Award selection

Applications that have been fully processed and are determined to be complete, eligible for funding, and are not removed from consideration due to high risk will be evaluated based on the merit evaluation criteria and priority criteria (see § 4280.240). The points awarded for merit evaluation and priority criteria will be added for each application. Applications will then be ranked solely based on the points awarded. The Agency will first select the top two highest-scoring applications from each State (where Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Western Pacific are each considered a State), as long as the top two highest-scoring applications score at least 40 points. Applications that score below 40 points will not be selected for funding, regardless of their ranking. Then the Agency will select applications for funding based on rank order until available funds have been expended or a minimum score of 40 points is reached. If funding still remains the Agency may select the next highest scoring applications from the field.