Grants Blog

Archive for the ‘Streamlining’ Category

Now is your last chance (probably) to comment on the proposed governmentwide standard Tangible Personal Property Report Form (SF-428).

Yesterday (March 25), the General Services Administration issued a Federal Registernotice inviting comments on the form and announcing that it is sending it for final information collection review before making the form available for governmentwide use. This form is a result of the government’s ongoing streamlining effort which includes issuing standard grants management reporting forms for all agencies to use.

GSA originally published the form in 2008, and received a handful of comments on it. In response, the agency made a few small changes – it clarified the instructions and numbered the attachments.

Comments are due April 26.

To view the announcement, click here.

The Office of Management and Budget is accepting comments on a set of proposed regulations that would impact several parts of the governmentwide grants administration process.

While the impetus for the proposed new rules is a legislative mandate to create a governmentwide database of information about large, potentially high-risk grantees, OMB’s proposal also addresses other areas, especially preaward. It represents the office’s ongoing efforts to relocate governmentwide guidance into one central location – Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

In many cases OMB’s proposal would simply codify existing policy. For example, a proposed new 2 CFR Part 25 would implement existing OMB guidance regarding the use of DUNS numbers. This guidance is currently in two separate OMB policy memoranda. This is just one example of what is included in the proposed regulations; there are many others.

The proposal would create or amend 2 CFR Part 25, DUNS/CCR registration; 2 CFR Part 27, program announcements; 2 CFR Part 35 postaward responsibilities; 2 CFR Part 77, termination; and 2 CFR Part 180, suspension and debarment.

As for the new database (mandated by the 2009 Defense Authorization Act) it would include information about grantees and subgrantees that receive more than $10 million in federal assistance. Those recipients would have to provide information about any criminal convictions, civil penalties, or administrative actions against them. Self-reporting of that information would be included as a term and condition in grant awards.

Comments are due April 19. To read the full OMB announcment, click here.

The proposed changes, along with other Title 2 developments, will be covered in our upcoming Federal Grants Update 2010 seminar. For dates and locations, click here.

The National Science Foundation – on behalf of the Grants Policy Committee and the Research Business Models Subcommittee – is accepting final comments on the new governmentwide Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) format, while at the same time putting the format out for use by federal agencies.

In a Federal Register announcement, NSF said agencies may now use the new standard format, which is designed to help streamline the reporting process for grantees as well as allow federal awarding agencies to more easily analyze, compare, and compile research program information.

NSF says it expects this to be the last opportunity for public input before the reporting format is finalized. Comments may be submitted until February 12 via email to Suzanne Plimpton, splimpton@nsf.gov.

You can access the FR notice inviting comments here.

Our annual Federal Grants Update seminar will have additional information about this new report, as well as other developments in grants management. Dates and locations of the one-day seminar will be announced soon. Watch this blog or visit our website www.managementconcepts.com/grants for future information.

Yesterday the House passed its version of a bill to reauthorize the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act, pushing OMB even more to create a one-stop web portal that would consolidate all grant application and management functions and standardize the process governmentwide.

The House version of S. 303 is similar to the Senate bill passed in March 2009. Both direct OMB to beef up Grants.gov so that it serves not only as a central location for grant applications, but also for grants management. The legislation continues the push for standardized reporting forms, and requires OMB to provide Congress with a list of those federal agencies that do not use the standard forms and the central management portal.

The House bill also would require the development of a single data standard for private sector entities to use to submit information to federal agencies, including grant applications and reports.

Because the Senate bill does not contain this language – and because of other differences – members of the House and Senate must now meet in conference to work out a comprise bill before the legislation can be sent to the White House.

We’ll keep you informed about this measure as it moves through Congress. Also, this and other grants-related developments will be covered in Management Concepts’ upcoming Federal Grants Update course. The annual course is offered around the country each spring and summer. Watch our website for details in the coming months.

It seems there are discussions about merging the Grants Policy Committee and the Grants Executive Board in an effort to coordinate the two aspects of the federal grants community.

As its name implies, the GPC is in charge of establishing policies to implement grants streamlining efforts. The GEB, on the other hand, has authority over the business side of the streamlining effort, including Grants.gov and the Grants Management Line of Business.

But soon the two boards may merge into one. Tom Cooley, chair of the GPC, said at a recent National Grants Partnership webinar that there are plans to merge the two so that policy people talk to program people, and they talk to IT people, etc.

Sounds like a good idea to me…

The Office of Management and Budget has placed the final drug-free workplace guidance for grants and cooperative agreements in a new Title 2 CFR Part 182, a move that continues the government’s efforts to consolidate grants policy into one central location. The drug-free workplace guidance in Part 182 is virtually the same as the common rule currently being used by federal agencies and makes no substantive change to existing policies and procedures.

The office originally announced its intention to move the governmentwide guidance in September 2008. Now with the issuance of the final guidance, each federal  awarding agency will publish a rule in its own chapter of 2 CFR to adopt the OMB governmentwide guidance and remove the full text of the November 2003 common rule from its CFR chapter. This agency codification gives OMB’s guidance the force of regulation on that agency’s grants and recipients.

The Federal Register notice announcing the drug-free guidance final move to 2 CFR Part 182 was published June 15 and is available by clicking here.