The Secretary may provide 70 percent matching rehabilitation grants and innovation grants directly to eligible general purpose local governments on the Secretary’s approval of applications for the grants by the chief executive officials of those governments.

An innovation grant should be closely tied to goals, priorities, and implementation strategies expressed in local park and recreation recovery action programs, with particular regard to the special considerations listed in section 200504(c)(2) of this title.

If consistent with an approved application, a grant recipient may transfer a rehabilitation grant or innovation grant in whole or in part to an independent special purpose local government, private nonprofit agency, or county or regional park authority if the assisted recreation area or facility owned or managed by the transferree [1] offers recreation opportunities to the general population within the jurisdictional boundaries of the grant recipient.

Payments may be made only for a rehabilitation project or innovation project that has been approved by the Secretary. Payments may be made from time to time in keeping with the rate of progress toward the satisfactory completion of the project, except that the Secretary, when appropriate, may make advance payments on an approved rehabilitation project or innovation project in an amount not to exceed 20 percent of the total project cost.

The Secretary may authorize modification of an approved project only when a grant recipient adequately demonstrates that the modification is necessary because of circumstances not foreseeable at the time at which the project was proposed.

(Pub. L. 113–287, § 3, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3183.)