[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 246 (Friday, December 23, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76174-76175]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-24442]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

42 CFR Part 50

RIN 0906-AA69


Simplification of the Grant Appeals Process

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is amending 
regulations to remove the Health Resources and Services Administration 
(HRSA) from the list of agencies which require grantees to utilize an 
informal appeals procedure for grant related disputes subject to the 
departmental appeal procedures. In doing so, HRSA will simplify the 
appeals procedure for aggrieved HRSA grantees by permitting them direct 
access to the Departmental Grant Appeals Board.

DATES: This final rule is effective 30 days after December 23, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gail Lipton, Director, Division of 
Grants Policy, HRSA, Room 11A-55, Parklawn Bldg., 5600 Fishers Lane, 
Rockville, MD 20857.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When HHS first established its Departmental 
Grant Appeals Board (now the Departmental Appeals Board), there was no 
provision for the Department's subordinate agencies to first review the 
disputed actions of officials prior to appeal at the Departmental 
level. However, it quickly became apparent that a number of disputes 
could, and would, be resolved quickly by informal means if the 
grantees' complaints were surfaced to management levels within the HHS 
subordinate agencies. As a result, the regulations at 45 CFR part 16 
were revised to permit subordinate agencies to interpose an 
``informal'' level of appeal prior to submission of an appeal to the 
Departmental Appeals Board. Various agencies in the Public Health 
Service (which has since been reorganized) instituted an intermediate 
informal review process as is currently described in 42 CFR part 50, 
subpart D. The intermediate level of appeal provided these agencies 
with an opportunity to relatively quickly and economically reverse 
erroneous Federal decisions, or to reassure grantees that a decision 
adverse to them was indeed an ``agency'' decision. At the time these 
regulations were instituted, this informal process was of significant 
benefit to both grantees and the subordinate agencies. Based on the 
lessons learned from this process and other means, HRSA instituted a 
policy of reviewing carefully the adverse determinations of their 
employees prior to permitting them to be issued so as to avoid 
erroneous determinations which would be subject to reversal upon appeal 
at the informal level. HRSA believes that it has reached the point 
where the adverse determinations being issued in recent years generally 
represent its best judgment.
    HHS therefore believes that, for these agencies and their grantees, 
this informal process is no longer of benefit, and the cost in time and 
expense to the grantee is no longer warranted. Consequently, HHS 
proposed amending 42 CFR part 50, subpart D, to remove HRSA from the 
list of agencies to which the regulations apply. As a result, under 
this proposal, grantees wishing to

[[Page 76175]]

appeal HRSA's eligible adverse determinations would be entitled to 
appeal such determinations directly to the Departmental Appeals Board.
    We announced our plans to amend the current regulations in a notice 
of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register, June 
7, 2005 (70 FR 33053-33054). The NPRM provide for a sixty-day comment 
period. We received no comments. Consequently, the final rule is the 
same as the proposed rule published in June of this year.
    We provide the following information for the public.

Executive Order 12866

    Executive Order (EO) 12866 directs agencies to assess all costs and 
benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, when rulemaking is 
necessary, to select regulatory approaches that provide the greatest 
net benefits. We have determined that the rule is not a significant 
regulatory action under Section 3(f) of the EO and does not require an 
assessment of the potential costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of 
that EO. Under the EO, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has 
exempted it from review.

Regulatory Flexibility

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. Chapter 6) requires that 
regulatory actions be analyzed to determine whether they will have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. We have 
determined that this is not a ``major'' rule under this Act and 
therefore does not require a regulatory flexibility analysis.

Unfunded Mandates

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act requires that agencies prepare an 
assessment of anticipated costs and benefits before developing any rule 
that may result in an expenditure by States, local or tribal 
governments, or by the private sector of $100 million or more in any 
given year. This rule does not have cost implications for the economy 
of $100 million or more, nor otherwise meet the criteria for a major 
rule under Executive Order 12291, and therefore does not require a 
regulation impact analysis.

Executive Order 13132

    Executive Order 13132 requires that Federal agencies consult with 
State and local government officials in the development of regulatory 
policies with federalism implications. We received no comments.

Executive Order 13175

    Executive Order 13175 requires the Department to develop an 
accountable process to ensure Ameaningful and timely input by tribal 
officials in the development of regulatory policies that have tribal 
implications.'' We received no comments.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    There are no new paperwork requirements subject to the Office of 
Management and Budget approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.

List of Subjects in 42 CFR Part 50

    Administrative practice and procedure, Grant programs--health, 
Health care.

    Dated: October 11, 2005.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration.
    Approved: December 14, 2005.
Michael O. Leavitt,
Secretary of Health and Human Services.

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Accordingly, HRSA amends 42 CFR part 50 as follows:

PART 50--[AMENDED]

Subpart D--Public Health Service Grant Appeals Procedure

0
1. The authority citation for part 50, subpart D, continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: Sec. 215, Public Health Service Act, 58 Stat. 690 (42 
U.S.C. 216); 45 CFR 16.3 (c).

0
2. Section 50.402 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  50.402  To what program do these regulations apply?

    This subpart applies to all grant and cooperative agreement 
programs, except block grants, which are administered by the National 
Institutes of Health; The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; the Food and Drug 
Administration; and the Office of Public Health and Science. For 
purposes of this subpart, these entities are hereinafter referred to as 
``agencies.''

[FR Doc. 05-24442 Filed 12-22-05; 8:45 am]
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