65024 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

24 CFR Part 5 

[Docket No. FR–4876–F–02] 

RIN 2501–AD01 

Implementation of Requirement in HUD 

Programs for Use of Data Universal 

Numbering System (DUNS) Identifier

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: On March 26, 2004, HUD 

published an interim rule implementing 

an Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) policy directive that requires 

grant applicants, other than individuals, 

to provide a Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number when applying 

for Federal grants or other assistance 

agreements on or after October 1, 2003. 

HUD is applying this policy widely to 

its assistance programs in order to have 

a single identifier for applicants and to 

facilitate the transition to electronic 

application submission. This final rule 

follows publication of the March 26, 

2004, interim rule. HUD did not receive 

any public comments on the interim 

rule and, therefore, is adopting the 

interim rule without change.

DATES: Effective Date: December 9, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barbara Dorf, Director, Office of 

Departmental Grants Management and 

Oversight, Room 3156, Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 451 

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20410–3000, telephone (202) 708–0667 

(this is not a toll-free number). Hearingor speech-impaired individuals may 

access this number through TTY by 

calling the toll-free Federal Information 

Relay Service at (800) 877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background—HUD’s March 26, 2004, 

Interim Rule 

On March 26, 2004 (69 FR 15671), 

HUD published an interim rule 

implementing a June 27, 2003 (68 FR 

38402), OMB final policy directive that 

implemented a governmentwide 

requirement for applicants to provide a 

DUNS number when applying for 

Federal grants or other assistance on or 

after October 1, 2003. 

OMB determined that there was a 

governmentwide need for improved 

statistical reporting of Federal grants 

and cooperative agreements. 

Governmentwide use of the DUNS 

number will provide a means to identify 

entities receiving those grants and 

entering into cooperative agreements, as 

well as the means to identify those 

entities’ business relationships. The 

identifier will be used for tracking 

purposes and to validate address and 

point-of-contact information. The DUNS 

number is already in general use by the 

Federal government to identify entities 

receiving Federal contracts and by some 

Federal agencies in their grant and 

cooperative agreement processes. Also, 

among existing numbering systems, 

DUNS is the only one that provides the 

Federal government the ability to 

determine hierarchical and family-tree 

data for related organizations.

Based on the OMB directive, HUD 

published its March 26, 2004, interim 

rule. The interim rule implemented 

OMB’s DUNS policy and made it widely 

applicable to HUD funding programs by 

amending 24 CFR part 5 to add a new 

subpart K. The new subpart requires 

organizations that apply for HUD grants 

or other financial assistance to provide 

a DUNS number with the application. 

HUD’s regulations at 24 CFR part 5 

describe requirements that are generally 

applicable to all HUD programs. 

The objective of this DUNS policy is 

to help ensure that HUD is able to 

identify funding received by the various 

entities that receive HUD program 

awards. Recipients affected include, but 

are not limited to: State, local, and tribal 

governments; public housing agencies 

(PHAs); tribally designated housing 

entities (TDHEs); universities and 

colleges; nonprofit organizations; forprofit organizations; owners of assisted 

housing; resident management 

organizations; and resident councils. 

II. This Final Rule 

This final rule follows publication of 

the March 26, 2004 interim rule. The 

interim rule became effective April 26, 

2004, and provided for a 60-day 

comment period. The comment period 

for the interim rule closed on May 25, 

2004. HUD did not receive any public 

comments on the interim rule. 

Accordingly, this final rule adopts the 

interim rule without changes. As 

discussed above, HUD’s DUNS policy is 

codified in subpart K of HUD’s 

regulations at 24 CFR part 5. This 

section of the preamble provides an 

overview of the policies contained in 24 

CFR part 5, subpart K. 

A. General 

Organizations that apply for HUD 

grants or other financial assistance must 

provide a DUNS number with the 

application. This requirement covers 

funds awarded as a grant, cooperative 

agreement, capital fund or operating 

fund subsidy, capital advance, or other 

assistance. Every application for a new 

grant or assistance award or renewal of 

an award or plan (including a PHA 

plan) under all discretionary and 

formula grant programs must include an 

applicant’s DUNS number. The DUNS 

requirement, however, does not extend 

to Federal Housing Administration 

(FHA) insurance or loan guarantee 

transactions that are not associated with 

a grant program or grant award. 

Unless an exemption from this 

requirement is requested by HUD and 

approved by OMB, HUD will not 

consider an application as complete 

until a valid DUNS number is provided 

by the applicant. Consistent with the 

OMB policy directive issued on June 27, 

2003, HUD may request that OMB 

approve an exemption from this 

requirement for classes of grants or 

grantees. 

Also consistent with the OMB policy 

directive, it is HUD’s intent to make all 

funding opportunities and applications 

for assistance available online at

http://www.grants.gov. Use of the DUNS 

number will be required for all 

submissions through

http://www.grants.gov. 

B. Applicability to Consortia and 

Sponsors 

As did the preceding interim rule, this 

final rule affirms that the DUNS 

requirement will also apply to groups of 

organizations applying for HUD grants 

or other financial assistance as 

consortia. Applicants or groups of 

applicants under consortia 

arrangements must have a DUNS 

number for the organization that 

submits an application for Federal 

assistance on behalf of the other 

applicants. However, if each 

organization is submitting a separate 

application for Federal assistance, then 

each organization must have a separate 

DUNS submitted with its application for 

assistance. 

If an organization is managing funds 

for a group of organizations (as may be 

the case with several small PHAs 

utilizing a single management 

organization to apply for and manage 

funds on their behalf), a DUNS number 

must be submitted for the managing 

organization, if it is drawing down HUD 

funds directly. If an organization, such 

as a PHA, draws down funds directly 

from HUD and subsequently turns the 

funds over to a management 

organization, then the management 

organization must obtain a DUNS 

number and provide the number to 

HUD. 

C. Applicability to Individuals 

Individuals who would personally 

receive an assistance award from HUD, 

apart from any business or nonprofit 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 65025

organization that they may operate or 

participate in, are exempt from the 

requirements set forth in this final rule. 

Specifically, individuals may continue 

to apply under programs for which they 

are eligible without providing a DUNS 

number. In addition, an applicant is not 

required to submit DUNS numbers for 

entities with which it may enter into 

subawards. In cases where individuals 

apply for funding but the funding will 

be awarded to an institution or other 

entity on the individual’s behalf, the 

institution or entity must obtain a DUNS 

number, and the individual must submit 

the institution’s DUNS number with the 

application. 

III. Obtaining a DUNS Number 

The DUNS number does not replace 

existing identifiers, such as the 

Employer Identification Number (EIN), 

the Tax Identification Number (TIN), 

and State Application Identifier (SAI) 

numbers that are required by statute, 

Executive Order, or regulation.

Obtaining a DUNS number is free for 

all entities doing business with the 

Federal government. This includes 

applicants and prospective applicants 

for grants and cooperative agreements. 

An applicant should identify its 

organization as a Federal grant applicant 

or prospective applicant when it 

contacts Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) for a 

DUNS number, as explained below. 

The DUNS number is site-specific; 

therefore, each distinct physical 

location of an applicant entity (such as 

a branch, division, or headquarters) may 

be assigned a DUNS number. If an 

organization already has a DUNS 

number in connection with the Federal 

acquisition process, or requested or had 

a DUNS number assigned for another 

purpose, the applicant may use that 

number for its application. When 

possible, organizations should avoid 

establishing new DUNS numbers. 

Organizations should take responsibility 

for updating and validating the 

information associated with the existing 

DUNS number(s). To help organizations 

manage multiple DUNS numbers, an 

entity may request D&B to supply a 

family tree report of the DUNS numbers 

associated with the organization. 

Organizations should work with D&B to 

ensure that the correct information is in 

the family tree report. If an organization 

wishes to determine if it has an existing 

DUNS number or wishes to request a 

family tree report, it may contact D&B 

toll-free at (866) 705–5711. 

Organizations may receive a DUNS 

number by calling the dedicated tollfree DUNS number request line at (866) 

705–5711 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

(local time of the caller when calling 

from within the United States). Speechor hearing-impaired individuals may 

access the toll-free DUNS number 

request line through TTY by calling 

(866) 814–7818. Organizations 

alternatively may apply for DUNS 

numbers online at http://

www.dunandbradstreet.com. For faster 

service, HUD recommends using the 

telephone request line to obtain a DUNS 

number. The telephone call to obtain a 

DUNS number takes approximately five 

to ten minutes, and a DUNS number 

will be assigned at the conclusion of the 

call. Applicants should expect that the 

following information will be requested: 

legal name; name and address for the 

organization’s headquarters; ‘‘doing 

business as’’ (DBA) or other name by 

which the organization is commonly 

known or recognized; physical address, 

city, State and zip code; mailing address 

(if different from headquarters or 

physical address); telephone number; 

contact name and title; and number of 

employees. 

IV. Findings and Certifications 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (2 U.S.C. 

1531–1538) establishes requirements for 

Federal agencies to assess the effects of 

their regulatory actions on State, local, 

and tribal governments and the private 

sector. This final rule does not impose 

any Federal mandates on any State, 

local, or tribal government or the private 

sector within the meaning of UMRA. 

Executive Order 13132, Federalism 

Executive Order 13132 (entitled 

‘‘Federalism’’) prohibits, to the extent 

practicable and permitted by law, an 

agency from publishing any rule that 

has federalism implications and either 

imposes substantial direct compliance 

costs on State and local governments 

and is not required by statute, or the 

rule preempts State law, unless the 

agency meets the consultation and 

funding requirements of section 6 of the 

order. This rule does not have 

federalism implications and does not 

impose substantial direct compliance 

costs on State and local governments or 

preempt State law within the meaning 

of the order. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Secretary, in accordance with the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

605(b)), has reviewed this rule before 

publication and by approving it certifies 

that this rule does not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. DUNS 

numbers are immediately obtained at no 

cost with minimal time and effort, and 

there are not any unusual procedures 

with which small entities alone would 

have to comply. Accordingly, the final 

rule will not impose any new costs, or 

modify existing costs, applicable to 

HUD grantees. 

Environmental Impact 

In accordance with 24 CFR part 

50.19(c)(1) of the Department’s 

regulations, this final rule does not 

direct, provide for assistance or loan 

and mortgage insurance for, or 

otherwise govern or regulate, real 

property acquisition, disposition, 

leasing, rehabilitation, alteration, 

demolition, or new construction, or 

establish, revise, or provide for 

standards for construction or 

construction materials, manufactured 

housing, or occupancy. Therefore, this 

final rule is categorically excluded from 

the requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 

4332). 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Numbers 

The regulatory amendments 

contained in this final rule generally 

apply to all HUD assistance awards, 

unless the recipient is specifically 

exempted under this final rule or the 

program. The Catalog of Federal 

Domestic Assistance number for a 

particular HUD program may be found 

on the CFDA Web site at http://

www.cfda.gov.

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 5 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Aged, Claims, Drug abuse, 

Drug traffic control, Grant programs—

housing and community development, 

Grant programs—Indians, Individuals 

with disabilities, Information and 

statistics, Loan programs—housing and 

community development, Low and 

moderate income housing, Mortgage 

insurance, Pets, Public housing, Rent 

subsidies, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements.

■ Accordingly, for the reasons stated in 

the preamble, the interim rule that added 

Subpart K to part 5 of title 24 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations, published on 

March 26, 2004, at 69 FR 15671, is 

adopted as a final rule without change.

Dated: November 1, 2004. 

Alphonso Jackson, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–24884 Filed 11–8–04; 8:45 am] 

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