Budget Documents
Applicants are required to submit a Budget Justification, SF-424, and SF-424A Spreadsheet with their Full Applications. Please note that the SF-424A is included as a separate tab within the Budget Justification Excel file that was filled out during application and will be updated during negotiations. Upon selection, ARPA-E will review your budget documents for the information and may request additional information and revised documents. Please provide responses to ARPA-E’s budget questions in a timely fashion. Failure to do so will delay the award of your funding.
Please refer to the Budget Justification Guidance for detailed instructions on completing the budget forms as well as the supporting budget documentation required. You may also be required to submit an Indirect Rate Proposal to ARPA-E if you do not have a Federally approved indirect rate. A form for proposing an indirect rate is available below.
SF-424
SF-424A and Budget Justification Spreadsheet
Coming Soon - Budget Justification Guidelines
Indirect Rate Proposal Template (if you do not have a current federally approved rate agreement)
Indirect Rate Proposal Submission Procedures
Supporting Budget Documentation
(All the supporting budget documentation included in the below is required for the prime recipient and for any sub-recipient(s) that will be providing more than 10% of the total project cost.)
-Cost share verification letters, on official letterhead, signed by an appropriate agent from the organization.
- Verification of indirect rates and fringe benefit rates as reflected in the Budget Justification form for the prime and sub-recipient(s). Verification can be in the form of a DCAA or HHS audit, a forward rate agreement provided by a Federal Agency, or an independent audit that lists these rates. If no documentation exists, please provide a complete indirect rate proposal.
- Verification of salaries for proposed individuals listed in the Budget Justification (for both prime and sub-recipients). For listed personnel, verification can be in the form of payroll records or a signed letter from an officer of your organization (e.g. CFO or HR) listing salaries of proposed individuals. For personnel that were listed as labor categories, please provide justification for salaries through actual salary documentation listed above or industry estimates based on region.
- Verification of proposed Supplies with a unit cost of $2,500 or more and Equipment with a unit cost of $50,000 or more. Supporting documentation can be provided in the form vendor quotes or past invoices.
- Statement of work for any vendor costs included under the Contractual tab
Environmental Impact Questionnaire
Pursuant to the DOE’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Procedures, ARPA-E is required to evaluate the potential environmental impact of any projects that it is considering for funding.
ARPA-E uses the Environmental Impact Questionnaire to obtain information regarding the potential environmental impact of particular projects and to determine the appropriate level of environmental review.
You are required to answer the questionnaire for the entire project, including all work to be performed by other participants (Subrecipients, contractors, etc.). You may not limit your responses to work performed by the Prime Recipient.
In completing the Environmental Impact Questionnaire, Applicants must provide specific information regarding the nature of the Project Team’s proposed action, including information on their size, operations, and the types and quantities of air emissions, wastewater discharges, solid wastes, land disturbances, etc. Applicants should identify the location(s) of the proposed action and specifically describe the activities that would occur at each location.
Upon request, the Applicant or other participants are required to provide additional information to the ARPA-E NEPA Compliance Officer
Environmental Impact Questionnaire
Environmental Impact Questionnaire Instructions
Technology-to-Market Plan
An initial Technology-to-Market Plan must be submitted and approved by the ARPA-E Program Director before the award is executed. Prime Recipients will thereafter be required to present to the ARPA-E Program Director updates on their progress against the plan per the Technology-to-Market milestones in Attachment 3 to the Award.
ARPA-E Tech-to-Market Plan Instructions and Template
Intellectual Property and Data Management Plan
ARPA-E requires every Project Team in which more than one team member will perform research and development work or share technical data, to negotiate and establish an Intellectual Property Management Plan for the management and disposition of intellectual property arising from the project. In addition, ARPA-E requires each Prime Recipient, regardless of whether there are other team members, to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP) that addresses how data generated in the course of the work performed under an ARPA-E award will be preserved and, as appropriate, shared publicly. The use of this suggested template is voluntary - the Project Team is responsible for creating an appropriate Intellectual Property Management Plan and Data Management Plan for its research effort
Intellectual Property Management Plan Template
Working with DOE Contractor Operated Laboratories (GOCOs/FFRDCs)
Where a DOE contractor operated laboratory is a part of a project team, the team members may choose to satisfy the requirement to have an IP Management Plan by using the attached model short form CRADA or a modified version that has been preapproved for such use. Keep in mind that a DOE contractor operated laboratory is restricted by the terms of their contract with DOE as to the types of agreements that they are authorized to enter into. This model may also be modified and used where the DOE lab is not part of the project team but is empowered by ARPA-E (1) to test the technology of other ARPA-E awardees, (2) to be a technical resource to a project team, and/or (3) under other appropriate circumstances as determined by ARPA-E.
SBIR/STTR Forms
SBIR Lifecycle Certification
SBIR Funding Agreement Certification