[Microplantpath_faculty] Fwd: Research Digest, Vol 132, Issue 2

Fri May 8 16:06:13 PDT 2026

Good afternoon, please see USDA update from campus below.

Thank you,
--
*Dominica Albitre*
*Financial Administrative Officer*
*UC Riverside | BMP Administrative Unit <https://bmpn.ucr.edu/>*
dalbitre at ucr.edu | 951-827-6256
*Director of Professional Development, Staff Assembly 2025-2026*

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Date: Fri, May 8, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Subject: Research Digest, Vol 132, Issue 2
To: <research at lists.ucr.edu>

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Today's Topics:

   1. USDA Update (Cynthia J. Johnson)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Cynthia J. Johnson" <cynthia.johnson at ucr.edu>
To: research at lists.ucr.edu
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Fri, 8 May 2026 15:59:23 -0700
Subject: [Research] USDA Update

*~~ Please disseminate this information with those*

*researchers (especially USDA researchers) and research administrators*

*in your department who may find it noteworthy ~~*

*USDA Update*

*Background*

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the following USDA Terms and
Conditions
<https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda-general-terms-conditions-2025.pdf>
(effective
12/31/2025) which are being incorporated into new awards and to certain
amendments to existing awards.  As previously mentioned in the Research
list-serv newsletter dated 4/10/2026, those new USDA terms are problematic,
resulting in twenty-one states (including CA) joining together to file a
Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. The Motion is asking the court to
preliminarily enjoin USDA from applying and enforcing the challenged
conditions to Plaintiff States).  *The hearing on that Motion has now been
set for June 1st.*

While awaiting the outcome of that June 1st hearing, the CA Attorney
General, through UC Legal, has advised that UC campuses should not accept*
those problematic terms.

**Acceptance occurs by signing a bilateral agreement (i.e., USDA’s non-NIFA
awards requiring signature of both parties) or, in instances where UCR
receives a unilateral agreement not requiring the recipient’s signature
(typically NIFA awards), then the drawing down of funds under that
unilateral agreement constitutes acceptance.*

**** UCR Internal Guidance through June 1st ******

To address questions that have been raised and/or provide further clarity
as to how to proceed with proposals and awards over the next few weeks,
please find UCR’s internal guidance below.

*Proposals *

With regard to proposals, researchers should continue applying to funding
opportunities from USDA (and its agencies, such as ARS and NIFA).  As noted
in the April 10th newsletter, the following Reservation of Rights language
must be included in the application (preferably at the end of the budget
justification):

*“The USDA General Terms and Conditions include multiple terms and
conditions that are the subject of ongoing litigation in Massachusetts v.
USDA, Case No. 26-cv-11396 (D. Mass), including Sections 12.2, 13.5, 13.8
and 13.10 of the USDA General Terms and Conditions for Federal Awards.*

*By submitting this application, University of California Riverside does
not agree to the disputed terms and reserves the right to review the
applicable terms at the time it receives any proposed award in light of any
developments in that ongoing litigation.”*

*Existing Awards*

For awards that were issued prior to 12/31/2025, and no amendment has been
issued in 2026, those existing awards should proceed as normal (i.e.,
business as usual).

For awards that were issued prior to 12/31/2025, and have subsequently been
amended in 2026, then it is imperative to look at whether the amendment
incorporates the new USDA General Terms & Conditions (dated 12/31/2025).
Note:

o   The new problematic USDA General Terms & Conditions dated 12/31/2025
are *not* being incorporated into *non-funding amendments* (e.g., no cost
time extensions) and, therefore, *such existing awards may proceed as
normal* (i.e., business as usual).

o   The new problematic USDA General Terms & Conditions dated 12/31/2025
are, however, being incorporated into *funding amendments* (e.g.,
amendments which provide the next increment of funds for the next budget
period).  *Such funding amendments are on-hold* and may not be signed
and/or processed by RED in Kuali nor funds drawn down by EMF (pending the
outcome of the June 1st hearing and further guidance from UC Legal).

Reminder: Please be sure to timely comply with all reporting requirements
in existing awards (e.g., submission of annual RPPRs, final reports, etc.).

*New NIFA Awards On Hold*

If it is absolutely necessary for a researcher to begin working on a new
NIFA award (as those awards are *unilaterally* executed without the need of
the recipient’s signature), and if such award is currently on-hold in RED
pending the outcome of the June 1st hearing, then the researcher might
consider submitting a PreAward Spending Request Form
<https://ucr.kualibuild.com/app/builder/app/6483a4bfe5faa20209cda925/run> in
Kuali Build since EMF Accounting does not conduct the drawdowns of funds on
PreAwards.  Note: The risks, liabilities and limitations associated with
PreAwards must be carefully considered prior to requesting authorization
(e.g., if the Motion for a Preliminary Injunction is not granted and/or UCR
is unable to ultimately accept the terms and conditions of the award, then
the researcher’s department would need to cover such pre-award
expenditures).  For further information on PreAward Spending Requests,
please refer to https://research.ucr.edu/spa/lifecycle/preaward.

Please direct further questions in writing to REDalert at ucr.edu.

*Office Hours: Kuali Sponsored Programs*

Please join us for the Kuali Sponsored Programs Office Hours which meets on
the *first and third Thursday* of each month from 9 – 9:30 a.m. via the
following *new ZOOM link*:
https://ucr.zoom.us/j/91549349837?pwd=7acOMgGLk5bLVMXyHSPMSkHPTo0bhA.1&jst=2
.

*We hope to see you there!*

*Research List-Serv*

Do you know of someone in your department who is not currently registered
to receive newsletters (such as this one) from the Research listserv, but
would like to?  If so, please forward their name and email address to
Cynthia Johnson at cwells at ucr.edu.
_______________________________________________
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