[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2972 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2972

  To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide transparency and 
require certain standards in the award of Federal grants, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2016

 Mr. Lankford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide transparency and 
require certain standards in the award of Federal grants, 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.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Grant Reform and 
New Transparency Act of 2016'' or the ``GRANT Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle V of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after chapter 73 the following:

             ``CHAPTER 74--GRANTS TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS

``Sec.
``7401. Definitions.
``7402. Advance notification of grant opportunity.
``7403. Pre-award evaluation requirements.
``7404. Website relating to Federal grants.
``7405. Debriefing.
``7406. Inspector General review of peer review process.
``Sec. 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 discretionary 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 the 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.
``Sec. 7402. Advance notification of grant opportunity
    ``Not later than 30 days before the date on which an Executive 
agency plans to award a grant opportunity, the Executive agency shall 
post on the grants website maintained under section 7404--
            ``(1) a clear statement of the purpose, duration (including 
        anticipated grant continuations), and eligibility requirements 
        of the grant; and
            ``(2) for merit-based grants, 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 shall be 
        considered.
``Sec. 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 
applicant to successfully carry out the grant.
    ``(b) Matters Covered.--The evaluation required under subsection 
(a) shall include a review of--
            ``(1) the ability of the applicant to successfully carry 
        out the purposes of the grant, as provided in section 200.302 
        of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 
        thereto);
            ``(2) 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, as provided in section 
        200.302 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (or any 
        successor thereto);
            ``(3) the internal financial and administrative control 
        systems of the applicant, as provided in section 200.303 of 
        title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 
        thereto);
            ``(4) the capability of the applicant to comply with 
        Federal reporting requirements for recipients of Federal funds, 
        as provided in section 200.302 of title 2, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (or any successor thereto);
            ``(5) the past performance and record of integrity of the 
        applicant, as provided in section 200.205 of title 2, Code of 
        Federal Regulations (or any successor thereto);
            ``(6) whether the applicant has received other Federal 
        funds through a contract or other type of assistance through a 
        search of the Federal Assistance Award Data System, as provided 
        in section 200.302 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
        any successor thereto); and
            ``(7) any interagency duplication of efforts for research 
        grants, which may be completed through a text-similarity 
        detection process.
``Sec. 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 the website--
            ``(1) may serve as a central point of information and 
        provide full access for applicants for competitive grants; and
            ``(2) shall capture in 1 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 Executive agency 
shall post on the grants website maintained under this section, in a 
searchable electronic format, relevant information about the grant 
opportunity, including--
            ``(1) the grant announcement and purpose of the grant;
            ``(2) the anticipated period of performance for new awards 
        and whether the Executive agency anticipates that the grant 
        will be continued;
            ``(3) the estimated amount of funds available for the 
        grant;
            ``(4) a statement of eligibility requirements of the grant;
            ``(5) 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) a clear statement of the evaluation factors or 
        criteria that the Executive 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) a description of the process and standards to be used 
        by the Executive 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; and
            ``(8) the anticipated 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 widely used 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; and
            ``(4) manage, track, and report on the use of competitive 
        grants using the website.
    ``(d) Grant Award Information.--
            ``(1) In general.--For each competitive grant awarded by an 
        Executive agency, the Executive agency shall--
                    ``(A) except as provided in paragraphs (2)(A), 
                (2)(B), and (3), post on the grants website maintained 
                under this section--
                            ``(i) the information described in 
                        paragraph (2)(A) not later than 14 days after 
                        the date on which the grant agreement is 
                        finalized; and
                            ``(ii) the information described in 
                        subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) not 
                        later than 30 days after the date on which the 
                        Executive agency notifies an applicant that the 
                        applicant has been selected to receive a grant 
                        award; and
                    ``(B) update the information under subparagraph (A) 
                as necessary during performance of the grant.
            ``(2) Information posted.--For purposes of paragraph (1), 
        the information described in this paragraph with respect to 
        each grant awarded by an Executive agency is--
                    ``(A) subject to paragraph (3)--
                            ``(i) a copy of the final grant agreement, 
                        including the terms and conditions and the time 
                        period for performance of the grant; and
                            ``(ii) a copy of the proposal, application, 
                        or plan that resulted in the grant award, 
                        including any substantive amendment to the 
                        proposal, application, or plan (whether made 
                        before or after the award of the grant);
                    ``(B) 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, whether 
                the grant was awarded consistent with a numerical 
                ranking or other recommendations by grant reviewers; 
                and
                    ``(C) 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.
            ``(3) Exceptions to posting requirement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), 
                (2)(A), and (2)(B), an Executive agency may post a 
                proposal abstract or executive summary if the head of 
                the Executive agency determines, with respect to a 
                particular grant award, that the proposal, application, 
                or plan contains matters that are--
                            ``(i) specifically authorized under 
                        criteria established by an Executive order to 
                        be kept secret in the interest of national 
                        defense or foreign policy and are in fact 
                        properly classified pursuant to such Executive 
                        order;
                            ``(ii) trade secrets or commercial or 
                        financial information obtained from a person 
                        and privileged or confidential; or
                            ``(iii) personnel files, medical files, and 
                        any similar files the disclosure of which would 
                        constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of 
                        personal privacy.
                    ``(B) Research and development grants.--
                            ``(i) Definition.--In this subparagraph, 
                        the term `research and development grant' means 
                        a grant to conduct research and development 
                        activities.
                            ``(ii) Exception.--Notwithstanding 
                        paragraphs (1) and (2)(A), an Executive agency 
                        shall, with respect to a research and 
                        development grant, post on the grants website 
                        maintained under this section--
                                    ``(I) a proposal abstract or 
                                executive summary at the time described 
                                in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and
                                    ``(II) the complete proposal for 
                                the grant award not later than 1 year 
                                after the date on which the grant 
                                expires.
                            ``(iii) Extension.--An Executive agency may 
                        post the complete proposal for a research and 
                        development grant award after the expiration of 
                        the 1-year period described in clause (ii)(II) 
                        if the recipient of the research and 
                        development grant award--
                                    ``(I) petitions the Executive 
                                agency to post the complete proposal 
                                for the grant award after the 
                                expiration of that period; and
                                    ``(II) demonstrates that posting 
                                the complete proposal during the 1-year 
                                period would adversely affect the 
                                recipient.
                    ``(C) Sensitive information.--
                            ``(i) Personally identifiable 
                        information.--A recipient of a grant awarded by 
                        an Executive agency may request that the 
                        Executive agency redact any personally 
                        identifiable information from a post on the 
                        grants website maintained under this section.
                            ``(ii) Vulnerabilities in critical 
                        infrastructure.--An Executive agency may not 
                        post on the grants website maintained under 
                        this section any sensitive information related 
                        to vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure.
    ``(e) Submission and Publication of Grant Solicitation Forecast on 
the Grants Website.--
            ``(1) Requirement.--Not later than November 30 of each year 
        or not later than 60 days after the date on which amounts are 
        appropriated to an Executive agency for a fiscal year, 
        whichever is later, the head of the Executive agency shall post 
        a forecast, in accordance with paragraph (2), of all non-
        emergency grant solicitations that the Executive agency expects 
        to issue for the following calendar year, which--
                    ``(A) shall be based on the best information 
                available; and
                    ``(B) shall not be binding on the Executive agency.
            ``(2) Matters included.--The forecast required under 
        paragraph (1) shall include, to the extent practicable, for 
        each expected grant solicitation in a machine-readable format--
                    ``(A) a brief description of the subject and 
                purpose of the grant, organized by the organizational 
                unit of the Executive agency;
                    ``(B) contact information for the organizational 
                unit or individual responsible for the grant, if known, 
                including name, telephone number, and electronic mail 
                address;
                    ``(C) the expected or actual dates for the issuance 
                of the grant solicitation and application and the grant 
                application submission deadline;
                    ``(D) 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; and
                    ``(E) a description of the total amount available 
                to be awarded.
    ``(f) Publication of Information.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to require the publication of information otherwise exempt 
from disclosure under section 552 of title 5 (commonly referred to as 
the `Freedom of Information Act'), except for the application of 
subsection (b)(5) of such section to pre-decisional documents that are 
posted pursuant to the requirements under subsection (d).
    ``(g) 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;
            ``(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.
``Sec. 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 award 
decision of the Executive agency, including, if applicable, the 
decision not to award a grant to the applicant.
``Sec. 7406. Inspector General review of peer review process
    ``Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Grant 
Reform and New Transparency Act of 2016, the Inspector General of each 
Executive agency that awards competitive grants shall conduct a review 
of the effectiveness of the conflicts of interest policy of the 
Executive agency, including a review of a random selection of peer 
review processes, with respect to the peer review process for 
competitive grants in order to detect favoritism.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters at the beginning of 
subtitle V of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to chapter 73 the following:

``74. Grant Transparency Requirements.......................    7401''.

SEC. 3. GRANTS WORKFORCE REPORT.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United 
        States Code, except the term does not include the Government 
        Accountability Office.
            (2) Federal grants workforce.--The term ``Federal grants 
        workforce'', with respect to an Executive agency, means all 
        employees of the Executive agency who spend some or all of 
        their time engaged in--
                    (A) grant planning, including programmatic 
                activities;
                    (B) preparing grant solicitations, Notices of 
                Funding Opportunity, or other requests for grant 
                proposals;
                    (C) evaluating or reviewing grant applications, 
                including serving on a peer review board;
                    (D) monitoring or administering grant performance 
                by grantees;
                    (E) preparing the Notice of Award and negotiating 
                terms and conditions; or
                    (F) post-award closeout activities, including final 
                technical and financial reports.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives a report on the Federal grants workforce, 
which shall address--
            (1) the size of the Federal grants workforce and expected 
        trends in Federal employment for the Federal grants workforce;
            (2) the adequacy of training opportunities for the Federal 
        grants workforce;
            (3) whether the Federal Acquisition Institute or any other 
        existing entity engaged in acquisition workforce training 
        should be made available for grant training;
            (4) whether a warrant system similar to that used in the 
        Federal acquisition system should be established for Federal 
        officials authorized to award grants;
            (5) the use by Executive agencies of suspension and 
        debarment actions taken against grantees during the 3-year 
        period preceding the date on which the report is submitted, and 
        the level of agency resources assigned to the suspension and 
        debarment functions; and
            (6) any recommendations for improving the Federal grants 
        workforce.
                                 <all>