Each agency that awards types of Federal financial assistance included in the definition of “award” in § 25.305 must include the requirements described in paragraph (b) of this section in each program announcement, regulation, or other issuance containing instructions for applicants that either:

Is issued on or after the effective date of this part; or

Has application or plan due dates after October 1, 2010.

The program announcement, regulation, or other issuance must require each entity that applies and does not have an exemption under § 25.110 to:

Be registered in the SAM prior to submitting an application or plan;

Maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by an agency; and

Provide its unique entity identifier in each application or plan it submits to the agency.

For purposes of this policy:

The applicant is the entity that meets the agency's or program's eligibility criteria and has the legal authority to apply and to receive the award. For example, if a consortium applies for an award to be made to the consortium as the recipient, the consortium must have a unique entity identifier. If a consortium is eligible to receive funding under an agency program but the agency's policy is to make the award to a lead entity for the consortium, the unique entity identifier of the lead entity will be used.

A “program announcement” is any paper or electronic issuance that an agency uses to announce a funding opportunity, whether it is called a “program announcement,” “notice of funding availability,” “broad agency announcement,” “research announcement,” “solicitation,” or some other term.

To remain registered in the SAM database after the initial registration, the applicant is required to review and update on an annual basis from the date of initial registration or subsequent updates its information in the SAM database to ensure it is current, accurate and complete.