[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 120 (Monday, June 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37385-37386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15800]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Office of Federal Financial Management; Government-Wide Guidance 
for Use of Grants.gov FIND To Post Funding Opportunity Announcement 
Synopses

AGENCY: Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM), Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the President.

ACTION: Notice of proposed policy guidance for use of E-Grants FIND.

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SUMMARY: OMB proposes to issue a policy directive requiring Federal 
agencies to use the Grants.gov FIND module to electronically post 
synopses of funding opportunities under Federal financial assistance 
programs that award discretionary grants and cooperative agreements.

DATES: All comments on this proposal should be in writing, and must be 
received by July 23, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of 
mail sent through the U. S. Postal Service, we encourage respondents to 
submit comments electronically to ensure timely receipt. We cannot 
guarantee that comments mailed will be received before the comment 
closing date. Electronic mail comments may be submitted to: 
[email protected]. Please include ``Grants.gov FIND Policy Directive'' 
in the subject line and the full body of your comments in the text of 
the electronic message and as an attachment. Please include your name, 
title, organization, postal address, telephone number, and E-mail 
address in the text of the message. Comments may also be submitted via 
facsimile to 202-395-3952. Comments may be mailed to Sandra Swab, 
Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of Management and 
Budget, Room 6025, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Swab, Office of Federal 
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, telephone 202-
395-5642 (direct) or 202-395-3993 (main office) and e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    This Federal Register document seeks public comment on a policy 
directive that requires Federal agencies to use the Grants.gov FIND 
module to electronically post synopses of funding opportunities under 
Federal financial assistance programs that award discretionary grants 
and cooperative agreements. The policy directive includes an attachment 
which contains the government-wide standard set of data elements to be 
used by Federal agencies in posting synopses at www.FedGrants.gov. 
These data elements were first proposed for public comment in a Federal 
Register notice on August 12, 2002, [67 FR 52555]. The consideration of 
comments OMB received in response to the Federal Register notice, and 
the final set of data elements is published as another notice in this 
section of today's Federal Register.
    We welcome your input on any aspect of the proposal contained in 
this notice. Questions that you may wish to address include:
    [sbull] Do you feel this policy is sufficient for getting agencies 
to post synopses of funding opportunities?
    [sbull] Are there any shortcomings in either the posting or 
retrieving of synopses from the Grants.gov Web site?
    [sbull] Is there additional instruction that should appear in the 
policy directive?

    Dated: June 17, 2003.
Linda M. Springer,
Controller.

To the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Subject: Requirement and Format for Federal Agencies to Post 
Synopses at FedGrants.gov.

    1. Purpose. This policy directive establishes a government-wide 
requirement for Federal agencies to electronically post synopses of 
announcements of funding opportunities under financial assistance 
programs that award discretionary grants and cooperative agreements, 
using a standard set of data elements. The purpose of the data 
elements is to give potential applicants (1) enough information 
about the funding opportunity to decide whether they are interested 
enough to look at the full announcement; and (2) provide one or more 
ways (e.g., an Internet site, e-mail address or telephone number) to 
get the full announcement with the detailed information. The data 
elements are the government-wide standard developed for the hundreds 
of Federal programs that award discretionary grants and cooperative 
agreements.
    2. Authority. The policy directive is part of the implementation 
of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 
1999 (Public Law 106-107). This policy is also designed to further 
implement the Grants.gov initiative, one of the twenty-four 
electronic government (E-Gov) initiatives under the President's 
Management Agenda.
    3. Background. Public Law 106-107 requires the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to direct, coordinate, and assist 
Executive Branch departments and agencies in establishing an 
interagency process to streamline and simplify Federal

[[Page 37386]]

financial assistance procedures for non-Federal entities. It also 
requires executive agencies to allow applicants to electronically 
apply for and report on the use of funds from any Federal financial 
assistance program administered by the agency.
    Under the Grants.gov initiative, the Federal agencies are in the 
process of developing an electronic application system using 
standard core data elements. Part of the application process is the 
identification of the funding opportunity through www.FedGrants.gov. 
The posting of standard synopses in an electronic environment, 
provides government customers the opportunity to locate funding 
opportunities in one place and to decide whether or not to apply for 
the opportunity. Establishing data standards for the electronic 
format of the synopses and the posting of synopses on the Internet 
are in accordance with Public Law 106-107 and the President's 
Management Agenda.
    4. Policy. The format attached to this policy directive is the 
government standard format for posting synopses at http://www.FedGrants.gov for programs that award discretionary grants and 
cooperative agreements. Agencies are required to post funding 
opportunities for all discretionary and cooperative agreement 
programs at http://www.FedGrants.gov. Agencies are also encouraged 
to post all types of Federal funding opportunities at http://www.FedGrants.gov.
    a. Applicability. All Federal agencies will be required to post 
all discretionary and cooperative agreement awards at http://www.FedGrants.gov except for:
    (1) A program that does not issue separate announcements apart 
from the program description in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance (CFDA).
    (2) A program that has 100 percent of potential eligible 
applicants who live outside the United States and who demonstrate 
lack of Internet access, and the agency has requested a waiver from 
OMB.
    b. Effective Date. This policy directive is effective 30 days 
after issuance. All agencies shall begin posting announcement 
synopses at http://www.FedGrants.gov beginning October 1, 2003. For 
agencies that have funding opportunities which will close after 
October 1, 2003, and are to be posted prior to October 1, 2003, the 
agencies may choose to post synopses in the operational pilot which 
began in February 2003, and is currently available to the public.
    Federal funding opportunities posted at http://www.FedGrants.gov 
will coincide with the posting and release of the full announcement 
information on the same day or within three business days.
    c. Exemptions. Requests for exemptions must be directed to OMB, 
Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM).
    5. Agency Responsibilities.
    a. Issue any needed direction to offices that award 
discretionary grant awards and cooperative agreements on the 
requirement and format to use to post a synopsis at http://www.FedGrants.gov. The synopsis must follow the format to ensure all 
required data elements are included.
    b. Ensure the synopsis posted at http://www.FedGrants.gov will 
have full instructions regarding where to obtain the full 
announcement for the funding opportunity. To further satisfy the 
Administrative Procedures Act (APA), agencies may need to announce 
the funding opportunity in the Federal Register, by placing a short 
availability announcement of the opportunity with the agency contact 
name and telephone number in order for the public to receive the 
full announcement by mail and/or instructions for obtaining the 
information electronically (and the agency need not publish the full 
announcement or application package). Agency programs that are 
required by legislation to publish their full announcement in the 
Federal Register will have to do so until legislatively changed.
    c. Obtain a Catalog of Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for all 
programs that post a synopsis at http://www.FedGrants.gov.
    6. Information Contact. Direct any requests for exemption or 
questions about this policy directive to Sandra Swab, OFFM, 202-395-
5642 (direct) or 202-395-3993 (main office) or via e-mail 
([email protected]).

Linda M. Springer,
Controller.

Attachment (See previous Federal Register notice in this separate 
part).
[FR Doc. 03-15800 Filed 6-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P