The Safety Margin (SM) Simulation report calculates the safety margin for the current Federal Fiscal Year based on obligations as of the refresh date of the report. The report is available for download as an Excel spreadsheet.
For all grant programs except Boating Access (9520), the SM equals the amount of Current Year apportioned funds obligated to grants during the year. The simplest way to calculate the SM for non-boating access grant programs is to subtract the “Total Unobligated Funds” balance from the “Current Year Apportioned Amount.” The safety margin is a process using the first-in first-out methodology to “age” de-obligated grant funds. The safety margin determines if de-obligated funds have another year of funding availability to be obligated to future grants. For these grant programs, de-obligated grant funds must pass through the safety margin to be recovered and returned to the State grant program account. De-obligated grant funds that do not pass through the safety margin will revert to the Service to be used in accordance with grant program rules. Grant funds obligated and de-obligated during the same Federal Fiscal Year are returned to the State grant program account and do not pass through the safety margin.
The Boating Access safety margin is more complex due to five years of funding availability under the DJ-SFR Act. The Boating Access safety margin equals the amount of the last four Federal Fiscal Years’ of boating access “allocations” actually obligated during the last four Federal Fiscal Years. The simplest way to calculate the boating access safety margin is to subtract the “Total Unobligated Funds” from the sum of the current year and prior three Federal Fiscal Years of Boating Access “allocations.” In the SM Simulation Report, the current year “allocation” is shown in the “Current Year Apportioned Amount” column and the prior three Federal Fiscal Year “allocations” are shown in the “Prior Year (Boating Access)” column. An “allocation” is the State set aside amount for the Boating Access grant program (i.e. which relates to the 15 percent minimum allocation requirement over a five-year period under the DJ-SFR Act).
The safety margin shown in the SM Simulation Report will change throughout a Federal Fiscal Year as preliminary and final apportionments and grant obligations and de-obligations are entered into the Service’s Financial Business and Management System (FBMS) enterprise accounting system. However, the only safety margins that matter for safety margin accounting purposes are the “final” safety margins established at the end of the Federal Fiscal Year, September 30th. The SM Simulation Report will be most meaningful after the “final” PR-WR, DJ-SFR, and SWG apportionments/funds are entered into FBMS. The issuance of “final” apportionments varies by Federal Fiscal Year. Issuance dates for “final” apportionments typically fall in the April to May time frame. SM Simulation Reports run before the “final” apportionments are entered will be incomplete, and therefore, not entirely useful for grant budgeting purposes (to determine obligation amounts needed) to ensure adequate safety margins are established before Federal Fiscal Year-end.
Non-Boating Access Safety Margin - a positive dollar value shown in the Safety Margin Amount column indicates that this is the amount obligated from the Current Year apportionment. A zero (0) amount indicates that no Current Year apportionment funds have been obligated as of the Report Refreshed Date. If a zero (0) amount is shown in the report, it is a red-flag warning that if Current Year funds are not obligated, there will be no safety margin established for the Current Year. Current Year obligations that are de-obligated in later Federal Fiscal Years must pass through the Current Year’s safety margin and all subsequent Federal Fiscal Years, until the year of de-obligation, thereby reducing the safety margin for each of those years. If the safety margin is or reaches zero (0) in any of the years a de-obligation of funds needs to pass through the safety margin, the funds will revert and and no longer be available to the State for future obligations. The reverted funds are returned to the Service to be dispositioned according to the grant programs.
In addition to any safety margins displaying zero (0) you should review any programs where the "Total Unobligated Funds” column exceeds the “Current Year Apportioned Amount" column. This means unobligated funds could possible revert at the end of the Federal Fiscal Year. The FWS Year End Carryover Report simulates the amount of funds that will revert or be carried over as of the report refreshed date.
Boating Access Safety Margin - if a zero (0) amount is shown in the "Safety Margin Amount" column, it is a red-flag warning that if Boating Access funds are not obligated by the end of the Current Federal Fiscal Year, there will be NO safety margin established for the Current Year.
In addition to any boating access safety margins displaying zero (0) if the "Total Unobligated Funds" column exceeds the last four years of boating access allocations (Current Year Apportioned plus Prior Year (Boating Access) amounts), this is also a red flag warning that the difference will revert if not obligated by the end of the Current Federal Fiscal Year. The “FWS Year End Carryover Report” will also identify projected boating access reversions States need to address before Federal Fiscal Year-end.
For both non-Boating Access and Boating Access, the SM Simulation Report will not display negative values (which are essentially reversions) in the SM column. Rather, the SM Simulation Report will display zero (0), so users will need to manually scan and compare columns to identify reversions as described above.
For additional details, examples, and explanation of the concepts and mechanics of safety margins, refer to WSFR’s Advanced Grants Management Course materials in the WSFR Wiki (http://fawiki.fws.gov ), or sign up for the course if you haven’t taken it. The course covers SMs comprehensively.
Year – The “Year” shown will equal the Year selection made in the drop-down box when running the Safety Margin (SM) Simulation Report in TRACS. The “Year” correlates with the “Current Year Apportioned Amount” column. For example, if the Year is shown as 2015, the “Current Year Apportioned Amount” represents PR-WR, DJ-SFR, and SWG apportionment/allocation amounts for Federal Fiscal Year 2015 (October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015).
Grant Program - This column contains a four digit number representing the grant program for the applicable WR, SFR, or SWG program. 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 SM calculation 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) |