FS-1500-9a Road Project Agreement

FS-1500-9a (VER. XX/XX) OMB No. 0596-0217

FS Agreement No.

     -     -     -     

Cooperator Agreement No.

     

ROAD PROJECT AGREEMENT

Between

     

And The

USDA, FOREST SERVICE,      

This Project Agreement (agreement) is hereby made and entered into by and between      , hereinafter referred to as “     ,” and the USDA, Forest Service,      , hereinafter referred to as the “U.S. Forest Service,” as specified under the authority and provisions of the Cooperative Forest Road Agreement #      executed between the parties on      .

Project Title:      

I. BACKGROUND:

The parties entered into a Forest Road Cooperative Agreement (Coop Agreement) on      . This Coop Agreement allows for the parties to cooperate in the planning, survey, design, construction, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance of certain forest roads. The Schedule A, which is attached to the Coop Agreement, identifies the maintenance responsibilities of the parties to the specific road systems and may be revised as necessary. The process of revising the Schedule A can be labor intensive and time consuming due to requiring extensive valuations and several levels of formal review. Accordingly, formal revision of the Schedule A does not readily lend itself to rapid response times, adjusting to limited funding opportunities and a high degree of site condition specificity.

The Coop Agreement allows for specific Project Agreements between the parties with the intent of completing work as expeditiously as available funds or work opportunities allow.

The Coop Agreement identifies numerous requirements for the development of Project Agreements. These requirements include but are not limited to:

• The specific project (road) must be included in an approved U.S. Forest Service – Cooperator plan (Schedule A).

• Mutual approval.

• The cost to be borne by each party.

• The amount of cooperative funds as set forth in the Project Agreement shall be the maximum commitment of either party unless changed by a formal modification prior to incurring any expense.

• Work must be completed in accordance with agreed upon standards.

II. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this Project Agreement (agreement) is to document the parties’ cooperation in the      . The work is as described in the hereby incorporated Financial and Operating plan, attached as Exhibit A.

III. THE COOPERATOR SHALL:

1. Perform in accordance with the Financial and Operating Plan, Exhibit A.
   
   

2. Bill the U.S. Forest Service for actual costs incurred, not to exceed $     .

IV. THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE SHALL:

1. Perform in accordance with the Financial and Operating Plan, Exhibit A.
   
   

2. PAYMENT/REIMBURSEMENT. The U.S. Forest Service shall reimburse       for the U.S. Forest Service’s share of actual expenses incurred, not to exceed $     , as shown in the Financial Plan. The U.S. Forest Service shall make payment upon receipt of      ’s       invoice. Each invoice from       must display the total project costs for the billing period.

Each invoice must include, at a minimum:

1.      ’s name, address, and telephone number

2. U.S. Forest Service agreement number

3. Invoice date

4. Performance dates of the work completed (start and end)

5. Total invoice amount for the billing period
   
   

The invoice must be forwarded to:

U.S. Forest Service

Albuquerque Service Center

Payments – Grants & Agreements

101B Sun Ave NE

Albuquerque, NM 87109

FAX: 877-687-4894

Send a copy to:      

V. IT IS MUTUALLY AGREED AND UNDERSTOOD BY AND BETWEEN THE PARTIES THAT:

1. PRINCIPAL CONTACTS. Individuals listed below are authorized to act in their respective areas for matters related to this agreement.

Principal Cooperator Contacts:

Cooperator Program Contact	Cooperator Administrative Contact
Name:       Address:       City, State, Zip:       Telephone:       FAX:       Email:      	Name:       Address:       City, State, Zip:       Telephone:       FAX:       Email:      

Principal U.S. Forest Service Contacts:

U.S. Forest Service Program Manager Contact	U.S. Forest Service Administrative Contact
Name:       Address:       City, State, Zip:       Telephone:       FAX:       Email:      	Name:       Address:       City, State, Zip:       Telephone:       FAX:       Email:      

2. ASSURANCE REGARDING FELONY CONVICTION OR TAX DELINQUENT STATUS FOR CORPORATE ENTITIES. This agreement is subject to the provisions contained in the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012, P.L. No. 112-74, Division E, Section 433 and 434 as continued by Consolidated and Furher Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, P.L. No. 113-6, Division F, Title I, Section 1101 (a)(3) regarding corporate felony convictions and corporate federal tax delinquencies. Accordingly, by entering into this agreement acknowledges that it: 1) does not have a tax delinquency, meaning that it is not subject to any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, and (2) has not been convicted (or had an officer or agent acting on its behalf convicted) of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within 24 months preceding the agreement, unless a suspending and debarring official of the United States Department of Agriculture has considered suspension or debarment is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government. If fails to comply with these provisions, the U.S. Forest Service will annul this agreement and may recover any funds has expended in violation of sections 433 and 434.

3. In the event of a conflict between this Project Agreement and the Coop Agreement, the latter shall take precedence.

4. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA). Public access to award or agreement records must not be limited, except when such records must be kept confidential and would have been exempted from disclosure pursuant to Freedom of Information regulations (5 USC 552). Requests for research data are subject to 2 CFR 215.36.

Public access to culturally sensitive data and information of Federally-recognized Tribes may also be explicitly limited by P.L. 110-234, Title VIII Subtitle B §8106 (2008 Farm Bill).

5. TEXT MESSAGING WHILE DRIVING. In accordance with Executive Order (EO) 13513, “Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging While Driving,” any and all text messaging by Federal employees is banned: a) while driving a Government owned vehicle (GOV) or driving a privately owned vehicle (POV) while on official Government business; or b) using any electronic equipment supplied by the Government when driving any vehicle at any time. All Cooperatives, their Employees, Volunteers, and Contractors are encouraged to adopt and enforce policies that ban text messaging when driving company owned, leased or rented vehicles, POVs or GOVs when driving while on official Government business or when performing any work for or on behalf of the Government.

6. FUNDING EQUIPMENT. Federal funding under this agreement is not available for reimbursement of      ’s purchase of equipment. Equipment is defined as having a fair market value of $5,000 or more per unit and a useful life of over 1 year.

7. PARTICIPATION IN SIMILAR ACTIVITIES. This agreement in no way restricts the U.S. Forest Service or       from participating in similar activities with other public or private agencies, organizations, and individuals.

8. ENDORSEMENT. Any of      ’s contributions made under this agreement do not by direct reference or implication convey U.S. Forest Service endorsement of      ’s products or activities.

9. ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION. In the event of any issue of controversy under this agreement, the parties may pursue Alternate Dispute Resolution procedures to voluntarily resolve those issues. These procedures may include, but are not limited to, conciliation, facilitation, mediation, and fact finding.

10. PROHIBITION AGAINST INTERNAL CONFIDENTIAL AGREEMENTS: All non federal government entities working on this agreement will adhere to the below provisions found in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, Pub. L. 114-113, relating to reporting fraud, waste and abuse to authorities:

1. T he recipient may not require its employees, contractors, or subrecipients seeking to report fraud, waste, or abuse to sign or comply with internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting them from lawfully reporting that waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information.

2. The recipient must notify its employees, contractors, or subrecipients that the prohibitions and restrictions of any internal confidentiality agreements inconsistent with paragraph (a) of this award provision are no longer in effect.

3. The prohibition in paragraph (a) of this award provision does not contravene requirements applicable to any other form issued by a Federal department or agency governing the nondisclosure of classified information.

4. If the Government determines that the recipient is not in compliance with this award provision, it:

(1) Will prohibit the recipient's use of funds under this award, in accordance with sections 743, 744 of Division E of the Consolidated

Appropriations Act, 2016, (Pub. L. 114-113) or any successor provision of law; and

(2) May pursue other remedies available for the recipient's material failure to comply with award terms and conditions.

11. MODIFICATION. Modifications within the scope of this agreement must be made by mutual consent of the parties, by the issuance of a written modification signed and dated by all properly authorized, signatory officials, prior to any changes being performed. Requests for modification should be made, in writing, at least       days prior to implementation of the requested change. The U.S. Forest Service is not obligated to fund any changes not properly approved in advance.

12. TERMINATION. Either party, in writing, may terminate this agreement in whole, or in part, at any time before the date of expiration. Neither party shall incur any new obligations for the terminated portion of this agreement after the effective date and shall cancel as many obligations as possible. Full credit shall be allowed for each party’s expenses and all non-cancelable obligations properly incurred up to the effective date of termination. (Excess funds must be refunded within 60 days after the effective date, OR Excess funds must be refunded in accordance with the REFUND provision of the agreement).

13. COMMENCEMENT/EXPIRATION DATE. This agreement is executed as of the date of last signature and is effective through       at which time it will expire. The expiration date is the final date for completion of all work activities under this agreement.

14. AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES. By signature below, the parties certify that the individuals listed in this document as representatives of each party are authorized to act in their respective areas for matters related to this agreement.

This agreement shall be effective as of the date herein written and shall supersede all prior existing agreements, if any, for the same roads.

			     
     ,            			Date
			     
     ,       U.S. Forest Service,      			Date
		     
      County Commissioner		Date
The authority and format of this agreement have been reviewed and approved for signature.
     
      U.S. Forest Service Grants Management Specialist	Date

Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct, or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0596-0217 Response to this collection of information is Mandatory (Title VIII of IIJA). The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 4 hours per response, including the time for reviewing the instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income derived from any public assistance. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s Target Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll free at (866) 632-9992 (voice). TDD users can contact USDA through local relay or the Federal relay at (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (relay voice). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 522) govern the confidentiality to be provided for information received by the Forest Service.

Page 7 of 7 (Rev. 11-13)