General Information
2. Correspondence
3. Contact Information
4. Setting Up Reimbursement Process
5. Performance period extension
6. Budget reallocations
7. Primary Investigator change
8. CAP Project Reporting
9. Financial Reporting Requirements

1. General Information:

The notes below are reminders for administering CAP projects. Please see your Cooperative Agreements Assistance Award document for complete information and requirements for your project.  This document was sent to the person identified in the original proposal submitted to Grants.gov. The original solicitation is another resource that should be consulted: 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2008.

2012 Kick-Off Workshops: Category 1 -- Category 2 -- Category 3 (Intro to GIS Inventory) -- Category 4 -- Category 5

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2. Correspondence:

For all correspondence be sure to identify your project's Award Number and CAP Category. Email is preferred for correspondence.

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3. Contact Information:

Gita Urban-Mathieux
NSDI CAP Coordinator
590 USGS National Center
Reston, VA 20192
burbanma@usgs.gov
703.648.5175 or fax 703.648.5755

FGDC Secretariat Staff - The FGDC is an interagency committee that promotes the coordinated development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis.

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4. Setting Up Reimbursement Process:

U.S. Geological Survey, who administers the NSDI CAP awards, uses Department of the Treasury's Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) electronic invoicing and payment for grants and cooperative agreement award recipients.  CAP recipients are required to have an account with ASAP.  Information for setting up a ASAP account is provided to primary contact listed in the original CAP proposal.  For instructions or information please contact  Laura Mahoney (lmahoney@usgs.gov) or Desiree Santa (dsanta@usgs.gov, 703-648-7382).

In order for USGS to initiate enrollment of the award recipient organization in ASAP a USGS ASAP enrollment form needs to be completed.  It will be provided to the award recipient by the USGS. The form in returned via e-mail to Laura Mahoney (lmahoney@usgs.gov) .  Even though the award recipient may already have an ASAP account, each agency needs to enroll organizations to link accounts to the USGS.  The USGS ALC (agency location code) is 14080001.  Once linked to USGS, the person with the financial official role for award recipient organization in ASAP will need to link the recipient bank information to the USGS ALC.  Please note that once awards are loaded into ASAP, it generally takes a few days for the USGS certifying official to release the funding.

Instructions for obtaining payments will be provided to the recipients once the account is set up. Inquiries regarding payment should be directed to the ASAP Help Desk at: (816) 414-2100 or e-mail kfc.asap@fms.treas.gov.

Payments may be drawn in advance only as needed to meet immediate cash disbursement needs. Only expenses that occur within the CAP performance period maybe reimbursed.

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5. Performance period extension:

If more time is required to conduct your project, please submit a request for a "no-cost time extension" by mail or email at the CAP Coordinator. This should be submitted at least 30 days prior to the end of the agreed upon performance period. Only one extension will be granted. Please include in your request:

- your project award number
- reason for the request
- new completion date
- new tasks (if applicable)
- send to burbanma@usgs.gov

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6. Budget reallocations:

Awardees may make changes in project budget allocations between direct cost categories up to 10% of the total award. If reallocations are more than 10% please contact the NSDI CAP Coordinator.

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7. Primary Investigator change:

If for some reason (retirement, job change, etc.) the primary investigators (PI) leaves the project a new one needs to be designated. This person is required to be with the same organization/institution that received the award. CAP grants are awarded to organizations/institutions and not individuals. The request for a PI change should be mailed or emailed to the NSDI CAP Coordinator.

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8. CAP Project Reporting:

An interim report mid-way in the performance period and a final report are required as a way to assess project outcomes as well as the programs effectiveness and accountability. Please submit CAP project reports by email to the NSDI CAP Coordinator and the project technical lead (see above). Here are the links to the report formats.

Metadata Training and Outreach Assistance Projects (category 1: 2012)

ISO Geospatial Metadata Standards Implementation (category 2: 2012)

Expanding Use of the GIS Inventory System (category 3: 2012)

Fifty States Initiative: Business Plan Development and Implementation (category 4: 2012)

Return on Investment (ROI) Methodology and Business Case Development for Multi-agency NSDI Projects (category 5: 2010, 2011)

FGDC-Endorsed Standards Development and Implementation Assistance and Outreach Project (excluding Metadata Standards) (category 6: 2010)

FGDC-endorsed Standards Implementation Training and Outreach (category 5: 2012)

Geospatial Platform Cloud Service Testbed (category 7: 2012)

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9. Financial Reporting Requirements:

(a) Interim Financial Status Reports. As of May 2011 quarterly financial reports are no longer required. The recipient will submit annual STANDARD FORM 425, FEDERAL FINANCIAL REPORT(S) for each individual USGS award. The SF 425 is available at - http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms.   The report is due 90 calendar days after the grant/cooperative agreement year (i.e., 12 months after the approved effective date of the agreement and every 12 months thereafter until the expiration date of the agreement.)  USGS acknowledges that this annual reporting schedule may not always correspond with a specific budget period.  The SF 425 must be submitted electronically through the FedConnect Message Center (www.fedconnect.net ).  If after 90 days, recipient has not submitted a report, the account will be placed in a manual review status.  Funds may be withheld for accounts with delinquent reports. 

(b) Final Financial Status Reports. The recipient will liquidate all obligations incurred under the award and submit a final STANDARD FORM 425, FEDERAL FINANCIAL REPORT through Fed Connect (www.fedconnect.net) no later than 90 calendar days after the grant/cooperative agreement completion date.  The SF 425 is available at - http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms.  Recipient will promptly return any unexpended federal cash advances or will complete a final draw from ASAP to obtain any remaining amounts due.  Once 120 days has passed since the grant/agreement completion date, the ASAP subaccount for this award may be closed by USGS at any time.

Questions - If you have any questions please contact  Laura Mahoney (lmahoney@usgs.gov) or FedConnect (1-800-899-6665 or e-mail support@fedconnect.net). The FedConnect Message Center does have an overview of its functions.

Subsequent revision to the final SF 425 will be considered only as follows -

(i)  When the revision results in a balance due to the Government, the recipient must submit a revised final Federal Financial Report (SF 425) and refund the excess payment whenever the overcharge is discovered, no matter how long the lapse of time since the original due date of the report.

(ii)  When the revision represents additional reimbursable costs claimed by the recipient, a revised final SF 425 may be submitted to the Contracting Officer with an explanation.   If approved, the USGS will either request and pay a final invoice or reestablish the ASAP subaccount to permit the recipient to make a revised final draw.  Any revised final report representing additional reimbursable amounts must be submitted no later than 1 year from the due date of the original report, i.e., 15 months following the agreement completion date. USGS will not accept any revised SF 425 covering additional expenditures after that date and will return any late request for additional payment to the recipient.

A copy of the final SF 425 form needs to be sent with a signature (a fax or scanned copy of the signed SF 425 is acceptable) to:

Fax:

703.648.5755

Email:

burbanma@usgs.gov

Snail mail:

Gita Urban-Mathieux
Federal Geographic Data Committee
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 590
Reston, VA 20192

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