(a) In general

A Small Grants Program (SGP) shall be established within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide small grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance mechanisms and agreements of not more than $2,000,000 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of chapters 1 and 10 of part I [22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq., 2293 et seq.] and chapter 4 of part II [22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.] of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961: Provided, That the SGP established pursuant to this section shall replace the function served previously by the Development Grants Program established under section 674 of division J, of Public Law 110-161, which is hereby abolished.

(b) Eligibility

Terms Used In 22 USC 2152i

  • Function: includes any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, discretion, or activity. See 22 USC 2403
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.

Awards from the SGP shall only be made to eligible entities as described in the joint explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this consolidated Act).

(c) Proposals

Awards made pursuant to the authority of this section shall be provided through—

(1) unsolicited applications received and evaluated pursuant to USAID policy regarding such proposals;

(2) an open and competitive process; or

(3) as otherwise allowable under Federal Acquisition Regulations and USAID procurement policies.

(d) Funding

(1) Of the funds appropriated by this Act to carry out chapter 1 of part I and chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 [22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq., 2346 et seq.], not less than $45,000,000 shall be made available for the SGP within USAID’s Local Sustainability Office of the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment to carry out this subsection.

(2) Other than to meet the requirements of this section, funds made available to carry out this section may not be allocated in the report required by section 653(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 [22 U.S.C. 2413(a)] to meet any other specifically designated funding levels contained in this Act: Provided, That such funds may be attributed to any such specifically designated funding level after the award of funds under this section, if applicable.

(3) Funds made available under this section shall remain available for obligation until September 30, 2019.

(e) Management

(1) Not later than 120 days after December 16, 2014, the USAID Administrator shall issue guidance to implement this section: Provided, That such guidance shall include the requirements contained in the joint explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this consolidated Act).

(2) Upon selection of a mission pursuant to the procedures required by paragraph (1), such selected mission may be allocated the full estimated cost of the multi-year program: Provided, That such allocations shall be subject to the regular notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations.

(3) In addition to funds otherwise available for such purposes, up to 20 percent of the funds made available to carry out this section may be used by USAID for administrative expenses, and other necessary support associated with managing and strengthening relationships with entities under the SGP.

(f) Report

Not later than 120 days after December 16, 2014, and after consultation with the appropriate congressional committees, the Administrator shall submit a report to such committees describing the guidance to implement the SGP.