[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5583 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5583

      To streamline and harmonize Federal research regulations on 
       institutions of higher education, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2016

Mr. Lipinski (for himself, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, and Mr. 
  Hultgren) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To streamline and harmonize Federal research regulations on 
       institutions of higher education, and for other purposes.

    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 ``University Regulation Streamlining 
and Harmonization Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The partnership between the Federal Government and 
        institutions of higher education, affiliated medical centers, 
        and independent research institutes has been enormously 
        beneficial for the Nation, providing economic growth, a highly 
        skilled workforce, and discoveries that have improved people's 
        lives.
            (2) Regulation of federally funded research institutions, 
        when done efficiently, serves to ensure that taxpayer dollars 
        are spent wisely and that human and animal research subjects 
        are treated ethically.
            (3) A survey conducted by the Federal Demonstration 
        Partnership in 2012 found that 42 percent of faculty time 
        related to the conduct of federally funded research at research 
        institutions is spent on activities other than research, with 
        19.3 percent specifically related to administrative activities.
            (4) A study of the Federal regulatory impact on institutes 
        of higher education led by Vanderbilt University involving 13 
        public and private universities estimated that the total cost 
        of compliance with research regulations for all research 
        institutions ranged from 11 to 25 percent of total research 
        expenditures and reached an estimated 10 billion dollars across 
        the country.
            (5) Advances in technology, recordkeeping, and internal 
        controls allow awardees to document charges to Federal awards 
        for salaries and wages in increasingly efficient ways, 
        including through payroll certification, which can increase 
        accountability and reduce burdens relative to personal activity 
        reports.
            (6) Past efforts by the Federal Government, in particular 
        through the Uniform Guidance implemented by the Office of 
        Management and Budget in 2014, have made progress in reducing 
        regulatory burdens. However, problems still remain as noted by 
        the National Academies' report in September of 2015, which 
        found that ``continuing expansion of the Federal regulatory 
        system and its ever-growing requirements are diminishing the 
        effectiveness of the nation's research investment by directing 
        investigators' time away from research''.
            (7) Streamlining research regulations and moving toward 
        harmonized regulations based on data-driven cost-benefit 
        analyses across Federal research funding agencies will help 
        maximize the impact of research dollars while minimizing waste, 
        fraud, and abuse.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the 
        meaning given the term ``agency'' in section 551 of title 5, 
        United States Code.
            (2) Federal research funding agency.--In this Act, the term 
        ``Federal research funding agency'' means a Federal agency that 
        has an annual extramural research budget of greater than 100 
        million dollars.
            (3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (4) Research institution.--The term ``research 
        institution'' means an institution of higher education, a 
        medical center affiliated with an institution of higher 
        education, independent research institution, or other nonprofit 
        organization that receives funding from a Federal research 
        funding agency for research purposes.

SEC. 4. RESEARCH POLICY BOARD.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy, shall establish a Research Policy Board (in this 
section referred to as the ``Board'') to review proposed Federal 
regulations as well as major policies and guidance governing the 
conduct of scientific and engineering research at research 
institutions.
    (b) Membership.--The Board shall be composed of no more than 15 
members, including--
            (1) representatives from nonprofit associations 
        representing research institutions;
            (2) administrators from research institutions;
            (3) stakeholders from the scientific and engineering 
        research community, including at least one externally funded 
        researcher who does not hold an administrative position; and
            (4) senior research policy officials from Federal research 
        funding agencies capable of addressing a broad range of policy 
        issues regarding the conduct of academic research and with 
        significant input into that agency's decisionmaking regarding 
        the regulatory process, including representatives from--
                    (A) the National Institutes of Health;
                    (B) the National Science Foundation; and
                    (C) the Department of Defense.
    (c) Compensation.--Members of the Board from organizations outside 
the Federal Government shall serve in a representative capacity and 
shall not be appointed as a special government employee or receive a 
salary as a Federal employee, but may receive travel expenses, 
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 
applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
United States Code.
    (d) Co-Chairs.--The Board shall be co-chaired by--
            (1) the Associate Administrator for the Academic Research 
        Enterprise, appointed pursuant to subsection (g); and
            (2) a member of the Board who satisfies the criteria 
        described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (b), 
        appointed by the President.
    (e) Duties.--In general, the Board shall--
            (1) provide advice to the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget, the Director of the Office of Science 
        and Technology Policy, and the heads of Federal research 
        funding agencies on actions that each could take to make 
        Federal regulation of the academic research enterprise more 
        efficient and less burdensome;
            (2) promote a comprehensive approach to regulating the 
        academic research enterprise at the Federal level and to 
        improve and maintain a Federal regulatory environment that is 
        conducive to efficient performance of the Federal-university 
        research partnership, including identification of regulations 
        that are duplicative or impose significant costs or unnecessary 
        burdens;
            (3) meet not less than semiannually;
            (4) facilitate efforts within the Federal Government to 
        coordinate new and existing regulations, policies, guidance, 
        and application and reporting formats;
            (5) review existing regulations, policies, and guidance 
        documents that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or 
        excessively burdensome, with the goal of modifying, 
        streamlining, or repealing, as needed;
            (6) identify legislative mandates that Federal agencies and 
        research institutions believe are unnecessary or outdated;
            (7) recommend ad hoc working groups to address particular 
        regulations, policies, and guidance documents reviewed or 
        identified by the Board under paragraph (5) or (6) governing 
        the research enterprise that are under development or targeted 
        for reform;
            (8) provide for coordination of regulations among Federal 
        agencies and maximize consultation with the groups affected by 
        Federal research regulations at an early stage;
            (9) assist research agencies in fostering a culture of 
        integrity at research institutions in order to achieve the 
        highest standards in institutional and individual behavior; and
            (10) submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
        and Pensions, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation, and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Government Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Energy 
        and Commerce, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 
        and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 
        House of Representatives, an annual report on progress made by 
        the Board toward reforming and streamlining research 
        regulations, policies, and guidance documents, and make such 
        report publicly available.
    (f) Submission of Regulatory Plans.--The head of each Federal 
research funding agency shall--
            (1) provide to the Board a regulatory plan, to be updated 
        annually, with regulations, policies, and guidance documents 
        that the agency head expects to issue in proposed or final form 
        during the upcoming fiscal year to facilitate review by the 
        Board;
            (2) include, to the extent possible, alternatives to be 
        considered and preliminary estimates of costs and benefits of 
        the items contained in the plan; and
            (3) submit to the Board draft regulatory actions, policies, 
        and guidance documents as the documents become available.
    (g) Associate Administrator for the Academic Research Enterprise.--
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the President, after consultation with the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget and the Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy, shall appoint from among the current full-time 
equivalent employees or individuals employed pursuant to the 
Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4701 note) within 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs an Associate 
Administrator for the Academic Research Enterprise. The Associate 
Administrator shall--
            (1) serve as a liaison between the Office of Information 
        and Regulatory Affairs and the Office of Science and Technology 
        Policy;
            (2) act as Co-Chair of the Board;
            (3) meet with representatives from Federal agencies, 
        research institutions, and other Federal and non-Federal 
        stakeholder entities relevant to the Federal research 
        enterprise several times per year; and
            (4) establish working groups from the members of the Board, 
        which may include non-Board members with relevant expertise to 
        working groups as recommended by the Board, to address 
        particular regulations, policies, and guidance documents 
        governing the Federal research enterprise that are under 
        development or targeted for reform by the Board.
    (h) Applicability of FACA.--The Research Policy Board shall be 
treated as an advisory committee subject to the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act.
    (i) Comptroller General Report.--Not later than 24 months after the 
establishment of the Board, and every 24 months thereafter, the 
Comptroller General shall submit to Congress and make publicly 
available a report that--
            (1) assesses the performance of the Board, including the 
        quality of collaboration between the non-Federal and Federal 
        members of the Board to advise on the regulatory process 
        (including the development, reform, and harmonization of 
        regulations, policies, and guidance documents), including 
        whether--
                    (A) the Federal agency heads presented the 
                regulatory plans required by subsection (f);
                    (B) the non-Federal members had the opportunity to 
                effectively comment on such plans;
                    (C) the comments had an impact on the final rules 
                developed; and
                    (D) working groups were established as required by 
                subsection (g)(4);
            (2) makes recommendations for improving collaboration, as 
        necessary, for accomplishing the requirements of this section;
            (3) assesses the degree to which Federal research funding 
        agencies and the Office of Management and Budget take into 
        account the input of the Board when promulgating new 
        regulations, policies, and guidance documents, or harmonizing 
        or reforming existing regulations and policies; and
            (4) considers any other issues which the Comptroller 
        General may find relevant to the performance and purposes of 
        the Board.
    (j) Sunset.--The provisions of this section shall expire ten years 
after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS TO SUBRECIPIENT MONITORING UNDER THE SINGLE AUDIT 
              ACT.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall exempt prime grant-receiving institutions from the 
monitoring of a subrecipient's single audit of institutional systems 
and business practices related to the requirements under chapter 75 of 
title 31, United States Code, if--
            (1) the prime and subrecipient are research institutions 
        subject to audits under such chapter; and
            (2) the subaward is for the performance of work that is 
        required to be listed on a recipient's schedule of expenditures 
        of Federal awards.
    (b) Single Audit Defined.--In this section, the term ``single 
audit'' means the practices related to the requirements under chapter 
75 of title 31, United States Code, as implemented in part 200 of title 
2, Code of Federal Regulations.

SEC. 6. MICRO-PURCHASE THRESHOLD FOR PROCUREMENT SOLICITATIONS BY 
              RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) Micro-Purchase Threshold.--Except as provided in subsection 
(b), the threshold for purchases by research institutions using Federal 
grant funds without requiring competitive quotations shall be not less 
than $10,000, adjusted periodically to account for inflation.
    (b) Reviews and Audits Required for Higher Threshold.--The Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget may revise the threshold for 
purchases referred to in subsection (a) to be greater than $10,000 if 
the Director determines that procurement system reviews and single 
audits support the higher threshold.
    (c) Strategic Sourcing Agreements.--For purchases referred to in 
subsection (a), the Director shall encourage research institutions to 
use strategic sourcing agreements to assure favorable pricing on high 
volume, low-cost purchases.
    (d) Additional Exception for Procurement by Noncompetitive 
Proposals.--For a purchase referred to in subsection (a) that exceeds 
the threshold applicable under subsection (a) or (b), the Director may 
allow the purchase to be carried out through solicitation of a proposal 
from only one source, but only if the procurement is necessary for 
research, scientific, or other programmatic reasons, such as instances 
in which the purchase is for a specialized service or of a necessary 
quality that is available only from a single vendor, or if only one 
vendor can deliver in the required time frame.
    (e) Uniform Guidance.--The Director shall revise the Uniform 
Guidance to conform with the requirements of this section. For purposes 
of the preceding sentence, the term ``Uniform Guidance'' means the 
uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit 
requirements for Federal awards contained in part 200 of title 2 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations.

SEC. 7. SHARED DATABASE OF RESEARCHER INFORMATION.

    (a) Establishment.--The Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy shall establish a working group within the National 
Science and Technology Council with the responsibility to coordinate 
Federal research funding agency policies in developing a central 
database of researcher information, including researchers' expertise, 
employment, education, and professional accomplishments, for use by 
research institutions in applying for research grants from Federal 
scientific funding agencies.
    (b) Responsibilities.--The working group shall--
            (1) identify the policy issues and barriers that must be 
        addressed in developing such a database;
            (2) ensure that the database provides a single source of 
        information for research profiles across Federal research 
        funding agencies, including, to the extent practicable, 
        information on researchers' current and pending Federal 
        support, expertise, employment, education professional 
        accomplishments, and other items as appropriate;
            (3) work to reduce the administrative burden associated 
        with Federal grant submission and reporting requirements by use 
        of the database across Federal research funding agencies;
            (4) ensure that the database developed is the least 
        burdensome possible for research institutions applying for 
        Federal grants that still allows for the collection of 
        information necessary for Federal research funding agencies;
            (5) determine whether the database can be made more 
        efficient through linkages to databases developed under the 
        public access plans of Federal research funding agencies 
        (pursuant to the memorandum on ``Increasing Access to the 
        Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research'' published by 
        the Office of Science and Technology Policy on February 22, 
        2013);
            (6) determine how to best leverage resources on researcher 
        information from non-Federal sources such as researcher 
        identifiers;
            (7) ensure that the database cross-references other Federal 
        award databases, including any system of award management 
        operated by the Government Services Administration; and
            (8) recommend a Federal research funding agency to 
        administer the database.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Director shall transmit a report to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Government Affairs, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources, and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, and the 
Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives, 
describing the actions taken develop the database described in 
subsection (a).

SEC. 8. MODIFICATION OF DUTIES OF INSPECTORS GENERAL AT RESEARCH 
              AGENCIES.

    (a) Unresolved Inspector General Recommendation.--The head of any 
Federal research funding agency that has received a recommendation from 
the Inspector General for that agency that the Inspector General 
determines has not been adequately resolved, shall annually provide to 
such Inspector General a written explanation why the recommendation has 
not been acted upon and the status within the agency of resolving the 
recommendation.
    (b) Agency Determination.--If the head of a Federal research 
funding agency receives a recommendation described in subsection (a) 
and determines that the recommendation has been adequately resolved, 
the head of that agency shall be exempt from the requirements of 
subsection (a) for that recommendation and any substantially similar 
recommendation after providing the Inspector General for that agency 
with a written explanation of the determination of the head of the 
agency.
    (c) Unsustained Findings.--For each audit of a research institution 
conducted by an Inspector General, the Inspector General shall include 
in each public report, including the semiannual report required under 
section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), only 
such disallowed costs found in the audit which are sustained by the 
head of the agency.

SEC. 9. REVIEW OF PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT ESTIMATES.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall--
            (1) periodically review estimates of the hours spent by 
        research institutions to meet the burdens imposed by Federal 
        research funding agencies submitted in accordance with 
        subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 
        (commonly referred to as the Paperwork Reduction Act); and
            (2) determine whether the estimates of hours are reasonable 
        and based on consistent metrics across Federal research funding 
        agencies.
    (b) Agency Response to Burden Hour Estimates.--During the 
development of burden hour estimates, the head of the Federal research 
funding agency developing the estimate shall be required to respond to 
all comments regarding the reasonableness of burden hour estimates.
    (c) Finding.--If the Director determines that the estimates of 
hours described in subsection (a) for a particular Federal research 
funding agency is not reasonable and consistent, the head of the agency 
shall submit to the Director--
            (1) revised estimates; or
            (2) if the estimates are not revised, a justification for 
        such estimates.
    (d) Burden Defined.--In this section, the term ``burden'' has the 
meaning given that term in section 3502 of title 44, United States 
Code.

SEC. 10. PUBLIC ACCESS WORKING GROUP DUTIES.

    Section 103(b) of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 
(42 U.S.C. 6623(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(11) examine the procedures of Federal science agencies 
        regarding requirements for providing public access to the 
        results of federally funded research and identify methods for 
        reducing the burdens of compliance on funded researchers, 
        university research administrators, publishers, and others 
        impacted by agency public access policies.''.
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