Item 18 - Adopt Resolution for FY 2021 Emergency Management Performance Grant

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Preparedness Grants Manual | February 2021 35 Conflicts of Interest in the Administration of Federal Awards or Subawards For conflicts of interest under grant-funded procurements and contracts, refer to the section on Procurement Integrity in the applicable NOFO, this Manual, and 2 C.F.R. §§ 200.317 – 200.327. To eliminate and reduce the impact of conflicts of interest in the subaward process, recipients and pass- through entities must follow their own policies and procedures regarding the elimination or reduction of conflicts of interest when making subawards. Recipients and pass-through entities are also required to follow any applicable federal or SLTT statutes or regulations governing conflicts of interest in the making of subawards. The recipient or pass-through entity must disclose to the respective Preparedness Officer or Program Manager, in writing, any real or potential conflict of interest that may arise during the administration of the federal award, as defined by the federal or SLTT statutes or regulations or their own existing policies, within five days of learning of the conflict of interest. Similarly, subrecipients, whether acting as subrecipients or as pass-through entities, must disclose any real or potential conflict of interest to the recipient or next-level pass-through entity as required by the recipient or pass-through entity’s conflict of interest policies, or any applicable federal or SLTT statutes or regulations. Conflicts of interest may arise during the process of FEMA making a federal award in situations where an employee, officer, or agent, any members of his or her immediate family, his or her partner has a close personal relationship, a business relationship, or a professional relationship, with an applicant, subapplicant, recipient, subrecipient, or FEMA employees. Procurement Integrity Through audits conducted by the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and FEMA grant monitoring, findings have shown that some FEMA recipients have not fully adhered to the proper procurement requirements when spending grant funds. Anything less than full compliance with federal procurement requirements jeopardizes the integrity of the grant as well as the grant program. To assist with determining whether an action is a procurement or instead a subaward, please consult 2 C.F.R § 200.331. The below highlights the federal procurement requirements for FEMA recipients when procuring goods and services with federal grant funds. FEMA will include a review of recipients’ procurement practices as part of the normal monitoring activities. All procurement activity must be conducted in accordance with federal procurement standards at 2 C.F.R. §§ 200.317 – 200.327. Select requirements under these standards are listed below. The recipient and any of its subrecipients must comply with all requirements, even if they are not listed below. Under 2 C.F.R. § 200.317, when procuring property and services under a federal award, states (including territories) must follow the same policies and procedures they use for procurements from their non-federal funds; additionally, states must now follow 2 C.F.R. § 200.321 regarding socioeconomic steps, § 200.322 regarding domestic preferences for procurements, § 200.323 regarding procurement of recovered materials, and § 200.327 regarding required contract provisions. All other non-federal entities, such as tribes (collectively, non-state entities), must have and use their own documented procurement procedures that reflect applicable SLTT laws and regulations, provided that the procurements conform to applicable federal law and the standards identified in 2 C.F.R. Part 200.