[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51340-51341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19875]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Data Collection Form for Reporting on Audits of States, Local 
Governments, Indian Tribes, Institutions of Higher Education, and 
Nonprofit Organizations

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on April 22, 2021, during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
    Title: Data Collection Form for Reporting on Audits of States, 
Local Governments, Indian Tribes, Institutions of Higher Education, and 
Nonprofit Organizations.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0518.
    Form Number(s): SF-SAC.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 80,000 (40,000 auditees and 40,000 
auditors).
    Average Hours per Response: 100 hours for large auditees (approx. 
400 respondents) and 21 hours for all other auditees (approx. 79,600 
respondents).
    Burden Hours: 1,711,600.
    Needs and Uses: Each year, more than $700 billion in federal 
assistance awards are expended by more than 100,000 non-federal 
entities (states, local governments, Indian tribes and tribal 
organizations, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit 
organizations) throughout the country. To improve business-like 
practices and provide greater accountability over federal awards, the 
Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-156) and the Uniform 
Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements 
for Federal Awards (2 CFR part 200, or Uniform Guidance) imposed 
certain audit reporting and recordkeeping requirements on non-federal 
entities/auditees that expend $750,000 or more in federal awards per 
year, as well as on their auditors.
    Non-federal entities are required by the Single Audit Act 
Amendments of 1996 and Uniform Guidance to have audits conducted of 
their federal awards and file the resulting reporting packages (Single 
Audit reports) and data collection forms (Form SF-SAC) with the Federal 
Audit Clearinghouse (FAC). The Form SF-SAC is Appendix X to 2 CFR part 
200. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated the 
Census Bureau as the FAC to serve as the government-wide repository of 
record for Single Audit reports.
    The Single Audit process is a primary method used by federal 
agencies and pass-through entities to provide oversight of federal 
awards and reduce risk of non-compliance and improper payments. This 
includes following up on audit findings and questioned costs.
    Entities meeting the dollar threshold defined in OMB Uniform 
Guidance must submit the Form SF-SAC and their Single Audit reporting 
package to the FAC. The entity must complete the Single Audit 
submission every fiscal period they meet the reporting dollar 
threshold.
    The information collection provides data about auditees, the 
federal awards they expend, and the results of their audits. This 
information is used by entities responsible for overseeing the funding 
and administration of Federal awards (e.g., Congress, Federal agencies,

[[Page 51341]]

and pass-through entities) and entities responsible for administering 
Federal awards (e.g., state governing officials, county and city 
councils, board of directors of nonprofit organizations, and senior 
management of various auditees). The information is used in making 
decisions about which federal awards and recipients to fund in the 
future, identifying and resolving areas of noncompliance, and improving 
the administration and delivery of federal awards.
    Federal agencies, non-federal entities, and pass-through entities 
use submitted Forms SF-SAC and Single Audit reporting packages to 
ensure federal awards are expended in accordance with applicable laws 
and regulations. The FAC uses the information on the Form SF-SAC to 
ensure proper distribution of audit reports to federal agencies and 
identify non-federal entities who have not filed the required reports. 
The FAC also uses the information on the Form SF-SAC to create a 
government-wide database, which contains information on audit results. 
This database is publicly accessible online at https://facdissem.census.gov.
    The Uniform Guidance indicates that the FAC is authorized to make 
the reporting package and the Form SF-SAC publicly available on a 
website. There is an exception for Indian Tribes and Tribal 
Organizations (2 CFR 200.512(b)(2)). An auditee that is an Indian Tribe 
(as defined in the Indian Self-Determination, Education and Assistance 
Act (ISDEAA), 25 U.S.C 5304) may opt not to authorize the FAC to make 
the reporting package publicly available on a website. For these 
exempted auditees, the text of the audit findings, the text of the 
corrective action plan, and the text portions collected as part of the 
Notes to the SEFA (all 3 are included in the reporting package) will 
not be publicly released on the Form SF-SAC.
    The data collected by the FAC is used by federal agencies, pass-
through entities, non-federal entities, auditors, the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO), OMB and the general public for information 
about and management of federal awards and the results of audits.
    This information is essential in developing effective government-
wide audit policies overseeing federal awards. The Single Audit Act 
Amendments of 1996 require OMB to perform a biennial review of the 
threshold that triggers an audit requirement, prescribe a risk-based 
approach to auditing major programs, and provide guidance on other 
matters necessary to implement the Single Audit Act. OMB cannot perform 
its duties required by the Single Audit Act Amendments or develop audit 
policies without the information provided under this data collection.
    This information is exclusively collected via FAC's web-based 
application, which is designed to assist the respondent in completing 
the data collection form. Uniform Guidance requires auditees to submit 
their information to the FAC nine months after their fiscal period has 
ended or 30 days after receipt of their audit report--whichever comes 
first. This is an ongoing collection process and there have been no 
changes to the collection requirements since the last approval.
    Affected Public: States, local governments, Indian tribes, 
institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations (Non-Federal 
entities) and their auditors.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 31 U.S.C. Section 7501 et. seq. and 2 CFR 
part 200.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website `. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function and entering 
either the title of the collection or the OMB Control Number 0607-0518.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-19875 Filed 9-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P