Each request for grant assistance will be carefully scored and prioritized to determine which projects should be selected for further development and funding.

(a) Selection of applications for further processing. The approval official will, subject to paragraph (b) of this section, authorize grants for those eligible preapplications with the highest priority score. When selecting projects, the following circumstances must be considered:

(1) Scoring of project and scores of other applications on hand;

(2) Funds available in the State allocation; and

(3) If other Community Facilities financial assistance is needed for the project, the availability of other funding sources.

(b) Lower scoring projects.

(1) In cases when preliminary cost estimates indicate that an eligible, high-scoring application is not feasible, or would require grant assistance exceeding 50 percent of a State's current annual allocation, or an amount greater than that remaining in the State's allocation, the approval official may instead select the next lower-scoring application for further processing provided the high-scoring applicant is notified of this action and given an opportunity to review the proposal and resubmit it prior to selection of the next application.

(2) If it is found that there is no effective way to reduce costs, the approval official, after consultation with the applicant, may request an additional allocation of funds from the National office.