Pandemic Relief Activities: Local Food Purchase Agreements with States, Tribes, and Local Governments

 

1. Provide an opportunity for State, Local and Tribal governments to strengthen their local and regional food system. 2. Help to support local and socially disadvantaged producers through building and expanding economic opportunities. 3. Establish and broaden partnerships with producers and the food distribution community to ensure distribution of fresh and nutritious foods in underserved communities.

Active 10.182 Agricultural Marketing Service, Department of Agriculture B - Project Grants Not applicable. American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2), Section Section 1001 (b)(4)
Section 5(c) of Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, Part 15 USC 714c(c) Initial awards will focus on State and Tribal governments. Depending on demand, additional agreements may be made available for local governments. Initial awards will focus on State and Tribal governments. Depending on demand, additional agreements may be made available for local governments. A cooperative agreement is entered into between AMS and the eligible entity that submits the application. OMB Guidance for Grants Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 CFR ?200 applies to this program. Affirmation that organization follow the same policies and procedures used for procurements from non-federal sources, which reflect applicable State and local laws and regulation and conform to the Federal laws and standards identified in 2 CFR?200.301 through ?200.329, as applicable. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Register in SAM.gov (DUNS number required) Secure access to Grants.gov Secure access to EZFedgrants.gov (E-Authentication level 2 required) Submit application through Grants.gov Submit narrative and supporting documents through Grants.gov Upon application receipt, AMS reviewer will review applications per requirements outlined above, and will recommend approval or denial accordingly. Prior to any denial, applicants will be given an opportunity to correct deficiencies. Once approved, the application will flow to an approver within the recipient organization (State, Local and Tribal governments) for approval. An application must have approval from both the AMS and recipient organizations. The application will then be active and managed on the recipient side adhering to all program regulations. November 18, 2021 to March 19, 2022 The proposed timeline for announcement of a Request for Application (RFA) is November 18, 2021 or later. The proposed dates for award will be on a rolling basis subsequent to the announcement. There will be an initial offering. From 30 to 60 days. Not applicable. Not applicable. USDA will provide the State, Local and Tribal governments funding for food purchases as well as guidance, technical assistance, instruction, and monitoring throughout the life cycle of the cooperative agreement. The amount of the aid for the program will be up to $400 million. Initial agreements will be distributed incrementally to ensure that all interested applicants have an opportunity for an award. Initial awards will focus on State and Tribal governments. Depending on demand, additional agreements may be made available for local governments. State, Local and Tribal governments will provide proposals indicating how they will use the funds to purchase commodities to meet the stated objective within their states or region. These funds will be awarded through a noncompetitive process based on the statutory The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) funding formula. This formula considers the poverty rate and unemployment levels in each state to ensure the distribution of funds corresponds to feeding needs in each state. Cooperative Agreement applications will be awarded based on acceptability and ability to meet the goals of the program. To procure local foods (within the state or within 400 miles) targeting purchases from socially disadvantaged producers. Distribution will target organizations that reach underserved communities as defined in Executive Order 13985 on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities posted January 20, 2021, and will improve access to healthy and nutritious food. In addition to increasing local food consumption, funds will help build and expand economic opportunity for local and socially disadvantaged producers. Up to $464 million in additional funds is available under Section 5(c) of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 USC 714c(c)), bringing the total funding for LFPA to nearly $900 million. Performance Reports: Performance will be measured against the program objectives, and program impacts will be measured: Source product from local or regional producers (within the state or within 400 miles from destination) and from socially disadvantaged producers. • Percentage of new marketing opportunities established by purchasing from local and regional producers, and of those, what percentage will likely be sustained after the funding is expended. • Percentage of new marketing opportunities established by purchasing from socially disadvantaged producers, and of those, what percentage will likely be sustained after the funding is expended. Distribution to or underserved communities • Percentage of purchases distributed beyond current food distribution networks to serve underserved communities as defined in Executive Order 13985, Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity a Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, January 20, 2021, and of those, what percentage will likely be sustained after the funding is expended. Quarterly and final performance reports must be submitted to AMS by recipients. Recipients will be required to include subrecipient activities and must include: • Name of vendors and dollar value awarded to vendors receiving contracts and type of food purchased (fruit, vegetable, dairy, protein) • Break-down of number of socially disadvantaged farmers awarded contracts, dollar value, and type of commodity purchased (fruit, vegetable, protein, dairy) • Name and location of organizations served to include dollar value of product being distributed to underserved communities. These performance reports must provide a description of the following activities conducted during the reporting period: budget information, deviations from the proposed plan, difficulties encountered, solutions developed to overcome difficulties, and major planned activities for the next quarter. The performance reports will align with the program goals. Individual quarterly reports will be consolidated into one program performance report to share with AMS management. A final report will also be required that will provide a comprehensive reporting of all achievements as a result of the cooperative agreements. Quarterly calls with recipients will be held with the goal of allowing for the sharing of lessons learned for the purpose of improving program outcomes and fostering adoption of promising practices, as required by 2CFR§§ 200.301 and 200.329. Cooperative agreement recipients will be subject to routine audit and will be responsible for providing evidence of the following: (a) monitoring the activities of its subrecipients, (b) ensuring federal awards are used in compliance with laws, regulations, and the provisions of agreements, and (c) ensuring performance goals are achieved. Audits and inspections are also conducted by the Office of Inspector General or independent auditors to evaluate program operations, identify program issues, and uncover potential funding discrepancies. The following payment eligibility factors apply to all recipients/subrecipients: (1) Perform in accordance with the contractual terms; (2) Provide documentation demonstrating services were performed (i.e. delivery of commodity products); and (3) Submit appropriate invoices. Recipients will be required to provide documentation that justifies the amount requested for an advance or evidence of expenditures for reimbursement. Staff with assigned roles in the ezFedGrants system will review requests for payment and record approvals. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Funding will become available upon awarding of agreements. The period of performance will be for two years from time of award. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Quarterly. USDA-AMS- Commodity Procurement Program 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Stop-0239 Washington, DC 20250-0239 Questions and request for information should be sent to: LFPA@USDA.gov Elizabeth Lober
1400 Independence Ave. SW, Stop-0239
Washington, AL 20250 USA
Elizabeth.Lober@USDA.gov
Phone: (202)720-9924 12-0408-0-1-351 (Cooperative Agreements) FY 22$300,000,000.00; FY 23 est $100,000,000.00; FY 24 est $0.00; FY 21 FY 20 - Not applicable/available. FFATA: As noted, FFATA was further amended in 2014 by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) to, among other items, require summary financial data be reported by Federal agencies in addition to Federal award data. 2 CFR part 25 Federal awards impacted by these requirements include grants, sub-grants, loans, awards, cooperative agreements, and other forms of financial assistance as well as contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, task orders, and delivery orders. As the purpose of this part is to provide the public with information about how their tax dollars are spent, the following information must be provided for primary awards receiving federal funds that meet or exceed the micro-purchase threshold currently set at $10,000 for procurement contracts and for subawards exceeding $30,000 reporting. All subgrants that exceed $25,000 will also be required to report. AMS will be leveraging eFG and interfacing directly with USASpending.gov. To ensure data quality, AMS will leverage the preexisting processes utilized across multiple grant programs administered through eFG. Additionally, our defined monitoring and reporting oversight will serve as verification safeguard. Data Quality and Transparency: In addition to the normal, multi-phase review and analysis conducted for grantee reports, AMS will adhere to the existing MRP Data Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) Quality Plan. Not applicable.