[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 14, Volume 5]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 14CFR1260.11]

[Page 277-279]
 
                     TITLE 14--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
 
                   CHAPTER V--NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
                          SPACE ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 1260_GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS--Table of Contents
 
                            Subpart A_General
 
Sec.  1260.11  Evaluation and selection.

    (a) Technical evaluation of proposals will be conducted by the 
cognizant NASA technical office and may be based on peer reviews.
    (b) Under NRA's, AO's, other BAA's, and CAN's, the selecting 
official will furnish documentation requested by the grant officer, 
(including a copy of the NRA, selection statement, and peer review 
evaluation if requested), to confirm that the award is being made as a 
result of a selection under a NRA, AO, other BAA, or CAN. The technical 
office will forward to the grant office a completed award package, 
including a funded procurement request, technical evaluation of the 
proposed budget, and other support documentation, and any data 
deliverables that may be required when potentially hazardous operations, 
such as those related to flight and/or mission critical ground systems 
have been proposed (e.g. Payload Safety Data Review Package) at least 29 
days prior to the requested award date, or before the expiration of the 
funded period in the case of the renewal of an existing effort.
    (c) If a proposal is not selected, the proposer will be notified by 
the selecting official in accordance with the procedures set forth in 
the NRA, AO, CAN, or BAA.
    (d) For unsolicited proposals, see Sec.  1260.17.
    (e) For awards made non-competitively, written justifications for 
equipment or travel will be submitted by the technical office for grant 
officer approval when more than half of the proposed budget is for 
equipment or travel and associated indirect cost. The justification 
shall describe the extent to which the equipment or travel is necessary. 
The grant officer's signature on the award will indicate approval of the 
justification.
    (f) The evaluation of the proposal budget will conform to the 
following procedure:
    (1) The technical officer will review the proposer's estimated cost 
for conformance to program requirements and fund availability. The 
results of this review shall be recorded in Column B of the proposed 
Budget Summary Form (Exhibit A to subpart A of this part 1260, available 
at the address given in

[[Page 278]]

Exhibit A). New budgets are not required when the program office 
recommended funding is within twenty percent (20 percent) of the 
proposed amount, provided that, if requested by the proposer, a revised 
scope of work based on the recommended funding is submitted by the 
proposer for acceptance by the technical officer. However, when funding 
decreases in equipment and/or subcontracts are involved, the cognizant 
program office is required to identify the cost element(s) affected by 
the change in funding level.
    (2) The grant officer will review the budget, and any changes made 
by the technical officer, to identify any item which may be unallowable 
under the cost principles, or which appears unreasonable or unnecessary. 
The grant officer will complete Column C of the Budget Summary after 
discussing significant changes with the recipient and/or technical 
office. Requests for details from the recipient should be limited.
    (3) The grant officer will address requests for direct charge of 
equipment in the negotiation summary, and state whether the purchase is 
approved as a direct cost.
    (g) 42 U.S.C. 2459d prohibits NASA from funding any grant for longer 
than one year if the effect is to provide a guaranteed customer base for 
new commercial space hardware or services. The only exception would be 
if an Appropriations Act specifies the new commercial space hardware or 
services to be used.
    (h) NASA reserves the right to either fully fund or incrementally 
fund grants based on fiscal law and program considerations. Incremental 
funding of grants and cooperative agreements shall conform to the 
following procedure:
    (1) When the period of performance for a grant crosses Government 
Fiscal Years, the grant will usually be incrementally funded, using 
appropriations from different Government Fiscal Years. In other 
circumstances, incremental funding may be appropriate. The special 
condition at Sec.  1260.53, Incremental Funding, will be included in any 
grant that is incrementally funded. The grant officer will determine the 
number of incremental funding actions that will be allowed.
    (2) Specific limitations on incremental funding are as follows:
    (i) Grants that are funded using appropriations from different 
Government Fiscal Years should provide funding from the prior fiscal 
year that carries at least one month into the subsequent fiscal year in 
order to facilitate transition of the grant to the subsequent fiscal 
year's funding cycle.
    (ii) Only those grants whose anticipated funding exceeds $100,000 of 
appropriations from a single Government Fiscal Year may be incrementally 
funded within that fiscal year's appropriations.
    (iii) Incremental funding actions to obligate or deobligate funds 
shall not total less than $25,000 unless the action is necessary to 
comply with the requirement to use appropriations from different 
Government Fiscal Years, to fully fund a grant, to close out a grant, or 
to make a corrective accounting adjustment.
    (3) On an exception basis, and with the concurrence of the 
installation Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Deputy CFO for Resources, 
the procurement officer may waive the restrictions set forth in 
paragraphs (h)(2)(i) through (h)(2)(iii) of this section for individual 
funding actions on individual grants. The procurement officer shall 
maintain a record of all such approvals during the fiscal year.
    (4) The restrictions set forth in paragraphs (h)(2)(i) through 
(h)(2)(iii) of this section are not applicable during the period of a 
continuing resolution. During such a period, NASA will nonetheless 
endeavor to fund individual grants using reasonably sized increments.
    (i) Proposals for efforts that involve printing, binding, and 
duplicating in excess of 25,000 pages are subject to the Government 
Printing and Binding Regulations, No. 26, February 1990, S. Pub. 101-9, 
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, published by the 
Congressional Joint Committee on Printing. The technical office will 
refer such proposals to the Installation Central Printing Management 
Officer (ICPMO). The grant officer will be advised in writing of the 
results of the ICPMO review.

[[Page 279]]

    (j) The provision at Sec.  1260.30, Rights in Data, is to be 
inserted as a standard provision into grants and cooperative agreements 
that don't require cost sharing. Additional language is required for 
cost sharing and/or matching efforts, and in cooperative agreements, as 
set forth in the provision.
    (k) By acceptance of a grant (containing the provision at Sec.  
1260.34) the recipient agrees that it is in compliance with the Clean 
Air and Federal Water Pollution Control Acts. The Administrator may 
approve exemptions from this prohibition under certain circumstances 
under Executive Order 11738. Requests for exemptions or renewals thereof 
shall be made to the Office of Procurement, NASA Headquarters, Program 
Operations Division (Code HS), Washington, DC 20546.
    (l) Requests for acquisition of property may be made by a recipient 
either as part of the original budget proposal or subsequent to award. 
Comprehensive guidance on evaluating requests for acquisition of 
property, vesting of title, and administration issues, is set forth at 
Sec.  1260.74.

[65 FR 62900, Oct. 19, 2000, as amended at 66 FR 54121, Oct. 26, 2001; 
67 FR 30544, May 7, 2002; 68 FR 28709, May 27, 2003; 68 FR 35290, June 
13, 2003]