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This regulation proposes to streamline the process for Administration for Native Americans (ANA) grant program applicants to request a waiver for non-federal share for the 20 percent match required by statute for ANA grants. The regulation will also propose the ability for current grantees to request an emergency waiver for the non-federal share match.

Statement of Need:

The Native American Programs Act of 1974, as amended, (NAPA) requires projects awarded funding through sections 803, 804, and 805 provide a 20 percent match of the total cost of the project, unless a waiver is obtained through objective criteria as outlined in ANA’s regulations. The current regulations outline the requirements and criteria for applicants to request a waiver for non-federal share (NFS) at 45 CFR part 1336.50 at time of application for a new or continuation award. The COVID-19 pandemic had a detrimental impact on the economies and financial resources of ANA’s Native American recipients, most of whom had to close their borders to protect their citizens.  Many tribal enterprises were forced to close, and tourism revenues became non-existent.  Partnerships and vendors were no longer able to contribute previously committed resources for NFS. During this time, many recipients grew concerned that they would be unable to fully meet their NFS of their grant award. ANA explored the possibility of providing emergency NFS waivers to ANA grantees. Unfortunately, ANA learned that it does not currently have the authority to issue emergency NFS waivers, as neither emergency waiver authority nor a process to approve such requests exists in ANA’s regulations. Current regulations require waiver requests to be submitted at the time of application or during the non-competitive continuation process. This request to update ANA’s regulation would provide a new provision for recipients to request an emergency NFS waiver in the event of a natural or man-made emergency such as a public health pandemic.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

The Native American Programs Act of 1974, as amended, (NAPA) requires projects awarded funding through sections 803, 804, and 805 provide a 20 percent match of the cost of the project, unless a waiver is obtained through objective criteria as outlined in ANA’s regulations. Current regulations outline the requirements and criteria to request a waiver at 45 CFR part 1336.50 at time of application for a new or continuation award. However, there is no existing regulations or criteria to provide an emergency waiver for NFS to recipients experience a natural or man-made disaster or public health emergency such as COVID-19.

Alternatives:

The alternative would be to not offer the emergency waiver.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

There are no known costs to the program by issuing this rule.  Benefits - This proposed rule is responsive to the President’s Executive Order 13995: Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery and the Executive Order on Economic Relief Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic and also responsive to the needs of Native American communities.  Existing regulations states that ANA must determine that approval of an NFS waiver will not prevent the award of other grants at levels it believes are desirable for the purposes of the program. Approval of this emergency waiver regulation will also decrease the potential audit findings of entities not meeting the required NFS.  In addition, it reduces further harm to recipients that are impacted by an emergency situation which caused unforeseen and additional financial hardships. 

Risks:

There are no known risks to the program by issuing this rule.