Suspension. NASA or the recipient may suspend the cooperative agreement for a mutually agreeable period of time, if an assessment is required to determine whether the agreement should be terminated.

Termination. (1) A cooperative agreement provides both NASA and the recipient the ability to terminate the Agreement if it is in their best interests to do so, by giving the other party prior written notice. Upon receipt of a notice of termination, the receiving party shall take immediate steps to stop the accrual of any additional obligations, which might require payment.

NASA may, for example, terminate the Agreement if the recipient is not making anticipated technical progress, if the recipient materially changes the objectives of the agreement, or if appropriated funds are not available to support the program.

Similarly, the recipient may terminate the agreement if, for example, technical progress is not being made, if the commercial recipient shifts its technical emphasis, or if other technological advances have made the effort obsolete.

If the cooperative agreement is terminated by either NASA or the recipient and NASA elects to continue the project with a party other than the recipient, the right of the government to use data first produced by either NASA or the recipient in the performance of this agreement is covered by 1274.905(b). See § 1274.208(l)(6) to assure that appropriate language is contained in § 1274.905(b).

When NASA terminates a Federal award prior to the end of the period of performance due to the non-Federal entity's material failure to comply with the Federal award terms and conditions, NASA must report the termination in FAPIIS.

The information required under paragraph (b) of this section is not to be reported to designated integrity and performance system until the non-Federal entity either—

Has exhausted its opportunities to object or challenge the decision, see § 200.341 Opportunities to object, hearings and appeals; or

Has not, within 30 calendar days after being notified of the termination, informed the agreement officer that it intends to appeal the decision to terminate.

If the agreement officer, after entering information into FAPIIS about a termination, subsequently:

Learns that any of that information is erroneous, the agreement officer must correct the information in the system within three business days;

Obtains an update to that information that could be helpful to other Federal awarding agencies, the agreement officer is strongly encouraged to amend the information in the system to incorporate the update in a timely way.

Agreement officers shall not post any information that will be made publicly available in the non-public segment of designated integrity and performance system that is covered by a disclosure exemption under the Freedom of Information Act. If the non-Federal entity asserts within seven calendar days to the Federal awarding agency who posted the information that some of the information made publicly available is covered by a disclosure exemption under the Freedom of Information Act, agreement officers must remove the posting within seven calendar days of receiving the assertion. Prior to reposting the releasable information, agreement officers must resolve the issue in accordance with the agency's Freedom of Information Act procedures.

When a Federal award is terminated or partially terminated, both NASA or the pass-through entity and the non-Federal entity remain responsible for compliance with the closeout and post-closeout requirements and continuing responsibilities.

Notification of termination requirement. If the Federal award is terminated for the non-Federal entity's material failure to comply with the Federal statutes, regulations, or terms and conditions of the Federal award, the notification must state that—

The termination decision will be reported in FAPIIS, accessible through SAM;

The information will be available in FAPIIS for a period of five years from the date of the termination, then archived;

When considering making a Federal award to the non-Federal entity during that five year period, NASA must consider that information in judging whether the non-Federal entity is qualified to receive the Federal award, when the Federal share of the Federal award is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold over the period of performance;

The non-Federal entity may comment on any information that the OMB-designated integrity and performance system contains about the non-Federal entity for future consideration by NASA. The non-Federal entity may submit comments to the awardee integrity and performance portal accessible through SAM (currently (CPARS).

Agreement officers will consider non-Federal entity comments when determining whether the non-Federal entity is qualified for a future Federal award.