(a) A Participant may utilize the services of a subrecipient to implement activities under the agreement if this is provided for in the agreement. The subrecipient may receive CCC-provided funds, program income, or other resources from the Participant for this purpose. The Participant must enter in to a written subaward with the subrecipient and comply with the applicable provisions of 2 CFR 200.331 and/or the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), if applicable. If required by the agreement, the Participant must provide a copy of such subaward to FAS, in the manner set forth in the agreement, prior to the transfer of CCC-provided funds or program income to the subrecipient.
(b) A Participant must include the following requirements in a subaward:
(1) The subrecipient is required to comply with the applicable provisions of this part and 2 CFR parts 200 and 400 and/or the FAR, if applicable. The applicable provisions are those that relate specifically to subrecipients, as well as those relating to non-Federal entities that impose requirements that would be reasonable to pass through to a subrecipient because they directly concern the implementation by the subrecipient of one or more activities under the agreement. If there is a question about whether a particular provision is applicable, FAS will make the determination.
(2) The subrecipient must pay to the Participant the value of CCC-provided funds, interest, or program income that are not used in accordance with the subaward, or that are lost, damaged, or misused as a result of the subrecipient's failure to exercise reasonable care.
(3) In accordance with 2 CFR 200.501(h), subawards must include a description of the applicable compliance requirements and the subrecipient's compliance responsibility. Methods to ensure compliance may include pre-award audits, monitoring during the agreement, and post-award audits.
(c) A Participant must monitor the actions of a subrecipient as necessary to ensure that CCC-provided funds and program income provided to the subrecipient are used for authorized purposes in compliance with applicable U.S. Federal laws and regulations and the subaward and that performance indicator targets are achieved for both activities and results under the agreement.
(d) Participants have full and sole responsibility for the legal sufficiency of all subawards they may enter into with one or more subrecipients in order to carry out an approved project and shall assume financial liability for any costs or claims resulting from suits, challenges, or other disputes based on subawards entered into by the Participant. Neither CCC nor any other agency of the United States Government nor any official or employee of CCC, FAS, USDA, or the United States Government has any obligation or responsibility with respect to Participant subawards with third parties.
(e) Participants are responsible for ensuring to the greatest extent possible that the terms, conditions, and costs of subawards constitute the most economical and effective use of project funds.
(f) All fees for professional and technical services paid to subrecipients in any part with project funds must be covered by written subawards.
(g) A Participant shall:
(1) Ensure that all expenditures for goods and services in excess of $25 reimbursed by CCC are documented by a purchase order or invoice;
(2) Ensure that no employee, officer, board member, agent, or the employee's, officer's, board member's, or agent's family, partners, or an organization that employs or is about to employ any of the parties indicated herein, participates in the review, selection, award or administration of a subaward in which such entities or their affiliates have a financial or other interest;
(3) Conduct all contracting in an openly competitive manner. Individuals who develop or draft specifications, requirements, statements of work, invitations for bids, or requests for proposals for procurement of any goods or services, and such individuals' families or partners, or an organization that employs or is about to employ any of the aforementioned shall be excluded from competition for such procurement;
(4) Conduct all awarding of grants and agreements in an openly competitive manner, except under the following conditions:
(i) Non-monetary awards of property or services;
(ii) Awards of less than $75,000;
(iii) Awards to fund continuing work already started under a previous award;
(iv) Awards that cannot be delayed due to an emergency or a substantial danger to health or safety;
(v) Awards when it is impracticable to secure competition; or
(vi) Awards to fund unique and innovative unsolicited applications;
(5) Base each solicitation for professional or technical services on a clear and accurate description of and requirements related to the services to be procured;
(6) Perform and document some form of fee, price, or cost analysis, such as a comparison of price quotations to market prices or other price indicia, to determine the reasonableness of the offered fees or prices for procurements in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold defined at 2 CFR 200.88; and
(7) Document the decision-making process.