Federal Assistance Manual Chapter 1-00

CHAPTER 1-00 PLAN OF THE MANUAL

• 1-00-00 Purpose
  
• 1-00-10 Structure
  
• 1-00-20 Revising the Manual
  
• 1-00-30 Deviations

1-00-00 PURPOSE

1. The Federal Assistance Manual (FAM) is the official repository of policies and procedures for the management and administration of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's (OSM) financial assistance programs.

2. This chapter discusses the organization of the FAM and the procedures for updating it.

1-00-10 STRUCTURE

1. The FAM is broadly structured and delineates policies and guidelines in the following parts:
   1. Part 1 -- GENERAL POLICIES describes the governing Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars, other Federal laws and requirements developed by Executive directives affecting the Federal assistance programs of all Federal agencies.

   2. Part 2 -- RESERVED

   3. Part 3 -- REGULATORY PROGRAMS POLICIES describes the management responsibilities of the Headquarters' Division of Regulatory Support in the administration of the Federal assistance programs for carrying out an approved regulatory program.

   4. Part 4 -- ABANDONED MINE LAND RECLAMATION PROGRAM POLICIES describes the management responsibilities of the Headquarters' Division of Reclamation Support in the administration of the Federal assistance programs for carrying out OSM's Federal Reclamation Program and the objectives of the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund.

   5. Part 5 -- GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES describes the submission, review, processing, and approval of requests for OSM financial assistance actions and related revisions and amendments; and monitoring, administration and closeout.

   6. Part 6 -- COST PRINCIPLES describes policies which deal with the determination and reimbursement of costs and fiscal management procedures and responsibilities of OSM.

   B. The numbering system of the FAM is:

   Part	1
   Chapter	1-00
   Section	1-00-10
   Paragraph	1-00-10A
   Subparagraph	1-00-10A.1

1-00-20 REVISING THE MANUAL

1. Responsibility for the development, maintenance and distribution of the FAM (OSM Directive GMT-10) is assigned to the Division of Reclamation Support.

2. The FAM will be revised periodically to reflect changes in the policies and procedures for implementation of OSM's Federal assistance programs. Revisions to the FAM also may be suggested by recipients, OSM employee sand the public. Suggested revisions shall be submitted to the Assistant Director, Program Support (AD-PS) for processing and coordination.

3. Proposed revisions to the FAM will be circulated and responses to suggested revisions and/or comments will be addressed in accordance with the OSM directives system guidelines. In between the scheduled revisions, temporary directives may be issued to provide new or revised policy or procedures, and then incorporated in the next FAM revision.

1-00-30 DEVIATIONS

1. In the interest of maintaining uniformity to the greatest extent feasible, deviations from the FAM not mandated by Federal statute shall be kept to a minimum and controlled as follows:
   1. In individual cases (i.e., where only a single grant is involved), deviations may be authorized by the AD-PS. In each instance, the grant file shall disclose the nature of the deviation, the reason for it, and the name and title of the authorizing official.

   2. Deviations in classes of cases not authorized by Federal statute may be made only with the approval of the Director or Deputy Director. These shall be reported promptly through the Regional Director to the AD-PS. The report shall cite the program or programs affected, the FAM provision involved,and the precise nature of the deviation.

FEDERAL ASSISTANCE MANUAL
Jan 2, 1998