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U.S. GRANT ADMINISTRATION STANDARDS — JANUARY 2006 <br />North American Wetlands Conservation Act and Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act <br />at any time and, as long as title is transferred after the proposal is received by the FWS, <br />the costs associated with the purchase can be reimbursed with grant funds. However, if <br />title is transferred before the FWS received the proposal, costs associated with the <br />purchase may only be used as match, and can not be reimbursed with grant funds. Any <br />obligation to purchase property before Federal grant funds are obligated is made at the <br />Recipient or subrecipient's risk. No matter when an obligation is signed, all purchases of <br />real property must comply with all applicable Federal regulations, including but not <br />limited to requirements specified in this section (F). <br />F -3 May condemnation proceedings be used to purchase lands in NAWCA or NMBCA <br />projects? <br />All real property interests acquired as part of a NAWCA or NMBCA project, whether <br />funded by grant funds or as match, must be from willing sellers. Condemnation <br />proceedings may be used only when necessary to assist in determining the legal owner. <br />F -4 What notice must be provided to a seller? <br />Prior to making an offer for the property, the buyer must inform the seller that the buyer <br />will be unable to acquire the property in the event negotiations fail to result in an <br />amicable agreement (i.e., that the buyer does not have condemnation or eminent domain <br />authority), and must inform the seller what the buyer believes to be the market value of <br />the property. <br />If the buyer is an agency that has eminent domain authority, but the acquisition is <br />voluntary, then two additional assurances must be included in the notice: (1) no specific <br />site or property needs to be acquired, although the agency may limit its search for <br />alternative sites to a general geographic area (where an agency wishes to purchase more <br />than one site within a geographic area on this basis, all owners are to be treated <br />similarly); and (2) the property to be acquired is not part of an intended, planned, or <br />designated project area where all or substantially all of the property within the area is to <br />be acquired within specific time limits. <br />This requirement does not apply to matching real property acquired prior to the receipt of <br />the proposal by the FWS (ineligible for NMBCA). <br />F -5 What if the Recipient or subrecipient fails to provide the required notice? <br />If the seller is not notified as required in Section F -4 above, the buyer must: <br />(a) have the appraisal reviewed (if an appraisal was required), <br />(b) pay any relocation benefits for which the landowner is eligible, <br />(c) pay any qualifying expenses incidental to transfer, and <br />(d) comply with all other provisions of 49 CFR, part 24, that apply. <br />This requirement does not apply to matching real property acquired prior to the receipt of <br />the proposal by the FWS (ineligible for NMBCA). <br />14 <br />