Information for NOAA Restoration Center Award Recipients

Working with NOAA

Your award is a cooperative agreement. This means that NOAA intends to keep in regular contact and have substantial involvement in award activities, including participating in meetings, reviewing documents such as design plans, and providing other technical assistance (for example, with permitting and monitoring).

If there are any changes in your plans, such as modifications to your project scope, budget, or timeline, please let your NOAA project team know. There may be implications under the National Environmental Policy Act and you may need to submit documentation to remain in accordance with the terms and conditions of your award.

We also look forward to hearing your plans for project outreach, and discussing how we can collaborate.

Award Oversight and Assistance Roles

NOAA Restoration Center staff members at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, and regional offices across the country, are available to help you throughout the duration of your award. Your cooperative agreement award document specifies your Federal Program Officer and primary Technical Monitor.

NOAA Staff and Their Roles

• Federal Program Officer (FPO): Provides award oversight and assists with adherence to federal requirements.
• Technical Monitor (TM): Provides technical expertise, local oversight, and environmental compliance analysis.
• Grants Management Division (GMD) Staff: Approves awards and amendments, reviews financial reports, and conducts award close-outs.

eRA Commons 

When the NOAA Grants Management Division officially extends an offer of financial assistance, you receive an email notifying you of the award. eRA Commons  is a web-based system used to manage your award once it has been accepted. eRA is separate from Grants.gov, which allows you to search and apply for federal grants. Recipients use eRA Commons to accept awards and to submit documents and requests to NOAA, including progress reports and Revision Requests (e.g., extension requests, budget changes, etc.). You will not receive any paper documents from NOAA regarding your award.

All organizations need to register in eRA before NOAA can make an award. To accept your award in eRA Commons, your organization’s authorized representative, referred to as a signing official in eRA,will need to log in to eRA. This is also a good time to ensure you have assigned any other needed user roles in eRA, to ensure the right people are notified of reporting requirements and other upcoming deadlines. The Primary Investigator/Project Director (PI/PD) role is particularly important. You can access the eRA Help Desk at 1-866-504-9552, or by submitting a web ticket. 

Helpful Resources

• Accepting or Declining a Department Of Commerce Award
• Department of Commerce eRA Applicant and Grantee Training
• Managing and Creating Accounts in eRA

Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP)

The Department of Treasury ASAP system is the most common and most efficient means by which recipients draw down award funds. ASAP allows you to have funding directly transferred from an established ASAP account to your organization’s bank account, generally within one business day.

If you do not have an ASAP account, please start the enrollment process as soon as possible as there are multiple steps that can take some time to complete and you cannot be paid until you are registered. To register for ASAP, follow the instructions provided to you by your FPO. Recipients with an ASAP account, who haven’t used ASAP with NOAA before, will still need to follow the initial enrollment steps, to connect your account to NOAA.

Once your information has been entered into the ASAP system, the Point of Contact that you designate will receive a username and password (in separate emails), along with instructions on how to complete the enrollment process. If you need help with enrollment, please contact the ASAP Help Desk at (855) 868-0151, or Tina Stevens at NOAA at 301-628-1319 or tina.l.stevens@noaa.gov.

You should withdraw funds from ASAP to pay for project related expenses when you need the funds. Funds may be drawn down before you need to make a payment, but advances not disbursed in a timely manner should be returned to the ASAP account. For more information about ASAP and allowable uses of funds, please review guidance on the ASAP website and 2 CFR 200. Award funds can generally only be used for activities which occur during the award period (special cases can be discussed with your Federal Program Officer). You have 90 days after your award expires to access your ASAP account and draw down remaining funds needed to pay for activities completed during the award period.

Revision Requests

Changing Aspects of Your Cooperative Agreement

We understand that you may need to make changes to your award. As mentioned above, requests to change various aspects of your project should be submitted through eRA Commons. The changes that require Award Action Requests are described in your award conditions and 2 CFR 200, primarily in section 308-Revision of Budget and Program Plans and section 407-Prior Written Approval. Directions on how to submit Award Action Requests are available on the eRA Online Help page. These requests must be submitted 30 days in advance, and we recommend discussing them with your Federal Program Officer and Technical Monitor 60 days in advance, so that they can help guide you through the process.

Award Terms and Conditions

By accepting your award you agree to comply with the following terms and conditions:

• Department of Commerce (DOC) Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions
• NOAA Administrative Standard Award Conditions
• Your Specific Award Conditions
• The appropriate sections of the Code of Federal Regulations

All this information can be viewed in your Notice of Award in eRA Commons. NOAA staff are happy to help you understand these terms. Your Federal Program Officer and Technical Monitor will work with you to understand and comply with the award terms and conditions.

Recipients and NOAA staff frequently discuss progress reports, monitoring plans, and environmental compliance needs, but you should feel free to request additional guidance on any award term or condition that is not clear to you.

NOAA is adopting the updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations on October 1 2024. The version of the regulations that applies to you is the one in effect when your award was signed. Consequently, you may need to use the “view historical version” or “timeline” functions to see the regulations relevant to your award.

Helpful Resources

• Award Action Request Guidance (March 2022 version) (PDF, 41 pages)
• NOAA Budget Guidance (PDF, 9 pages)
• SF-424A: Used to submit budget revisions (PDF, 3 pages)

Congratulations on receiving a NOAA award. If you have any questions at any time, please contact your Federal Program Officer or Technical Monitor. We look forward to working with you.