Letter responds to federal grants

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 7, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County commissioners are responding to changes in how grants are administered.

The commissioners discussed a letter on Monday that has been prepared to send to the Office of Management and Budget regarding proposed new rules for the guidance for federal financial assistance.

Board analyst Angi Klahn presented the letter to the commissioners to see if they had any edits to suggest before they approve it during their regular meeting today in order to meet the July 13 comment submission deadline.

The letter, addressed to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, is in response to a proposed rule rewriting for what is commonly known as the Uniform Guidance.

“This rulemaking represents the most significant revision to federal grant administration since 2013 and its scope and complexity demand the most thorough stakeholder input possible,” the letter states.

Funding services

Clallam County administers federal grant funds across 87 programs totaling about $20 million annually for services such as public safety, public health, social services, transportation and infrastructure projects.

“These funds are delivered directly to residents and, in many cases, pass through to local subrecipients and community organizations,” the letter states. “The proposed rule would affect every aspect of how we apply for, administer and account for those funds.”

The OMB changes to Uniform Guidance are to improve government-wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, cooperative agreements and other forms of assistance, according to a page about the rule change on the Federal Register at tinyurl.com/PDN-OMB-Rule-Change.

“OMB is proposing revisions that would improve transparency, accountability, and oversight for Federal awards across the Federal Government,” the webpage states. “This includes ensuring that American tax dollars are not wasted or misused, activities performed under Federal awards are consistent with law and policy, and recipients are held accountable when they fail to meet relevant standards.”

In the county’s letter, some changes are appreciated.

“The changes to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) requirements to be published on grants.gov, short plain language summaries and 30-day minimum posting requirement will reduce staff time when searching for funding opportunities that could match to specific program’s needs,” the letter states.

The county notes several concerns regarding expanded federal termination authority.

“The proposed rule would grant federal agencies broad new discretionary authority to terminate grant awards including authority subject to senior political appointee approval,” the letter states. “While we understand the administration’s interest in ensuring awards align with current policy priorities, this provision creates severe fiscal uncertainty for county governments.”

That uncertainty comes from the fact that county budgets are adopted months before the start of the fiscal year and a federal grant award being terminated unexpectedly would create “an untenable level of fiscal risk,” according to the letter.

“The termination of these grant-funded programs would have a significant adverse impact on small, rural counties such as ours,” the letter states. “The program services that these various sources of grant funding help support would cease given our county’s financial inability to fund such programs itself absent this funding.”

The letter provides examples of current projects that depend on federal grant awards, including the McDonald Creek Barrier Removal and Channel Restoration, which has a grant that helps to fund two positions directly and numerous contracted jobs and services.

“Importantly, this project affects up to 10 percent of the water allocation for the Agnew Irrigation District which services 5,500 acres of rural and agricultural land in eastern Clallam County,” the letter states. “The economic impact on farmers in this area would be highly detrimental.”

In the letter, the county urges the OMB to:

• Limit termination authority to existing bases in law and the current Uniform Guidance.

• Establish clear, published criteria and a notice-and-cure process before any termination.

• Ensure adequate wind-down periods that allow counties to responsibly transition affected programs and protect service recipients.

The letter also expresses concerns with changes to pre-award review and risk evaluation requirements, viewpoint-neutrality and event-services requirements, pass-through entity responsibilities, reclassification from guidance to binding regulation and new policy conditions on award administration and cost disallowance.

The full letter can be read at tinyurl.com/PDN-OMB-Letter.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.