[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83626-83627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28220]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; 
National Science Foundation-Managed Honor Awards

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, and no 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.

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
Alexandria, VA 22314, 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).
    Copies of the submission may be obtained by calling 703-292-7556.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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.
    Title of Collection: Business Systems Review Guide.
    OMB Number: 3145-NEW.
    Type of Request: Request for approval to establish an information 
collection.
    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:
    [ballot] Basic scientific research and research fundamental to the 
engineering process;
    [ballot] Programs to strengthen scientific and engineering research 
potential;
    [ballot] Science and engineering education programs at all levels 
and in all the various fields of science and engineering;
    [ballot] Programs that provide a source of information for policy 
formulation; and
    [ballot] 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

[[Page 83627]]

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. 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: December 17, 2020.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2020-28220 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P