[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 247 (Friday, December 23, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 94427-94429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30927]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the 
following information collection requirement to OMB for review and 
clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is the second 
notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal 
Register at 81 FR 28107, requesting comments on the NSF Large 
Facilities Manual (LFM) and an accompanying Large Facilities Financial 
Data Collection Tool, and 205 comments were received. NSF is forwarding 
the proposed submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for clearance simultaneously with the publication of this second 
notice. The full submission may be found at: http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

DATES: Comments regarding this information collection are best assured 
of having their full effect if received within 30 days of this 
notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by calling 
703-292-7556.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this information collection should be addressed 
to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: 
Desk Officer for National Science Foundation, 725 17th Street NW., Room 
10235, Washington, DC 20503, and to Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports 
Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, 
Suite 1265, Arlington, Virginia 22230 or send email to 
[email protected]. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 
days a year (including federal holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 
1265, Arlington, Virginia 22230 or send email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 94428]]

Summary of Comments on the National Science Foundation's Large 
Facilities Manual

    The draft Large Facilities Manual and Large Facilities Financial 
Data Collection Tool were made available for review by the public on 
the NSF Web site at https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/lfo/lfo_documents.jsp. In 
response to the Federal Register notice published May 9, 2016, at 81 FR 
28107, NSF received 189 comments from 14 different institutions/
individuals on the Large Facilities Manual and 16 comments on the Large 
Facilities Financial Data Collection Tool from 2 different 
institutions/individuals. A summary of the comments on the Large 
Facilities Manual follows:
     54 requested further guidance on project management 
controls and NSF oversight processes and procedures;
     47 requested clarification on the processes and 
requirements associated with cost and contingency through the various 
stage of the facility lifecycle;
     25 requested clarifications of requirements during the 
operations and divestment stages of the facility lifecycle;
     18 questioned the applicability to contracts versus 
cooperative agreements;
     15 provided general observations; and
     30 provided editing recommendations such as typos and 
sentence structure.
    The full comments and NSF's response may be found via: http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain and https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/lfo/lfo_documents.jsp.
    Title of Collection: ``Large Facilities Manual''.
    OMB Approval Number: 3145-0239.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to renew with revisions an 
information collection for three years.
    Proposed Project: The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (Pub. 
L. 81-507) set forth NSF's mission and purpose:
    ``To promote the progress of science; to advance the national 
health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense. * * 
*''
    The Act authorized and directed NSF to initiate and support:
     Basic scientific research and research fundamental to the 
engineering process;
     Programs to strengthen scientific and engineering research 
potential;
     Science and engineering education programs at all levels 
and in all the various fields of science and engineering;
     Programs that provide a source of information for policy 
formulation; and
     Other activities to promote these ends.
    Among Federal agencies, NSF is a leader in providing the academic 
community with advanced instrumentation needed to conduct state-of-the-
art research and to educate the next generation of scientists, 
engineers and technical workers. The knowledge generated by these tools 
sustains U.S. leadership in science and engineering (S&E) to drive the 
U.S. economy and secure the future. NSF's responsibility is to ensure 
that the research and education communities have access to these 
resources, and to provide the support needed to utilize them optimally, 
and implement timely upgrades.
    The scale of advanced instrumentation ranges from small research 
instruments to shared resources or facilities that can be used by 
entire communities. The demand for such instrumentation is very high, 
and is growing rapidly, along with the pace of discovery. For large 
facilities and shared infrastructure, the need is particularly high. 
This trend is expected to accelerate in the future as increasing 
numbers of researchers and educators rely on such large facilities, 
instruments, and databases to provide the reach to make the next 
intellectual leaps.
    NSF currently provides support for facility construction from two 
accounts: The Major Research Equipment and Facility Construction 
(MREFC) account, and the Research and Related Activities (R&RA) 
account. The MREFC account, established in FY 1995, is a separate 
budget line item that provides an agency-wide mechanism, permitting 
directorates to undertake large facility projects are roughly $70M or 
greater. Smaller projects continue to be supported from the R&RA 
Account.
    Facilities are defined as shared-use infrastructure, 
instrumentation and equipment that are accessible to a broad community 
of researchers and/or educators. Facilities may be centralized or may 
consist of distributed installations. They may incorporate large-scale 
networking or computational infrastructure, multi-user instruments or 
networks of such instruments, or other infrastructure, instrumentation 
and equipment having a major impact on a broad segment of a scientific 
or engineering discipline. Historically, awards have been made for such 
diverse projects as accelerators, telescopes, research vessels and 
aircraft, and geographically distributed but networked sensors and 
instrumentation.
    The growth and diversification of large facility projects require 
that NSF remain attentive to the ever-changing issues and challenges 
inherent in their planning, construction, operation, management and 
oversight. Most importantly, dedicated, competent NSF and awardee staff 
are needed to manage and oversee these projects; giving the attention 
and oversight that good practice dictates and that proper 
accountability to taxpayers and Congress demands. To this end, there is 
also a need for consistent, documented requirements and procedures to 
be understood and used by NSF program managers and awardees for all 
such large projects.
    Use of the Information: Facilities are an essential part of the 
science and engineering enterprise, and supporting them is one major 
responsibility of the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF makes 
awards to external entities--primarily universities, consortia of 
universities or non-profit organizations--to undertake construction, 
management and operation of facilities. Such awards frequently take the 
form of cooperative agreements. NSF does not directly construct or 
operate the facilities it supports. However, NSF retains responsibility 
for overseeing their development, management and successful 
performance. The Large Facilities Manual is intended to:
     Provide step-by-step guidance for NSF staff and awardees 
to carry out effective project planning, management and oversight of 
large facilities while considering the varying requirements of a 
diverse portfolio;
     Clearly state the policies, processes and procedures 
pertinent at each stage of a facility's life cycle from development 
through construction, operations, and termination; and
     Document and disseminate ``best practices'' identified 
over time so that NSF and awardees can carry out their responsibilities 
more effectively.
    This version of the Large Facilities Manual reflects recent changes 
in terminology to be compatible with the Uniform Guidance 2 CRF 200 and 
Federal Acquisition Regulation definitions, project development, 
management of contingency, and fees and to improve the description of 
NSF oversight activities for Large Facilities. It also updates sections 
related to cost-estimating requirements to ensure alignment with the 
Government Accountability Office (GAO) guidelines. The Manual does not 
replace existing formal procedures required for all NSF awards, which 
are described in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures

[[Page 94429]]

Guide (PAPPG). Instead, it draws upon and supplements it for the 
purpose of providing detailed guidance on NSF policy and procedures 
related to the planning and management of Large Facilities. All 
facilities projects require merit and technical review, as well as 
approval of certain deliverables. The level of review and approval 
varies substantially from standard grants, as does the level of 
oversight needed to ensure appropriate and proper accountability for 
federal funds. The requirements, recommended procedures and best 
practices presented in the Manual apply to any facility significant 
enough to require close and substantial interaction with the Foundation 
and the National Science Board.
    This Manual will be updated periodically to reflect changes in 
requirements, policies and/or procedures. Award Recipients are expected 
to monitor and adopt the requirements and best practices included in 
the Manual which are aimed at improving management and oversight of 
large facilities projects and at enabling the most efficient and cost-
effective delivery of tools to the research and education communities.
    The submission of proposals and subsequent project documentation to 
the Foundation related to the development, construction and operations 
of Large Facilities is part of the collection of information. This 
information is used to help NSF fulfill this responsibility in 
supporting merit-based research and education projects in all the 
scientific and engineering disciplines. The Foundation also has a 
continuing commitment to provide oversight on facilities development 
and construction which must be balanced against monitoring its 
information collection so as to identify and address any excessive 
reporting burdens.
    NSF has approximately twenty-two (22) Large Facilities in various 
stages of development, construction, operations and termination. One to 
two (1 to 2) new awards are made approximately every five (5) years 
based on science community infrastructure needs and availability of 
funding. Of the twenty-two large facilities, there are approximately 
eight (8) facilities annually that are either in development or 
construction. These stages require the highest level of reporting and 
management documentation per the Large Facilities Manual.
    Burden on the Public: The Foundation estimates that an average of 
three (3) Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) are necessary for each facility 
project in development or construction (Total Project Cost of $200-
$500M) to respond to NSF routine reporting and project management 
documentation requirements on an annual basis; or 6240 hours per year. 
The Foundation estimates an average of one (1) FTE for a facility in 
operations; or 2080 hours per year. Assuming an average of eight (8) 
facilities in construction and the balance in operations, this equates 
to roughly 80,000 public burden hours annually.
    NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless 
the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to 
the collection of information that such persons are not required to 
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

    Authority: Pub. L. 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

    Dated: December 19, 2016.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2016-30927 Filed 12-22-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P