There are cross-cutting public policy requirements applicable to federal grants, including those awarded by the EPA. The term public policy indicates that the requirement is based on social, economic, or other objectives or considerations that may be attached to the expenditure of federal funds by grantees, consortium participants, and contractors, in general, or may relate to the expenditure of federal funds for research or other specified activities.

In addition to cross-cutting requirements that apply to federal agencies and their grant programs, EPA grantees are subject to requirements contained in EPA's annual appropriations acts that apply to the use of EPA grant funds. Some of those requirements are included here because they have been part of appropriations acts for several years without change, but those requirements may be changed or other requirements may be added in the future. The EPA intends to uphold high ethical, health, environmental and safety standards in both the conduct of the assistance it funds and the expenditure of public funds by its grantees. The public policy requirements specified in this section set many of those standards. The signature of the authorized organizational official on the application certifies that the organization is in compliance with, or intends to comply with, all applicable certifications and assurances referenced (and, in some cases, included) in the application package.