571—35.6(483A) Project review and selection.
	35.6(1) Review and selection committee.
	a. 	Each district shall have a review and selection committee, hereinafter referred to as the committee. Each committee shall be composed of at least five county directors or their designees, with at least two designated alternates. Each district’s committee shall determine which grant applications and amendment requests are selected for funding. For advisory purposes only, a department biologist or designee shall be present during review and selection of grant applications and amendment requests.
	b. 	Conflict of interest. An individual who is a member, volunteer, or employee of an entity that has submitted a project cannot serve on the scoring committee during that award cycle. Instead, one of the alternates shall review and score in the individual’s place.
	35.6(2) Consideration withheld. The committee shall not consider any application that on the date of the selection session is incomplete or for which additional pertinent information has been requested but not received.
	35.6(3) Application rating system. The committee shall apply a rating system to each grant application considered for fund assistance. The department shall develop the rating system. The rating system shall be used to rate each application, and those applications receiving the highest ratings shall be selected for fund assistance to the extent of the allotment for each annual period. If the amount of grant moneys available exceeds that requested, applications will be reviewed only to determine eligibility.
[ARC 7912C, IAB 5/1/24, effective 6/5/24]