Once the decision is made by a Headquarters program office or Center procurement personnel, to pursue the Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN) process, for which the total NASA resources to be expended equal or exceed $10 million (cash plus non-cash contributions), a notification shall immediately be provided to the Assistant Administrator for Procurement (Code HS). The notification(s) shall be forwarded by the cognizant Headquarters program office or the Center procurement office (as applicable). For any CAN where NASA's cash contributions are expected to equal or exceed $10 million, Headquarters program office or Center procurement personnel shall also notify the Assistant Administrator for Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (Code K). All such notifications, as described in paragraph (b) of this section, shall evidence concurrence by the cognizant Center Procurement Officer. These review requirements also apply where an unsolicited proposal is received from a commercial firm (or from a team of recipients where one of more team members is a commercial firm), and the planned award document is a cooperative agreement.

The notification shall be accomplished by sending an electronic mail (e-mail) message to the following address at NASA Headquarters: can@hq.nasa.gov. The notification must include the following information, as a minimum—

Identification of the cognizant Center and program office;

Description of the proposed program for which proposals are to be solicited;

Rationale for decision to use a CAN rather than other types of solicitations;

The amount of Government funding to be available for award(s);

Estimate of the number of cooperative agreements to be awarded as a result of the CAN;

The percentage of cost-sharing to be required;

Tentative schedule for release of CAN and award of cooperative agreements;

If the term of the cooperative agreement is anticipated to exceed 3 years and/or if the Government cash contribution is expected to exceed $20M, address anticipated changes, if any, to the provisions (see § 1274.207); and

If the cooperative agreement is for programs/projects that provide aerospace products or capabilities, (e.g., provision of space and aeronautics systems, flight and ground systems, technologies and operations), a statement that the requirements of NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7120.4 and NASA Policy Guidance (NPG) 7120.5 have been met. This affirmative statement will include a specific reference to the signed Program Commitment Agreement.

Code HS will respond by e-mail message to the sender, with a copy of the message to the Procurement Officer and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, within five (5) working days of receipt of this initial notification. The response will address the following:

Whether Code HS agrees or disagrees with the appropriateness for using a CAN for the effort described,

Whether Code HS will require review and approval of the CAN before its issuance,

Whether Code HS will require review and approval of the selected offeror's cost sharing arrangement (e.g., cost sharing percentage; type of contribution (cash, labor, etc.)).

Whether Code HS will require review and approval of the resulting cooperative agreement(s).

If a response from Code HS is not received within 5 working days of notification, the program office or Center may proceed with release of the CAN and award of the cooperative agreements as described.

Before issuance, each field-generated CAN shall be approved by the installation director or designee, with the concurrence of the procurement officer. Each Headquarters generated CAN shall be approved by the cognizant Program Associate Administrator or designee, with concurrence of the Headquarters Offices of General Counsel (Code GK), External Relations (Code I), Safety & Mission Assurance (Code Q), and Procurement (Code HS).