20 CFR § 618.625 - Payment restrictions for training programs.

(a) Funding of training programs. The costs of a training program approved under the Act may be paid:

(1) Solely from TAA Program funds;

(2) Solely from other public or private funds; or

(3) Partly from TAA Program funds and partly from other public or private funds.

(b) No duplication of costs allowed.

(1) Any use of TAA Program funds to duplicate the payment of training costs by another source is prohibited.

(2) When the payment of the costs of training has already been made under any other Federal law, or the costs are reimbursable under any other Federal law and a portion of the costs has already been paid under other such Federal law, payment of such training costs may not be made from TAA Program funds.

(3) When the direct costs of a training program approvable under § 618.610 (criteria for approval of training) are payable from TAA Program funds and are also wholly or partially payable from any other source, the State must establish procedures to ensure TAA Program funds will not duplicate funds available from the other source(s). This preclusion of duplication does not prohibit and should not discourage sharing of costs under prearrangements authorized under paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

(c) Cost sharing permitted.

(1) TAA Program funds are the primary source of Federal assistance to trade-affected workers, as identified in § 618.804(h)(4). If the costs of training a trade-affected worker can be paid under the TAA Program, no other payment for such costs may be made under any other provision of Federal law.

(2) States may share training costs with authorities administering other non-Federal, State, and private funding sources. Sharing training costs with other Federal sources may only occur if TAA Program funds are not available to cover the total cost of training, as described in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section.

(3) Sharing the future costs of training is authorized where prior costs were paid from another source, but this paragraph (c)(3) does not authorize reimbursement from TAA Program funds of any training costs that were accrued before the date the training program was approved under the TAA Program.

(4) When a mix of TAA Program funds and other funds are used for paying the costs of a training program approved under this subpart, the State must enter into a prearrangement with any entity providing the other source of funds. Any such prearrangement must contain specific commitments from the other authorities to pay the costs they agree to assume and must comply with the nonduplication provisions contained in this part.

(i) Agreements may be entered into on a case-by-case basis to address specific training situations of workers or they may be part of an overall statewide strategy to effectively use and maximize available resources from the TAA Program, workforce development, and other programs.

(ii) Where training costs are shared between the TAA Program and any other funding source, the State must enter into a prearrangement with the other funding source to agree upon the proportion of TAA Program funds and other funds to be used to pay the costs of a training program. A prearrangement must be a specific, binding agreement with the other source(s) to pay the costs they agree to assume, and must be entered into before any TAA Program funds are obligated. If, after TAA Program funds are already committed to a training program, other funds become available to pay for that training, the State may decide to share the costs of the remainder of training program or the State may continue funding the training program in full using TAA Program funds. If the State decides to share the costs, it must enter into a prearrangement with respect to the newly available funds. If the State makes a change to how the training program will be funded going forward, the existing training program must be amended in accordance with § 618.665.

(iii) Before approving any training program under this subpart, which may involve the sharing of training costs under the authority of paragraph (a)(3) of this section, the State must require the worker to enter into a written agreement with the State, under which TAA Program funds will not be applied for or used to pay any portion of the costs of the training the worker has reason to believe will be paid by any other source.

(5)

(i) A State may not take into account Federal student financial assistance, including Pell Grants, or any funds provided under any other provision of Federal law that are used for purposes other than the direct payment of training costs, even though they may have the effect of indirectly paying all or a portion of the training costs.

(ii) States must ensure that upon the approval of a training program under this subpart, payments of Federal student financial assistance cease to be applied to the training participant's tuition or other training-related costs covered by TAA Program funds.

(iii) If payments of Federal student financial assistance or other training allowances from other Federal funding sources were made to the training provider instead of the worker and were applied towards the worker's approved training costs, the State must deduct the amount of those other payments from the amount of TAA Program funds payable to the training provider in order to prevent duplication in the payment of training costs.

(iv) A worker may use Federal student financial assistance for other expenses, as allowable under applicable rules for such financial assistance.

(6) If the worker's trade-affected firm agrees to fund all or a portion of the worker's training costs, the State must, if the training is otherwise approvable, enter into a prearrangement with the firm to assume any unfunded training costs on the worker's behalf.

(d) No training fees or costs to be paid by trade-affected worker from TAA Program funds.

(1) A training program must not be approved if the trade-affected worker is required to reimburse any portion of the costs of such training program from TAA Program funds, or from wages paid under such training program.

(2)

(i) A training program must not be approved if the trade-affected worker is required to pay any of the costs of the training program from funds belonging to the worker, including funds from relatives or friends, or from personal or educational loans that will require repayment.

(ii) As required by § 618.940, if the Department determines that the amount of funds necessary to provide Training and Other Activities (TaOA) will exceed the annual cap under § 618.900 in a fiscal year, the Department will promptly inform the States. If a State estimates that it will exceed all available TAA Program training funds (including TaOA funds remaining from current or prior fiscal years) then the State must seek funding from other sources (other than from trade-affected workers), including WIOA national dislocated worker grants under part 687 of this chapter to cover the costs of training approved under § 618.610. To the extent that a State is unable to fund training costs from those other sources, the agency may approve training where the worker pays those unfunded costs. Where the worker chooses to pay those unfunded costs under this paragraph (d)(2)(ii), the State is not liable for paying those costs and must document this prearrangement in the worker's case file. Where the worker chooses not to pay the unfunded costs, the State must waive the training requirement in § 618.720(g) on the basis that training is not available, in order to preserve any remaining Basic TRA eligibility under § 618.735(b)(3) (waiver of training requirement for Basic TRA).