[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 468 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.468

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
   the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine


                                 An Act


 
   To improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal financial 
 assistance programs, simplify Federal financial assistance application 
and reporting requirements, and improve the delivery of services to the 
                                 public.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Financial Assistance 
Management Improvement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
        (1) there are over 600 different Federal financial assistance 
    programs to implement domestic policy;
        (2) while the assistance described in paragraph (1) has been 
    directed at critical problems, some Federal administrative 
    requirements may be duplicative, burdensome or conflicting, thus 
    impeding cost-effective delivery of services at the local level;
        (3) the Nation's State, local, and tribal governments and 
    private, nonprofit organizations are dealing with increasingly 
    complex problems which require the delivery and coordination of 
    many kinds of services; and
        (4) streamlining and simplification of Federal financial 
    assistance administrative procedures and reporting requirements 
    will improve the delivery of services to the public.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
        (1) improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal 
    financial assistance programs;
        (2) simplify Federal financial assistance application and 
    reporting requirements;
        (3) improve the delivery of services to the public; and
        (4) facilitate greater coordination among those responsible for 
    delivering such services.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
        (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of the 
    Office of Management and Budget.
        (2) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any 
    agency as defined under section 551(1) of title 5, United States 
    Code.
        (3) Federal financial assistance.--The term ``Federal financial 
    assistance'' has the same meaning as defined in section 7501(a)(5) 
    of title 31, United States Code, under which Federal financial 
    assistance is provided, directly or indirectly, to a non-Federal 
    entity.
        (4) Local government.--The term ``local government'' means a 
    political subdivision of a State that is a unit of general local 
    government (as defined under section 7501(a)(11) of title 31, 
    United States Code).
        (5) Non-federal entity.--The term ``non-Federal entity'' means 
    a State, local government, or nonprofit organization.
        (6) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit 
    organization'' means any corporation, trust, association, 
    cooperative, or other organization that--
            (A) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, 
        service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public 
        interest;
            (B) is not organized primarily for profit; and
            (C) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the 
        operations of the organization.
        (7) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the United 
    States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
    the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
    Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific 
    Islands, and any instrumentality thereof, any multi-State, 
    regional, or interstate entity which has governmental functions, 
    and any Indian Tribal Government.
        (8) Tribal government.--The term ``tribal government'' means an 
    Indian tribe, as that term is defined in section 7501(a)(9) of 
    title 31, United States Code.
        (9) Uniform administrative rule.--The term ``uniform 
    administrative rule'' means a Governmentwide uniform rule for any 
    generally applicable requirement established to achieve national 
    policy objectives that applies to multiple Federal financial 
    assistance programs across Federal agencies.

SEC. 5. DUTIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided under subsection (b), not later 
than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, each 
Federal agency shall develop and implement a plan that--
        (1) streamlines and simplifies the application, administrative, 
    and reporting procedures for Federal financial assistance programs 
    administered by the agency;
        (2) demonstrates active participation in the interagency 
    process under section 6(a)(2);
        (3) demonstrates appropriate agency use, or plans for use, of 
    the common application and reporting system developed under section 
    6(a)(1);
        (4) designates a lead agency official for carrying out the 
    responsibilities of the agency under this Act;
        (5) allows applicants to electronically apply for, and report 
    on the use of, funds from the Federal financial assistance program 
    administered by the agency;
        (6) ensures recipients of Federal financial assistance provide 
    timely, complete, and high quality information in response to 
    Federal reporting requirements; and
        (7) in cooperation with recipients of Federal financial 
    assistance, establishes specific annual goals and objectives to 
    further the purposes of this Act and measure annual performance in 
    achieving those goals and objectives, which may be done as part of 
    the agency's annual planning responsibilities under the Government 
    Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-62; 107 Stat. 
    285).
    (b) Extension.--If a Federal agency is unable to comply with 
subsection (a), the Director may extend for up to 12 months the period 
for the agency to develop and implement a plan in accordance with 
subsection (a).
    (c) Comment and Consultation on Agency Plans.--
        (1) Comment.--Each agency shall publish the plan developed 
    under subsection (a) in the Federal Register and shall receive 
    public comment of the plan through the Federal Register and other 
    means (including electronic means). To the maximum extent 
    practicable, each Federal agency shall hold public forums on the 
    plan.
        (2) Consultation.--The lead official designated under 
    subsection (a)(4) shall consult with representatives of non-Federal 
    entities during development and implementation of the plan. 
    Consultation with representatives of State, local, and tribal 
    governments shall be in accordance with section 204 of the Unfunded 
    Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1534).
    (d) Submission of Plan.--Each Federal agency shall submit the plan 
developed under subsection (a) to the Director and Congress and report 
annually thereafter on the implementation of the plan and performance 
of the agency in meeting the goals and objectives specified under 
subsection (a)(7). Such report may be included as part of any of the 
general management reports required under law.

SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.

    (a) In General.--The Director, in consultation with agency heads 
and representatives of non-Federal entities, shall direct, coordinate, 
and assist Federal agencies in establishing--
        (1) a common application and reporting system, including--
            (A) a common application or set of common applications, 
        wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for Federal financial 
        assistance from multiple Federal financial assistance programs 
        that serve similar purposes and are administered by different 
        Federal agencies;
            (B) a common system, including electronic processes, 
        wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for, manage, and report 
        on the use of funding from multiple Federal financial 
        assistance programs that serve similar purposes and are 
        administered by different Federal agencies; and
            (C) uniform administrative rules for Federal financial 
        assistance programs across different Federal agencies; and
        (2) an interagency process for addressing--
            (A) ways to streamline and simplify Federal financial 
        assistance administrative procedures and reporting requirements 
        for non-Federal entities;
            (B) improved interagency and intergovernmental coordination 
        of information collection and sharing of data pertaining to 
        Federal financial assistance programs, including appropriate 
        information sharing consistent with section 552a of title 5, 
        United States Code; and
            (C) improvements in the timeliness, completeness, and 
        quality of information received by Federal agencies from 
        recipients of Federal financial assistance.
    (b) Lead Agency and Working Groups.--The Director may designate a 
lead agency to assist the Director in carrying out the responsibilities 
under this section. The Director may use interagency working groups to 
assist in carrying out such responsibilities.
    (c) Review of Plans and Reports.--Upon the request of the Director, 
agencies shall submit to the Director, for the Director's review, 
information and other reporting regarding agency implementation of this 
Act.
    (d) Exemptions.--The Director may exempt any Federal agency or 
Federal financial assistance program from the requirements of this Act 
if the Director determines that the Federal agency does not have a 
significant number of Federal financial assistance programs. The 
Director shall maintain a list of exempted agencies which shall be 
available to the public through the Office of Management and Budget's 
Internet site.
    (e) Report on Recommended Changes in Law.--Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit 
to Congress a report containing recommendations for changes in law to 
improve the effectiveness, performance, and coordination of Federal 
financial assistance programs.
    (f) Deadline.--All actions required under this section shall be 
carried out not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 7. EVALUATION.

    (a) In General.--The General Accounting Office shall evaluate the 
effectiveness of this Act. Not later than 6 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the evaluation shall be submitted to the lead 
agency, the Director, and Congress. The evaluation shall be performed 
with input from State, local, and tribal governments, and nonprofit 
organizations.
    (b) Contents.--The evaluation under subsection (a) shall--
        (1) assess the effectiveness of this Act in meeting the 
    purposes of this Act and make specific recommendations to further 
    the implementation of this Act;
        (2) evaluate actual performance of each agency in achieving the 
    goals and objectives stated in agency plans; and
        (3) assess the level of coordination among the Director, 
    Federal agencies, State, local, and tribal governments, and 
    nonprofit organizations in implementing this Act.

SEC. 8. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the Director or 
any Federal agency from gathering, or to exempt any recipient of 
Federal financial assistance from providing, information that is 
required for review of the financial integrity or quality of services 
of an activity assisted by a Federal financial assistance program.

SEC. 9. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    There shall be no judicial review of compliance or noncompliance 
with any of the provisions of this Act. No provision of this Act shall 
be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
enforceable by any administrative or judicial action.

SEC. 10. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a means to deviate from 
the statutory requirements relating to applicable Federal financial 
assistance programs.

SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE AND SUNSET.

    This Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act 
and shall cease to be effective 8 years after such date of enactment.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.