Federal Shudown 2019

OSP and the OVPR are trying to stay current on the effect of the Federal Shutdown on extramural awards.  In short proposals should continue to be finalized and submitted by the posted deadlines.  While there may be extensions most affected Federal Agencies has stated that they will continue to accept proposals through their electronic systems as stated in the current deadlines, although processing of those proposals will not begin until the agencies reopen.  The information below is pulled from an excellent summary on the University of Washington Website.

Update: Partial Federal Government Shutdown – Proposal and Award Review

Update 12.28.18: Guidance from Some Affected Agencies

We have received more guidance from some agencies during the partial lapse in federal funding: Bureau of Land Management, Forest Services, NASA, the National Park Services, National Science Foundation, the Office of Justice Programs, and USDA ezFedGrants.

General Guidance

Research NOT Dependent on Agency Resources

Unless directed otherwise by awarding agency:

If the research is not accessing agency locations, resources, data, personnel, or additional funding, the work should continue as long as you have available award funding. Performance beyond the time period or amounts covered by the award is not allowed.

Exceeding allotted award amounts is not recommended, may not be reimbursed by the sponsor, and will fall to the department to resolve any potential budget deficit.

Agency Resource Dependent Research

If the research DOES depend on accessing agency locations, resources, data, personnel, or additional funding, the work must cease until appropriations have been reinstated and further notice from the agency sponsor.

Specific agency info has been updated in the list of Affected Agencies below.

The Office of Research is closely monitoring the Government Shutdown. While parts of the federal government (such as DHHS) are fully funded for the entire Fiscal Year ’19, other agencies are not.

Information in this guidance applies only to those agencies affected by the partial shutdown, NIH for example, should not be affected.

We will keep you posted via MRAM and this Announcement as we learn more.

During a Shutdown

Affected federal agency operations cease during a shutdown. These federal agencies may temporarily stop making payments. Expect a lack of federal communications related to affected agency proposals and awards.

OSP will continue with business as usual within any constraints created by unavailable sponsor systems and staff. OSP’s goal is to process items received to the extent possible.

Affected U.S. Departments & Agencies:

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has published agency contingency plans along with FAQs and Special Instructions for Agencies Affected.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration

• National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
• US Forest Services (USFS):
• If funds are already obligated you can continue work until further notice from USFS
• New awards will not be issued
• FS oversight, support, input etc. is not available
• Payment requests can’t be submitted or approved
• Review the Lapse in Appropriations FAQs posted on the agency contingency plan website
• USDA ezFEDGrants System
• ezFED Grants remains available, however, there is no system support until funding is reinstated. If you have an issue with ezFedGrants, email: ezFedGrants@cfo.usda.gov  or use the “Contact USDA” feature in the application. ezFedGrants staff will respond when operations resume.

Other USDA Agencies

Commerce, Justice, and Science

• National Science Foundation (NSF): Information About the Government Shutdown for NSF Proposers and Grantees
• Will continue to accept proposals in accordance with published deadlines
• Proposals will not be processed until normal operations resume
• No new funding opportunities will be issued
• No new grants or cooperative agreements will be awarded
• Awardees may continue performance under their NSF awards to extent funds are available and within the awarded period of performance
• No payments will be made
• Grantee-approved no-cost extensions (i.e. notification in Fastlane) can be processed
• NSF-approved no-cost extension will NOT be processed
• National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):
• Research dependent on NASA resources/facilities etc.:
• Cease work, preserve agency resources, take all actions necessary to reduce costs during the shutdown.
• Research that doesn’t require access to NASA resources:
• Continue work as long as there is available funding
• Special Condition 1260.53 Incremental Funding (for awards subject to 14 CFR Part 1260) or Term and Condition 1800.921 Incremental Funding (for awards subject to 2 CFR Part 1800) of your grant or cooperative agreement specifies the total amount of funding that has been allotted to your grant or cooperative agreement.
• Office of Justice Programs:
• OJP staff are available to assist grantees, stakeholders, and the public until 5:00 p.m. (EST) on Friday, January 4, 2019. OJP systems and services will be available.
• The Grants Payment Request System (GPRS) can accept grant payment requests, however, payment requests received after 12.26.18 will not be processed until those Department staff return.
• Should the lapse in appropriations last beyond 1.04.19, OJP will contact awardees with further guidance.

Other Commerce Bureaus & Agencies and DOJ Agencies

Homeland Security

Homeland Security Operational Components

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

Transportation Administrations

HUD Offices

Interior and Environment

• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• BLM will notify if work on a project should cease during the shutdown.
• Projects that are continuing may experience delays in processing payments .
• Fish & Wildlife (FWS)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

DOI Bureaus & Offices

State, Foreign Operations

State Dept. Bureaus and Offices 

Affected Sponsor Applications

Use the sponsor’s posted sponsor deadlines to calculate your proposal deadline.

Grants.gov: We expect Grants.gov will be up and that proposals can be submitted, but they will not be forwarded to affected federal sponsor agencies. These applications will be in a holding pattern in Grants.gov.

Fastlane/Research.gov: Is up and running although the help desk is unavaible.

Other: We will provide details on affected sponsor systems used for proposal submission, as they become known.

If a federal sponsor system has been shut down, applications will be submitted once these systems are back online.

If the sponsor has not issued new due dates, OSP will require that application be back in OSP no less than three business days from the sponsor due date.

Awards

Federal awards from affected agencies will not be issued during the federal shutdown. Awards that have already reached OSP prior to a shutdown will be processed and sent to OCGA.

Awards from affected agencies that have been issued a UMBC project number can begin or continue work unless notification is received from the sponsor. Cooperative agreements could be affected if federal participation is required, but not available.

Once affected agency systems are back online, OSP will resume processing affected awards after all outstanding current proposals are submitted