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Appropriated funds expire following their period of availability as established in the Appropriations Bill.
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In practical terms, this means that FY2017 appropriated resource management Resource Management funds are available for obligation on financial assistance awards until September 30, 2018. Any funds not obligated by this date expire. Also, any portion of those obligated funds are deobligated after September 30, 2018 expire. In both cases, expired resource management funds Resource Management funds are lost to the program, though are recovered by FWS for future disbursement via the budget process. (EDITOR: Is this correct??)
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Following their expiration, obligated appropriations remain available for five federal fiscal years for liquidation. Any remaining obligations left unliquidated after the fifth year are cancelled and returned to the U.S. Treasury.
[A]n appropriation “dies” in a sense at the end of its period of obligational availability. There is, however, an afterlife to the extent of any unexpended balances. Unexpended balances, both obligated and unobligated, retain a limited availability for five fiscal years following expiration of the period for which the source appropriation was made. At midnight on the last day of an appropriation’s period of availability, the appropriation account expires and is no longer available for incurring new obligations. The expired appropriation remains available for 5 years for the purpose of paying obligations incurred prior to the account’s expiration and adjusting obligations that were previously unrecorded or under recorded. 31 U.S.C. § 1553(a). After 5 years, the expired account is closed and the balances remaining are canceled. 31 U.S.C. § 1552(a).[6]
Looking back to our example above, the FY2017 Resource Management funds that have been obligated on to FA awards have a five-year period following the appropriation's expiration before being cancelled. This means that these funds are available to the recipient to liquidate project costs associated with the obligated award until September 30, 2023. After this date, however, those funds are canceled, even though obligated, and the program office must then take steps to backfill the cancelled funds on the FA award; typically with newer appropriations. This, as you can see, is not good. It means the program office is essentially paying a portion of the project twice.
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