Grant Reform and New Transparency Act of 2013

“74 Grants Transparency Requirements

“7401. Definitions

“In this chapter:

“(1) Applicant—The term applicant means an entity that submits a proposal or application for a grant.

“(2) Competitive grant—The term competitive grant means a grant entered into through the use of merit-based selection procedures for the purpose of allocating funds authorized under a grant program of an Executive agency.

“(3) Executive agency—The term Executive agency has the meaning given that term in section 105 of title 5, except the term does not include the Government Accountability Office.

“(4) Grant—The term grant means an award of Federal financial assistance through a grant agreement or cooperative agreement making payment in cash or in kind to a recipient to carry out a public purpose authorized by law.

“(5) Grant reviewer—The term grant reviewer, with respect to a grant—

“(A) means any individual who reviews, evaluates, or participates in the decision to select a grant applicant for award of the grant; and

“(B) includes—

“(i) a peer reviewer;

“(ii) a merit reviewer; and

“(iii) a member of a technical evaluation panel or board or a special emphasis panel.

“(6) Proposal abstract—The term proposal abstract, with respect to a grant proposal, means a summary containing key elements of the grant proposal.

“7402. Merit-based selection procedure requirements in awarding grants

“(a) Merit-Based selection procedures required

“(1) In general—Except as provided in paragraph (2), an Executive agency shall use merit-based selection procedures in awarding grants.

“(2) Exception for certain grants—An Executive agency is not required to use merit-based selection procedures in awarding a grant if the grant is a block grant or formula grant for which Federal funds are required to be allocated in accordance with a distribution formula prescribed by law or regulation, or any other grant in which the allocation methodology for the grant funds is mandated by law.

“(b) Requirement for specific merit-Based selection procedures—Each Executive agency shall establish and make publicly available online specific merit-based selection procedures for each grant program of the agency required under subsection (a) to use such procedures.

“(c) Merit-Based selection procedures described

“(1) In general—The merit-based selection procedures required under subsection (a) shall promote the use of competition, and may be tailored to the particular requirements, objectives, and authorities of the agency. The procedures may address matters such as consideration of unsolicited proposals, standards for obtaining a competitive pool of applicants, and exceptions for safety, security, or other circumstances.

“(2) Specific matters included—The merit-based selection procedures required under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to a grant, the following:

“(A) A clear statement of the purpose, duration (including anticipated grant continuations), and eligibility requirements of the grant.

“(B) A description of the manner in which applications or proposals for the grant will be evaluated, ranked, and selected for award, including the weighting of any evaluation factors or criteria that will be considered.

“(d) Advance notification of grant opportunity required

“(1) Agency notification—Not later than 60 days before the date on which a grant opportunity becomes available, the head of the relevant Executive agency shall notify the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“(2) Public notification—Not later than 30 days after receipt of the grant opportunity described under paragraph (1), the Director shall make available online the specific matters described under subsection (c)(2) with respect to such grant.

“7403. Pre-award evaluation requirements

“(a) Evaluation required—Before awarding a competitive grant, an Executive agency shall conduct an evaluation of the ability of the prospective grantee to successfully carry out the grant.

“(b) Matters covered—The evaluation required by subsection (a) shall include a review of the following:

“(1) Financial management system—The capability of the financial management system of the applicant to appropriately manage and account for funds according to accepted cost accounting principles determined by the Office of Management and Budget.

“(2) Internal controls—The internal financial and administrative control systems of the applicant.

“(3) Compliance with reporting—The capability of the applicant to comply with Federal reporting requirements for recipients of Federal funds.

“(4) Past performance and integrity—The past performance and record of integrity of the applicant.

“(5) Other qualifications and competence—The ability of the applicant to successfully carry out the purposes of the grant.

“(6) Other Federal assistance—Whether the applicant has received other Federal funds through a contract or other type of assistance through a search of the System for Award Management and the Federal Assistance Award Data System.

“(c) Simplified evaluation procedure for certain applicants

“(1) In general—In conducting the evaluation required under subsection (a) with respect to an applicant, an Executive agency shall minimize the burden on any covered applicant and shall consider any existing findings with respect to that covered applicant under the single audit process under chapter 75 of title 31 related to the matters in subsection (b).

“(2) Covered applicant defined—In this subsection, the term covered applicant means an applicant that has received more than $10,000,000 in Federal grants during the previous 10 years before the date on which the evaluation occurs.

“7404. Website relating to Federal grants

“(a) Requirement—The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall upgrade any existing or proposed public website for finding Federal grant opportunities and applying for such grants so that such website may serve as a central point of information and provide full access for applicants for competitive grants. The website shall capture in one site, or provide electronic links to, other relevant databases.

“(b) Notice of competitive grant funds availability—At the time an Executive agency issues a solicitation or otherwise announces the availability of funds for a competitive grant, the agency shall post on the grants website maintained under this section relevant information about the grant opportunity, including the following:

“(1) Announcement and purpose—The grant announcement and purpose of the grant.

“(2) Grant period—The time period for performance of the grant and whether the agency anticipates that the grant will be continued.

“(3) Amount of available funds—The amount of funds available for the grant.

“(4) Eligibility—A statement of eligibility requirements of the grant.

“(5) Agency point of contact—Contact information for the Executive agency, including the name, telephone number, and electronic mail address of a specific person or persons responsible for answering questions about the grant and the application process for the grant.

“(6) Evaluation factors or criteria—A clear statement of the evaluation factors or criteria that the agency intends to use to evaluate and rank grant applications or proposals submitted, including the weight to be applied to each factor or criterion.

“(7) Disclosure of the process and standards for safeguarding against conflicts—A description of the process and standards to be used by the agency to determine that each grant reviewer does not have a prohibited conflict of interest, as defined by applicable statute or regulation, with respect to the evaluation or review of a grant application or proposal, or the decision to award a grant.

“(8) Deadline—The deadline for submission of grant applications or proposals.

“(c) Use by applicants—The grants website maintained under this section shall, to the greatest extent practicable, allow grant applicants to—

“(1) use the website with any computer platform;

“(2) search the website for all competitive grants by purpose, funding agency, program source, and other relevant criteria;

“(3) apply for a competitive grant using the website;

“(4) manage, track, and report on the use of competitive grants using the website; and

“(5) provide all required certifications and assurances for a competitive grant using the website.

“(d) Grant Award information

“(1) In general—For each competitive grant awarded by an Executive agency, the agency shall post on the grants website maintained under this section the information described in paragraph (2). Except as provided in paragraphs (2)(A), (2)(B), and (3), the information shall be posted within 30 days after an Executive agency notifies an applicant that the applicant has been selected to receive a grant award and shall be updated as necessary while the grant to the recipient is being performed.

“(2) Information posted—For purposes of paragraph (1), the information described in this section with respect to each grant awarded by an Executive agency is the following:

“(A) Executed grant agreement—Subject to paragraph (3), a copy of the final grant agreement, including the terms and conditions and the time period for performance of the grant.

“(B) Copy of proposal, application, or plan—Subject to paragraph (3), a copy of any proposal, application, or plan submitted for the awarded grant, including any amendment to the proposal, application, or plan (whether made before or after the award of the grant).

“(C) Award decision documentation and rankings—Documentation explaining the basis for the selection decision for the grant, the number of proposals received for the grant, and, with respect to the proposal that resulted in the grant award, the numerical ranking of the proposal by grant reviewers, if numerical rankings were assigned.

“(D) Justification for deviating from rankings—In any case in which the award of the grant is not consistent with the numerical rankings or any other recommendations made by grant reviewers, a written justification explaining the rationale for the decision not to follow the rankings or recommendations.

“(E) Disclosure of Peer Reviewers—The employer, and either the name and title or a unique identifier, of each individual who served as a peer reviewer for the grant program concerned, during the six-month period preceding the award of the grant.

“(F) Disclosure of Other Grant Reviewers—The name, title, and employer of each individual who served as a reviewer (other than a peer reviewer) of proposals or applications for the grant, regardless of whether the individual is employed by the Federal government or not.

“(3) Exception to posting requirement—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2)(A), and (2)(B), if the head of the Executive agency determines, with respect to a particular grant award, that posting the proposal, application, or plan at the time described in paragraph (1) would adversely affect an applicant, the agency—

“(A) may post a proposal abstract or executive summary; and

“(B) shall post the complete proposal, application, or plan for any proposal that is released under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Freedom of Information Act), not later than 60 days after the date on which the proposal, application, or plan is released.

“(e) Grant performance information—Unless otherwise prohibited by law, with respect to each grant awarded by an Executive agency, within 60 days after the end of the period for completion of the grant, the agency shall post on the grants website maintained under this section the following information:

“(1) The final report or other final written product required under the terms of the grant.

“(2) Other related data or results of the grant, or links to other related data or results of the grant, that the agency considers to be of value to future researchers or in the public interest.

“(f) Submission and Publication of Grant Solicitation Forecast on the Grants website

“(1) Requirement—Not later than November 30 of each year, the head of each Executive agency shall post a forecast, in accordance with paragraph (2), of all grant solicitations that the agency expects to issue for the following calendar year. The forecast shall be based on the best information available and shall not be binding on the agency.

“(2) Matters included—The forecast shall include, to the extent practicable, the following for each expected grant solicitation in a machine readable format:

“(A) Subject and purpose—A brief description of the subject and purpose of the grant, organized by the organizational unit of the Executive agency.

“(B) Point of contact—Contact information for the organizational unit or individual responsible for the grant, if known, including name, telephone number, and electronic mail address.

“(C) Notice publication date—The expected or actual dates for the issuance of the grant solicitation and application and the grant application submission deadline.

“(D) Award amount—The estimated amount of the average grant award, the estimated maximum and minimum amounts of the grant award, if applicable, and the estimated total number of grant awards to be made.

“(E) Total funding—A description of the total amount available to be awarded.

“(g) Publication of information—Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the publication of information otherwise exempt under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (popularly referred to as the “Freedom of Information Act”).

“(h) Transparency of information—To the extent practicable, the grants website maintained under this section shall—

“(1) make the information described in this section available in its original format;

“(2) make the information described in this section available without charge, license, or registration requirement;

“(3) permit the information described in this section to be searched and aggregated;

“(4) permit the information described in this section to be downloaded in bulk;

“(5) permit the information described in this section to be disseminated via automatic electronic means;

“(6) permit the information described in this section to be freely shared by the public, such as by social media;

“(7) use permanent uniform resource locators for the information described in this section; and

“(8) provide an opportunity for the public to provide input about the usefulness of the site and recommendations for improvements.

“7405. Debriefing

“If requested by an applicant for a competitive grant, for each grant award made in an amount in excess of $100,000 pursuant to a merit-based selection procedure, an Executive agency shall provide the applicant with a timely debriefing explaining the basis for the agency’s award decision, including, if applicable, the decision not to award a grant to the applicant.”