(a) General. Within the limits of funds available, the Secretary may award grants to those applicants whose proposals for establishments, expansion, or improvement will, in the Secretary's judgment, best promote the purposes of section 474 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 286b-5).

(b) Determination of award amount. An Award may not exceed $1,000,000 or other amount established by law for any fiscal year.

(1) The scope of medical-library or related services provided by the applicant for the population and purposes it serves considering:

(i) The number of graduate and undergraduate students, and physicians and other practitioners in health-related sciences making use of the applicant's library resources;

(ii) The type and availability of library support staff;

(iii) The type, size, and qualifications of the faculty of any school with which the applicant is affiliated;

(iv) The staff of any hospitals or clinics with which the applicant's library is affiliated;

(v) The geographic area served and, within that area, the medical-library or related services otherwise available; and

(2) The amount adequate to insure continuing financial support from non-Federal sources of the applicant's proposed activity during and after the period of award. The Secretary shall consider the level of non-Federal support for the proposed activity for periods prior to the fiscal year in which a grant is made. The Secretary shall require the applicant's assurance that non-Federal support will not be diminished as a result of the award and that adequate support for this activity will be continued during and after the period of Federal assistance.

(c) Project period.

(1) the notice of grant award specifies how long the Secretary intends to support the project without requiring the project to recompete for funds. This period, called the project period, will usually be for one to five years.

(2) Generally, the grant will initially be for one year at a time and subsequent continuation awards will also be for one year at a time. A grantee must submit a separate application to have the support continued for each subsequent year. Decisions regarding continuation awards and the funding level of these awards will be made after consideration of such factors as the grantee's progress and management practices, and the availability of funds. In all cases, continuation awards require a determination by the Secretary that continued funding is in the best interest of the Federal Government.

(3) Neither the approval of any application nor the award of any grant commits or obligates the Federal Government in any way to make any additional, supplemental, continuation, or other award for any approved application or portion of an approved application.

[56 FR 29189, June 26, 1991, as amended at 59 FR 59168, Nov. 16, 1994]