§ 4280.222 Project eligibility.
Projects must meet the following requirements to be considered for financial assistance through this program.
(a) Eligible Projects. Eligible Projects must meet all of the following requirements. Failure to meet one or more of these requirements means the application is not eligible for funding.
(1) Project purpose. The purpose of the Project must be to assist Agricultural Producers or Rural Small Businesses by conducting Energy Audits, Renewable Energy Site Assessments, Resource Assessments, and Feasibility Studies.
(2) Project location. The project location is required to be in a Rural area, as defined in 7 CFR 4280.104, within a State.
(3) Amount requested. The maximum amount that can be requested is $100,000.
(4) Cost Sharing. No Cost Sharing is required from the Recipient, although the contribution of Cost Sharing is part of the merit evaluation process. See § 4280.240(d) for more information on the merit evaluation process. See § 4280.221(c) for the requirement for Ultimate Beneficiaries. The Cost Sharing obtained under § 4280.221(c) shall be retained by the Recipient to cover part of the cost of the Energy Audit. It is considered program income and must be used to further the objectives of the Project during the Period of Performance. If it cannot be used in this manner, it must be applied to the Federal Award under this subpart in accordance with 2 CFR 200.307(b)(1). Unrecovered indirect costs are not allowed as Cost Sharing.
(5) Allowable use of funds. The Project must use award funds and Cost Sharing for allowable purposes. See § 4280.225 for additional information.
(6) Period of Performance. The Period of Performance is one year.
(b) Ineligible Projects. The following types of projects are not eligible for financial assistance through this program.
(1) Amount requested. Requests more than the maximum grant amount;
(2) Research and development. Projects including theoretical and/or applied research;
(3) Feasibility Studies. Projects involving state-wide or non-site-specific Feasibility Studies.
(4) Ineligible Entities. Projects providing assistance to entities other than Agricultural Producers or Rural Small Businesses.
(5) Computer software. Projects including developing computer software or programs.
(6) Residential. Projects providing EA or REDA for residential purposes.
(7) Unallowable costs. Projects including unallowable costs exceeding 10 percent of the Federal Award Amount requested. If 10 percent or less of the Project budget includes unallowable costs, the unallowable costs will be removed. If the Agency cannot identify what percentage of costs are unallowable, the application will be considered ineligible for funding.
(8) Conflict of interest. Projects including a conflict of interest. See § 4280.206 for more information on conflict of interest.