[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27659]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 8, 1994]


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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

45 CFR Part 1180

 

Institute of Museum Services: General Operating Support, 
Conservation Project Support

AGENCY: Institute of Museum Services, NFAH.

ACTION: Technical amendment to regulations.

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SUMMARY: The Institute of Museum Services issues a technical amendment 
to regulations governing the audit requirement for applicants to the 
General Operating Support and the Conservation Project Support grant 
programs. The amendment raises the level of a museum's annual operating 
budget from $50,000 to $250,000 to be eligible to request a deferral of 
the submission of the audited financial statements. The amendment to 
the regulations implement the Museum Services Act. They state the 
conditions for an applicant to be eligible for a deferral of the audit 
requirement.

DATES: This regulation is effective November 8, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Institution of Museum Services, Room 510, 1100 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20506.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rebecca Danvers, Program Director, Telephone (202) 606-8539.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Background

    The Museum Services Act (``the Act'' which is Title II of the Arts, 
Humanities and Cultural Affairs Act of 1976, was enacted on October 8, 
1976 and amended in 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1990.) The purpose of 
the Act is stated in section 202 as follows:
    It is the purpose of the Museum Services Act to encourage and 
assist museums in their educational role in conjunction with formal 
systems of elementary, secondary, and post secondary education and with 
programs of non-formal education for all age groups; to assist museums 
in modernizing their methods and facilities so that they may be better 
able to conserve our cultural, historic, and scientific heritage and to 
ease the financial burden borne by museums as a result of their 
increasing use by the public.
    The Act establishes an Institute of Museum Services (IMS) 
consisting of a National Museum Service Board and Director.
    The Act provides that the National Museum Services Board shall 
consist of fifteen members appointed for fixed terms by the President 
with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Chairman of the Board is 
designated by the President from the appointed members. Members are 
broadly representative of various museum disciplines, including those 
relating to science, history, technology, art, zoos, and botanical 
gardens' of the curatorial, educational, and cultural resources of the 
United States; and of the general public. The Board has the 
responsibility for establishing the general policies of the Institute. 
The Director is authorized, subject to the policy direction of the 
Board, to make grant under the Act to museums.
    IMS is an independent agency placed in the National Foundation on 
the Arts and the Humanities (National Foundation). Pub. L. 101-512 Nov. 
5, 1990. The Act lists a number of illustrative activities for which 
grants may be made, including assisting museums to improve their 
operations.

The Need for the Amendment

    Section 1180.11(c)(4) states that a museum that has received a 
prior grant from IMS must submit its audited financial statement for 
the last fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which 
application is made or the immediately preceding fiscal year. 
Sec. 1180.11(c)(4) authorizes the Director to defer the audit 
requirement for a museum that has an annual operating Budget of $50,000 
or less, exclusive of non-cash contributions.
    The purpose of Sec. 1180.11(c)(4) is to ease the burden of the 
audit requirement for small museums, currently those with an annual 
operating income of up to $50,000, exclusive of non-cash contributions. 
The level of operating income of a museum eligible to request a 
deferral has not been increased since the regulation was originally set 
forth in 1984. In 1990, IMS conducted a needs assessment of small 
museums and in the process defined small museums as those with annual 
operating budgets of $250,000 or less, exclusive of non-cash 
contributions. This technical amendment to regulation is to reflect the 
definition of small museums used by IMS in other grant programs and in 
formulating policy.

Executive Order 12866

    The contents of this notice have been reviewed in accordance with 
Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order, the Director has 
assessed the potential costs and benefits for the standards, criteria 
and procedures in this notice.
    The potential costs associated with the contents of this notice are 
those determined by the Institute to be necessary for administering 
this program effectively and efficiently. In assessing the potential 
costs and benefits--both quantitative and qualitative--of these 
standards, criteria, and procedures, the Institute has determined that 
the benefits of these standards, criteria and procedures justify the 
costs.
    The Institute has determined that the contents of this notice do 
not unduly interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the 
exercise of their governmental functions.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Director certified that the amendment will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of museums. The 
amendment will affect certain museums receiving Federal financial 
assistance under the Museum Services Act. However, it will not have a 
significant economic impact on the entities affected, because it does 
not impose excessive regulatory burden or require unnecessary Federal 
supervision and because it permits a larger number of museums to seek 
deferral of the existing requirement regarding financial statements.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980

    The amendment does not add any information collections requirements 
under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 
190-511) and provides a larger number of museums may seek deferral of 
the requirements of the current regulation.

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1180

    Government contracts, Grant programs--education, Museums, National 
boards, Nonprofit organizations, reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sunshine Act.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No 45-301 Museum Services 
Program).

    Dated: October 11, 1994.
Diane B. Frankel,
Director, Institute of Museum Services.

    The Institute of Museum Services amends subchapter E of chapter XI 
of title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations as set forth below:

PART 1180--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 1180 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 20 USC 961 et seq.

    2. Section 1180.11(c)(4) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 1180.11  Basic requirements which a museum must meet to be 
considered for funding.

 * * * * *
    (c) * * *
    The Director is authorized to defer the audit requirement set forth 
in paragraph (c)(2) of this section in the case of a museum with non-
federal operating income of $250,000 or less, exclusive of the value of 
non-cash contributions (in the fiscal period preceding the fiscal 
period for which the deferral is requested) if the Director finds that 
circumstances justify a deferral and that the grant of the deferral 
will not be inequitable to other applicants. A deferral may be granted 
only upon those conditions and in light of those assurances which the 
Director deems appropriate in order to ensure that the purposes of this 
paragraph are achieved. If the museum receives an award, the museum 
must submit audited financial statements no later than the end of the 
grant period for which the deferral is requested.
 * * * * *
[FR Doc. 94-27659 Filed 11-7-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7036-01-M