Finding Text
Non-Federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered
transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include contracts
for goods and services awarded under a non-procurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative
agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified
in 2 CFR 180.220. All non-procurement transactions entered into by a pass- through entity (i.e.,
subawards to subrecipients), irrespective of award amount, are considered covered transactions,
unless they are exempt as provided in 2 CFR 180.215.
When a non-Federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the
non-Federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR 180.995 and agency
adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in
the transaction. This verification may be accomplished by (1) checking the System for Award
Management (SAM) Exclusions maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and available
at SAM.gov | Home (click on Search Record, then click on Advanced Search-Exclusions)
(Note: The OMB guidance at 2 CFR part 180 and agency implementing regulations still
refer to the SAM Exclusions as the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS)), (2) collecting a
certification from the entity, or (3) adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with
that entity (2 CFR 180.300).
During testing of federal compliance, the City was unable to provide evidence of
checking the suspended or debarred list for all covered transactions. The City should implement
additional procedures to ensure that vendors
for all covered transactions are not on the suspended or debarred list.