Ruth, for years DOE -- at least some installations that make awards
-- have required
a corporate certificate signed and sealed.  Sometimes I was able to
get them to relinquish and merely accept the signature of an
appropriate officer.  In this case I would suggest a senior financial person.

The form of the release is also typical DOE language.  They seem to
have too many lawyers around with nothing to do.

Is the award a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement?  Release
language like this is much more frequent with a contract.  You might
also look carefully at the language of the award.  Somewhere in many
grant awards, often in a grants manual incorporated by reference, is
language that not only states that a final payment is really final,
i.e., is essentially a release from further claims on the sponsor --
but it only works one way; the sponsor can come back to you for
return of various costs, usually those found paid in error or found
on audit to be improper.

The purpose of the release, obviously, is to ensure that the sponsor
has no further liability for reimbursing costs.  From their point of
view that is a reasonable requirement.  I am sure your institution
has similar kinds of things to protect itself; for example, the
language printed on the back of a purchase order usually says
something about payment of the PO being final.  It is just that DOE
often does reasonable things in unreasonable ways.

Chuck

At 10:55 AM 11/3/2005, you wrote:
>Good Morning,
>
>I've got a good one for this group!  We've been requested by DOE to
>sign a Final Release form signed by the IO with the signature of two
>witnesses PLUS if the awardee is a corporation, a corporate
>certificate must be signed and sealed.  Here's the body of the "final release":
>
>"The work under Award No. DE-FGxxx, dated 08-09-1998, between the
>United States of America (represented by the Department of Energy,
>National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the undersigned awardee,
>having been completed and finally accepted, and in consideration of
>Final Payment thereunder, the United States of America, its
>officers, agents and employees are hereby released from all
>liabilities, obligations, and claims whatsoever arising out of or
>under said award."
>
>I feel like I went to NCURA and returned to another planet!
>Any feedback or enlightenment you could provide will be appreciated!
>(In the meantime, we're not signing!)
>
>Ruth Tallman
>Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
>Lehigh University
>526 Brodhead Avenue
>Bethlehem, PA  18015
>Phone:   (610)758-3024
>FAX:       (610)758-5994
>E-mail:   xxxxxx@lehigh.edu
>
>
>======================================================================
>Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
>subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
>via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
>======================================================================

Herbert "Chuck" Chermside, CRA
Director Emeritus, VCU Sponsored Programs
Executive Director, Research Administrators Certification Council
1915 Robindale Rd.
Richmond, VA 23235-3931
804-320-5502
xxxxxx@verizon.net

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================