FEMA Bulletin, OMB Proposal Heighten Focus on Vetting
There seems to be a growing paradigm shift at the federal level as to the work being done on federal financial assistance programs. Agencies are not only looking at how the awarded entity is conducting work under the program, but now they are focusing more on who is doing the work.
A recent information bulletin sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to state, local and tribal emergency management, homeland security and transportation officials established the agency’s policy and process for foreign national vetting under non-disaster grant programs beginning with federal fiscal year 2025 notices of funding opportunity (NOFOs), which gives a nod to the Office of Management and Budget’s recent proposed revisions to the uniform guidance (2 C.F.R. Part 200).
Under the policy, subrecipients are responsible for vetting all personnel charged to the award, and recipients must collect and submit subrecipient certifications to FEMA or certify to FEMA that the award has no subrecipients. The bulletin listed several FEMA programs under which this policy would apply.
Starting with FEMA’s FY 2025 non-disaster program NOFOs, the agency will include a term stating that “subapplicants should not have foreign nationals or noncitizens included. If a subapplicant has foreign nationals, they should be properly vetted and should adhere to all government statutes, policies and procedures including ‘staff American, stay in America’ and security requirements. Subapplicants and subrecipients should submit short bios and resumes. This should include the type of entity, organizational leadership and board members along with both the names and addresses of the individuals. Resumes are subject to approval.”
FEMA emphasized that this vetting obligation applies at the subrecipient level. Recipients are responsible for ensuring subrecipient compliance and for transmitting subrecipient certifications to FEMA by Dec. 31. FEMA recipients and subrecipients should take note of this policy and give themselves time to respond accordingly.
This policy reflects similar language compared to potential changes in OMB’s May 29 proposed revisions to the uniform guidance, which would add a new discussion in the internal controls provision at §200.303(f). This language would state that recipients and subrecipients would be required to participate in the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program to confirm the employment eligibility of all employees and contractors hired in or performing work in the U.S. under a federal award. If a recipient or subrecipient receives a final nonconfirmation notice through E-Verify, it must submit this information to the federal agency or pass-through entity, and failure to provide notice or take appropriate action could result in an award termination.
Several stakeholders in the grants community are starting to realize that the FEMA policy and OMB proposed rule are moving grants oversight from overall programmatic administration down to the human resources level, including hiring and retention practices and employment eligibility verification.
While the effective collaboration between grantee programmatic and budget offices has historically been an important aspect for successful grant management, it’s becoming even more important to include the legal, procurement and human resources teams as well going forward.
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