ProTracts & CSP Contract Development

1. ProTracts & CSP Contract Development Training Delivered on the National recorded CSP teleconference Mary Grande USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer

2. Topics • Generating contract items • Payment Limitations • Field verification and CMT

3. Access to CMT There are now two application statuses that can access CMT: • Pre-approved: To check any changes during field verification • Eligible: For applications that may be moved to pre-approved if higher ranked applications are withdrawn

4. Access to CMT • Returning to CMT after the contract items are created with the Generate button results in the contract items being deleted.

5. Step 1: Find Pre-Approved Application • Note the application status. • Note there is no application cost. • Note there are no contract items.

6. Step 2: Open Application • Note the application status. • Note there is no application cost. • Note there are no contract items.

7. Step 3 : Land Unit Review • The estimated acres WILL NOT be used on the NRCS-CPA-1155. Do NOT take on the administrative burden to correct them. • The Tract Numbers WILL be used on the NRCS-CPA-1155. They will be attached to each contract item for the land use. If you correct them before using the “generate” button in step 4A, editing burden is saved. If you don’t correct before editing, correct on the items as shown in Step 5.

8. Step 4A: Generate Contract Items • Access the Payment Rate screen. Please note that the rates are for training purposes only and do not reflect the rates for any specific signup. • Select Generate

9. Step 4B : Generate Contract Items • Note after items are generated the data is read only and only method to change is to Delete and generate the items again. • This is a control so items can’t be selectively changed. Changes only come from CMT.

10. Generate Contract Items • Items with zero performance payment points will not have contract items generated.

11. Step 4C : Contract Expiration Date • Un-editable Expiration Date is set when contract items are generated. • All contracts are five years in length and expire at the end of the fiscal year. • Last payment will be made after the contract expires. This meets policy since the activities receiving payment were completed while the contract was active (retrospective payments).

12. How Payment Rates are Calculated • Land Use Acres x Performance Payment Points x Payment Rate • RCCR Acres x Payment Rate for start year forward • Screen shows total for all scheduled years. • Payment Limitations are not applied at this step.

13. How Payment Rates are Calculated • Land Use Acres x Performance Payment Points x Payment Rate X Years • Value is rounded up to nearest dollar then multiplied by number of years. • 434.0 X 803.01 x .0080 = $2788.05 Round  $2789  x 5 YR = $13,945

14. How Payment Rates are Calculated • RCCR Acres x Payment Rate for start year forward. • If RCCR started in year 2012 the payment amount would be $17280 • Screen shows total for all scheduled years. • Reminder, rates are for illustration only.

15. Step 5: Review Contract Items • Look at accounts and verify that NIPF apps are in the appropriate non-ag accounts and the agricultural lands are in the appropriate ag land accounts. • If incorrect this could potentially result in contracts being cancelled to make the changes after obligation since they were ranked against the wrong applications and potentially with different resource concerns. • Measure twice, cut once.

16. Step 5: Review Contract Items • Similar to non-CSP contract items. Draft status until Check Rules is run. • Units are points and the amounts are payment points. • Narrative is un-editable for signup CSP 2010-1 • Acres displayed for ease of reviewing payment amounts.

17. Step 5: Review Contract Items • Tracts auto-generated from land unit description. • Field numbers must be added for printing on NRCS-CPA-1155 and to pass Check Rules. • Items will remain Draft until fields are entered.

18. Adding Fields • Select Land Units green button for item 1. • Enter the field numbers applicable to that land use. • Select OK to copy to other contract items for the land use. Cropland land units copy to the RCCR items and then edit as needed. • Repeat steps with next land use where multiple land uses present.

19. Step 5: Review Contract Items • Acres displayed for reference purposes to review that the cost share is acres x unit cost x amount for Annual Payments.

20. Step 5: Review Contract Items Supplemental Payment for Resource Conserving Crop Rotation paid per acre instead of conservation performance points  Acres x payment rate. . .

21. 508.95 Payment Limitations A. Person or Legal Entity Limitations (1) Regardless of the number of contracts entered into under the program, a person or legal entity may not receive, directly or indirectly, payments that, in the aggregate, exceed: (i) $40,000 during any fiscal year for all conservation stewardship contracts entered into, and (ii) $200,000 for all conservation stewardship contracts entered into during any 5-year period (2) The above limitations exclude funding arrangements with federally recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native corporations as described in CPM 440, Part 508, Section 508.95(C). B. Contract Limitation Each conservation stewardship contract will be limited to $200,000 over the life of the contract. Step 5: Review Contract Items • There is a problem with this item number cost share amount. What is it?

22. Step 5: Review Contract Items • Payment limitation rules across contracts are firmly set at Approval and re-checked at Obligation. This is because the capping may also need to take into account additional contracts for the same participant. • However ‘light’ per contract limitations will be applied during Check Rules.

23. Per Contract Payment Limitations • Do not provide the participant the NRCS-CPA-1155 during field verification if the items exceed the annual payment limitation of $40,000 or $200,000 contract limit per CPM 440 Part 512.91 matrix. • MUST run check rules to apply those per contract limits. • However, if the applicant has interest in more than one contract, this is not the full accounting of their potential payment limits.

24. Complete Payment Limitations • Cross contract payment limitations are Implemented at obligation when the last contract for the applicant exceeded their open $200,000 balance limit. • The challenge is we only know the open balance after the contracts have been approved. The order in which applications are approved for applicants with multiple contracts impacts the open balances. • Where multiple contracts require payment limitations to be applied to subsequent contracts, the caps will be applied at approval. • Same ‘challenge’ at payment– order for processing payment may impact limits.

25. Fund Manager Reports

26. Fund Manager Reports This report will show projected annual payments for a contract. To see cross contract projected amounts, enter and search based on the participants tax id.

27. Step 5: Review Contract Items • Only the first year items are obligated, for payment at beginning of next fiscal year. • Out years are all ‘planned’ to be obligated. Will be using the same “promote” process that is now being used for the Security Program. • Hence they display FA2011 to show they will be obligated in 2011.

28. Contract Item Functions • Items were generated in order of land uses on the payment rate screen but can be changed using Reorder Items. • Delete is never enabled from this menu. • To Delete, use the Payment Rate screen and use the Delete button. • It is a global delete for all items. No selective deletes permitted since all the scores and acres are from CMT.

29. Step 6: Check Rules • 1-5 indicates missing field numbers • 6 Detects that a tract number has changed.(T6274 changed toT6275) • Note scroll bar on right to see more messages when applicable.

30. Step 6: Check Rules APL cap shows the amount that can be paid for that item to keep annual payments at $40,000 per participant.

31. Detours: Payment Limitations • At Pre-approval and Check Rules can only enforce payment limitations at the per contract level. “Light” payment limitations. • At approval and obligation ProTracts will evaluate the other direct contracts the applicant has payment shares and will cap to maintain annual and contract limits. See slide 46 for an example. • At payment will evaluate at both the direct and indirect levels for full enforcement of payment limitations and direct attribution.

32. Detours: Deleting Items Where corrections are determined during contract item reviews the items can be deleted. Deletion clears the payment amount and deletes the contract items.

33. Detours: Deleting Items Application Cost is now zero Items are removed. Using the Refresh button above AGI eligible cost will refresh balance to zero..

34. Detours: Returning to CMT “deletion of all contract items” -->Does the same thing as the Delete Button. Requires items to be generated again from the payment rate screen. Select Ok to continue to CMT or select Cancel. Even if CMT is accessed with no changes made, will need to use the generate button again to re-create the contract items.

35. Step 7: Send Pre-approval Letter & Field Verification • The letter that will be distributed by the CSP team is to be used in lieu of the letter in ProTracts. • Only send the application cost AFTER successful use of Check Rules.

36. Fields entered for the contract items print with each contract item. Acres of the land use (from CMT) are displayed. • Unit Cost is points. Payment amount is per information on slides 15-17 and includes the acres. • First line shows capped amount where applicable, and second line the uncapped amount. Note capped footnote. Anatomy of the NRCS-CPA-1155

37. Anatomy of the NRCS-CPA-1155 • Note that contracts with multiple land uses, all items may be capped so that payment limitations are not exceeded. • ProTracts sums the capped amounts for all the items scheduled in the same fiscal year to determine the annual payment amounts.

38. Step 7: Send Pre-approval Letter & Field Verification • Field verification is required before setting the application to Approved. • Date of verification must be entered on the application screen.

39. Checks in Manage Applications: • All conventional eligibility criteria are met for FTE, AGI, and payment limits. • Participant info indicates eligible participant including “other”. • Verify that minimum of one farm associated with the decision-maker as the operator of record. • Vendor code is accepted. • Ranking score, total eligible acres, and tie-breaker are present .Field verification date is entered. • Contract items and payment rate has been generated and at least one item is present in the practice schedule for each of the 5 year contract duration. • Warning if Participant has prior year Active CSP2002 contracts. • Warning if Participant has other CSP 2008 applications. Step 8: Approve Application

40. Step 8: Approve Application • Selecting “Yes” reserves the dollars in the ProTracts ledger and debits the acres from the statewide allocation. States must have received the fund allocation in ProTracts, and reallocated funds prior to setting applications to approved.

41. Detours: Payment Limitations • In this illustration one application was approved for $148,290. • The second application was preapproved for $187,800 • When second application was set to approved, warning is displayed that caps will be applied. Second contract now approved for only $51,701. • $148,290 + $51,701 =$200,000 • Note, the order of approval dictates level of payment caps.

42. Eligibility Controls by Business Process

43. Step 9: Prepare to Obligate • See CPM 440 Part 512.42 to review the sequencing • Participant signature on NRCS-CPA-1202, appendix, NRCS-CPA-1155 • Enter date documents signed on participant info for each participant > zero shares.

44. Step 9: Prepare to Obligate Manage Contracts obligation status set to pending.

45. Step 10: Second level obligation review

46. Step 10: Second level obligation review Manage Contracts obligation status set to Accepted following successful obligation review. Note: For CSP the Regional Conservationists do not Sign Contracts that exceed $150,000

47. Step 11: Obligate Contract

48. Each obligated contract will debit two items: • Fund Allocations for the specific sub-account • Acre Allocations for the entire state Step 11: Obligate Contract Contract amount is for the life of contract. Item cost is the amount for the first year that is being obligated.

49. Step 12: Monitoring Acres Reports • Can search by signup or specific fund code. • Options to manage state acre allocation: 1) Search by Ag Land or NIPF applications 2) Cumulative Acre column on far left • Acres button for status of state acre allocation • Use in combination with Export features

50. Step 12: Monitoring Acres Reports • Will be read only view of acres in each of the application statuses and obligated contracts in the current active signup. • Cannot exceed total acres for approved and obligated, only at pre-approved since this is tentative funding. • Acre values will be updated as NHQ provides changes.