Contract Information

The following summarizes contract requirements that PIs need to be aware of. Violations of these may mean expenses will not be reiumbursed.

Unallowable Expenses

• Computer purchases
• Other equipment purchases over $5,000
• Foreign travel
• Any expenditures for federal offices or federal employees (including travel).

Special exceptions to these limits must be approved by COMET Program Director. Expenses for equipment at NWS offices or travel costs for federal employees must be paid for by the NWS and should be discussed with the regional SSD chief or NCEP principal scientist.

Journal Publications

Journal publication costs for articles having an NWS co-author are also not covered under the COMET subaward, but are paid for directly by the NWS and should be listed in the NWS column on the budget pages.

Other Spending Restrictions

• Cooperative Projects: Faculty support is limited to 2 months.
• Partners Projects: Faculty support is limited to 1 month.
• Cost category changes: Any cost category changes from the submitted budget that are more than 10% of the total award must be approved by the Outreach Program Manager. Send an email with justification to outreach@comet.ucar.edu.
• Retainage: In most cases, 5% of the total award will be retained until the final report and invoice have been submitted and approved.

Report Requirements

Six-month and final (or annual for multi-year projects) reports are required. Final payment will not be approved until the final report and final accounting have been received and approved.

Changes to Scope or Principal Participants

Any significant changes to the scope of work, budget, or in principal personnel assigned to the project (University or NWS) must be approved in advance by the Outreach Program Manager. Send an email with a description of the proposed changes and justification to outreach@comet.ucar.edu.