II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1222 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to require accountability and 

transparency in Federal spending, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2011 

Mr. WARNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to require accountability and transparency in Federal spending, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Accountability 

5 and Transparency Act of 2011’’ or the ‘‘DATA Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL 

SPENDING 

Sec. 101. General requirements for accountability and transparency in Federal 

spending. 

Sec. 102. Data standardizaton for accountability and transparency in Federal 

spending. 

Sec. 103. General provisions and deadlines for accountability and transparency 

in Federal spending. 

TITLE II—FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPENDING 

TRANSPARENCY BOARD 

Sec. 201. Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Board. 

Sec. 202. Conforming amendment relating to compensation of Chairperson. 

Sec. 203. Amendments and repeal of Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. 

TITLE III—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Classified information. 

Sec. 302. Paperwork Reduction Act exemption. 

Sec. 303. Matching program. 

Sec. 304. Transfer of Consolidated Federal Funds Report. 

Sec. 305. Repeal of Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 

2006. 

Sec. 306. Effective date. 

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Federal Ac4 countability and Spending Transparency Board es5 tablished under subchapter III of chapter 36 of title 

6 31, United States Code, as added by this Act. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has the 

8 meaning provided by section 105 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, except the term does not include the 

10 Government Accountability Office. 


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1 TITLE I—ACCOUNTABILITY AND 

2 TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL 

3 SPENDING 

4 SEC. 101. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY 

5 AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL SPENDING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle III of title 31, United 

7 States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 35 the 

8 following new chapter: 

9 ‘‘CHAPTER 36—ACCOUNTABILITY AND 

10 TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL SPENDING 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3601. Definitions. 

‘‘3602. Recipient reporting requirement. 

‘‘3603. Agency reporting requirement. 

‘‘3604. Exemptions from recipient reporting requirement. 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—DATA STANDARDIZATION

‘‘3611. Data standardization for reporting information. 

‘‘3612. Full disclosure of information. 

‘‘3613. Federal accountability portal. 

‘‘3614. Agency responsibilities. 

‘‘3615. Office of Management and Budget responsibilities. 

‘‘3616. Treasury responsibilities. 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPENDING TRANSPARENCY

BOARD

‘‘3621. Establishment. 

‘‘3622. Composition of the board. 

‘‘3623. Functions. 

‘‘3624. Powers. 

‘‘3625. Employment, personnel, and related authorities. 

‘‘3626. Rulemaking authority. 

‘‘3627. Transfer of certain personnel. 

‘‘3628. Authorization and availability of appropriations. 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS

‘‘3641. Effective date. 

‘‘3642. Sunset. 


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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

2 ‘‘§ 3601. Definitions 

3 ‘‘In this chapter: 

4 ‘‘(1) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘recipient’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(A) any person that receives Federal 

7 funds pursuant to a Federal award, either di8 rectly or as a subcontractor or subgrantee; and 

9 ‘‘(B) any State, local, or tribal government 

10 that receives Federal funds pursuant to a Fed11 eral award, either directly or as a subcontractor 

12 or subgrantee. 

13 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL AWARD.—The term ‘Federal 

14 award’ means Federal financial assistance and ex15 penditures that— 

16 ‘‘(A) include grants, subgrants, loans, 

17 awards, cooperative agreements, and other 

18 forms of financial assistance; and 

19 ‘‘(B) include contracts, subcontracts, pur20 chase orders, task orders, delivery orders, blan21 ket purchase agreements, schedule orders, and 

22 other transactions. 

23 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL FUNDS.—The term ‘Federal 

24 funds’ means any funds that are made available to 


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1 an Executive agency through Federal appropria2 tions. 

3 ‘‘(4) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the 

4 Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency 

5 Board established under subchapter III of this chap6 ter. 

7 ‘‘(5) CHAIRPERSON.—The term ‘Chairperson’ 

8 means the Chairperson of the Federal Accountability 

9 and Spending Transparency Board. 

10 ‘‘(6) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘Execu11 tive agency’ has the meaning provided by section 

12 105 of title 5, except the term does not include the 

13 Government Accountability Office. 

14 ‘‘§ 3602. Recipient reporting requirement 

15 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each recipient shall report 

16 each receipt and use of Federal funds pursuant to a Fed17 eral award to the Board. 

18 ‘‘(b) CHARACTERISTICS OF REPORTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall des21 ignate the frequency of reports to be submitted 

22 by recipients under subsection (a), but the fre23 quency shall not be less than once each quarter. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTINUOUS OR AUTOMATIC RE25 PORTING.—To the extent practicable, the Board 


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1 shall require continuous or automatic reporting 

2 for compliance with this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF REPORTS.—Each report sub4 mitted by a recipient under subsection (a) shall con5 tain— 

6 ‘‘(A) an identification of the recipient, in7 cluding the recipient’s name and location, with 

8 location information provided in proper United 

9 States Postal Service standardized format, in10 cluding ZIP+4, or proper international postal 

11 service standardized format where applicable; 

12 ‘‘(B) an identification of the Executive 

13 agency; 

14 ‘‘(C) an identification of the Federal 

15 award; 

16 ‘‘(D) if applicable, an identification of the 

17 program pursuant to which the Federal award 

18 was awarded; 

19 ‘‘(E) the total amount of Federal funds re20 ceived from that Executive agency; 

21 ‘‘(F) the amount of Federal funds that 

22 were expended or obligated to projects or activi23 ties; 


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1 ‘‘(G) a detailed list of all projects or activi2 ties for which Federal funds were expended or 

3 obligated; and 

4 ‘‘(H) additional information such as per5 formance and results that is reasonably related 

6 to the receipt and use of Federal funds as the 

7 Board shall require. 

8 ‘‘(3) USE OF DATA STANDARDS.—The reports 

9 submitted under this section shall use the common 

10 data elements and data reporting standards des11 ignated by the Board under section 3611. 

12 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE BY BOARD.—The Board shall issue 

13 guidance to recipients on compliance with this section. 

14 ‘‘(d) REGISTRATION.—Recipients required to report 

15 information under subsection (a) shall register with the 

16 Central Contractor Registration database or complete 

17 such other registration requirements as the Board shall 

18 require. 

19 ‘‘§ 3603. Agency reporting requirement 

20 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each Executive agency shall 

21 report all obligations and expenditures of Federal funds 

22 to the Board. 

23 ‘‘(b) CHARACTERISTICS OF REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall des2 ignate the frequency of reports to be submitted 

3 by agencies under subsection (a), but the fre4 quency shall not be less than once each quarter. 

5 ‘‘(B) CONTINUOUS OR AUTOMATIC RE6 PORTING.—To the extent practicable, the Board 

7 shall require continuous or automatic reporting 

8 for compliance with this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF REPORT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) The Board shall designate the con11 tent of reports to be submitted by agencies 

12 under subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(B) To the extent practicable, the Board 

14 shall permit agencies to comply with subsection 

15 (a) by submitting the same information that 

16 they submit or contribute for other government17 wide reporting requirements, including the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(i) For information about Federal 

20 awards— 

21 ‘‘(I) the Federal assistance 

22 awards data system established pursu23 ant to section 6102a of title 31, 

24 United States Code; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the Federal procurement 

2 data system established pursuant to 

3 section 1122(a)(4) of title 41, United 

4 States Code; 

5 ‘‘(III) the common application 

6 and reporting system established pur7 suant to section 6 of the Federal Fi8 nancial Assistance Management Im9 provement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 

10 6101 note); or 

11 ‘‘(IV) such systems as may be es12 tablished to replace or supplement the 

13 systems identified in this clause. 

14 ‘‘(ii) For information about internal 

15 expenditures and accounting, the Federal 

16 Agencies’ Centralized Trial-Balance Sys17 tems (FACTS I and FACTS II), the Gov18 ernmentwide Financial Report System 

19 (GFRS), the Intragovernmental Fiduciary 

20 Confirmation System (IFCS), or such sys21 tems as may be established to replace or 

22 supplement such systems. 

23 ‘‘(3) USE OF DATA STANDARDS.—The reports 

24 submitted under this section shall use the common 


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1 data elements and data reporting standards des2 ignated by the Board under section 3611. 

3 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION ALSO SUBJECT TO RECIPI4 ENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—In complying with 

5 this section, each Executive agency shall identify, to 

6 the extent practicable, Federal awards made by the 

7 agency that are subject to the recipient reporting re8 quirement of section 3602 so that information re9 ported by recipients and information reported by the 

10 agency can be directly compared. 

11 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE BY BOARD.—The Board shall issue 

12 guidance to agencies on compliance with this section. 

13 ‘‘(d) BOARD TO MONITOR COMPLIANCE.—The Board 

14 shall regularly report to Congress on each Executive agen15 cy’s compliance with this section, including the timeliness, 

16 completeness, accuracy, and interoperability of the data 

17 submitted by each Executive agency. The Board shall 

18 make these reports publicly available contemporaneously 

19 online. 

20 ‘‘§ 3604. Exemptions from recipient reporting require21 ment 

22 ‘‘(a) EXEMPTION.—A recipient is exempt from the 

23 reporting requirement of section 3602 with respect to 

24 funds received pursuant to a Federal award if— 

25 ‘‘(1) the recipient is an individual; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the total amount of Federal funds received 

2 by the recipient does not exceed $100,000 in the 

3 current calendar year or fiscal year; or 

4 ‘‘(3) no transaction in which the recipient has 

5 received Federal funds during the current calendar 

6 year or fiscal year has exceeded $24,999. 

7 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO GRANT ADDITIONAL EXEMP8 TIONS.—The Board may grant additional exemptions 

9 under this section for classes or categories of recipients.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

11 at the beginning of subtitle III of title 31, United States 

12 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

13 chapter 35 the following new item: 

‘‘36. Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending ................... 3601.’’. 

14 SEC. 102. DATA STANDARDIZATON FOR ACCOUNTABILITY 

15 AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL SPENDING. 

16 Chapter 36 of title 31, United States Code, as added 

17 by section 101, is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new subchapter: 

19 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—DATA STANDARDIZATION 

20 ‘‘§ 3611. Data standardization for reporting informa21 tion 

22 ‘‘(a) COMMON DATA ELEMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall, by rule, 

24 designate common data elements, such as codes, 

25 identifiers, and fields, for information required to be 


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1 reported by recipients or agencies under this chap2 ter. 

3 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMON DATA ELE4 MENTS.—The common data elements designated 

5 under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable, 

6 be nonproprietary. 

7 ‘‘(3) EXISTING COMMON DATA ELEMENTS.—In 

8 designating common data elements under this sub9 section, the Board shall, to the extent practicable, 

10 incorporate the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Common data elements developed and 

12 maintained by an international voluntary con13 sensus standards body, as defined by the Office 

14 of Management and Budget, such as the Inter15 national Organization for Standardization. 

16 ‘‘(B) Common data elements developed and 

17 maintained by intragovernmental partnerships, 

18 such as the National Information Exchange 

19 Model. 

20 ‘‘(C) Common data elements developed and 

21 maintained by Federal entities with authority 

22 over contracting and financial assistance, such 

23 as the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Common data elements developed 

2 and maintained by accounting standards orga3 nizations. 

4 ‘‘(b) DATA REPORTING STANDARDS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall, by rule, 

6 designate data reporting standards to govern the re7 porting required to be performed by recipients and 

8 agencies under this title. 

9 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF DATA REPORTING

10 STANDARDS.—The data reporting standards re11 quired by paragraph (1) shall, to the extent prac12 ticable— 

13 ‘‘(A) incorporate a widely accepted, non14 proprietary, searchable, platform-independent 

15 computer-readable format; 

16 ‘‘(B) be consistent with and implement ap17 plicable accounting principles; and 

18 ‘‘(C) be capable of being continually up19 graded as necessary. 

20 ‘‘(3) EXISTING DATA REPORTING STAND21 ARDS.—In designating reporting standards under 

22 this subsection, the Board shall, to the extent prac23 ticable, incorporate existing nonproprietary stand24 ards, such as the eXtensible Business Reporting 

25 Language (XBRL). 


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1 ‘‘§ 3612. Full disclosure of information 

2 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall publish online 

3 all information submitted by recipients and agencies pur4 suant to sections 3602 and 3603. 

5 ‘‘(b) AGGREGATION OF INFORMATION THAT IS EX6 EMPT FROM RECIPIENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

7 The Board shall publish, online and in the aggregate, in8 formation that is exempt from recipient reporting under 

9 section 3604 but that is reported by an Executive agency 

10 under section 3606 in the aggregate. 

11 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE WITH OPEN DATA PRINCIPLES

12 AND BEST PRACTICES.—To the extent practicable, the 

13 Board shall publish data under this section in a manner 

14 that complies with applicable principles and best practices 

15 in the private sector for the publication of open govern16 ment data. 

17 ‘‘(d) ONLINE PUBLICATION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall, in accord19 ance with this section and section 204 of the E–Gov20 ernment Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note), estab21 lish and maintain one or more websites for the pub22 lication of data required to be published online 

23 under this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE OF WEBSITE OR WEBSITES.— 

25 The website or websites established and maintained 

26 under this subsection shall serve as a public portal 


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1 for Federal financial information, including informa2 tion concerning all Federal awards and information 

3 concerning the expenditure of all Federal funds. 

4 ‘‘(3) CONTENT AND FUNCTION OF WEBSITE OR

5 WEBSITES.—The Board shall ensure that the 

6 website or websites established and maintained 

7 under this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) Makes available all information pub9 lished under subsection (a) in a reasonably 

10 timely manner. 

11 ‘‘(B) Makes available all information pub12 lished under subsection (a) in its original for13 mat. 

14 ‘‘(C) Makes available all information pub15 lished under subsection (a) without charge, li16 cense, or registration requirement. 

17 ‘‘(D) Permits all information published 

18 under subsection (a) to be searched and aggre19 gated. 

20 ‘‘(E) Permits all information published 

21 under subsection (a) to be downloaded in bulk. 

22 ‘‘(F) To the extent practicable, dissemi23 nates information published under subsection 

24 (a) via automatic electronic means. 


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1 ‘‘(G) To the extent practicable, permits in2 formation published under subsection (a) to be 

3 freely shared by the public, such as by social 

4 media. 

5 ‘‘(H) To the extent practicable, uses per6 manent uniform resource locators for informa7 tion published under subsection (a). 

8 ‘‘(I) Provide an opportunity for the public 

9 to provide input about the usefulness of the site 

10 and recommendations for improvements. 

11 ‘‘(e) NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—Notwithstanding any 

12 other provision in this section, the Board may comply with 

13 the requirements of this section using such new tech14 nologies as may replace websites for data publication and 

15 dissemination. 

16 ‘‘(f) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS OF

17 USASPENDING.GOV.—The Board and the Office of Man18 agement and Budget shall transfer the functions of 

19 USASpending.gov to the website or websites established 

20 under this section. 

21 ‘‘§ 3613. Federal accountability portal 

22 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall establish and 

23 maintain an integrated Internet-based system, consisting 

24 of one or more websites and to be known as a ‘Federal 


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1 accountability portal’, to carry out the functions described 

2 in subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Federal accountability portal 

4 shall be designed and operated to carry out the following 

5 functions: 

6 ‘‘(1) Combine information submitted by recipi7 ents and agencies under sections 3602 and 3603 

8 with other compilations of information, such as Gov9 ernment databases and other proprietary and non10 proprietary databases. 

11 ‘‘(2) Permit Executive agencies to verify the eli12 gibility of recipients to receive Federal funds. 

13 ‘‘(3) Permit Executive agencies, Inspectors 

14 General, and law enforcement agencies to track Fed15 eral awards and recipients to find waste, fraud, and 

16 abuse. 

17 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE BY BOARD.—The Board shall issue 

18 guidance on the use of and access to the Federal account19 ability portal. 

20 ‘‘§ 3614. Agency responsibilities 

21 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of receipt of 

22 Federal funds of an Executive agency pursuant to any 

23 Federal award, the Executive agency shall require any re24 cipient of such funds to provide the information required 

25 under section 3602. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES FOR RECIPIENTS’ NONCOMPLI2 ANCE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an Executive 

4 agency may impose a civil penalty in an amount not 

5 more than $250,000 on a recipient of Federal funds 

6 from that Executive agency that does not provide 

7 the information required under section 3602 or pro8 vides information that contains a material omission 

9 or misstatement. 

10 ‘‘(2) NONPRECLUSION.—The imposition of a 

11 civil penalty under this subsection does not preclude 

12 any other criminal or civil statutory, common law, or 

13 administrative remedy that is available by law to the 

14 United States or any other person. Any amounts re15 ceived from a civil penalty under this subsection 

16 shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United 

17 States to the credit of the appropriation or appro18 priations from which the award is made. 

19 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—The head of an Executive 

20 agency shall provide a written notification to a re21 cipient that fails to provide the information required 

22 under section 3602 or provides information that con23 tains a material omission or misstatement. Such no24 tification shall provide the recipient with information 

25 on how to comply with the requirements of section 


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1 3602 and notice of the penalties for failing to do so. 

2 The head of the Executive agency may not impose 

3 a civil penalty under paragraph (1) until 30 days 

4 after the date of the notification. 

5 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE WITH BOARD GUIDANCE.—Execu6 tive agencies shall comply with the instructions and guid7 ance issued by the Board under this Act. 

8 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of the Board 

10 for information or assistance from any Executive 

11 agency or other entity of the Federal Government, 

12 the head of such entity shall, insofar as is prac13 ticable and not in contravention of any existing law, 

14 furnish such information or assistance to the Board, 

15 or an authorized designee. 

16 ‘‘(2) REPORT OF REFUSALS.—Whenever infor17 mation or assistance requested by the Board is, in 

18 the judgment of the Board, unreasonably refused or 

19 not provided, the Board shall report the cir20 cumstances to Congress. 

21 ‘‘(e) USE OF DATA STANDARDS.—After the Board 

22 designates any common data element or data reporting 

23 standard under section 3611, each Executive agency shall 

24 issue guidance that requires every recipient of Federal 

25 funds under any of its Federal awards to use that common 


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1 data element or data reporting standard for any informa2 tion reported to that Executive agency to which the com3 mon data element or data reporting standard is applicable. 

4 ‘‘§ 3615. Office of Management and Budget respon5 sibilities 

6 ‘‘After the Board designates any common data ele7 ment or data reporting standard under section 3611, the 

8 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

9 issue guidance that requires Executive agencies to use that 

10 common data element or data reporting standard for any 

11 information reported by Executive agencies to the Office 

12 of Management and Budget to which the common data 

13 element or data reporting standard is applicable. 

14 ‘‘§ 3616. Treasury responsibilities 

15 ‘‘After the Board designates any common data ele16 ment or data reporting standard under section 3611, the 

17 Secretary of the Treasury shall issue guidance that re18 quires Executive agencies to use that common data ele19 ment or data reporting standard for any information re20 ported by Executive agencies to the Department of the 

21 Treasury to which the common data element or data re22 porting standard is applicable.’’. 


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1 SEC. 103. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEADLINES FOR AC2 COUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN FED3 ERAL SPENDING. 

4 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Chapter 36 of title 31, 

5 United States Code, as added by section 101, is further 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 chapter: 

8 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

9 ‘‘§ 3641. Effective date 

10 ‘‘This chapter takes effect on October 1, 2011.’’. 

11 (b) DEADLINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION.— 

12 (1) BOARD DEADLINES.—Within 180 days after 

13 the effective date of this Act, the Board shall— 

14 (A) issue guidance under sections 3602(c) 

15 and 3603(c) of title 31, United States Code, as 

16 added by this Act; 

17 (B) designate common data elements 

18 under section 3611(a) of such title and data re19 porting standards under section 3611(b) of 

20 such title, as so added; and 

21 (C) establish one or more websites under 

22 section 3612(d) of such title, as so added. 

23 (2) AGENCY AND DEPARTMENT DEADLINES.— 

24 (A) Within one year after the effective date 

25 of this Act, each Executive agency shall impleVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:29 Jun 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1222.IS S1222

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1 ment section 3614(a) of title 31, United States 

2 Code, as added by this Act. 

3 (B) Within two years after the Board des4 ignates any common data element or data re5 porting standard under section 3611(a) of such 

6 title, as so added— 

7 (i) each Executive agency shall issue 

8 guidance under section 3614(e) of such 

9 title, as so added; 

10 (ii) the Director of the Office of Man11 agement and Budget shall issue guidance 

12 under section 3615 of such title, as so 

13 added; and 

14 (iii) the Secretary of the Treasury 

15 shall issue guidance under section 3616 of 

16 such title, as so added. 

17 TITLE II—FEDERAL ACCOUNT18 ABILITY AND SPENDING 

19 TRANSPARENCY BOARD 

20 SEC. 201. FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPENDING 

21 TRANSPARENCY BOARD. 

22 Chapter 36 of title 31, United States Code, as added 

23 by section 101, is further amended by inserting after sub24 chapter II the following new subchapter: 


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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY 

2 AND SPENDING TRANSPARENCY BOARD 

3 ‘‘§ 3621. Establishment 

4 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

5 Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Board 

6 as an independent agency in the Executive Branch. 

7 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS AND POWERS TRANSFERRED.— 

8 ‘‘(1) FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED.—Except as 

9 provided in this section, there are transferred to the 

10 Board all functions of the Recovery Accountability 

11 and Transparency Board. 

12 ‘‘(2) POWERS, AUTHORITIES, RIGHTS, AND DU13 TIES.—The Federal Accountability and Spending 

14 Transparency Board shall succeed to all powers, au15 thorities, rights, and duties that were vested in the 

16 Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board on 

17 the day before the effective date of this Act. 

18 ‘‘§ 3622. Composition of the board 

19 ‘‘(a) CHAIRPERSON.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is a Chairperson of 

21 the Board, who shall be appointed by the President, 

22 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

23 ‘‘(2) HEAD OF BOARD.—The Chairperson is the 

24 head of the Board and shall have direction, author25 ity, and control over it. 


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1 ‘‘(3) COMMISSION ESTABLISHED.—When a va2 cancy occurs in the office of Chairperson of the 

3 Board, a commission is established to recommend 

4 individuals to the President for appointment to the 

5 vacant office. The commission shall be composed 

6 of— 

7 ‘‘(A) the Speaker of the House of Rep8 resentatives; 

9 ‘‘(B) the President pro tempore of the 

10 Senate; 

11 ‘‘(C) the majority and minority leaders of 

12 the House of Representatives and the Senate; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(D) the chairmen and ranking minority 

15 members of the Committee on Homeland Secu16 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

17 and the Committee on Oversight and Govern18 ment Reform of the House of Representatives. 

19 ‘‘(4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—A commission es20 tablished because of a vacancy in the office of the 

21 Chairperson shall recommend at least three individ22 uals. The President may ask the commission to rec23 ommend additional individuals. 

24 ‘‘(5) TERM.—The term of service of the Chair25 person of the Board shall be 5 years, but the ChairVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:29 Jun 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1222.IS S1222

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1 person may serve after the expiration of the Chair2 person’s term until a successor has taken office. 

3 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION ON TERMS.—No person may 

4 serve as the Chairperson of the Board for more than 

5 2 terms, whether or not such terms of service are 

6 consecutive. 

7 ‘‘(7) COMPENSATION.—An individual appointed 

8 as Chairperson under paragraph (1) shall be com9 pensated at the rate of basic pay prescribed for level 

10 III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of 

11 title 5, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—The members of the Board shall in13 clude— 

14 ‘‘(1) the Inspectors General of the Department 

15 of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the De16 partment of Education, the Department of Energy, 

17 the Department of Health and Human Services, the 

18 Department of Homeland Security, the Department 

19 of Transportation, and the Department of the 

20 Treasury; 

21 ‘‘(2) the Deputy Secretaries of the Department 

22 of Agriculture, the Department of Education, the 

23 Department of Energy, the Department of Health 

24 and Human Services, the Department of Transpor25 tation, and the Department of the Treasury, the 


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1 Chief Management Officer of the Department of De2 fense, and the Undersecretary for Management of 

3 the Department of Homeland Security; and 

4 ‘‘(3) the Controller of the Office of Manage5 ment and Budget and the Deputy Director for Man6 agement of the Office of Management and Budget. 

7 ‘‘§ 3623. Functions 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) be responsible for the collection, storage, 

10 and public disclosure of information about Federal 

11 spending; 

12 ‘‘(2) serve as the authoritative government 

13 source for the information about Federal spending 

14 that it collects; and 

15 ‘‘(3) coordinate and conduct oversight of Fed16 eral funds in order to prevent fraud, waste, and 

17 abuse. 

18 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the 

19 Board shall include each of the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) Receiving, storing, and publicly dissemi21 nating all of the information that is reported to it 

22 under this Act. 

23 ‘‘(2) Reviewing whether reporting under section 

24 3602 meets applicable standards and specifies the 


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1 purpose of the Federal award and measures of per2 formance. 

3 ‘‘(3) Auditing, investigating, or reviewing Fed4 eral funds to determine whether fraud, wasteful 

5 spending, poor contract or grant management, or 

6 other abuses are occurring and referring matters it 

7 considers appropriate for further investigation to the 

8 inspector general for the Executive agency that dis9 bursed the Federal funds. 

10 ‘‘(4) Regularly auditing the quality of the data 

11 submitted to it under sections 3602 and 3603. 

12 ‘‘(5) Standardizing common data elements and 

13 data reporting standards to foster transparency and 

14 accountability for Federal spending, as required by 

15 section 3611. 

16 ‘‘(6) Reviewing whether there are appropriate 

17 mechanisms for interagency collaboration relating to 

18 Federal funds, including coordinating and collabo19 rating to the extent practicable with the Inspectors 

20 General Council on Integrity and Efficiency estab21 lished by the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 

22 (Public Law 110–409). 

23 ‘‘(c) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REGULAR REPORTS ON DATA QUAL2 ITY AUDITS.—The Board shall regularly submit 

3 to the President and Congress reports on its 

4 audits of the quality of the data submitted to 

5 it under sections 3602 and 3603. 

6 ‘‘(B) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS ON ACTIVI7 TIES.—The Board shall submit semi-annual re8 ports to the President and Congress, summa9 rizing the activities and findings of the Board 

10 and the findings of inspectors general of Execu11 tive agencies. 

12 ‘‘(C) REPORT ON SAVINGS.—Not later 

13 than five years after the effective date of this 

14 Act, the Board shall submit to the President, 

15 Congress, and the Comptroller General of the 

16 United States a report containing estimates of 

17 the direct and indirect cost savings to the 

18 Treasury achieved as a result of the Board’s ac19 tivities. 

20 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Board shall 

21 make all reports submitted under paragraph (1) 

22 publicly available contemporaneously online. 

23 ‘‘(3) GAO EVALUATION.—Upon receipt of the 

24 report submitted by the Board under paragraph 

25 (1)(C), the Comptroller General shall conduct an 


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1 evaluation of the report and submit the evaluation to 

2 Congress within six months after receipt of the re3 port, with such findings and recommendations as the 

4 Comptroller General considers appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(d) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall make rec7 ommendations to Executive agencies on measures to 

8 prevent fraud, waste, and abuse relating to Federal 

9 funds. 

10 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIVE REPORTS.—Not later than 30 

11 days after receipt of a recommendation under para12 graph (1), an Executive agency shall submit a report 

13 to the President, the congressional committees of ju14 risdiction, and the Board on whether the Executive 

15 agency agrees or disagrees with the recommenda16 tions and any actions the Executive agency will take 

17 to implement the recommendations. The Board shall 

18 make all reports submitted to it under this para19 graph publicly available contemporaneously online. 

20 ‘‘§ 3624. Powers 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall conduct audits, 

22 investigations, and reviews of spending of Federal funds 

23 and coordinate on such activities with the inspectors gen24 eral of the relevant Executive agency to avoid duplication 

25 and overlap of work. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AUDITS AND REVIEWS.—The Board may— 

2 ‘‘(1) conduct its own independent audits, inves3 tigations, and reviews relating to Federal funds; and 

4 ‘‘(2) collaborate on audits, investigations, and 

5 reviews relating to Federal funds with any inspector 

6 general of an Executive agency. 

7 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) AUDITS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND RE9 VIEWS.—In conducting audits, investigations, and 

10 reviews, the Board shall have the authorities pro11 vided under section 6 of the Inspector General Act 

12 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). Additionally, the Board 

13 may issue subpoenas to compel the testimony of per14 sons who are not Federal officers or employees and 

15 may enforce such subpoenas in the same manner as 

16 provided for inspector general subpoenas under sec17 tion 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

18 U.S.C. App.). 

19 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES.—The 

20 Board shall carry out the powers under paragraphs 

21 (1) and (2) in accordance with section 4(b)(1) of the 

22 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

23 ‘‘(d) CONTRACTS.—The Board may enter into con24 tracts to enable the Board to discharge its duties under 

25 this subtitle, including contracts and other arrangements 


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1 for audits, studies, analyses, and other services with public 

2 agencies and with private persons, and make such pay3 ments as may be necessary to carry out the duties of the 

4 Board. 

5 ‘‘(e) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The Board may trans6 fer funds appropriated to the Board for expenses to sup7 port administrative support services and audits, reviews, 

8 or other activities related to oversight by the Board of cov9 ered funds to any office of inspector general, the Office 

10 of Management and Budget, and the General Services Ad11 ministration. 

12 ‘‘§ 3625. Employment, personnel, and related authori13 ties 

14 ‘‘(a) SELECTION OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—On be15 half of the Board, the Chairperson shall appoint an Execu16 tive Director who shall be the chief executive officer of 

17 the Board and who shall carry out the functions of the 

18 Board subject to the supervision and direction of the 

19 Board. The position of Executive Director shall be a ca20 reer reserved position in the Senior Executive Service, as 

21 that position is defined under section 3132 of title 5, 

22 United States Code. 

23 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The General Serv24 ices Administration shall provide the Board with adminisVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:29 Jun 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1222.IS S1222

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1 trative support services, including the provision of office 

2 space and facilities. 

3 ‘‘§ 3626. Rulemaking authority 

4 ‘‘The Board shall promulgate regulations to carry out 

5 this chapter. 

6 ‘‘§ 3627. Transfer of certain personnel 

7 ‘‘(a) RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANS8 PARENCY BOARD EMPLOYEES.—The Chairperson or Ex9 ecutive Director, or both, shall identify employees of the 

10 Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board for 

11 transfer to the Board, and such identified employees shall 

12 be transferred to the Board for employment. 

13 ‘‘(b) PAY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each 

15 transferred employee shall, during the 2-year period 

16 beginning on the effective date of this Act, receive 

17 pay at a rate equal to not less than the basic rate 

18 of pay (including any geographic differential) that 

19 the employee received during the pay period imme20 diately preceding the date of transfer. 

21 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) does not limit the right of 

22 the Board to reduce the rate of basic pay of a trans23 ferred employee for cause, for unacceptable perform24 ance, or with the consent of the employee. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) applies to a transferred em2 ployee only while that employee remains employed by 

3 the Board. 

4 ‘‘§ 3628. Authorization and availability of appropria5 tions 

6 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated $51,000,000 for each of 

8 fiscal years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 

9 2018 to carry out the functions of the Board. 

10 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—If the Re11 covery Accountability and Transparency Board has unobli12 gated appropriations as of the effective date of this chap13 ter, such appropriations shall remain available to the 

14 Board until September 30, 2015.’’. 

15 SEC. 202. CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO COM16 PENSATION OF CHAIRPERSON. 

17 Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new item: 

19 ‘‘Chairperson of the Federal Accountability and 

20 Spending Transparency Board.’’. 

21 SEC. 203. AMENDMENTS AND REPEAL OF RECOVERY AC22 COUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY BOARD. 

23 (a) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO NAME OF

24 BOARD.—Section 1501(a)(2) of the American Recovery 

25 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 


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1 Stat. 287) is amended by striking ‘‘Recovery Account2 ability and Transparency Board’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal 

3 Accountability and Spending Transparency Board’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO SUBTITLE B OF

5 PUBLIC LAW 111–5.—Subtitle B of such Act is amended 

6 by striking sections 1521, 1522, 1525(a), and 1529. 

7 (c) REPEAL OF SUBTITLE B OF PUBLIC LAW 111– 

8 5.—Effective on October 1, 2013, subtitle B of such Act 

9 is repealed. 

10 (d) REFERENCES IN FEDERAL LAW TO BOARD.—On 

11 and after the effective date of this Act, any reference in 

12 Federal law to the Recovery Accountability and Trans13 parency Board is deemed to be a reference to the Federal 

14 Accountability and Spending Transparency Board. 

15 TITLE III—ADDITIONAL 

16 PROVISIONS 

17 SEC. 301. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. 

18 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

19 Act shall be construed to require the disclosure of classi20 fied information. 

21 SEC. 302. PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT EXEMPTION. 

22 Section 3518(c) of title 44, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

25 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (3)’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para2 graph (3); and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol4 lowing new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), this sub6 chapter shall not apply to the collection of informa7 tion during the conduct of any audit, investigation, 

8 inspection, evaluation, or other review conducted by 

9 the Federal Accountability and Spending Trans10 parency Board, the Council of Inspectors General on 

11 Integrity and Efficiency, or any Federal office of In12 spector General, including any office of Special In13 spector General.’’. 

14 SEC. 303. MATCHING PROGRAM. 

15 Section 6(a) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

16 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

18 (2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para19 graph (10); and 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol21 lowing new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(9) notwithstanding subsections (o), (p), (q), 

23 (r), and (u) of section 552a of title 5, United States 

24 Code, to compare, through a matching program (as 

25 defined in such section), any Federal records with 


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1 other Federal or non-Federal records, while con2 ducting an audit, investigation, inspection, evalua3 tion, or other review authorized under this Act to 

4 identify weaknesses that may lead to fraud, waste, 

5 or abuse and to detect improper payments and 

6 fraud; and’’. 

7 SEC. 304. TRANSFER OF CONSOLIDATED FEDERAL FUNDS 

8 REPORT. 

9 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—The Federal Ac10 countability and Transparency Board and the Secretary 

11 of Commerce shall transfer the functions of the Consoli12 dated Federal Funds Report to the website or websites 

13 established under section 3612 of title 31, United States 

14 Code, as added by this Act. 

15 (b) INFORMATION.—The Board shall ensure that the 

16 website or websites established under such section 3612 

17 permits users to determine the following information: 

18 (1) For each fiscal year, the total amount of 

19 Federal funds that were obligated in each State, 

20 county or parish, congressional district, and munici21 pality of the United States. 

22 (2) For each fiscal year, the total amount of 

23 Federal funds that were actually expended in each 

24 State, county or parish, congressional district, and 

25 municipality of the United States. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING REPEALS OF SUPERSEDED PROVI2 SIONS.—Chapter 62 of subtitle V of title 31, United States 

3 Code, is repealed. The item relating to that chapter in the 

4 table of chapters at the beginning of subtitle V of such 

5 title is repealed. 

6 SEC. 305. REPEAL OF FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY 

7 AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006. 

8 The Federal Funding Accountability and Trans9 parency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–282; 31 U.S.C. 

10 6101 note) is repealed. 

11 SEC. 306. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

13 take effect on October 1, 2011. 

Æ 


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