Idaho Bulletin 250-8-1
Attachment

CRITERIA FOR REVIEWING OBLIGATIONS AND DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

District Conservationists and Field Office Staff are required to review all unliquidated obligations. To review and validate the obligations, you must consider the following:

1. ACTION: During your review you will determine if unliquidated obligations may be deobligated and provide a written notification (CPA-13) to the state office personnel.  You must consider the following, if applicable:

• Expected performance or completion of practices for each contract item with unliquidated obligations;
• The completeness and accuracy of information provided by participant(s);
• Consider the period of fund availability; i.e. contract start and end dates;
• Consider the timeliness of delivery or performance;
• Has the program participant provided adequate documentation and certification for practice completion, as well as a signed and dated payment application form CCC 1245;
• Whether funds have been expended consistent with the percentage of completion;
• Whether remaining funds are sufficient to complete the conservation practices in accordance with the specification;
• Has there been justification (detailed) for modification changes in accordance with the specifications and “within the scope of the contract”;
• Reasons for lack of activity, i.e. describe any pertinent reasons for lack of implementation progress such as appeal, drought, floods, or other undue hardship for the participant and are they out of the control of the participant;
• Are there any provisions of the contract that may prohibit Deobligation;
• Any other relevant factors that impacts the expectation of completion of the obligation.

2. ACTION: A CPA-13, Contract Review, will be completed which will include all the necessary documentation for contract review and obligation review purposes.

3. ACTION: Prepare justification statements for the period of inactivity and the bona-fide purpose of the remaining obligation (see the following example).  This will be included on the CPA-13.  You will sign and date the CPA-13 form.  Attach a separate sheet for documentation if needed.
    
4. ACTION: Obligations with no activity for the most recent twelve (12) months will be deobligated unless there is a documented bona-fide purpose for the obligation to remain and a justification for the period of inactivity.
    
5. ACTION: Complete all modifications needed, in ProTracts, and have the contract holder sign if signature(s) are required.
    
6. ACTION: Upon completion of each review send a copy of the CPA-13 to Jan Mervin at the State Office.  DO NOT WAIT until you are done with all of your reviews to send these in.  We need to track them.
    
7. ACTION: After you have completed all reviews, initial or sign the spreadsheet to show the obligation has been reviewed and return a copy to either Jan Mervin or Mary Goode.

Documentation to Support Obligation in Contract File

The original signed contract which must show:

FFIS document/contract number

Period/Schedule of performance

Contract Review Documentation

Modifications or prior adjustments

NRCS and Participant/Vendor signatures and dates

Dollar amounts

Payment Application(s)

Technical Certification or Completion documentation

Signature authority documentation

Example of Documentation for Bona Fide Purpose and Justification for Period of Inactivity

Prepare a detailed description of why you need the obligation funds today, including how the remaining obligated dollars will be used, and identifying why the obligation has been inactive.  Please reference contract reviews performed per Paragraph 512.55 of the Conservation Programs Contracting Manual.

EXAMPLE – Farm Bill conservation contract:

The implementation of practices is now on schedule.  The last contract item originally scheduled to be applied in 2006 with a payment amount of $1,550 was rescheduled to 2008 due to the drought conditions.  The contract has been modified to reflect the revised schedule of operations.   The contract review completed in 2007 confirmed agreement on the revised practice application schedule, the contract is now on schedule, and the program participant will complete their contract in 2008.

These statements should be recorded on the CPA-13, in text box 7 - Revision of Plan or Modification.

ProTracts Contract Review Module and Reviewing Open Financial Obligations

During the normal contract review process the Designated Conservationist should also consciously consider the open obligation.  This will be documented on the NRCS-CPA-13 with the addition of the following information:

Contracting Policy - Conservation Program Manual, Title 440, Part 512

Conservation Program Contracting, Section 512.55 describes the policy expectations for contract reviews.  A link is provided below:

NRCS eDirectives - Subpart F – Contract Administration

512.55   Contract Reviews

A.  Evaluating Contract Implementation

Contract evaluation (follow-up) is a part of the conservation planning process. (See Exhibits, section 512.91 F.)  A contract review will be required if the schedule of operations is not being followed or if all required contract provisions are not being met. 

B.  Annual Reviews Required

The Designated Conservationist will review contract implementation with the CPC participant annually.

Policy in section 512.40 (9) is often incorrectly cited for the sole justification to consider an uncompleted practice to be a valid open obligation when it is to be completed within one year of the scheduled date.  Policy states that a contract modification is not required in this circumstance, however, further justification and documentation is required in the form of a contract review on a NRCS-CPA-13.  This policy language was clarified in Amendment 40 of the CPM dated November 2007.  A link is provided here for your convenience:

NRCS eDirectives - Subpart E - Contracting

The annual review process is now documented within the ProTracts Contract Review Module and is trackable under the Contract Review History.  This feature will prove invaluable in the open obligations review process.  Training on the use of this module was provided in September 2007.  A link to the training materials and a Net Replay of the training session is posted on the ProTracts Home Page and may be accessed through the link below. 

ProTracts Training Materials: 09/18/2007 --- Recording of Contract Review Module Training

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