General Requirements. Application for Financial Assistance. If an applicant submits, substantially modifies, or amends an application for federal or State financial assistance, the applicant shall provide notice and information to the Clearinghouse at the earliest feasible time. A prospective applicant may file a notice of intent to submit an application as a means of providing an early alert to potentially affected parties. If earlier notification is not provided in accordance with §A(1)(b) of this regulation, the applicant shall notify the Clearinghouse immediately before submission of the application. A federal agency proposing to adopt a plan or to engage in direct federal development shall provide notice and information to the Clearinghouse as early in the planning process as is reasonably feasible. If a federal agency receives an application for federal financial assistance and the applicant has not notified the Clearinghouse, the federal agency shall notify the Clearinghouse, as the State single point of contact, to determine the views of State, regional, and local officials. Contents of Notification; Submission. Contents. The notifying party shall provide the Clearinghouse with at least the following information, as applicable: Grant application summary or cover form, such as Federal Standard Application Form 424 (SF-424); Type, purpose, scope, explanation, and justification of proposal; Area to be served; Budget and funding sources; Staffing; Location (vicinity map); and Federal program number and title. Submission. Notification information required by this section shall be sent by the notifying party as a .pdf document attached to an email sent to mdp.clearinghouse@maryland.gov. State Application Identifier. Whenever the Clearinghouse receives notice of an application under this regulation, the Clearinghouse shall assign a State application identifier to the application. If a State agency requests that the Clearinghouse do so and if the Clearinghouse finds that it is in the State's best interest, the Clearinghouse may provide the requesting agency with a sufficient number of State application identifiers so that the agency may assign a State application identifier to each application. A State agency that expects to apply for one or more federal instructional contracts, instructional grants, research contracts, or research grants shall submit a request to the Clearinghouse, and the Clearinghouse shall provide the requesting agency with a sufficient number of State application identifiers, so that the agency may assign a State application identifier to each application. Before an applicant submits an application for federal assistance to the federal approving authority, the applicant shall place the State application identifier on the application. Acknowledgement of Notification. Within 5 days after the Clearinghouse receives notification under this regulation, it shall send the notifying party an acknowledgement letter. The acknowledgement letter shall include the State application identifier, the name of a Clearinghouse contact person, and the anticipated date for conclusion of any required intergovernmental review.