[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 31 (Friday, February 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8975-8977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03282]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
[CFDA Numbers: 93.581, 93.587, 93.612]
Notice of Final Issuance on the Adoption of Administration for
Native Americans (ANA) Program Policies and Procedures
AGENCY: Administration for Native Americans (ANA), ACF, HHS.
ACTION: Issuance of Final Policy Relating to Funding Opportunity
Announcements.
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SUMMARY: The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is issuing final
interpretive rules, general statements of policy, and rules of agency
organization, procedure, or practice relating to the following Funding
Opportunity Announcements (FOAs): Social and Economic Development
Strategies (hereinafter referred to as SEDS), Sustainable Employment
and Economic Development Strategies (hereinafter referred to as SEEDS),
Native Language Preservation and Maintenance (hereinafter referred to
as Language Preservation), Native Language Preservation and
Maintenance--Esther Martinez Immersion (hereinafter referred to as
Language--EMI), and Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (hereinafter
referred to as ERE).
DATES: The policies proposed in the Federal Register Notice for Public
Comment (78 FR 76834, Dec. 19, 2013) are final and effective
immediately upon this publication.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carmelia Strickland, Director,
Division of Program Operations, ANA (877) 922-9262.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 814 of the Native American Programs
Act of 1974 (NAPA), as amended, requires ANA to provide notice of its
proposed interpretive rules, general statements of policy, and rules of
agency organization, procedure, or practice. The proposed
clarifications, modifications, and new text will appear in the five
Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 FOAs: SEDS, SEEDS, Language Preservation,
Language--EMI, and ERE. ANA published a Notice of Public Comment (NOPC)
in the Federal Register (78 FR 76834, Dec. 19, 2013), with proposed
policy and program clarifications, modifications, and activities
governing standing FOAs beginning with FY 2014 FOAs. The public comment
period was open for 30 days.
This notice transmits ANA's final policy governing standing FOAs to
be published in FY 2014. ANA received 20 comments from entities
affected by the FOAs including 1 Native Hawaiian organization and 4
federally recognized Indian tribes. Each comment was fully considered.
This final notice summarizes all comments received and ANA's responses
to them.
A. Comments and Responses
1. Comment: ANA received two comments in reference to ANA's change
to the frequency with which program progress reports must be submitted.
Beginning with awards issued under the FY 2014 FOAs, program progress
reports must be submitted semi-annually instead of quarterly. One
commenter disagreed with the proposed change and recommended a program
progress report frequency of no less than three times a year in order
to ensure that grantees had time to analyze the progress of project
goals and demonstrate financial accountability. Another commenter
expressed support for the change to semi-annual reporting, expressing
the belief that such reporting frequency could be just as effective as
quarterly reporting provided there was effective communication between
ANA and grantees.
Response: ANA considered establishing a requirement for more
frequent program progress reports but determined that semi-annual
reporting is sufficient to provide grantees with opportunities to
demonstrate the results of their on-going monitoring of project
progress and provide ANA adequate information to maintain project
accountability. ANA plans to increase the interaction it has with
grantees through means other than reporting, including monthly one-on-
one telephone calls and weekly webinars.
2. Comment: ANA received two comments related to proposed language
requiring community involvement in both the development of proposed
projects and in their implementation. One commenter praised ANA for
clarifying that community involvement in the development of the project
is required, as well as in the implementation of the project, and
expressed the recommendation that the
[[Page 8976]]
FOA include language related to how such required community involvement
could be reflected. The other commenter requested clarification on how
community members were expected to be involved in project
implementation given that different community members may be involved
in the implementation of a project than those involved in the planning
and development of a project.
Response: In Section IV.2. Content and Form of Application
Submission of the FOA, ANA has included text providing examples of
community input in the development of projects (e.g., community
meetings and surveys) and in the implementation of projects (e.g.,
recruitment strategies and outreach activities). We believe the
language related to community involvement in Section IV.2. Content and
Form of Application Submission provides sufficient detail in its
examples to provide clear guidance to applicants.
3. Comment: ANA received one comment related to language proposed
in Section III.3. Other of the FOA clarifying the types of projects
that ANA will not fund as prescribed by 45 CFR 1336.33(b). The
commenter asked for clarification of the scope of the funding
prohibition as applied to on-going social service delivery systems.
Response: The text in Section III.3. Other of the FOA includes an
explanation of the types of projects that ANA will not fund under the
categorical prohibitions specified in 45 CFR 1336.33(b). Such
ineligible projects are those that ``provide or expand ongoing social
services that involve cash transfers or other material assistance such
as food, medicine, child care, or income support to individuals.''
Here, we sought to make clear that if, prior to submission of an
application for funding, an applicant was already or had been
delivering social services that involved cash transfers or other
material support, ANA would not fund a project that proposed to use ANA
grant funds to replace or supplant existing sources of funding or to
expand existing social services on an on-going basis.
4. Comment: ANA received one comment related to another part of
Section III.3. Other of the FOA clarifying the kinds of third-party
technical assistance (TA) ANA will not fund as specified by 45 CFR
1336.33(b) and what types of TA are permissible.
Response: The text in Section III.3. Other of the FOA related to
third-party TA that cannot be funded under 45 CFR 1336.33(b) includes
clarification that the prohibition applies only to TA ``that is
intended to be provided to other tribes or Native American
organizations or to non-members of the grantee organization where such
training or technical assistance is duplicative of ANA-funded training
and technical assistance available to tribes and other entities that
are eligible to apply for ANA funding.'' Such clarification makes clear
the scope of activities that fall into the regulatory prohibition
regarding TA ineligible for ANA funding.
5. Comment: ANA received one comment expressing belief that the
technology to enable all applicants to comply with a two-file
application upload limitation was available and that an exemption from
the requirement was unnecessary.
Response: The burden that the two-file application upload
requirement imposed on applicants and potential applicants to convert
and consolidate multiple documents comprised a significant amount of
feedback received related to last year's FOAs. In addition, application
of the two-file upload requirement required ACF to independently
determine what files, or parts of files, to accept when more than two
files were received and page limitations otherwise satisfied. Finally,
in the absence of a tribal consultation (including through a Federal
Register notice soliciting input) we determined that it would not
accord with our Tribal Consultation Policy to impose this requirement
on tribes.
6. Comment: One commenter disagreed with ANA's proposed policy to
move the concept previously articulated in Section V.I. Criteria in the
FOAs as ``Project Integration'' to the stand-alone criterion,
``Objective Work Plan (OWP),'' believing that merely requiring
applicants to complete the OWP form was insufficient to allow reviewers
to evaluate whether all aspects of a proposed project were fully
integrated with one another.
Response: The change ANA proposed to Section V.I. Criteria was made
to facilitate more focused attention on the applicant's integration of
multiple project components documented through completion of the OMB-
approved OWP form. The form requires that the connections among project
goals, objectives, results expected, benefits expected, and activities
be addressed. We believe the OWP form allows for adequate demonstration
of how all aspects of the proposed project are integrated with one
another and do not believe any change to the proposed policy is
necessary.
7. Comment: One commenter objected to ANA's proposed policy
establishing a 150 page limitation for all applications, including
those that allowed for 5-year project periods. The commenter reasoned
that a longer project period and larger budget made such projects more
complex and required more explanation than 150 pages would allow.
Response: We believe 150 pages provide ample opportunity to respond
to FOAs, including those proposing 5-year projects. The FOA makes clear
the maximum page limit excludes required Standard Forms and OMB-
approved forms. On the basis of ANA's consideration of recent grant
competitions, we are confident the maximum 150 page limit applicable to
all FOAs for all project periods is sufficient. Applications that
exceed the maximum page limitation will have excess pages removed.
8. Comments: One federally recognized Alaska Native tribe submitted
comments on 11 separate issues. The commenter expressed ``no issues or
concerns'' related to the name change of one FOA, ANA's administrative
policies, name change of one disqualification factor, projects
ineligible for funding, organizational changes to the evaluation
criteria, and outcomes expected for SEEDS applications. Regarding the
proposed language related to protection of sensitive and/or
confidential information, the proposed weights assigned the evaluation
criteria, the proposed clarification related to the requirement for
community involvement, and language related to ANA's internal review
process, the commenter also expressed support for ANA's changes. The
commenter expressed disagreement with ANA's conflict of interest
administrative policy in Section I. Funding Opportunity Description,
under which, with one categorical exception, staff employed through an
ANA-funded project cannot also serve as a member of the governing body
for the grantee organization. The commenter characterized the policy as
burdensome on communities or villages with small populations.
Response: With regard to the disagreement with ANA's conflict of
interest administrative policy, ANA believes such policy is an
appropriate risk management strategy that, with the categorical
exception, best ensures appropriate grant oversight and independent
judgment in the discharge of obligations under ANA-funded grants.
B. Funding Opportunity Announcements
For information on the projects funded by ANA, please refer to
ANA's Web site for information on our program areas and FOAs: http://
[[Page 8977]]
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ana. We encourage interested applicants to
sign up for updates on these FOA at HHS Grant Forecast at
www.acf.hhs.gov/hhsgrantsforecast.
Once ANA's FOAs have been published, the FY 2014 FOAs can be
accessed at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/office/ana or http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/. Synopses and application forms will
be available at www.Grants.gov.
Statutory Authority: This notice for public comment is required
by Section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA),
as amended.
Lillian A. Sparks Robinson,
Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans.
[FR Doc. 2014-03282 Filed 2-13-14; 8:45 am]
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