[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 120 (Monday, June 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37473-37474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13318]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is providing 
opportunity for public comment on the NSF Business Systems Review Guide 
(BSR). This is the first clearance of Business Systems Review Guide. It 
aligns with the Uniform Guidance and the NSF Major Facilities Guide 
which is intended for use by NSF staff and by external proponents of 
major facility projects for use in planning. The draft version of the 
NSF BSR Guide is available on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/lfo/lfo_documents.jsp. To facilitate review, a Change Log with 
brief comment explanations of the changes is provided in the guide.

DATES: Written comments should be received by August 21, 2020 to be 
assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be 
considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments regarding the information collection and 
requests for copies of the proposed information collection request 
should be addressed to Suzanne Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer, 
National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Rm. 1265, Arlington, VA 
22230, or by email to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Plimpton on (703) 292-7556 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).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments: In addition to the type of 
comments identified above, comments are also invited on: (a) Whether 
the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (d) 
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. After obtaining 
and considering public comment, NSF will prepare the submission 
requesting OMB clearance of this collection for no longer than 3 years.
    Title of Collection: Business Systems Review Guide.
    OMB Approval Number: 3145-NEW.
    Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to extend with revision 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:
    [squ] Basic scientific research and research fundamental to the 
engineering process;
    [squ] Programs to strengthen scientific and engineering research 
potential;
    [squ] Science and engineering education programs at all levels and 
in all the various fields of science and engineering;
    [squ] Programs that provide a source of information for policy 
formulation; and
    [squ] 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 major 
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 that exceed 10% of 
the Directorate's annual budget; or roughly $70M or greater. Smaller 
projects continue to be supported from the R&RA Account.

[[Page 37474]]

    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 major 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. Business Systems Reviews (BSR) of the National Science 
Foundation's (NSF) Major Facilities are designed to provide reasonable 
assurance that the business systems (people, processes, and 
technologies) of NSF Recipients are effective in meeting administrative 
responsibilities and satisfying Federal regulatory requirements, 
including those listed in NSF's Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures 
Guide (PAPPG).
    These reviews are not considered audits but are intended to be 
assistive in nature; aiding the Recipient in following good practices 
where appropriate and bringing them into compliance, if needed. A team 
of BSR Participants is assembled to assess the Recipient's policies, 
procedures, and practices to determine whether, taken collectively, 
these administrative business systems used in managing the Facility 
meet NSF award expectations and comply with Federal regulations.
    The BSR Guide is designed for use by both our customer community 
and NSF staff for guidance in leading these reviews. The BSR Guide 
defines the overall framework and structure and summarizes the details 
outlined in the internal operating guidelines and procedures used by 
BSR Participants to execute the review process. Management principles 
and practices are specified for seven core functional areas (CFA) and 
are used by BSR Participants in performing these evaluations. Roles and 
responsibilities of the NSF stakeholders involved in the process are 
outlined in the BSR Guide as well as the expectations of the Recipient.
    This version of the Business Systems Guide aligns with the Uniform 
Guidance and the NSF Major Facilities Guide.
    This Guide 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 Guide.
    The submission of Award Recipient and Project administrative 
business process and procedural documentation used in support of 
operations of the Major 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 design and construction which must be balanced against 
monitoring its information collection so as to identify and address any 
excessive review and reporting burdens.
    NSF has approximately twenty-four (24) Major Facilities in various 
stages of design, construction, operations and divestment. The need for 
a BSR and review scope is based on NSF's internal annual Major Facility 
Portfolio Risk Assessment and the assessment of various risks factors.
    Burden to the Public: The Foundation estimates that approximately 
one and half (1.5) Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) are necessary for each 
major facility project to respond to a BSR requirements on an annual 
basis; or 2,824 hours per year. With an average of four (4) conducted a 
year, this equates to roughly 5 FTEs or 11,296 public burden hours 
annually.

    Dated: June 16, 2020.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2020-13318 Filed 6-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P