Allowable Costs and Activities

1. Allowable Costs and Activities Presentation by Cathy Villa and Santina Gay, US EPA

2. What can we do and how do we do it? Many Tribes struggle with the development of IGAP budgets and workplans as a framework for building environmental programs. This is not a session on the development of budgets and workplans; that comes later in the day. This session will hopefully give you the TOOLS to decide what the possibilities and limitations are for IGAP grant costs and activities.

3. Priority setting • EPA acknowledges it is the Tribe who sets their own environmental priorities for capacity building • EPA can provide guidance on what’s allowable under IGAP. • EPA can help by sharing contacts, resources, success stories, and lessons learned on what has worked for other Tribes. • EPA can share information on what activities Tribal consortia and regional Non-Profits are doing under IGAP to avoid duplication and maximize scarce resources. • EPA can help to create links to our own Agency Strategic Plan, and on what logical next steps can create the best results for you.

4. What are allowable grant costs and activities? • Necessary and reasonable costs and activities for the grant project being funded; • Allocable to the grant; • Authorized and not prohibited by law or regulation; • Conform to limitations of laws, regulations, etc., and grant terms and conditions • Consistent with recipients policies and procedures; • Not used as a cost or used as an activity to meet a matching requirement for any other federal grant; • Consistent with generally accepted accounting principles.Adequately documented.

5. What are the four critical tests to allowable costs and activities? When planning costs and activities that will be part of a Federal award, they must meet ALL four critical tests: • Allowable –be determined in accordance with the provisions of the applicable OMB cost principles and IGAP Guidance. • Allocable –The costs and activities are related to, or required in the performance of the project; and the cost is treated consistently (in the same matter when applied and consistent with the recipients policies, regulations, and procedures. • Necessary- for proper and efficient performance and administration of the agreement. • Reasonable- at the time the decision was made would it have been incurred by “prudent” person? One way to think about it is: would you incur this cost if you were using your own funds? EPA evaluates your proposed activities and costs according to these tests, and approves your workplan and budget through an Assistance Award.

6. Where can I find more information on allowable costs and activities? • See OMB Circular A-87 (Cost Principles) for more detailed information. • See 40 CFR, Part 31 • See 40 CFR, Part 35 You may also refer to the Regulations in SECTION 2 of this Training manual or The Office of Management and Budget always has the most updated information on their website: • http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_06/40cfrv1_06.html • http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/grants_circulars.html

7. What are some possibilities for environmental activities allowable under IGAP? • The primary purpose of the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (GAP) is to support the development of a core Tribal environmental protection program. • A core program means building the basic infrastructure of a Tribal environmental program. This may include planning, developing, and establishing the administrative, technical, legal, enforcement, communications, and environmental education and outreach infrastructure. • Planning an environmental protection program may include setting goals and designing a program approach. Developing an environmental protection program may include progressing from plans on paper to actions that help establish the program. Establishing an environmental protection program may include working out the glitches of the development phase, performing a “test drive” of the program, and making the program secure or firm. • Refer to IGAP Summary handout for examples of specific activities.

8. What are some of the most commonly asked questions about allowable activities? • Is subsistence work allowable under IGAP? • The GAP Guidance does state that assistance agreements are not designed to provide direct funding for activities such as natural resources assessment, development, protection, and preservation for fisheries, forestry, minerals, and energy resources development. However, activities included in GAP grants may foster natural resource protection and preservation, if they relate to EPA various environmental programs. This may include but is not limited to baseline monitoring, establishment of water and air quality standards. • For example, a Tribe may address contaminants to a subsistence area of concern, but may not be involved in regulating subsistence harvest under IGAP. • Also, a Tribe may conduct culture camps as they are related to pollution prevention or environmental education, but may not use GAP funds if there is no connection expressly defined in the workplan. • A Tribe may do community awareness workshops, and do baseline testing of PSP poisoning of its subsistence foods, but may not regulate who can harvest and when.

9. Is subsistence work allowable under IGAP? (cont’d) Example: • A Tribe can participate in inter-governmental meetings on impacts to their traditional territory or environmental resources, but may not work on such projects if they do not have a link to EPA administrated programs. That link must be outlined in the tasks, and demonstrated in outcomes and deliverables.

10. What are some of the most commonly asked questions about allowable activities? • Is implementation of solid and hazardous waste allowable under GAP? • Yes, but we will be reviewing proposed activities to ensure that the Tribe has first built the capacity sustain the implementation. For example, if a Tribe proposes to do a community clean up, we recommend they first do the following: survey the community for needs, develop a solid waste management plan, do community outreach to prevent debris from piling up in the same manner as before; coordinate with Council, and other Tribal, local, and city governments, and keep track of trash collected during clean up the first year, and continue outreach after. The next year, do a tracking of solid waste cleaned up the second year to see if public education is effective.

11. What are some of the most commonly asked questions about allowable activities? • Is Climate Change work allowable under GAP? • Is Air quality work allowable under GAP? • Is grant writing work allowable under GAP?

12. Are there any costs and activities that are expressly disallowed under GAP? Contingency costs General costs of Tribal government business Construction Site specific work Natural resource and land use activities Program implementation (except for solid and hazardous waste)

13. What is Pre-approval and why do we need it? • Certain activities and costs require pre-approval from your Project Officer (Tribal Coordinator), to ensure they fit under the primary purpose and guidelines if GAP. • Some examples include: Council travel under GAP, modular building updates and installation, equipment purchase, etc. • If you are unsure whether an activity requires pre-approval, just refer questions directly to your Tribal Coordinator before taking action. Pre-approval is already part of our review during the application process, but often comes up during budget revision discussions related to the “old 10% rule.”

14. What are my best Tools, and who are my Resources for continuing to develop an environmental program? • Other Tribes in Alaska, Region 10, and Nationwide • Borrow ideas from veteran GAP Tribes, take lessons learned from Tribes in the Lower 48, • Yourself- travel, network, learn, explore, and BE a resource • Elders, Council members, youth • Get guidance on the unique mission of your Tribe, and how to proceed in applying for funding. What are the observations from Elders on how conditions are changing, and what youth are learning about our environment. • Community members • Everyone comes to you as the point person: complaints about dumping, fish processing odors, federal activities, information on old burial sites, oil spilling, etc. These are all opportunities to address future environmental program areas. Keep a comment box, do a new survey each year, post emergency numbers, develop an environment library or website, report to Council on a monthly basis, hold an emergency response class, develop curricula for your school, etc. • EPA professionals in the Tribal Program and the media offices • Statewide and regional organizations