(a) The Institute, under the direction of the Chief Compliance Officer, shall monitor Grant Awards to ensure that Grant Recipients comply with applicable financial, administrative, and programmatic terms and conditions and exercise proper stewardship over Grant Award funds. Such terms and conditions include requirements set forth in statute, administrative rules, and the Grant Contract.
(b) Methods used by the Institute to monitor a Grant Recipient's performance and expenditures may include:
  (1) Financial Status Reports Review--The Institute shall review Grant Award expenditures reported by Grant Recipients on the quarterly Financial Status Reports and supporting documents to determine whether expenses charged to the Grant Award are:
    (A) Allowable, allocable, reasonable, necessary, and consistently applied regardless of the source of funds; and
    (B) Adequately supported with documentation such as cost reports, receipts, third party invoices for expenses, or payroll information.
  (2) Timely submission of Grant Award Reports--The Institute shall monitor the submission of all required reports and implement a process to ensure that Grant Award funds are not disbursed to a Grant Recipient with one or more delinquent reports.
  (3) Grant Progress Reports--The Institute shall review Grant Progress Reports to determine whether sufficient progress is made consistent with the Scope of Work set forth in the Grant Contract.
    (A) The Grant Progress Reports shall be submitted at least annually but may be required more frequently pursuant to Grant Contract terms or upon request and reasonable notice of the Institute.
    (B) Unless specifically stated otherwise herein, the annual Grant Progress Report shall be submitted within sixty (60) days after the anniversary of the effective date of the Grant Contract. The annual Grant Progress Report shall include at least the following information:
      (i) An affirmative verification by the Grant Recipient of compliance with the terms and conditions of the Grant Contract;
      (ii) A description of the Grant Recipient's progress made toward completing the Scope of Work specified by the Grant Contract, including information, data, and program metrics regarding the achievement of the Scope of Work;
      (iii) The number of new jobs created and the number of jobs maintained for the preceding twelve-month period as a result of Grant Award funds awarded to the Grant Recipient for the project;
      (iv) An inventory of the equipment purchased for the project in the preceding twelve-month period using Grant Award funds;
      (v) A verification of the Grant Recipient's efforts to purchase from suppliers in this state more than 50 percent goods and services purchased for the project with grant funds;
      (vi) A Historically Underutilized Businesses report;
      (vii) Scholarly articles, presentations, and educational materials produced for the public addressing the project funded by the Institute;
      (viii) The number of patents applied for or issued addressing discoveries resulting from the research project funded by the Institute;
      (ix) A statement of the identities of the funding sources, including amounts and dates for all funding sources supporting the project;
      (x) A verification of the amounts of Matching Funds dedicated to the research that is the subject of the Grant Award for the period covered by the annual report, which shall be submitted pursuant to the timeline in §703.11 of this title (relating to Requirement to Demonstrate Available Funds for Cancer Research Grants). In order to receive disbursement of grant funds, the most recently due verification of the amount of Matching Funds must be approved by CPRIT;
      (xi) All financial information necessary to support the calculation of the Institute's share of revenues, if any, received by the Grant Recipient resulting from the project; and
      (xii) A single audit determination form, which shall be submitted pursuant to the timeline in §703.13 of this title (relating to Audits and Investigations).
    (C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, in the event that the Grant Recipient and Institute execute the Grant Contract after the effective date of the Grant Contract, the Chief Program Officer may approve additional time for the Grant Recipient to prepare and submit the outstanding reports. The approval shall be in writing and maintained in the Institute's electronic Grants Management System. The Chief Program Officer's approval may cover more than one report and more than one fiscal quarter.
    (D) In addition to annual Grant Progress Reports, a final Grant Progress Report shall be filed no more than ninety (90) days after the termination date of the Grant Contract. The final Grant Progress Report shall include a comprehensive description of the Grant Recipient's progress made toward completing the Scope of Work specified by the Grant Contract, as well as other information specified by the Institute.
    (E) The Grant Progress Report will be evaluated pursuant to criteria established by the Institute. The evaluation shall be conducted under the direction of the Chief Prevention Officer, the Chief Product Development Officer, or the Chief Scientific Officer, as may be appropriate. Required financial reports associated with the Grant Progress Report will be reviewed by the Institute's financial staff. In order to receive disbursement of grant funds, the final progress report must be approved by CPRIT.
    (F) If the Grant Progress Report evaluation indicates that the Grant Recipient has not demonstrated progress in accordance with the Grant Contract, then the Chief Program Officer shall notify the Chief Executive Officer and the General Counsel for further action.
      (i) The Chief Program Officer shall submit written recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel for actions to be taken, if any, to address the issue.
      (ii) The recommended action may include termination of the Grant Award pursuant to the process described in §703.14 of this chapter (relating to Termination, Extension, and Close Out of Grant Contracts, and De-Obligation of Grant Award Funds).
    (G) If the Grant Recipient fails to submit required financial reports associated with the Grant Progress Report, then the Institute financial staff shall notify the Chief Executive Officer and the General Counsel for further action.
    (H) In order to receive disbursement of grant funds, the most recently due progress report must be approved by CPRIT.
    (I) If a Grant Recipient fails to submit the Grant Progress Report within 60 days of the anniversary of the effective date of the Grant Contract, then the Institute shall not disburse any Grant Award funds as reimbursement or advancement of Grant Award funds until such time that the delinquent Grant Progress Report is approved.
    (J) In addition to annual Grant Progress Reports, Product Development Grant Recipients shall submit a Grant Progress Report at the completion of specific Tranches of funding specified in the Award Contract. For the purpose of this subsection, a Grant Progress Report submitted at the completion of a Tranche of funding shall be known as "Tranche Grant Progress Report."
      (i) The Institute may specify other required reports, if any, that are required to be submitted at the time of the Tranche Grant Progress Report.
      (ii) Grant Funds for the next Tranche of funding specified in the Grant Contract shall not be disbursed until the Tranche Grant Progress Report has been reviewed and approved pursuant to the process described in this section.
    (K) A Grant Award in the prevention program with a Grant Contract effective date within the last quarter of a state fiscal year (June 1-August 31) will have an initial reporting period beginning September 1 of the following state fiscal year.
  (4) Desk Reviews--The Institute may conduct a desk review for a Grant Award to review and compare individual source documentation and materials to summary data provided during the Financial Status Report review for compliance with financial requirements set forth in the statute, administrative rules, and the Grant Contract.
  (5) Site Visits and Inspection Reviews--The Institute may conduct a scheduled site visit to a Grant Recipient's place of business to review Grant Contract compliance and Grant Award performance issues. Such site visits may be comprehensive or limited in scope.
  (6) Audit Reports--The Institute shall review audit reports submitted pursuant to §703.13 of this chapter (relating to Audits and Investigations).
Cont'd...
(A) If the audit report findings indicate action to be taken related to the Grant Award funds expended by the Grant Recipient or for the Grant Recipient's fiscal processes that may impact Grant Award expenditures, the Institute and the Grant Recipient shall develop a written plan and timeline to address identified deficiencies, including any necessary Grant Contract amendments.
    (B) The written plan shall be retained by the Institute as part of the Grant Contract record.
(c) All required Grant Recipient reports and submissions described in this section shall be made via an electronic grant portal designated by the Institute, unless specifically directed to the contrary in writing by the Institute.
(d) The Institute shall document the actions taken to monitor Grant Award performance and expenditures, including the review, approvals, and necessary remedial steps, if any.
  (1) To the extent that the methods described in subsection (b) of this section are applied to a sample of the Grant Recipients or Grant Awards, then the Institute shall document the Grant Contracts reviewed and the selection criteria for the sample reviewed.
  (2) Records will be maintained in the electronic Grant Management System as described in §703.4 of this chapter (relating to Grants Management System).
(e) The Chief Compliance Officer shall be engaged in the Institute's Grant Award monitoring activities and shall notify the General Counsel and Oversight Committee if a Grant Recipient fails to meaningfully comply with the Grant Contract reporting requirements and deadlines, including Matching Funds requirements.
(f) The Chief Executive Officer shall report to the Oversight Committee at least annually on the progress and continued merit of each Grant Program funded by the Institute. The written report shall also be included in the Annual Public Report. The report should be presented to the Oversight Committee at the first meeting following the publication of the Annual Public Report.
(g) The Institute may rely upon third parties to conduct Grant Award monitoring services independently or in conjunction with Institute staff.
(h) If a deadline set by this rule falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday as designated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the required filing may be submitted on the next business day. The Institute will not consider a required filing delinquent if the Grant Recipient complies with this subsection.

Source Note: The provisions of this §703.21 adopted to be effective March 2, 2014, 39 TexReg 1386; amended to be effective September 17, 2014, 39 TexReg 7342; amended to be effective March 9, 2016, 41 TexReg 1694; amended to be effective June 12, 2016, 41 TexReg 4027; amended to be effective December 7, 2016, 41 TexReg 9527; amended to be effective June 7, 2018, 43 TexReg 3595; amended to be effective December 18, 2018, 43 TexReg 8123; amended to be effective March 14, 2019, 44 TexReg 1346; amended to be effective September 7, 2023, 48 TexReg 4863; amended to be effective June 9, 2024, 49 TexReg 3926