[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 468 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.468
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
An Act
To improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal financial
assistance programs, simplify Federal financial assistance application
and reporting requirements, and improve the delivery of services to the
public.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Financial Assistance
Management Improvement Act of 1999''.

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Congress finds that--
(1) there are over 600 different Federal financial assistance
programs to implement domestic policy;
(2) while the assistance described in paragraph (1) has been
directed at critical problems, some Federal administrative
requirements may be duplicative, burdensome or conflicting, thus
impeding cost-effective delivery of services at the local level;
(3) the Nation's State, local, and tribal governments and
private, nonprofit organizations are dealing with increasingly
complex problems which require the delivery and coordination of
many kinds of services; and
(4) streamlining and simplification of Federal financial
assistance administrative procedures and reporting requirements
will improve the delivery of services to the public.

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The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal
financial assistance programs;
(2) simplify Federal financial assistance application and
reporting requirements;
(3) improve the delivery of services to the public; and
(4) facilitate greater coordination among those responsible for
delivering such services.

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In this Act:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget.
(2) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any
agency as defined under section 551(1) of title 5, United States
Code.
(3) Federal financial assistance.--The term ``Federal financial
assistance'' has the same meaning as defined in section 7501(a)(5)
of title 31, United States Code, under which Federal financial
assistance is provided, directly or indirectly, to a non-Federal
entity.
(4) Local government.--The term ``local government'' means a
political subdivision of a State that is a unit of general local
government (as defined under section 7501(a)(11) of title 31,
United States Code).
(5) Non-federal entity.--The term ``non-Federal entity'' means
a State, local government, or nonprofit organization.
(6) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit
organization'' means any corporation, trust, association,
cooperative, or other organization that--
(A) is operated primarily for scientific, educational,
service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public
interest;
(B) is not organized primarily for profit; and
(C) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the
operations of the organization.
(7) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific
Islands, and any instrumentality thereof, any multi-State,
regional, or interstate entity which has governmental functions,
and any Indian Tribal Government.
(8) Tribal government.--The term ``tribal government'' means an
Indian tribe, as that term is defined in section 7501(a)(9) of
title 31, United States Code.
(9) Uniform administrative rule.--The term ``uniform
administrative rule'' means a Governmentwide uniform rule for any
generally applicable requirement established to achieve national
policy objectives that applies to multiple Federal financial
assistance programs across Federal agencies.

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(a) In General.--Except as provided under subsection (b), not later
than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, each
Federal agency shall develop and implement a plan that--
(1) streamlines and simplifies the application, administrative,
and reporting procedures for Federal financial assistance programs
administered by the agency;
(2) demonstrates active participation in the interagency
process under section 6(a)(2);
(3) demonstrates appropriate agency use, or plans for use, of
the common application and reporting system developed under section
6(a)(1);
(4) designates a lead agency official for carrying out the
responsibilities of the agency under this Act;
(5) allows applicants to electronically apply for, and report
on the use of, funds from the Federal financial assistance program
administered by the agency;
(6) ensures recipients of Federal financial assistance provide
timely, complete, and high quality information in response to
Federal reporting requirements; and
(7) in cooperation with recipients of Federal financial
assistance, establishes specific annual goals and objectives to
further the purposes of this Act and measure annual performance in
achieving those goals and objectives, which may be done as part of
the agency's annual planning responsibilities under the Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-62; 107 Stat.
285).
(b) Extension.--If a Federal agency is unable to comply with
subsection (a), the Director may extend for up to 12 months the period
for the agency to develop and implement a plan in accordance with
subsection (a).
(c) Comment and Consultation on Agency Plans.--
(1) Comment.--Each agency shall publish the plan developed
under subsection (a) in the Federal Register and shall receive
public comment of the plan through the Federal Register and other
means (including electronic means). To the maximum extent
practicable, each Federal agency shall hold public forums on the
plan.
(2) Consultation.--The lead official designated under
subsection (a)(4) shall consult with representatives of non-Federal
entities during development and implementation of the plan.
Consultation with representatives of State, local, and tribal
governments shall be in accordance with section 204 of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1534).
(d) Submission of Plan.--Each Federal agency shall submit the plan
developed under subsection (a) to the Director and Congress and report
annually thereafter on the implementation of the plan and performance
of the agency in meeting the goals and objectives specified under
subsection (a)(7). Such report may be included as part of any of the
general management reports required under law.

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(a) In General.--The Director, in consultation with agency heads
and representatives of non-Federal entities, shall direct, coordinate,
and assist Federal agencies in establishing--
(1) a common application and reporting system, including--
(A) a common application or set of common applications,
wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for Federal financial
assistance from multiple Federal financial assistance programs
that serve similar purposes and are administered by different
Federal agencies;
(B) a common system, including electronic processes,
wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for, manage, and report
on the use of funding from multiple Federal financial
assistance programs that serve similar purposes and are
administered by different Federal agencies; and
(C) uniform administrative rules for Federal financial
assistance programs across different Federal agencies; and
(2) an interagency process for addressing--
(A) ways to streamline and simplify Federal financial
assistance administrative procedures and reporting requirements
for non-Federal entities;
(B) improved interagency and intergovernmental coordination
of information collection and sharing of data pertaining to
Federal financial assistance programs, including appropriate
information sharing consistent with section 552a of title 5,
United States Code; and
(C) improvements in the timeliness, completeness, and
quality of information received by Federal agencies from
recipients of Federal financial assistance.
(b) Lead Agency and Working Groups.--The Director may designate a
lead agency to assist the Director in carrying out the responsibilities
under this section. The Director may use interagency working groups to
assist in carrying out such responsibilities.
(c) Review of Plans and Reports.--Upon the request of the Director,
agencies shall submit to the Director, for the Director's review,
information and other reporting regarding agency implementation of this
Act.
(d) Exemptions.--The Director may exempt any Federal agency or
Federal financial assistance program from the requirements of this Act
if the Director determines that the Federal agency does not have a
significant number of Federal financial assistance programs. The
Director shall maintain a list of exempted agencies which shall be
available to the public through the Office of Management and Budget's
Internet site.
(e) Report on Recommended Changes in Law.--Not later than 18 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit
to Congress a report containing recommendations for changes in law to
improve the effectiveness, performance, and coordination of Federal
financial assistance programs.
(f) Deadline.--All actions required under this section shall be
carried out not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of
this Act.

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(a) In General.--The General Accounting Office shall evaluate the
effectiveness of this Act. Not later than 6 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the evaluation shall be submitted to the lead
agency, the Director, and Congress. The evaluation shall be performed
with input from State, local, and tribal governments, and nonprofit
organizations.
(b) Contents.--The evaluation under subsection (a) shall--
(1) assess the effectiveness of this Act in meeting the
purposes of this Act and make specific recommendations to further
the implementation of this Act;
(2) evaluate actual performance of each agency in achieving the
goals and objectives stated in agency plans; and
(3) assess the level of coordination among the Director,
Federal agencies, State, local, and tribal governments, and
nonprofit organizations in implementing this Act.

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Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the Director or
any Federal agency from gathering, or to exempt any recipient of
Federal financial assistance from providing, information that is
required for review of the financial integrity or quality of services
of an activity assisted by a Federal financial assistance program.

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There shall be no judicial review of compliance or noncompliance
with any of the provisions of this Act. No provision of this Act shall
be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable by any administrative or judicial action.

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Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a means to deviate from
the statutory requirements relating to applicable Federal financial
assistance programs.

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This Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act
and shall cease to be effective 8 years after such date of enactment.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

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Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 — S. 468

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