[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5930-5932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00890]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice: 23-001]


New Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment Policy for 
Recipients of NASA Financial Assistance Awards

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of request for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: To address undue foreign influence in NASA-supported research 
and ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, NASA has 
developed a new conflict of interest (COI) and conflict of commitment 
(COC) disclosure policy and an associated term and condition applicable 
to entities implementing NASA financial assistance awards (i.e., grants 
or cooperative agreements). Grants Policy and Compliance (GPC) in 
NASA's Office of Procurement is soliciting public comment on the 
Agency's proposed policy and term and condition. After obtaining and 
considering public comment, it is NASA's intention to implement the new 
policy and term and condition through a revision to the NASA Grant and 
Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM).

DATES: Comments must be received by March 1, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please address comments to Christopher Murguia, Senior 
Analyst, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters, 
300 E Street SW, Rm. 5L32, Washington, DC 20546; telephone 202-909-
5918; or email [email protected]v. We encourage respondents 
to submit comments via email to ensure timely receipt. We cannot 
guarantee that mailed comments will be received before the comment 
closing date. Please include ``COI/COC Policy'' in the subject line of 
email messages.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Murguia, email: 
[email protected]v; telephone 202-909-5918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to U.S. Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations in the report GAO-21-130 
Federal Research: Agencies Need to Enhance Policies to Address Foreign 
Influence, NASA is taking steps to address undue foreign influence in 
research and ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. NASA 
is proposing a new policy that requires financial assistance award 
recipients to (1) maintain written and enforced policies that require 
covered individuals to disclose COI and COC to the recipient entity; 
(2) eliminate or, where appropriate, manage or reduce the disclosed 
conflict; and (3) disclose to NASA any conflict that cannot be 
eliminated, managed, or reduced. NASA's policy also describes how the 
Agency will address disclosures and the enforcement actions the Agency 
may take if a covered individual knowingly fails to disclose required 
information. The policy is accompanied by a term and condition 
requiring award recipients to comply with the COI and COC disclosure 
requirements that will be placed into all NASA financial assistance 
awards after the policy is implemented.
    The policy will be implemented as a revision to GCAM section 3.3, 
Conflicts of Interest Policy, and the term and condition will be 
implemented as an addition to NASA's standard grant and cooperative 
agreement terms and conditions template located in GCAM, Appendix D, 
Award Terms and Conditions. The full text of the policy and term and 
condition is provided below.
    The GCAM, section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy, will be 
revised in its entirety as follows:

[Begin Provision]

    1. For the purposes of section 3.3, the following definitions 
apply:
    a. The term ``conflict of interest,'' or ``COI,'' means a situation 
in which an individual, or the individual's spouse or dependent 
children, has a significant financial interest or financial 
relationship, whether with a domestic or foreign entity, that could 
directly and significantly affect the design, conduct, reporting, or 
funding of research or other award-related activities. Examples of 
potential COI include, but are not limited to, holding an executive 
position, director position, or equity over a certain dollar amount in 
a company that stands to benefit from award-related activities, 
receiving financial compensation in the form of consulting payments or 
payment for services from a company that stands to benefit from award-
related activities, or intellectual property rights or royalties from 
such rights whose value may be affected by the outcome of award-related 
activities.
    b. The term ``conflict of commitment,'' or ``COC,'' means a non-
financial conflict of interest in which an individual accepts or incurs 
conflicting obligations, whether domestic or foreign, between or among 
multiple employers or other entities. COC includes conflicting 
commitments of time and effort, including obligations to dedicate time 
in excess of institutional or funding agency policies or commitments. 
COC also includes obligations to improperly share information with, or 
to withhold information from, an employer or NASA, as well as other 
conflicting obligations that threaten research security and integrity. 
Examples of potential COC include, but are not limited to, current or 
pending employment; positions, appointments, or affiliations such as 
titled academic, professional, or institutional appointments, whether 
remuneration is received and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary 
(including adjunct, visiting, or honorary positions); and participation 
in or applications to foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment 
or similar programs.

[[Page 5931]]

    c. The term ``covered individual'' means an individual who (a) 
contributes in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific 
development or execution of a project proposed to be carried out with 
an award from a Federal research agency and (b) is designated as a 
covered individual by the Federal research agency concerned. NASA 
designates as covered individuals any principal investigator (PI), 
project director (PD), co-principal investigator (Co-PI), co-project 
director (Co-PD), and/or any other person listed as a team member in 
Section VI, Team Members, of the Cover Page for Proposal Submitted to 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (form NRESS-300).
    2. All NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients shall 
maintain a written and enforced policy addressing actual, apparent, and 
potential COI and COC, both foreign and domestic. A prime or pass-
through award recipient shall be responsible for ensuring that its 
subrecipients, if any, follow the requirements of this section.
    a. Each recipient entity's policy shall designate an official(s) to 
solicit and review COI and COC disclosures from each covered individual 
who is planning to participate in, or is participating in, a NASA-
funded award. The designated official(s) shall review all covered 
individuals' disclosures; determine whether an actual, apparent, or 
potential COI or COC exists; and, if so, determine the actions that 
have been and shall be taken to eliminate or, where appropriate, manage 
or reduce the conflict. Examples of conditions or restrictions that a 
recipient or subrecipient might impose to manage, reduce, or eliminate 
a conflict include, but are not limited to:
    i. Public disclosure of the COI or COC;
    ii. Monitoring of research by independent evaluators;
    iii. Modification of the research plan;
    iv. Change of personnel or personnel responsibilities, or 
disqualification of personnel from participation in all or a portion of 
the NASA-funded activity;
    v. Divestiture of significant financial interests that create the 
COI or COC (e.g., sale of an equity interest); or
    vi. Severance of relationships that create the COI or COC.
    b. The entity's policy shall ensure that covered individuals have 
provided all required disclosures to the entity at the time a proposal 
is submitted to NASA. It shall also require that covered individuals 
update those disclosures on an annual basis or as soon as any new 
actual, apparent, or potential COI or COC arises. The policy shall 
include adequate enforcement mechanisms and provide for sanctions where 
appropriate.
    3. Consistent with title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) 
200.112, Conflict of interest, an entity applying for or currently 
receiving NASA grant or cooperative agreement funding shall disclose to 
NASA in writing any actual, apparent, or potential COI or COC if such 
conflict cannot be eliminated or appropriately managed or reduced in 
accordance with the entity's policy. In addition, such entity shall 
disclose to NASA in writing any actual, apparent, or potential COI or 
COC involving any foreign governments, their instrumentalities, or any 
other entities owned, funded, or otherwise controlled by a foreign 
government, as well as any measures the entity has taken to eliminate 
or, where appropriate, manage or reduce the COI or COC.
    a. An entity currently implementing a NASA grant or cooperative 
agreement shall disclose via email the actual, apparent, or potential 
conflict to the cognizant NASA Grant Officer and Technical Officer 
listed on their award. If an award recipient needs to correct 
inaccurate or incomplete COI or COC disclosures, they shall inform the 
cognizant NASA Grant Officer and Technical Officer listed on their 
award via email as soon as possible.
    b. An entity applying for a NASA grant or cooperative agreement 
shall clearly and explicitly disclose the conflict in its proposal. If 
an applicant needs to correct inaccurate or incomplete COI or COC 
disclosures in a submitted proposal, they shall inform the NASA 
technical point of contact listed in the relevant Notice of Funding 
Opportunity via email as soon as possible.
    4. When an entity discloses to NASA a COI or COC that cannot be 
eliminated, managed, or reduced, the cognizant Grant Officer (if the 
conflict pertains to an active award) or program official (if the 
conflict pertains to a proposal that is under consideration), or one of 
their delegates, will report the conflict to OGC as follows:
    a. For disclosures pertaining to active awards, the Grant Officer 
will report the conflict to the NASA Shared Services Center's (NSSC) 
Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and copy the award's Technical 
Officer. The NSSC OGC will then inform HQ OGC of the reported conflict. 
In consultation with OGC, the Grant Officer must assess whether the 
circumstances disqualify an entity or individual from holding the award 
and adhere to the policy in paragraph (i) below if enforcement or other 
actions are necessary.
    i. If a Grant Officer must take enforcement or other actions after 
conducting the review described above, then they will do so in 
accordance with the remedies for noncompliance and termination 
provisions in 2 CFR 200.339 through 200.343. Remedies for noncompliance 
include but are not limited to, temporarily withholding payment, 
disallowing all or part of the cost of an award activity, wholly or 
partly suspending or terminating the award, initiating referrals for 
consideration of suspension or debarment proceedings, and withholding 
further Federal awards.
    ii. A Grant Officer intending to take enforcement or other action 
per paragraph (i) above will notify each entity subject to such action 
about the specific reason for the action and will adhere to the 
requirements in GCAM section 7.13, Appealing a Suspended or Terminated 
Award, as necessary.
    b. For disclosures pertaining to proposals under consideration, the 
program official must report the conflict to the appropriate OGC. In 
consultation with OGC, the program official will assess whether the 
circumstances disqualify an entity or individual from participating in 
the competition for award and reject the proposal if necessary.
    i. A program official intending to take enforcement action per 
paragraph (b) above will notify each entity subject to such action 
about the specific reason for the action and will adhere to the 
requirements in GCAM section 7.13, Appealing a Suspended or Terminated 
Award, as necessary.
    c. When an entity discloses to NASA that it has a foreign 
government COI or COC, as directed above, the cognizant Grant Officer 
(if the conflict pertains to an active award) or program official (if 
the conflict pertains to a proposal that is under consideration), or 
one of their delegates, must assess and determine whether the 
circumstances should disqualify the entity from continuing to hold the 
award or participating in the competition for award. This determination 
is to be made by the relevant Grant Officer or program official in 
consultation with OGC and the NASA Office of International and 
Interagency Relations (OIIR), as appropriate. If NASA determines that 
an applicant or recipient will be disqualified from participating in a 
competition for award or continuing to hold an award due to a foreign 
government conflict, then NASA will offer the applicant or recipient an 
opportunity to address the conflict or affiliation prior to removing a 
proposal

[[Page 5932]]

from consideration or taking action on an award.
    d. If fraud, misrepresentation, or related misconduct is suspected 
in relation to any disclosure submitted to NASA, then the Grant Officer 
or program official also will refer the matter to the NASA Office of 
Inspector General (OIG) and the OGC Acquisition Integrity Program.
    5. Enforcement.
    a. If a covered individual knowingly fails to disclose required 
information, NASA may take one or more of the following enforcement or 
other actions:
    i. Reject a proposal,
    ii. Suspend or terminate an award,
    iii. Temporarily or permanently discontinue any or all funding for 
the covered individual or entity,
    iv. Refer recipients for consideration of suspension or debarment 
proceedings;
    v. Refer the failure to disclose to the NASA OIG for further 
investigation or to Federal law enforcement authorities to determine 
whether any criminal or civil laws were violated;
    vi. Report the entity in the Contractor Performance Assessment 
Reporting System (CPARS) to alert other Federal agencies to the 
noncompliance;
    vii. Take one or more of the actions described in 2 CFR 200.339, 
Remedies for noncompliance; or
    viii. Take such other actions against the covered individual or 
entity as authorized under applicable law or regulations.
    b. If an enforcement or other action is necessary, NASA will adhere 
to the regulations in 2 CFR 200.340, Termination; Sec.  200.341, 
Notification of termination requirement; and Sec.  200.342, 
Opportunities to object, hearings, and appeals.

[End Provision]

    The GCAM, Appendix D, Award Terms and Conditions, will be revised 
to include the following:

[Begin Provision]

    D39. Disclosure Requirements
    (a) All NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients shall 
comply with the conflict of interest and conflict of commitment 
disclosure requirements in section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy, 
of the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM).

[End Provision]

Cheryl Parker,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-00890 Filed 1-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510-13-P