General Terms and Conditions

1. General Requirements

   As a recipient of HRSA grants or cooperative agreements, you must comply with all applicable laws and policies, as well as all terms and conditions outlined and incorporated by reference in the Notice of Award (NOA). This includes all federal statutes and regulations relevant to federal financial assistance, including those highlighted in HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB), any policy specific to the award, and any requirement included in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). In case of conflicting or otherwise inconsistent requirements, follow the order of precedence indicated in HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB).

   Note that the use of the terms “federal award,” “award,” and “grant” refers collectively to federal awards, grants, and cooperative agreements unless otherwise indicated.

   SAM.gov and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) registration is required for all HRSA awards.

   1. Subrecipients and Recipients (Pass-Through Entities) Responsibilities
      The recipient is the entity that receives a federal award directly from HRSA. The recipient can give a portion of such direct award to other organizations, called sub-recipients, to accomplish the goals and objectives of the award. The recipient then becomes a pass-through entity, and the subrecipient’s award is called a sub-award. It is your responsibility, as a recipient, to ensure that the general terms and conditions stated in this document flow down to your subrecipients, as applicable. See HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB).
   2. Financial Assistance General Certifications and Representations
      While the Financial Assistance General Certifications and Representations expressly identify certain requirements, they also require compliance with all applicable laws and policies. See HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB) or HRSA's Financial Assistance General Certifications and Representations page.
   3. Non-competing continuations
      Funding of non-competing continuation awards is based on your satisfactory progress, the availability of funds, and HRSA determination that continued funding of the award is in the best interests of the federal government.
   4. Supplement, not supplant
      If applicable, federal award funds must supplement, not replace (supplant) non-federal funds. If you receive an award under programs that prohibit supplanting by law, you must ensure that federal funds do not supplant funds that have been budgeted for the same purpose through non-federal sources. You may be required to demonstrate and document that a reduction in non-federal resources occurred for reasons other than the receipt or expected receipt of federal funds.

   5. Health Information Technology Interoperability
      If you receive an award, you must agree that where your activities involve implementing, acquiring, or upgrading health IT, you, and all your subrecipients will:

      • Meet the standards and specifications in 45 CFR part 170, subpart B, if those standards support the activity.
      • If the activities relate to activities of eligible clinicians in ambulatory settings or hospitals under Sections 4101, 4102, and 4201 of the HITECH Act, that you will use only health IT certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Health IT Certification Program.

      If standards and implementation specifications in 45 CFR part 170, subpart B cannot support the activity, we encourage you to use health IT that meets non-proprietary standards and specifications of consensus-based standards development organizations. This may include standards identified in the ONC Interoperability Standards Advisory. For more information, review HHS Health IT Alignment Policy | HHS Intranet and HHS Health IT Alignment Policy | HealthIT.gov.

   6. Prior Approval
      HRSA requires you to seek prior approval for various items as stated in 45 CFR 75.308 and 75.407, including significant rebudgeting of project costs.

      • Significant rebudgeting occurs when:
        • Expenses in a single direct cost budget category increase or decrease by 25 percent, or
        • the cumulative transfers among direct cost budget categories for the current budget period exceed 25 percent of the total approved budget for that budget period.
      • Note that the total approved budget includes direct and indirect costs, as well as federal funds and required cost sharing for that budget period.
      • **For items that require prior approval from the awarding office (as indicated in 45 CFR § 75.308(d)4:
        • HRSA has not waived cost-related or administrative prior approvals unless specifically stated in your NOA. You must submit these as a Prior Approval action via HRSA Electronic Handbooks (EHBs).
        • HRSA only considers responses to prior approval requests signed by the Grants Management Officer (GMO) to be valid.

      If you take action based on responses from other officials, you do so at your own risk. HRSA will not consider such responses binding.

   7. Funding Restrictions
      See your NOA, HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB), and HRSA Legislative Mandates (under Policies, Regulations & Guidance) for funding restrictions such as:
      • Salary Cap (and see Salary Rate Limitation below)
      • Gun control
      • Anti-lobbying
      • Restrictions on abortion
      • Ban on funding embryo research
      • Limitation on use of funds for promotion of legalization of controlled substances
      • Restriction of pornography on computer networks
      • Restriction on the purchase of sterile needles
      • Prohibition on certain telecommunications and video surveillance services or equipment.
   8. Roles and Responsibilities
      For the respective roles and responsibilities of the Grants Management Specialist (GMS) and the Program Officer (PO) for your award, see HRSA’s Manage Your Grant website.
2. HHS National Policy Requirements
   For national policy requirements, review the HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB) and the following:
   1. Publications and Acknowledgment of Support
      For more information and examples on how to acknowledge HRSA funding in products including press releases, publications, websites or more, review HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB).
   2. Conflict of Interest
      See HRSA Federal Financial Assistance Conflict of Interest Policy (COI Policy)
   3. Accessibility provisions and non-discrimination requirements
      The HRSA Office of Civil Rights, Diversity, and Inclusion (OCRDI) offers technical assistance, individual consultations, trainings, and plain language materials to supplement OCR guidance. Visit OCRDI’s website to learn more about how federal civil rights laws and accessibility requirements apply to your programs, or contact OCRDI directly at HRSACivilRights@hrsa.gov.

1. Salary rate limitation
   See Salary Cap Summary Table for the latest salary rate limitation and salary pay tables and How to Compute Rates of Pay. Review also your NOA, HHS Administrative and National Policy Requirements (PDF - 371 KB), and HRSA Legislative Mandates (under Policies, Regulations & Guidance) for additional information.

2. Payments
   Grant funds must be drawn down through the HHS Payment Management System (PMS). The PMS is a tool to help you draw down funds and file the Federal Financial Report (FFR). The Division of Payment Management, Financial Management Services, Program Support Center, manages the PMS and have instructions for obtaining payments.

   Submit direct inquiries about payments:
   ONE-DHHS Help Desk for PMS Support at 1-877-614-5533 or PMSSupport@psc.hhs.gov.

   If you do not have access, complete a PMS Access Form (PMS/FFR Form) found at: https://pmsapp.psc.gov/pms/app/userrequest. If you have any questions about accessing PMS, contact the PMS Liaison Accountant as identified at: http://pms.psc.gov/find-pms-liaison-accountant.html

1. General Reports include:
   • Federal Financial Report(s) (FFR)
   • Noncompeting Continuation (NCC) Progress Report(s)
   • Tangible Personal Property Report (SF-428) for Equipment and Supplies
   • Real Property Report (SF-429)
   • Sub-Award Reporting under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA)
   • Recipient integrity and performance
2. Audit Reports
   • If your organization is not a for-profit organizations and is required to have audits in accordance with 45 CFR part 75, Subpart F (See § 75.501) because it spends $750,000 or more in federal funds in one fiscal year, submit the audit reports to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.
   • Commercial organizations required to have audits are to submit the audit reports directly to HRSA at SARFollowUp@hrsa.gov.
3. Reporting Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement
   • The HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) maintains a toll-free number (1-800- HHS-TIPS [1-800-447-8477]; TTY: 1-800-377-4950) and website for receiving information concerning fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement under HHS programs. Information also may be submitted by mail to:
     Office of the Inspector General
     Department of Health and Human Services
     Attn: HOTLINE
     330 Independence Ave., SW
     Washington DC 20201
   • Such reports are treated as sensitive material and submitters may decline to give their names if they choose to remain anonymous.

1. Requirement and Timeframe
   In accordance with 2 CFR §200.344, you must submit all closeout reports identified in HRSA correspondence within 120 days of the period of performance end date. You may also ask for an extension to submit closeout reports as needed. Subrecipients must submit all closeout reports to the recipient within 90 days of the period of performance end date. The reporting timeframe is the full period of performance.
2. Failure to Submit Closeout Reports
   If you don’t submit all reports in accordance with HRSA correspondence and the terms and conditions of the federal award, HRSA may proceed to close out with the information available within one year of the period of performance end date unless otherwise directed by authorizing statutes.
   1. HRSA then must report a material failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the award with the OMB-designated integrity and performance system (currently Responsibility/Qualification section of SAM.gov).
   2. HRSA may also pursue other enforcement actions per 45 CFR § 75.371.
   3. Failure to submit timely and accurate final reports may affect future funding to the organization or awards under the direction of the same Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI).

Circumstances
HRSA or the pass-through entity may terminate this award under any of the following circumstances, per 45 CFR § 75.372:

• If your organization fails to comply with the terms and conditions of the award;
• For cause;
• With your consent, in which case you and HRSA must agree upon the termination conditions, including the effective date and, in the case of partial termination, the portion to be terminated;
• By you, upon sending to HRSA or the pass-through entity, written notification setting forth the reasons for such termination, the effective date, and, in the case of partial termination, the portion to be terminated.

However, if HRSA or the pass-through entity determines, in the case of partial termination, that the reduced or modified portion of the award or subaward will not accomplish the purposes for which the award was made, HRSA or the pass-through entity may terminate the federal award in its entirety.

• A decision not to award continuation funding; or
• Termination for convenience See 45 CFR 75.374 for opportunities to object, hearings, and appeals.