This document is meant to give you a good idea of the various administrative processes involved during an ATP project. By providing this information upfront, we hope that indeed you and your JV partner(s) will be ready to start an ATP project immediately, if you receive an ATP award. We would greatly appreciate your Feedback and Suggestions for improving it. Below is a chronological flowsheet for the various events which take place during the life of an ATP award. Click on the underlined events to get more detailed information about them.

ATP COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS

According to 31 U.S.C., Section 6305, a cooperative agreement is used whenever:

1. the principal purpose of the relationship between the Federal Government and the recipient is the transfer of money, property, or services, or anything of value to the recipient to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by Federal statute; and
2. the executive agency, acting for the Federal Government, will be substantially involved in tracking the progress and goals of the relationship.

A cooperative agreement is distinct and different from a "grant" or "contract". In a grant, there is substantially less government involvement. A contract is an agreement between the recipient and the government whereby a specific supply or product of work is purchased by the government for its direct benefit or use.

The NIST Grants Officer has final signatory authority to issue an ATP cooperative agreement (award). The NIST grants office deals with the recipient on matters related to the cooperative agreement award and works in close consultation with the other members of the ATP Project Management Team (PMT), NIST and DoC staff during the award process. From an administrative perspective, the typical ATP award has the following major components:

• CD-450 - Financial Assistance Award
• project budget NIST-1262 and NIST-1263;
• ATP Special Award Conditions;
• ATP General Terms and Conditions;
• Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions (see DoC Standard Terms and Conditions);
• administrative requirements of 15 CFR Part 14;
• applicable Federal cost principles; i.e.,
• FAR Part 31.2 for for-profit companies;
• OMB Circular A-21 for educational institutions;
• OMB Circular A-122 for other non-profits.
• 45 CFR Part 74, Appendix E for hospitals
• applicable audit requirements; i.e.,
  • Government Auditing Standards (GAS), issued by the Comptroller General of the United States (the Yellow Book)
  • OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations
  • Program-specific Audit Guidelines for ATP Cooperative Agreements with Single Companies or
  • Program-Specific Audit Guidelines for Advanced Technology Program (ATP) Cooperative Agreements with Joint Ventures.

Further, if a joint venture (JV) is involved, the cooperative agreement file must also include a fully executed JV agreement. Historically, most of the ATP cooperative agreements which took a significant length of time to negotiate were for JV awards, and the delay resulted from difficulties in completion of the JV agreement.

Special Award Conditions are specific to a particular project. For example, the names of the recipients and each JV participant, administrative and project management personnel, the total dollar amount of the award, and the total amount of the Federal and company cost shares for the first year. Additional special award conditions may be added to the cooperative agreement to address any special concerns.

Although the ATP General Terms and Conditions can vary from year to year and between competitions, they are usually fixed, at least for all the awards in a particular competition. Although the Terms and Conditions used in a competition to which you apply may be slightly different, they will be in effect for the life of the award.

Although the grants specialist begins with the budget and budget narrative that is in the original proposal, the final, awarded budget may differ from the proposal budget if:

• NIST changes the scope of work in a way which affects the budget (e.g. deletions of tasks);
• NIST review of the budget identifies unallowable costs or other concerns.

Last, before final execution (signing) of a cooperative agreement, the following certifications, determinations and clearances must be completed:

• Signed copies of Form SF 424B, "Assurances - Non-Constructions Programs".
• Signed copies of CD-346, Applicant for Funding Assistance

• Signed copies of Form CD-511, "Certifications Regarding Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free Workplace Requirements and Lobbying", for each JV member are received by NIST.
• The proposer(s) are not on the Government-wide list of Debarred, Suspended or otherwise disallowed organizations.
• The proposer(s) have no outstanding accounts receivable with the Federal government. An award cannot be made if proposer(s) have any delinquent accounts receivable that is more than 90 days past due or more than $5,000, unless there is an approved repayment schedule in effect and payments are current.
• If a proposing company is owned by a foreign-based company, it is subject to a foreign determination of eligibility. In addition to the selection criteria related to U.S. economic benefit, ATP must determine whether the country of origin (1) affords U.S.-owned companies with opportunities comparable to those afforded to any other company to participate in programs similar to the ATP, (2) affords U.S. companies local investment opportunities comparable to those afforded to any other company, and (3) provides effective protection of U.S.-owned intellectual property rights.
• For joint ventures, JV Agreement has been executed by all partners and approved by NIST. [Go to a sample JV agreement.]
• Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) clearance has been obtained. This is a clearance given by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Export Administration which determines if the proposer, or any JV member, has violated the export laws of the United States.
• Office of Inspector General (OIG) clearance has been obtained. This review by the OIG is to determine whether there are any outstanding audit issues.
• Office of General Counsel (OGC) clearances have been obtained. This review is to determine that the award is legally sufficient.

AWARD START DATE

ATP recipients cannot begin to incur costs before the beginning of the "award period," which is specified in the cooperative agreement.

PROJECT RENEWALS

Generally, NIST funds are obligated to an ATP award one year at a time. Before each anniversary date of the project, the ATP Project Management Team (PMT), after review of the progress to date and evaluation of the plan and budget for the subsequent year, determines whether the project still meets the ATP selection criteria and maintains fidelity with the scope of work defined by the cooperative agreement. The PMT consists of the Grants specialist, technical specialist and business specialist, one of whom serves as the ATP program manager and all of whom are named in the cooperative agreement. The PMT may also include one or more technical experts from the NIST labs. If the PMT recommends that the award be continued, and if sufficient funding is available, NIST will renew the award for another year.

PROJECT EXPIRATION DATE

After the project expiration date, which is last day of the award period, recipients cannot incur any costs for R&D activities. The ATP statute limits single-company awards to a maximum of three years and limits joint venture awards to a maximum of five years.

POST PROJECT ACTIVITIES

Within 90 days after the project's expiration date, ATP recipients may incur reasonable costs for preparation of the following documents all of which are required under an ATP award:

• final technical report;
• final business report;
• final patent report [sample cover page for this report];
• final financial status report (Form SF-269A) which summaries the funding outlays for the project;
• final request for reimbursement (Form SF-270);
• Equipment Inventory Report–a sample form for listing the equipment procured for the project and having a current market value of more than $5,000;
• status of the final project audit report.