30498 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 92 / Thursday, May 11, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Part 84

[Docket No. FR–4573–I–01]

RIN 2501–AC68

Adoption of Revisions to OMB Circular

A–110; Uniform Administrative

Requirements for Grants and

Agreements With Institutions of Higher

Education, Hospitals, and Other NonProfit Organizations

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Interim rule.

SUMMARY: This interim rule revises

HUD’s regulations that implement the

requirements of the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

Circular A–110, ‘‘Uniform

Administrative Requirements for Grants

and Agreements with Institutions of

Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other

Non-Profit Organizations.’’ OMB issued

a final revision to Circular A–110 on

September 30, 1999, which was

published on October 8, 1999. This

interim rule will provide uniform

administrative requirements for all

grants and cooperative agreements to

institutions of higher education,

hospitals, and other non-profit

organizations.

DATES: Effective Date: June 12, 2000.

Comment Due Date: July 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit comments regarding

this interim rule to the Office of the

General Counsel, Rules Docket Clerk,

Room 10276, Department of Housing

and Urban Development, 451 Seventh

Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20410–

0500. Comments should refer to the

above docket number and title. A copy

of each communication submitted will

be available for public inspection and

copying during regular business hours

(weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern

time) at the above address. Facsimile

(FAX) comments are not acceptable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general issues regarding this interim

rule, please contact Charles Gale,

Director, Office of Grants Management,

Department of Health and Human

Services at (202) 690–6377. For agencyspecific issues, please contact William

E. Dobrzykowski, Assistant Chief

Financial Officer, (202) 708–1946. (This

is not a toll-free number.) Hearingimpaired or speech-impaired

individuals may access the voice

telephone number listed above by

calling the Federal Information Relay

Service during working hours at 1–800–

877–8339. The full text of OMB Circular

A–110, the text of the September 30th

notice of final revision, and a chart

showing where each agency has

codified the Circular into regulation

may be obtained by accessing OMB’s

home page (http://

www.whitehouse.gov/omb), under the

heading ‘‘Grants Management.’’

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In the Fiscal Year 1999 appropriations

for the Office of Management and

Budget (Public Law 105–277) the

Congress directed OMB to amend

Circular A–110 (Uniform

Administrative Requirements for Grants

and Agreements with Institutions of

Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other

Non-Profit Organizations) ‘‘to require

Federal awarding agencies to ensure

that all data produced under an award

will be made available to the public

through the procedures established

under the Freedom of Information Act.’’

The directed amendment also provides

for a reasonable fee to cover the costs

incurred in responding to a request.

In directing OMB to revise Circular

A–110, Congress entrusted OMB with

the authority to resolve statutory

ambiguities, the obligation to address

implementation issues the statute did

not address, and the discretion to

balance the need for public access to

research data with protections of the

research process. In developing the

revision, OMB sought to implement the

statutory language fairly, in the context

of its legislative history. This required a

balanced approach that (1) furthered the

interest of the public in obtaining the

information needed to validate

Federally-funded research findings, (2)

ensured that research can continue to be

conducted in accordance with the

traditional scientific process, and (3)

implemented a public access process

that will be workable in practice.

OMB finalized the revision on

September 30, 1999 (64 FR 54926,

October 8, 1999). Before publication of

this final revision, OMB published a

Notice of Proposed Revision on

February 4, 1999 (64 FR 5684), and a

request for comments on clarifying

changes to the proposed revision on

August 11, 1999 (64 FR 43786). OMB

received over 9,000 comments on the

proposed revision and over 3,000

comments on the clarifying changes.

This interim rule amends HUD’s

regulations that codify the requirements

of Circular A–110 to reflect OMB’s final

revision to OMB Circular A–110.

Findings and Certifications

Environmental Impact

This amendment is categorically

excluded from review under the

National Environmental Policy Act (42

U.S.C. 4321). In keeping with the

exclusion provided for in 24 CFR

50.19(c)(1), this amendment does not

direct, provide for assistance 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. Accordingly,

under 24 CFR 50.19(c), this amendment

is categorically excluded because it

amends an existing document where the

existing document as a whole would not

fall within the exclusion in 24 CFR

50.19(c)91), but the amendment by itself

would do so.

Regulatory Planning and Review

The Office of Management and Budget

has reviewed this rule under Executive

Order 12866 (captioned ‘‘Regulatory

Planning and Review’’) and determined

that this rule is a ‘‘significant regulatory

action’’ as defined in section 3(f) of the

Order (although not an economically

significant regulatory action under the

Order). Any changes made to this rule

as a result of that review are identified

in the docket file, which is available for

public inspection during regular

business hours (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.)

at the Office of the General Counsel,

Rules Docket Clerk, Room 10276, U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20410–0500.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Secretary, in accordance with the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.

605(b)), has reviewed this interim rule

before publication and by approving it

certifies that this interim rule will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities.

This rule concerns the information

pertaining to the award of Federal funds

that must be provided in response to

Freedom of Information Act requests.

Federalism Impact

Executive Order 13132 (entitled

‘‘Federalism’’) prohibits, to the extent

practicable and permitted by law, an

agency from promulgating a regulation

that has federalism implications and

either imposes substantial direct

compliance costs on State and local

governments and is not required by

statute, or preempts State law, unless

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 92 / Thursday, May 11, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 30499

the relevant requirements of section 6 of

the Executive Order are met. This

interim 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

Executive Order.

Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates

Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4;

approved March 22, 1995) (UMRA)

establishes requirements for Federal

agencies to assess the effects of their

regulatory actions on State, local, and

tribal governments, and on the private

sector. This interim rule would not

impose any Federal mandates on any

State, local, or tribal governments, or on

the private sector, within the meaning of

the UMRA.

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 84

Accounting, Audit requirements,

Colleges and universities, Grant

programs—housing and community

development, Loan programs—housing

and community development, Nonprofit organizations, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Accordingly, part 84 of title 24 of the

Code of Federal Regulations is amended

as follows:

PART 84—UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE

REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS AND

AGREEMENTS WITH INSTITUTIONS

OF HIGHER EDUCATION, HOSPITALS,

AND OTHER NON-PROFIT

ORGANIZATIONS

1. The part heading for part 84 is

revised to read as set forth above.

2. The authority citation for part 84

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

3. In § 84.36, paragraph (c) is revised,

paragraph (d) is redesignated as

paragraph (e), and a new paragraph (d)

is added to read as follows:

§ 84.36 Intangible property.

* * * * *

(c) HUD has the right to:

(1) Obtain, reproduce, publish or

otherwise use the data first produced

under an award; and

(2) Authorize others to receive,

reproduce, publish, or otherwise use

such data for HUD purposes.

(d)(1) In addition, in response to a

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

request for research data relating to

published research findings produced

under an award that were used by HUD

in developing an agency action that has

the force and effect of law, HUD shall

request, and the recipient shall provide,

within a reasonable time, the research

data so that they can be made available

to the public through the procedures

established under the FOIA. If HUD

obtains the research data solely in

response to a FOIA request, HUD may

charge the requester a reasonable fee

equaling the full incremental cost of

obtaining the research data. This fee

should reflect costs incurred by HUD,

the recipient, and applicable

subrecipients. This fee is in addition to

any fees HUD may assess under the

FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A)).

(2) The following definitions apply for

purposes of this paragraph (d):

(i) Research data is defined as the

recorded factual material commonly

accepted in the scientific community as

necessary to validate research findings,

but not any of the following:

preliminary analyses, drafts of scientific

papers, plans for future research, peer

reviews, or communications with

colleagues. This ‘‘recorded’’ material

excludes physical objects (e.g.,

laboratory samples). Research data also

do not include:

(A) Trade secrets, commercial

information, materials necessary to be

held confidential by a researcher until

they are published, or similar

information which is protected under

law; and

(B) Personnel and medical

information and similar information the

disclosure of which would constitute a

clearly unwarranted invasion of

personal privacy, such as information

that could be used to identify a

particular person in a research study.

(ii) Published is defined as either

when:

(A) Research findings are published in

a peer-reviewed scientific or technical

journal; or

(B) HUD publicly and officially cites

the research findings in support of an

agency action that has the force and

effect of law.

(iii) Used by HUD in developing an

agency action that has the force and

effect of law is defined as when HUD

publicly and officially cites the research

findings in support of an agency action

that has the force and effect of law.

* * * * *

Dated: April 18, 2000.

Andrew Cuomo,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–11695 Filed 5–10–00; 8:45 am]

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