Email to Grantees Regarding HEERF Reporting Requirements
The purpose of this email is to inform you of several recent updates to the CARES Act, Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) programs for institutions of higher education (IHEs):
(1) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is an allowable expenditure under HEERF
Just to clarify, purchases to ensure the physical safety of students on campus is an allowable use of a grantee’s Institutional Portion of its allocation under section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act, when these costs are new or added and needed to implement “significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.”
This may include the reasonable costs of PPE, cleaning supplies, facility cleaning, or the purchase of items to help detect or prevent the spread of COVID-19 (e.g., thermometers, plastic barriers, or face masks). Grantees may also use these funds to make non-permanent changes to existing instructional facilities to ensure social distancing.
The purchase of PPE, cleaning supplies, facility cleaning, or the purchase of items to help detect or prevent the spread of COVID-19 items is also an allowable use of funds for grants received under sections 18004(a)(2) and 18004(a)(3) of the CARES Act.
Draft Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting form, to be published in the Federal Register for public comment soon