Grants & Agreements Definitions

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Agency: “Agency” means one of the FPAC mission area agencies, including the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Service Administration, Risk Management Agency, Commodity Credit Corporation, and functional units of the Business Center for which the Grants and Agreements Division provides service.
Award: “Award” means the Federal financial assistance a recipient receives and the instrument that sets out the associated terms and conditions, such as the grant agreement or the cooperative agreement.
Awarding Official: “Awarding Official” means the individual within an Agency delegated authority or otherwise authorized to approve and sign awards.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)/Financial Assistance Listings: “Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)/Financial Assistance Listings” means a Governmentwide compendium of Federal programs, projects, services, and activities that provide assistance or benefits to the American public. It is available at SAM.beta.gov. The compendium contains financial and nonfinancial programs administered by Departments and establishments of the Federal Government. All financial assistance awards must reference a CFDA number.
Cognizant agency for indirect costs: “Cognizant agency for indirect costs” for Government agencies and nonprofit organizations means the Federal agency with the largest dollar value of Federal awards with an organization or unit of government. For institutes of higher education, the cognizant agency is either Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) Office of Naval Research, normally depending on which of the two agencies (HHS or DOD) provides more funds to the educational institution for the most recent 3 years (2 CFR Section 200.19).
Competitive award opportunities: “Competitive award opportunities” means those opportunities that must be competed in accordance with 2 CFR 415.1. It does not mean award opportunities Agencies elect to voluntarily compete.
Conservation District: “Conservation District” means an organization established by state legislation, based on a model statute proposed by the Department of Agriculture in 1937, with a mission to conserve soil, water, and related resources. Each district is governed by a locally elected or appointed board of officials, usually called directors, commissioners, or supervisors and is considered a unit of state government. Although conservation district boundaries generally coincide with county boundaries, there are some that cover more than one county and others that cover only part of one county. Because most states modified the model act to some degree, there is a certain amount of diversity in the authorities and administrative mechanisms under which the districts operate.
Cost Sharing: “Cost Sharing,” also called “matching” means the portion of project costs not paid by Federal funds (unless otherwise authorized by Federal statute), including all cash and in-kind contributions.
Contribution agreement: “Contribution agreement” means a unique non-assistance cooperative agreement type available only to NRCS established by 7 U.S.C. Section 6962(a). NRCS may enter contribution agreements, including for the acquisition of goods or services, when the objectives of the agreement will serve a mutual interest of the parties to the agreement in carrying out NRCS programs, and all parties will contribute resources to the accomplishment of these objectives. Contribution agreements do not require competition.
Cooperative agreement: “Cooperative agreement” means a financial assistance instrument between a Federal agency and a non-Federal entity that, consistent with 31 U.S.C. Sections 6302-6305, is used to enter into a relationship with the principal purpose of transferring anything of value from the Federal agency to the non-Federal entity to carry out a public purpose authorized by a law of the United States (see 31 U.S.C. Section 6101(3)) and is distinguished from a grant agreement in that it provides for substantial involvement between the Federal awarding agency and the non-Federal entity in carrying out the activity contemplated by the award. It may not be used to procure products or services for the primary benefit of the Government. Cooperative agreements may or may not require recipient cost share, depending on program and Agency requirements.
Direct costs application base: “Direct costs application base” means the pool of direct costs against which an indirect costs rate must be applied to calculate the indirect costs paid under an agreement.
Discretionary Award: “Discretionary Award” means an award where the Federal agency selects Recipients based on merit and eligibility. Whether an award is discretionary or mandatory is not related to whether the associated funds are discretionary or Farm Bill. Most FPAC awards fall into the discretionary category, regardless of the funding.
Electronic record: “Electronic record” means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. This includes, but is not limited to, email, faxed documents, copies, scans, and documents generated by a computer/software.
Electronic signature: “Electronic signature” means symbols or other data in digital form attached to an electronically submitted document as verification of the sender’s intent to sign the document or a method of signing an electronic message that identifies and authenticates a particular person as the source of the electronic message and indicates such person’s approval of the information contained in the message (44 U.S.C. 3504, Sec. 1710).
Equipment: “Equipment” means tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. See also §§200.12 Capital assets, 200.20 Computing devices, 200.48 General purpose equipment, 200.58 Information technology systems, 200.89 Special purpose equipment, and 200.94 Supplies.
Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN): “Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN)” means the unique identifying number assigned to all Federal financial assistance awards. Also referred to as the agreement number.
Grant agreement: “Grant agreement” means a legal instrument of financial assistance between a Federal agency and a non-Federal entity that, consistent with 31 U.S.C. Sections 6302 and 6304, is used to enter into a relationship with the principal purpose of transferring anything of value from the Federal awarding agency to the non-Federal entity to carry out a public purpose authorized by a law of the United States (see 31 U.S.C. Section 6101(3)) and is distinguished from a cooperative agreement in that it does not provide for substantial involvement between the Federal awarding agency and the non-Federal entity in carrying out the activity contemplated by the award. It may not be used to procure products or services for the primary benefit of the Government.
Improper payment: “Improper payment” means any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount (including overpayments and underpayments) under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements. It includes any payment to an ineligible party, any payment for an ineligible good or service, any duplicate payment, any payment for a good or service not received (except for such payments where authorized by law), any payment that does not account for credit for applicable discounts, and any payment where insufficient or lack of documentation prevents a reviewer from discerning whether a payment was proper.
Indirect (F&A) costs: “Indirect (F&A) costs” means those costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved.
Interagency agreement (IAA): “Interagency agreement (IAA)” means an agreement between two Federal agencies (such as an agreement between NRCS and OPM) for the provision of goods or services. The agency requiring goods or services may request that the agency providing them to do so with its own employees (a non-acquisition assistance IAA) or by contract placed by the Servicing Agency (Acquisition Assistance IAAs).
Intra-agency agreement: “Intra-agency agreement” means between two organizational units of the same Federal agency (such as an agreement between FSA and Forest Service) for the provision of goods or services. The agency requiring goods or services may request that the agency providing them to do so with its own employees (a non-acquisition assistance IAA) or by contract placed by the Servicing Agency (Acquisition Assistance IAAs).
Mandatory Award: “Mandatory Award” means and award that must be awarded to each eligible applicant (generally a government entity) based on the conditions defined in the authorizing statute. (e.g., Medicaid grants to states).
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA): “Memorandum of agreement (MOA)”, also known as a “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)”, is an agreement used to outline a cooperative arrangement between two or more entities. Although each party may expend its own resources to achieve the purpose of the agreement, an MOA does not transfer funds or anything of value between the parties.
Modified total direct costs (MTDC): “Modified total direct costs (MTDC)” means all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and subawards up to the first $25,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award). MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs and the portion of each subaward in excess of $25,000.
Negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA): “Negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA)” means an agreement reached between a recipient and its cognizant agency for indirect costs that establishes both the indirect costs rate for that recipient for a specified period of time and the direct cost application base against which the rate will be applied. (2 CFR Section 200.414)
Non-Federal Collection Agreement: “Non-Federal Collection Agreement” means an agreement under which an Agency provides services to State or local government on a reimbursable basis under the authority of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (31 U.S.C. Section 6505).
Period of Performance: “Period of Performance” means the time during which an award is valid and the recipient may perform and incur costs to carry out the work authorized under the Federal award. The Federal awarding agency or must include start and end dates of the period of performance in the Federal award.
Program Income: “Program Income” means gross income earned by the non-Federal entity that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the Federal award during the period of performance. Examples include user fees and service fees earned through activities under the award. Program income does not include funds received by the recipient from the Agency or other cost sharing partners; nor does it include interest earned on advance payments from the Agency.
Recipient: “Recipient” means a non-Federal entity that receives a Federal award directly from a Federal awarding agency to carry out an activity under a Federal program. The term recipient does not include subrecipients.
Responsibile Official: “Responsible Official,” also called “Program Manager,” means the individual officially designated by the customer organization to serve as the primary contact for a given award and who 1) has the authority to conduct administrative actions, such as approving pay requests; and 2) has responsibility to monitor performance under the award and cooperate with the Grants and Agreements Division to administer the award.
Requesting Agency: “Requesting Agency” means the party to an IAA that requires goods and services from the other.
Servicing Agency: “Servicing Agency” means the party to an IAA that provides goods and services to the other either via its own employees or by contract.
Subaward: “Subaward” means an award provided by a recipient entity to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal award. It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual that is a beneficiary of a Federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the recipient considers a contract. See 2 CFR 200.330 for information on the difference between a subaward and a contract.
Subrecipient: “Subrecipient” means a non-Federal entity that receives a subaward from a recipient to carry out part of a Federal program; but does not include an individual that is a beneficiary of such program. A subrecipient may also be a recipient of other Federal awards directly from a Federal awarding agency.
Supplies: “Supplies” means all tangible personal property other than those described in §200.33 Equipment. A computing device is a supply if the acquisition cost is less than the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes or $5,000, regardless of the length of its useful life. See also §§200.20 Computing devices and 200.33 Equipment.

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