As of March 27

On March 24, the Department of Defense (DOD) published FAQs relating to its response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.  The United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) will apply, to the maximum extent possible, all the allowed exceptions to financial assistance awards, including allowance of costs to agreements under their umbrella.  USAMRAA awards and applications include those listed under CDMRP.

Please note some of the exceptions that reflect flexibility related to OMB memorandum M-20-17 and documented in the USAMRAA’s Supplemental Guidance.

• Application Deadlines
  • There are currently no plans to modify existing application deadline dates but please continue to monitor Grants.gov for any potential change(s) to an application deadline.
  • Please contact the CDMRP Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507 if you need further assistance.
  • This response may be updated at a later date depending on whether application review panel meeting dates are revised. Please check the website periodically for possible updates.
•  No-cost extensions on expiring awards:
  • USAMRAA’s terms and conditions of award already allow for a one-time, no cost extension of up to 12 months, without need to request prior approval, when the recipient notifies the Grants Officer (GO).
  • Recipients may notify USAMRAA’s GO(s) of a blanket no-cost extension on all active awards(including grant numbers) covered under M-20-17 -- i.e., they do not need to be requested on an individual basis for each award.
  • Funding expiration statutes may prohibit extensions. Recipients should contact the USAMRAA GO for award-specific guidance.
• USAMRAA is not offering abbreviated continuation requests for grants and cooperative agreements.

• Award Expenditures
  • Recipients may continue to charge salaries and benefits to currently active awards consistent with the recipients' policy of paying salaries (under unexpected or extraordinary circumstances) from all funding sources, Federal and non-Federal.
  • Costs to be charged to Federal awards necessary to resume activities supported by the award, consistent with applicable Federal cost principles and the benefit to the project are allwed. This may include allowing rent on equipment and facilities during this time frame.
    • However, to the maximum extent practicable, recipients must invoke or institute any and all reasonable mitigation actions and practices to lessen the cost to the Government during the crisis period. Such actions may be part of an existing program created by the recipient organization or may be created to respond to this crisis.
  • Recipients must maintain appropriate records and cost documentation to substantiate the charging of any salaries and other project activities costs related to interruption of operations or services.
•  Prior approval requirement waivers:
  • OMB and DoD have authorized awarding agencies to waive prior approval requirements as necessary. Some prior approvals are already waived under the DoD General Research &Development Terms and Conditions and USAMRAA’s agency-specific terms conditions.
  • Recipients should consult their GO regarding other potential prior approval waivers based on project-specific circumstances.
  • All costs charged to Federal awards must be consistent with Federal cost policy guidelines and the terms of the award, except where specified in OMB Memorandum M-20-17.
• Extension of financial and other reporting, extension of closeout and other topics are also discussed.  If you have questions, please see the entire document at USAMRAA’s Supplemental Guidance or contact your pre/post-award analyst.

USAMRDC Human research protection guidance

ACURO guidance