On August 7, 2024, USAID issued an Acquisition & Assistance Policy Directive to implement OMB’s recent revisions to the Uniform Grant Guidance. Pub K is providing a review of each substantive change USAID has made to its standard provisions. The post highlights the changes to the standard provisions for Fixed Amount Awards to Nongovernmental Organizations.
- M16 Trafficking in Persons – In addition to clarifying edits, the revisions specify four bases for termination of an award or take remedial actions in para. (b). Para. (d) provides the USAID offices that must be notified when a covered entity “has engaged in conduct described in para. These offices are the Responsibility, Safeguarding and Compliance Division at disclosures@usaid.gov, the OIG, and the AO. (a). For awards exceeding $500,000, the recipient must certify annually it has a plan and has implemented procedures to prevent activities described in para. (a), and has no knowledge of entities engaged in prohibited activities. Note the link to Department of State examples of awareness programs. Several definitions were either added or modified in para, (i)
- M10 Enhancement of Grantee Employee Whistleblower Protection – Edits for clarity and consistency, noting that the whistleblowing must be USAID-specific.
- M14 Mandatory Disclosures – Requires prompt disclosure of “credible evidence of any violation of Federal criminal law involving fraud, conflict of interest or bribery … or violation of the civil False Claims Act.” Applicant and recipient disclosures must be made in writing to the Office of Inspector General, copying the prime recipient.
- M16 Conflict of Interest – Conflict of interest has been expanded herein to include “board members.”
- M20 Prohibition on Certain Telecommunication and Video Surveillance Equipment and Services – Formerly RAA 24. Allows use [not purchases] of prohibited equipment or services when using award funds incurred for costs on or after October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2028 – if the recipient determines that there is no available alternate eligible source. See para. (b) and (c).
- M21 System for Award Management and Unique Entity Identifier – Formerly RAA2. Requires “the recipient to maintain a current and active registration in SAM.gov … until the recipient submits all final reports required under the Federal award or receives the final payment, whichever is later.” “Potential subrecipients [not second-tier subrecipients] must have a Unique Entity Identifier to receive a subaward.”
- RAA1 Fixed Amount Award Advance Payment and Refunds – The Applicability language has been revised to replace reference to GAAP and IASG standards of funds control and accounting with the standards found in Non-US NGO Standard Provision entitled “Accounting, Record Retention and Access, and Audits.” RAA1 states that the recipient must maintain advances of USAID funds in interest-bearing accounts unless, among others, “the bank requires too high an average or minimum balance or is not readily accessible (for example, due to public or political unrest in the country.)” Interest earned over $500/year must be returned annually through the HHS Payment Management System.
- RAA3 Reporting Subawards and Executive Compensation – “This provision is required in all solicitations and awards where the total Federal funding is anticipated to equal or exceed $30,000.” “The recipient must report [no later than the end of the month following the month in which the subaward was issued] each subaward described in para. (a)(1) of this provision to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) at http://www,fsrs.gov. Total compensation of recipient executives must be reported if in the preceding fiscal year, the recipient received 80 percent or more of the recipient’s annual gross revenues from Federal procurement contracts (and subcontracts) and Federal awards (and subawards) …”
- RAA22 Award Terms and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters – Edits for clarity and consistency.
- RAA25 Never Contract with the Enemy – Edits for clarity and consistency