[118th Congress Public Law 140]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 138 STAT. 1657]]

Public Law 118-140
118th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To require transparency in notices of funding opportunity, and for other 
            purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 11, 2024 -  [H.R. 5536]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Grant 
Transparency Act of 2023. 31 USC 6101 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Grant Transparency Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. NOTICES OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TRANSPARENCY.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency''--
                    (A) has the meaning given the term ``Executive 
                agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States Code; 
                and
                    (B) does not include the Government Accountability 
                Office.
            (2) Competitive grant.--The term ``competitive grant'' means 
        a discretionary award (as defined in section 200.1 of title 2, 
        Code of Federal Regulations) awarded by an agency--
                    (A) through a grant agreement or cooperative 
                agreement under which the agency makes payment in cash 
                or in kind to a recipient to carry out a public purpose 
                authorized by law; and
                    (B) the recipient of which is selected from a pool 
                of applicants through the use of merit-based selection 
                procedures for the purpose of allocating funds 
                authorized under a grant program of the agency.
            (3) Evaluation or selection criteria.--The term ``evaluation 
        or selection criteria'' means standards or principles for 
        judging, evaluating, or selecting an application for a 
        competitive grant.
            (4) Notice of funding opportunity.--The term ``notice of 
        funding opportunity'' has the meaning given the term in section 
        200.1 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (5) Rating system.--The term ``rating system''--
                    (A) means a system of evaluation of competitive 
                grant applications to determine how such applications 
                advance through the selection process; and
                    (B) includes--
                          (i) a merit criteria rating rubric;
                          (ii) an evaluation of merit criteria;
                          (iii) a methodology to evaluate and rate based 
                      on a point scale; and

[[Page 138 STAT. 1658]]

                          (iv) an evaluation to determine whether a 
                      competitive grant application meets evaluation or 
                      selection criteria.

    (b) Transparency Requirements.--Each notice of funding opportunity 
issued by an agency for a competitive grant shall include--
            (1) a description of any rating system and evaluation and 
        selection criteria the agency uses to assess applications for 
        the competitive grant;
            (2) a statement of whether the agency uses a weighted 
        scoring method and a description of any weighted scoring method 
        the agency uses for the competitive grant, including the amount 
        by which the agency weights each criterion; and
            (3) any other qualitative or quantitative merit-based 
        approach the agency uses to evaluate an application for the 
        competitive grant.

    (c) Applications; Data Elements.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget, in coordination with the Executive department 
        designated under section 6402(a)(1) of title 31, United States 
        Code, shall develop data elements relating to grant applications 
        to ensure common reporting by each agency with respect to 
        applications received in response to each notice of funding 
        opportunity of the agency.
            (2) Contents.--The data elements developed under paragraph 
        (1) shall include--
                    (A) the number of applications received; and
                    (B) the city and State of each organization that 
                submitted an application.

    (d) Rule of Construction.--With respect to a particular competitive 
grant, nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede any 
requirement with respect to a notice of funding opportunity for the 
competitive grant in a law that authorizes the competitive grant.
    (e) No Additional Funds.--No additional funds are authorized to be 
appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act.
    (f) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--This Act shall take effect on the date that 
        is 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

[[Page 138 STAT. 1659]]

            (2) No retroactive effect.--This Act shall not apply to a 
        notice of funding opportunity issued before the date of 
        enactment of this Act.

    Approved December 11, 2024.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 5536 (S. 2260):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SENATE REPORTS: No. 118-125 (Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs) accompanying S. 2260.
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 170 (2024):
            Nov. 18, considered and passed House.
            Dec. 3, considered and passed Senate.

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