Fed Regist. 1997 Nov 13;62(219):60783-4.
This document amends the "Medical" regulations regarding applications for grants to States for the construction or acquisition of State home facilities. VA awards grants based on a priority ranking system. Usually, the higher priority applications deplete the available funding to the extent that the lowest ranking application to be offered funding is offered only a partial grant. This final rule provides that if the lowest ranking grant application receives only a partial grant in a fiscal year and if such grant award is partial solely because VA has insufficient funds for a full grant, the application would be placed at the top of the list within its priority group for the next fiscal year. Often applicants are hesitant to accept a partial grant because of the uncertainty of receiving an additional grant the next fiscal year. This final rule will encourage States to accept a partial grant by creating the likelihood that the State would receive an additional grant in the subsequent fiscal year. Accordingly, this will help ensure that VA would be able to award grants to higher priority applicants that might otherwise reject partial funding. Also, this final rule provides that the applicant receiving partial funding and receiving priority as a proposed will not be required to submit a second application for additional funds in the subsequent fiscal year, but could be required to update information already submitted. The first application would normally be adequate because the grant award in the second fiscal year would be for the same project which received the partial grant award. Further, the final rule provides that the total amount awarded for the application may not exceed 65 percent of the total cost of the project as determined at the time of the second grant award for that grant application. This is consistent with the statutory requirement that limits grant awards to no more than 65 percent of the estimated cost construction or acquisition.
本文件修订了关于向各州提供建造或购置州立疗养院设施拨款申请的“医疗”法规。退伍军人事务部（VA）根据优先排名系统授予拨款。通常，优先级较高的申请会耗尽可用资金，以至于获得资金的排名最低的申请只能获得部分拨款。本最终规则规定，如果排名最低的拨款申请在一个财政年度仅获得部分拨款，且该拨款仅因退伍军人事务部没有足够资金提供全额拨款而部分发放，那么该申请在下一财政年度将在其优先组内排在首位。由于不确定下一财政年度是否会获得额外拨款，申请人通常不愿接受部分拨款。本最终规则将通过增加该州在下一财政年度获得额外拨款的可能性，鼓励各州接受部分拨款。因此，这将有助于确保退伍军人事务部能够向可能否则会拒绝部分资金的优先级较高的申请人授予拨款。此外，本最终规则规定，获得部分资金并作为提议获得优先权的申请人在下一财政年度无需提交额外资金的第二次申请，但可能需要更新已提交的信息。第一次申请通常就足够了，因为第二个财政年度的拨款将用于获得部分拨款的同一项目。此外，最终规则规定，该申请的授予总额不得超过该拨款申请第二次授予时确定的项目总成本的65%。这与法定要求一致，即拨款授予不得超过估计建设或购置成本的65%。
