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A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download
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ARRA Reporting and Certification Requirements UpdateMay 17, 2010 Subject:
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED: This letter provides guidance covering multiple ARRA requirements. It is important that you review this letter thoroughly to ensure your local educational agency (LEA) is fully compliant with all requirements detailed herein. Specifically, this letter provides more detailed information on the following:
1. ARRA Section 1511 Infrastructure Certification RequirementsGrantees are permitted to use funds for infrastructure investments under the following ARRA grant programs:
While infrastructure investment costs are allowable under these grants, TEA encourages grantees to be mindful of the significant compliance obligations and reporting requirements before deciding to use ARRA funds for infrastructure investments. Additionally, grantees who have included infrastructure investments in their grant applications may wish to reconsider their decision and may decide to amend their applications to remove infrastructure investments. Please be reminded that if your LEA uses funds for contracted construction, modernization, renovation, or repair, and the cost will exceed $2,000, you must comply with the Davis Bacon Act. And regardless of the dollar amount used for construction, modernization, renovation, or repair (contracted or not), you must also comply with the Buy America Act and all other federal and state requirements pertaining to construction, modernization, renovation, and repair. Please refer to your eGrants application guidelines, instructions, and provisions and assurances for more information on these requirements. LEAs that will go forward with the infrastructure investments included in their application for any of the above grants must also comply with ARRA, Subtitle A, Section 1511, infrastructure certification requirements. The certification must include the following:
In addition, TEA requires that before the LEA receives (draws down) infrastructure investment funds, the certification be posted to the LEA’s Web site and a link provided to www.recovery.gov . If the LEA does not have a Web site, the LEA must request that the LEA’s regional education service center (ESC) post the certification to its Web site with a link provided to www.recovery.gov . Please e-mail TEA at arrastimulus@tea.state.tx.us to request contact information for your ESC regarding certification posting. LEAs or ESCs will link to www.recovery.gov by adding the hyperlink, www.recovery.gov, to the certification Web site posting. TEA also requires LEAs to report Section 1511 certifications to TEA through the Expenditure Reporting (ER) system prior to drawing down infrastructure investment funds. For additional information on Section 1511 certification requirements, please refer to Attachment 1. 2. ARRA Section 1512 Quarterly Reporting Requirements and Continuous Corrections Period.For the first three reporting quarters, 100% of TEA’s ARRA grantees submitted the required Section 1512 reports through TEA’s ER system. Please be aware that ARRA Section 1512 requires recipients of ARRA funds to report quarterly on the use of those funds. Section 1512 reporting requirements apply to the following grants:
For each ARRA grant awarded to your LEA, please continue to submit the required Section 1512 quarterly report by the due date listed in the following table.
*Quarter numbers are based on the 2010 Calendar Year. TEA will implement a Continuous Corrections Period after each round of Section 1512 quarterly reporting. LEAs will be able to make corrections to the Section 1512 data entered in ER for the most recently ended quarter. Please refer to the table above for the Continuous Corrections Period beginning and ending dates for each quarter. Additional information will be provided through TEA webinars on May 20, 2010 and May 25, 2010. 3. ARRA SFSF UpdatesThe following guidance applies to ARRA SFSF grantees. a. 100% Draw-Down and Required ReportingARRA SFSF grantees that have or will have drawn down 100% of their ARRA SFSF funds prior to September 30, 2010, the end date of the grant, are still required to complete Section 1512 quarterly reporting for the second and third quarters (April 1, 2010–June 30, 2010 and July 1, 2010–Sept. 30, 2010, respectively). The Section 1512 reporting due dates for these two quarters are July 5, 2010 and October 5, 2010, respectively. b. ARRA SFSF Progress ReportsThe ARRA SFSF request for application (RFA), Application Guidelines—Part 2: Program Guidelines and Use of Funds, includes a section on Activity, Progress, and Evaluation Reports (p. 29 of 40). Please be aware that the three quarterly activity/progress reports listed in this section of the RFA are not required for ARRA SFSF and will be removed from the RFA through an errata notice. The errata notice will be posted to the TEA Grant Opportunities page (http://burleson.tea.state.tx.us/GrantOpportunities/forms/GrantProgramSearch.aspx). From the drop-down list, select the 2009-2010 ARRA Title XIV State Fiscal Stabilization Funds Grant Application. c. ARRA SFSF Final Evaluation ReportIt is anticipated that, at a minimum, grantees will be required and should be prepared to report on the use of ARRA SFSF funds, including:
Further information regarding the final evaluation report for ARRA SFSF is forthcoming and will be available on TEA’s ARRA Web site under Recent News and Announcements. d. ARRA SFSF, Year 2 FundingThe ARRA SFSF, Year 2 grant application will be posted to eGrants on or about Monday, June 21, 2010. Please be reminded that ARRA SFSF is part of the foundation school program (FSP) allotment. If your LEA does not apply for ARRA SFSF, Year 2 funds, your LEA will not receive full FSP funding for the 2010-2011 school year. 4. Annual Renewal of CCRLEAs that are ARRA grantees are required to register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and receive a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code. ARRA grantees register with CCR only once, but must renew and revalidate their registration at least every 12 months from the date they first registered to ensure that CCR is up to date and in sync with changes that may have been made to Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information. TEA cannot complete CCR registration renewal on behalf of LEAs. If an LEA does not renew its CCR registration, it will expire. An expired CCR registration may impair an LEA’s ability to receive ARRA grant awards, such as the upcoming ARRA SFSF Year 2 grant. Therefore, TEA strongly suggests that LEAs renew their CCR registration prior to the expiration date. LEAs are required to report renewal of their CCR registration to TEA. ER will be modified so that LEAs can report their CCR expiration dates. Further guidance on reporting the CCR expiration date in ER is forthcoming. TEA will verify that each ARRA grantee has renewed its CCR registration. For further information and instructions for CCR renewal, please refer to Attachment 3. 5. Enforcement Actions Related to ARRA RequirementsTEA will continue to monitor LEA compliance with Section 1511 certification requirements, Section 1512 quarterly reporting requirements, and annual renewal of CCR registration. Pursuant to the provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 34, §80.43 and §74.62, if a grantee materially fails to comply with any term of an award, whether stated in a federal statute or regulation, an assurance, in a grant application, or elsewhere, TEA may take one or more of the following enforcement actions as appropriate in the circumstances:
Assistance For program-specific assistance, please use the following contact information, as appropriate:
For questions regarding ARRA reporting requirements, please call (512) 936-3647 or e-mail arrastimulus@tea.state.tx.us. Attachment 1Additional Information on Section 1511 Certification Requirements To aid LEAs in complying with Section 1511 certification requirements, TEA is in the process of completing:
1. Updated Section 1511 GuidanceLEAs may not receive (draw down) infrastructure investment funds made available through ARRA until Section 1511 certification is completed, posted to the LEA’s Web site with a link provided to www.recovery.gov, and reported to TEA in ER. In order to comply with TEA and ARRA Section 1511 certification requirements, LEAs must follow these steps in this order:
Shared Services Arrangements (SSAs)For an SSA where the fiscal agent receives a NOGA under one of the ARRA grants listed above and the member LEA receives approval for an infrastructure investment, both the fiscal agent and the member LEA must meet the Section 1511 certification requirements (i.e., both the fiscal agent and the member LEA must complete the certification and post it to their (or their ESC’s) Web site with a link to www.recovery.gov). The fiscal agent (and not the member LEA) must report the certification to TEA in ER on behalf of itself and the member LEA. Infrastructure Investment Project ChangesIf an infrastructure investment project changes after an LEA has completed, posted, and reported its Section 1511 certification to TEA in ER, the certification must be revised as follows:
Infrastructure Investment Project CancellationsIf an LEA amends its grant application to remove infrastructure investment projects, the LEA must:
2. Model Section 1511 Infrastructure Investment Certification Template TEA has developed a model Section 1511 Infrastructure Investment Certification Template for LEAs to reference when completing and posting their certifications to help LEAs ensure that they have included all required elements in their Section 1511 certifications. Please note that this template is intended as a model to aid LEAs that have not yet completed or posted their Section 1511 certification. If your LEA has already posted a Section 1511 certification that includes all of the required information, there is no need to complete and post this template. If your LEA’s posted certification does not include all of the required information, you must revise and re-post your certification. 3. Section 1511 Reporting in ERTEA requires LEAs to report Section 1511 certifications to TEA through the ER system prior to drawing down infrastructure investment funds. TEA is in the process of modifying the ARRA 1511 Report in ER in order to collect the Web address for the LEA’s posted certification and the date the certification was posted. For LEAs that have already reported Section 1511 certifications in ER, please access your certification and enter the Web address where you posted your certification to your LEA’s (or your ESC’s) website and the date you (or your ESC) posted the certification. For SSAs, fiscal agents will need to include the Web address and posting date for both the fiscal agent and the member LEA. Updated Texas Guidance on Section 1511 Infrastructure Certification Requirements and updated ARRA 1511 Certification ER Entry Procedures (both originally posted in March 2010) will be posted to the ARRA Web site, under Recent News and Announcements, by early June 2010. TEA will begin monitoring ARRA Section 1511 certification reports in ER for this additional information in June 2010. Attachment 2Additional Information on Section 1512 Reporting Continuous Corrections PeriodEffective May 17, 2010, the TEA will re-open the ARRA Reporting area in the ER system to allow LEAs and fiscal agents of SSAs to make corrections to ARRA Section 1512 quarterly reporting data submitted for the period ending March 31, 2010. Corrections may only be made to data submitted for the period ending March 31, 2010. All corrections are due from LEAs to TEA by 5:00 p.m. Central Time on June 4, 2010. To enter corrections please follow the procedures detailed below. Continuous Corrections Period ProcedureTEA has developed the following procedures to allow LEAs to use the ER system to correct any data submitted for the quarter ending March 31, 2010:
Webinars TEA will conduct webinars to provide technical assistance on the ARRA Section 1512 quarterly reporting correction process for all ARRA grants administered by TEA.
LEAs and SSA fiscal agents may register for the webinars at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/webinar.aspx. Instructions for participation will be sent via e‑mail. The e-mail will direct you to the Web address to use to sign on to the webinar and will provide audio information so that you will be able to hear the webinar. Please plan on registering one day prior to the scheduled webinar. Attachment 3Additional Information on CCR RenewalTo view your LEA’s current CCR registration status, use either of the following methods:
LEAs that have registered with CCR will receive a “Central Contractor Registration (CCR) 30 Day Expiration Warning” e-mail from CCR 30 days prior to the expiration of their registration. LEAs that do not renew their CCR registration will receive a “Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Expiration Warning” e-mail from CCR once their registration has expired. These e-mails will provide guidance on renewing CCR registration. TEA strongly suggests that LEAs renew their CCR registration prior to receiving these e-mails. To submit a renewal in CCR:
Please note that new or different CCR registration requirements may have been implemented since your last visit. Your renewal may return an error if a new requirement is not fulfilled. Updating or renewing an active CCR registration takes approximately 24 hours to become effective. Please be advised that TEA does not have the expertise to assist LEAs with CCR renewal nor can TEA complete CCR registration renewal on behalf of LEAs. For further information about renewing CCR registration, please consult the following resources:
Updated guidance for reporting CCR renewal to TEA is forthcoming and will be available on TEA’s ARRA Web site under Recent News and Announcements.  |
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