[Federal Register: June 23, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 120)]
[Notices]
[Page 37385-37386]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23jn03-116]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Office of Federal Financial Management; Government-Wide Guidance
for Use of Grants.gov FIND To Post Funding Opportunity Announcement
Synopses
AGENCY: Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM), Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the President.
ACTION: Notice of proposed policy guidance for use of E-Grants FIND.
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SUMMARY: OMB proposes to issue a policy directive requiring Federal
agencies to use the Grants.gov FIND module to electronically post
synopses of funding opportunities under Federal financial assistance
programs that award discretionary grants and cooperative agreements.
DATES: All comments on this proposal should be in writing, and must be
received by July 23, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of
mail sent through the U. S. Postal Service, we encourage respondents to
submit comments electronically to ensure timely receipt. We cannot
guarantee that comments mailed will be received before the comment
closing date. Electronic mail comments may be submitted to:
sswab@omb.eop.gov. Please include ``Grants.gov FIND Policy Directive''
in the subject line and the full body of your comments in the text of
the electronic message and as an attachment. Please include your name,
title, organization, postal address, telephone number, and E-mail
address in the text of the message. Comments may also be submitted via
facsimile to 202-395-3952. Comments may be mailed to Sandra Swab,
Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of Management and
Budget, Room 6025, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Swab, Office of Federal
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, telephone 202-
395-5642 (direct) or 202-395-3993 (main office) and e-mail:
sswab@omb.eop.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
This Federal Register document seeks public comment on a policy
directive that requires Federal agencies to use the Grants.gov FIND
module to electronically post synopses of funding opportunities under
Federal financial assistance programs that award discretionary grants
and cooperative agreements. The policy directive includes an attachment
which contains the government-wide standard set of data elements to be
used by Federal agencies in posting synopses at www.FedGrants.gov.
These data elements were first proposed for public comment in a Federal
Register notice on August 12, 2002, [67 FR 52555]. The consideration of
comments OMB received in response to the Federal Register notice, and
the final set of data elements is published as another notice in this
section of today's Federal Register.
We welcome your input on any aspect of the proposal contained in
this notice. Questions that you may wish to address include:
[sbull] Do you feel this policy is sufficient for getting agencies
to post synopses of funding opportunities?
[sbull] Are there any shortcomings in either the posting or
retrieving of synopses from the Grants.gov Web site?
[sbull] Is there additional instruction that should appear in the
policy directive?
Dated: June 17, 2003.
Linda M. Springer,
Controller.
To the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
Subject: Requirement and Format for Federal Agencies to Post
Synopses at FedGrants.gov.
1. Purpose. This policy directive establishes a government-wide
requirement for Federal agencies to electronically post synopses of
announcements of funding opportunities under financial assistance
programs that award discretionary grants and cooperative agreements,
using a standard set of data elements. The purpose of the data
elements is to give potential applicants (1) enough information
about the funding opportunity to decide whether they are interested
enough to look at the full announcement; and (2) provide one or more
ways (e.g., an Internet site, e-mail address or telephone number) to
get the full announcement with the detailed information. The data
elements are the government-wide standard developed for the hundreds
of Federal programs that award discretionary grants and cooperative
agreements.
2. Authority. The policy directive is part of the implementation
of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of
1999 (Public Law 106-107). This policy is also designed to further
implement the Grants.gov initiative, one of the twenty-four
electronic government (E-Gov) initiatives under the President's
Management Agenda.
3. Background. Public Law 106-107 requires the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) to direct, coordinate, and assist
Executive Branch departments and agencies in establishing an
interagency process to streamline and simplify Federal
[[Page 37386]]
financial assistance procedures for non-Federal entities. It also
requires executive agencies to allow applicants to electronically
apply for and report on the use of funds from any Federal financial
assistance program administered by the agency.
Under the Grants.gov initiative, the Federal agencies are in the
process of developing an electronic application system using
standard core data elements. Part of the application process is the
identification of the funding opportunity through www.FedGrants.gov.
The posting of standard synopses in an electronic environment,
provides government customers the opportunity to locate funding
opportunities in one place and to decide whether or not to apply for
the opportunity. Establishing data standards for the electronic
format of the synopses and the posting of synopses on the Internet
are in accordance with Public Law 106-107 and the President's
Management Agenda.
4. Policy. The format attached to this policy directive is the
government standard format for posting synopses at http://www.FedGrants.gov
for programs that award discretionary grants and
cooperative agreements. Agencies are required to post funding
opportunities for all discretionary and cooperative agreement
programs at http://www.FedGrants.gov. Agencies are also encouraged
to post all types of Federal funding opportunities at http://www.FedGrants.gov
.
a. Applicability. All Federal agencies will be required to post
all discretionary and cooperative agreement awards at http://www.FedGrants.gov
except for:
(1) A program that does not issue separate announcements apart
from the program description in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA).
(2) A program that has 100 percent of potential eligible
applicants who live outside the United States and who demonstrate
lack of Internet access, and the agency has requested a waiver from
OMB.
b. Effective Date. This policy directive is effective 30 days
after issuance. All agencies shall begin posting announcement
synopses at http://www.FedGrants.gov beginning October 1, 2003. For
agencies that have funding opportunities which will close after
October 1, 2003, and are to be posted prior to October 1, 2003, the
agencies may choose to post synopses in the operational pilot which
began in February 2003, and is currently available to the public.
Federal funding opportunities posted at http://www.FedGrants.gov
will coincide with the posting and release of the full announcement
information on the same day or within three business days.
c. Exemptions. Requests for exemptions must be directed to OMB,
Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM).
5. Agency Responsibilities.
a. Issue any needed direction to offices that award
discretionary grant awards and cooperative agreements on the
requirement and format to use to post a synopsis at http://www.FedGrants.gov.
The synopsis must follow the format to ensure all
required data elements are included.
b. Ensure the synopsis posted at http://www.FedGrants.gov will
have full instructions regarding where to obtain the full
announcement for the funding opportunity. To further satisfy the
Administrative Procedures Act (APA), agencies may need to announce
the funding opportunity in the Federal Register, by placing a short
availability announcement of the opportunity with the agency contact
name and telephone number in order for the public to receive the
full announcement by mail and/or instructions for obtaining the
information electronically (and the agency need not publish the full
announcement or application package). Agency programs that are
required by legislation to publish their full announcement in the
Federal Register will have to do so until legislatively changed.
c. Obtain a Catalog of Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for all
programs that post a synopsis at http://www.FedGrants.gov.
6. Information Contact. Direct any requests for exemption or
questions about this policy directive to Sandra Swab, OFFM, 202-395-
5642 (direct) or 202-395-3993 (main office) or via e-mail
(sswab@omb.eop.gov).
Linda M. Springer,
Controller.
Attachment (See previous Federal Register notice in this separate
part).
[FR Doc. 03-15800 Filed 6-20-03; 8:45 am]
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