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The SM Report provides previous safety margins established at the end of each Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) and the current ending safety margins for each year by grant program. The report is available for download as an Excel spreadsheet.

  1. What is the purpose of the Safety Margin Report?
    The purpose of the SM Report is to track the safety margins established at the end of the Federal fiscal year for each grant program and to track the current safety margin for each Federal fiscal year and grant program as de-obligations to awards occur.

  2. How can I use the Safety Margin Report?
    The SM Report is used to review the Safety Margin Established at FFY End for the five main grant programs administered by WSFR (excludes Section 10 Hunter Education/Wildlife Restoration).  The safety margin established for each FFY and grant program is important because it is part of the process to determine the age of de-obligated grant funds and whether de-obligated funds are returned to the State.

    In addition to reviewing the SM Report for the Safety Margin Established at FFY the report may be used to determine the disposition of funds (recovery or reversion) if you are anticipating de-obligating grant funds.

    To determine the disposition (recovery or reversion) of a proposed de-obligation of grant funds you must use both the SM Report and the Obligations and Payments Report (O&P).

    • Use the O&P Report to determine the grant program and Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) from which the funds were originally obligated for the specific award line. This will be used as the first year to begin the comparison to the SM Report. Locate the specific award line to be de-obligated on the O&P report, make note of the grant program and the FFY.
    • Using the original obligation FFY and the grant program from the O&P Report, compare the amount of funds to be  de-obligated for that award line to the Current Safety Margin column on the SM Report beginning with the original year of obligation.
    • If the amount of funds to be de-obligated is less than the amount in the Current Safety Margin column the funds will be returned for that year.  The de-obligation amount must then be compared to each subsequent year on the SM Report through the current FFY.
    • If the funds do not exceed the Current Safety Margin for any of the years through the current FFY the funds are expected to recover and be available to the State for obligation on future awards.
    • If for any of the years the amount of funds to be de-obligated exceeds the Current Safety Margin, the funds will revert and no longer be available to the State.
    • Example: 
      • During FFY 2015, the State is expecting to close award F12AF12345 which has an unused balance of $50,000.  To determine the disposition of the de-obligation of the unused balance of $50,000:
      • Perform a search for the award number in the O&P Report to locate the original obligation of the award lines. In this example, the O&P Report displays two lines. Line 10 has a zero balance.  Line 20 displays the unused balance of $50,000 which was originally obligated during FFY 2012 from grant program Sport Fish Restoration. This should match the account in ASAP.
      • SM Report
      • Next review the SM Report. Go to the tab for grant program 9510 (Sport Fish Restoration). Compare the Current Safety Margin amount listed on the SM Report for the original FFY 2012 which is $785,174 to the de-obligation amount of $50,000. The $50,000 will pass through or recover from FFY 2012. The de-obligation will need to be compared to each subsequent year, FFY 2013 and FFY 2014.  The  Current Safety Margin amount listed on the SM Report for FFY 2013 is $618,918.89 and for FFY 2014 is $228,372.79.  The $50,000 will pass through or recover from FFY 2013 and FFY 2014 and be available to the State in FFY 2015 to obligate on a future Sport Fish Restoration award.


  3. What information is contained in the Safety Margin Report?
    The SM Report contains safety margin amounts calculated at the end of each Federal Fiscal Year and the remaining safety margin balance (Current Safety Margin) for each grant program.  The Current Safety Margin balance will be less than the “SM Established at Federal Fiscal Year-end” if de-obligations have occurred from de-obligations. The amount of funds de-obligated must pass through each year's safety margin, thereby reducing, the safety margin in order for the State to recover and reuse the funds for subsequent grant obligations.

  4. How is the Safety Margin Report organized?
    The SM Report contains a worksheet tab for the five main grant programs with safety margins. These five programs include:

    • 5220 – Section 4 (Section 4) Wildlife Restoration (WR) and Hunter Education (HE)
    • 5620 – State Wildlife Grants (SWG)
    • 5720 – State Wildlife Grants (SWG)
    • 9510 – Sport Fish Restoration (SFR) and Aquatic Resource Education (ARE)
    • 9520 – Boating Access (BA)

    Each worksheet exhibits, by Federal Fiscal Year, the initial safety margin established when the Federal Fiscal Year ended, and the current safety margin reflecting de-obligations that have occurred from state requests to reduce funds or grants closed with a remaining balance.

  5. What do the various column headings in the Safety Margin Report mean?

    • Grant Program - The four-digit account number for the applicable WR, SFR, or SWG grant program or subprogram. For these apportioned (formula) programs, there are five safety margins established through the safety margin process at the grant program (parent) account levels shown below.  The subprogram (child) accounts shown below roll-up into each grant program (parent) account for safety margin purposes.

      Grant Program (Parent)Subprogram (Child)
      5220 - Section 4 Wildlife Retoration (WR) and Hunter Education (HE)  5221 - Section 4 Hunter Education
      5221 - Section 4 Wildlife Restoration
      5620 - State Wildlife Grants (SWG) (FFY 2008 to 2015 and subsequent appropriations)  5621 - SWG Implementation Grants (50% Federal Share)
      5622 - SWG Planning Grants (75% Federal Share) 
      5623 - SWG Implementation Grants (65% Federal Share)
      5720 - State Wildlife Grants (SWG) (FFY 2002 to 2007 appropriations)  5721 - SWG Implementation Grants (50% Federal Share)
      5722 - SWG Planning Grants (75% Federal Share)
      5723 - SWG Implementation Grants (65% Federal Share)
      9510 - Sport Fish Restoration (SFR) and Aquatic Resource Education (ARE)   9511 - Aquatic Resource Education (Freshwater/Inland)
      9512 - Marine Fisheries (Saltwater/Marine)
      9513 - Aquatic Resource Education (Saltwater/Marine)
      9514 - Fish Restoration (Freshwater/Inland)
      9520 - Boating Access (BA) 9521 - Boating Access (Freshwater/Inland)
      9522 - (Saltwater/Marine)
    • Grant Program Name - The name of the grant program or subprogram.
    • Fiscal Year - The Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) is the financial period sometimes referred to as a budget year. This is the period used for calculating the safety margins. The Federal Fiscal Year is October 1 through September 30.
    • Safety Margin Established at Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) End - The amount established at the end of the FFY as the safety margin for each of the five main grant programs. See the Safety Margin Simulation Report for additional information on how the safety margin is calculated for each grant program.
    • Current Safety Margin - This amount represents the “SM Established at FFY-end” amount less less de-obligations that occur throughout the FFY.  If the Current Safety Margin amount is zero, any grant funds that are de-obligated for that year or previous FFYs will revert.

  6. What grant/financial data is included or excluded from the Safety Margin Report?
    The SM Report includes financial data from the Department of Interior's Federal financial system, the Financial and Business Management System (FBMS) for the current Federal Fiscal Year. The Federal Fiscal Year is from October 1st through September 30th. The financial data changes as transactions are entered into FBMS on a daily basis. The report contains the financial transactions as of the report refreshed date.

  7. How frequently is the Safety Margin Report updated?
    The Safety Margin Report data is refreshed on approximately the 1st of each month. The report is uploaded to TRACS within the next three business days.

  8. What if I need an Safety Margin Report before the 1st of the month?
    If there is an urgent or special need to obtain an updated Safety Margin Report between the mid-month posting dates, contact your Regional WSFR Financial Specialist for assistance.

  9. How long are the monthly Safety Margin Report available in TRACS?
    All Safety Margin Reports beginning with August 15, 2014 will remain available in TRACS indefinitely.