Helium Resource Management

 

To meet the requirements of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996, Section 8, a crude helium enrichment unit was designed, constructed, and is now operated to ensure that the U.S. Government can upgrade and deliver crude helium from an underground storage field, by upgrading the gas to pipeline quality, compressing the gas and transmitting via the governments conservation pipeline which supplies helium to private helium plants located along the governments pipeline. Private plants refine the helium, supply private industry, government agencies and research projects. To pay back the helium debt, the cost that was incurred by purchasing the helium, and to ensure that the U.S. Government can redeliver crude helium into the conservation pipeline system in order to meet private and Government customer needs, as defined in the Helium Privatization Act.

Deleted 04/02/2020 (Archived.) 15.240 Agency: Department of the Interior
Office: Bureau of Land Management Cooperative Agreements Fiscal Year 2014: Through a partnership the Bureau of Land Management, Helium Operation, now delivers crude helium from an underground storage field, by upgrading the gas to pipeline quality, compressing the gas and transmitting through the governments conservation pipeline which supplies helium to private helium plants located along the government's pipeline. Private plants refine the helium, and supply private industry, government agencies and research projects. The helium sold is used to pay back the helium debt to ensure that the U.S. Government can redeliver crude helium into the conservation pipeline. The Helium Debt has been reduced by $145,000,000. The projected Natural Gas Sales for FY 2014 were at $9,000,000. Fiscal Year 2015: No Current Data Available. Fiscal Year 2016: No Current Data Available. Helium Privatization Act of 1996, 50 U.S.C 167, Public Law 104-273. Not applicable. Not applicable. No Credentials or documentation are required. This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles. Coordinate cooperative project proposals with the Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office for more information and requirements. No State plan is required. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. A Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance, Standard Form 424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs, Standard Form 424B, Assurances for Non-Construction Programs, and a written proposal should be submitted through Grants.gov or via hardcopy to the project office and include: a title, objectives, timeframe, and a budget breakdown as specified in the funding opportunity announcement. Projects are reviewed at the Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office. Final approvals rest with the State Director. Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines. Awards are anticipated within 90 days or less after the announcement closes. Further information will be available for the project at the time the funding opportunity announcement is posted on www.grants.gov and may be obtained by contacting the point of contact listed in the funding opportunity announcement. None. Final award decisions are not subject to appeal. The Bureau of Land Management will provide all unsuccessful applicants with information on why their proposal was not selected for award. Not Applicable. General criteria used to select assistance proposals are based on their direct relationship to helium projects and a balanced review including relevance to program objectives, merit and cost effectiveness. Projects are limited to entities that have a direct involvement with the implementation of the Helium Privatization Act and projects related to the elimination of the Helium Debt. For more specific information contact the regional or headquarters office. Unless otherwise stated in the award document, recipients are required to submit quarterly, semi-annual or annual Program Performance Reports 30 days following the end of the reporting period. For any grant or cooperative agreement that is terminated, transferred to a new grantee, or will not be extended, the grantee must submit a final Program Performance Report 90 days after the end date of grant performance. Cash reports are not applicable. Progress reports are not applicable. Unless otherwise stated in the award document, recipients are required to submit quarterly SF-425, Federal Financial Reports. A final SF-425 is required 90 days after the end date of grant performance. Performance monitoring is not applicable. In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, non-Federal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503. All recipients of Federal awards shall maintain project records in accordance with 2 CFR 200.333 Retention requirements for records. Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. Federal awarding agencies and pass-through entities must not impose any other record retention requirements upon non-Federal entities, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.333. This program has no statutory formula.
Matching Requirements: The program has no matching requirement, however, matching funds or in-kind services by the applicants are encouraged and those projects are more likely to be funded.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this program. Projects are awarded for a one to five year period and funded on a year-by-year basis. Continuing funding will be re-evaluated each year based on performance, merit, and funding availability. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Frequency of recipient payments will be determined for each awarded assistance agreement at the time of award. See Regional Agency Offices. Chief, Division of Minerals, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, Division of Minerals, 301 Dinosaur Trail, Sante Fe, NM 87508
Phone: (505) 670-2135. Tim Spisak Bureau of Land Management, (WO-300), 1848 C Street, NW, MIB 5625, Washington, District of Columbia 20240 Phone: (202) 208-4201 http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/fo/Amarillo_Field_Office.html 14-4053-0-1-306. (Cooperative Agreements) FY 14 $9,025,000; FY 15 est $6,696,000; and FY 16 est $6,696,000 Past partnership projects range between $720,000 and $6,000,000. Average amount is $336,000 or less. Information can be found at the website listed below. Fiscal Year 2014: No current data available. Fiscal Year 2015: No current data available. Fiscal Year 2016: No current data available.