(a)General. The Secretary, with the advice of the Board in each case, shall award grants to those applicants whose arrangements and proposed services will, in the Secretary's judgment, have the greatest potential for fulfilling the need for a regional medical library. The Secretary, in determining the priority assigned an applicant, must consider:(1) The adequacy of the applicant's library in terms of collections, personnel, equipment, and other facilities; and(2) The size and nature of the population to be served in the applicant's region.(b)Project period.(1) The notice of grant award specifies how long the Secretary intends to support the project without requiring the project to recompete for funds. This period, called the project period, will usually be for one to five years.(2) Generally, the grant will initially be for one year and subsequent continuation awards will also be for one year at a time. A grantee must submit a separate application to have the support continued for each subsequent year. Decisions regarding continuation awards and the funding level of these awards will be made after consideration of such factors as the grantee's progress and management practices, and the availability of funds. In all cases, continuation awards require a determination by the Secretary that continued funding is in the best interest of the Federal Government.(3) Neither the approval of any application nor the award of any grant commits or obligates the Federal Government in any way to make any additional, supplemental, continuation, or other award for any approved application or portion of an approved application.