Grant Agreement Amendments and Work Plan Revisions

Effective Date: 7/1/2023

The terms of a grant agreement may be adjusted under certain circumstances. Depending on the scope, adjustments can be made based on work plan revision or grant agreement amendment.  Limited adjustments to the work plan budget may be made at grantee discretion, depending upon the scope of change requested. All work plan revisions and grant agreement amendments must be finalized prior to the expiration of the grant agreement. Be sure to submit requests to BWSR three to six months prior to grant expiration.  Requests received after the expiration of the grant agreement must be denied. 

The grant award amount and the scope of the proposed budget or workplan changes will guide the level of approval/documentation needed. Table 1 below identifies the amount of change relative to the grant award amount and the required approval/documentation.  BWSR reserves the right to require documentation for approval of any work plan changes.

Work plan budget adjustments are cumulative. For some grant programs, such as DRAP, a work plan budget may consist of a BWSR approved project list.

BWSR reserves the right to require a work plan revision or grant agreement amendment for changes in scope which affects the resource or water body of concern and/or results in a significant reduction in the originally proposed pollution reduction estimates (eLINK proposed indicators) from the grant application and/or approved work plan. The grantee must contact their Board Conservationist to discuss changes from the original scope of the grant. 

Grantee Discretion Revision Eligibility and Procedure

The grantee has discretion to make work plan budget adjustments, as outlined in Table 1 above, as long as the changes do not impact the scope of the grant. Documentation of the change should be made in eLINK (except for the Disaster Recovery Assistance Program which is outside eLINK). 

Work Plan Revision Eligibility and Procedure

Changes to an approved work plan which require BWSR work plan revision approval include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• A work plan budget adjustment as outlined in Table 1 above;
• A scope change which affects the resource or water body impacted and/or results in a significant reduction in the originally proposed pollution reduction estimates (eLINK proposed indicators) from the grant application and/or approved work plan. BWSR reserves the right to require a grant agreement amendment based on proposed changes.

The procedure to submit a work plan revision request is as follows:

1. The grantee should consult the Board Conservationist for guidance as early as possible after the potential work plan revision is identified.
2. The grantee must provide a written request to their Board Conservationist. See “Criteria for Requests” and “Required Information to Process Requests” below.    
3. BWSR staff will review the request and select from the following:   
   1. If the request is approved, the Board Conservationist will provide approval distributed via eLINK to the grantee. Approval must be obtained prior to expiration of the grant agreement or work associated with the work plan revision begins.
   2. If the request is denied, the Board Conservationist will provide documentation of the denial distributed via eLINK to the grantee. 
4. Following approval by the Board Conservationist distributed via eLINK, the grantee may begin work utilizing the approved work plan revision.

Insufficient eLINK documentation of spending shifts or deviations from these procedures will delay grant payments, report approvals, and grant closeouts.

Grant Agreement Amendment Eligibility and Procedure

Contact the Board Conservationist to discuss eligibility and procedures. Changes which require a grant agreement amendment include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• Extension to the grant period;
• A change of the targeted resource or pollutant of concern;
• Any increase in the grant amount;
• A significant change in activities identified in the approved work plan;
• A work plan budget adjustment as outlined in Table 1 above.

The procedure to submit a grant agreement amendment request is as follows:

1. The grantee should consult the Board Conservationist as early as possible for guidance and at least 3-6 months prior to the end of the grant agreement.
2. The grantee must provide a written request for a grant agreement amendment to the Board Conservationist, which is typically achieved by submitting an amendment request via eLINK.  See “Criteria for Requests” and “Required Information to Process Requests” below.
3. If submitted with sufficient time for review, BWSR staff will review the grant agreement amendment request and select from the following:
   1. 1. If the request is approved, BWSR staff will generate an official grant agreement amendment document. This will be sent via DocuSign to the grantee’s Day-to-Day Contact.  The document must be signed by the Official Signatory. If your organization’s Day-to-Day Contact in eLINK is not the Official Signatory, the DocuSign agreement may be forwarded to the appropriate individual for signature. All signatures on the grant agreement amendment must be obtained prior to expiration of the grant agreement.
      2. If the request is denied, BWSR staff will provide documentation of the denial distributed via eLINK to the grantee.
4. The signed document is returned to BWSR via DocuSign.
5. Notice of the fully executed grant agreement amendment will be sent via eLINK, and the fully executed document will be added by BWSR to the eLINK “Attachments” section for the grant.

Criteria for Requests

The criteria BWSR staff uses to consider requests for grant agreement amendments and work plan revisions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Project delays due to inclement weather, contractor pullout, staff vacancies/illness, unanticipated landowner situations or changes, timelines associated with additional project funding sources, or other circumstances beyond the grantee’s control.
• Unanticipated environmental conditions which require a project modification, such as unexpected soil conditions or circumstances not part of the preliminary design of the project.
• Whether the requested change continues to fit the original intent of the grant. For example, adjusted project meets the eligibility requirements of the funding source, outcomes and activities are similar to the original project, life expectancy of the project is substantially the same or greater, etc.
• Cost Changes from originally approved budgeted amounts such as shifts in spending from originally approved budget including match. Work plan budget adjustments are cumulative.
• Resource of Concern changes from the original targeted project work plan resource of concern.
• Pollutant of Concern changes from the original targeted project work plan pollutant of concern.
• Match expenditure changes which will substantially change the activities and outcomes.
• Grant Agreement Amendments and Work Plan Revisions must be approved before final payment is requested.   

Required Information to Process Requests

Grantees are encouraged to consult their Board Conservationist to verify whether or not proposed changes require a work plan revision or grant agreement amendment. Requests must include the following:

• The fiscal year and grant name;
• eLINK activity name(s), if applicable;
• The purpose and extent of the request; i.e., extension to the grant period, change to an approved budgeted amount, or a modification to the project;
• Explain why the original grant agreement cannot be completed as approved, in consideration of the criteria above;
• Describe how the grant agreement amendment or work plan revision will affect the originally proposed eLINK Activity Actions and/or Activity Details, indicators (if applicable) and/or any additional outcomes which will be achieved; and
• A brief narrative of the new Activity Action and/or Activity Detail proposed, if applicable.