In the Senate of the United States, 

October 21, 2019. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 150) entitled ‘‘An Act to modernize Federal grant 

reporting, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Trans4 parency Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘GREAT Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Data standards for grant reporting. 

Sec. 5. Single Audit Act. 

Sec. 6. Consolidation of assistance-related information; publication of public information as open data. 

Sec. 7. Evaluation of nonproprietary identifiers. 

Sec. 8. Rule of construction. 

Sec. 9. No additional funds authorized. 
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to— 

3 (1) modernize reporting by recipients of Federal 

4 grants and cooperative agreements by creating and 

5 imposing data standards for the information that 

6 those recipients are required by law to report to the 

7 Federal Government; 

8 (2) implement the recommendation by the Direc9 tor of the Office of Management and Budget contained 

10 in the report submitted under section 5(b)(6) of the 

11 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 

12 Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) relating to the de13 velopment of a ‘‘comprehensive taxonomy of standard 

14 definitions for core data elements required for man15 aging Federal financial assistance awards’’; 

16 (3) reduce burden and compliance costs of recipi17 ents of Federal grants and cooperative agreements by 

18 enabling technology solutions, existing or yet to be de19 veloped, for use in both the public and private sectors 

20 to better manage the data that recipients already pro21 vide to the Federal Government; and 

22 (4) strengthen oversight and management of Fed23 eral grants and cooperative agreements by agencies by 

24 consolidating the collection and display of and access 

25 to open data that has been standardized and, where 

26 appropriate, increasing transparency to the public. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘Federal 

3 award’’, and ‘‘Secretary’’ have the meanings given those 

4 terms in section 6401 of title 31, United States Code, as 

5 added by section 4(a) of this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. DATA STANDARDS FOR GRANT REPORTING. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle V of title 31, United States 

8 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 63 the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘CHAPTER 64—DATA STANDARDS FOR 

11 GRANT REPORTING 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘6401. Definitions. 

‘‘6402. Data standards for grant reporting. 

‘‘6403. Guidance applying data standards for grant reporting. 

‘‘6404. Agency requirements. 

12 ‘‘§ 6401. Definitions 

13 ‘‘In this chapter: 

14 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ has the mean15 ing given the term in section 552(f) of title 5. 

16 ‘‘(2) CORE DATA ELEMENTS.—The term ‘core 

17 data elements’ means data elements relating to finan18 cial management, administration, or management 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(A) are not program-specific in nature or 

21 program-specific outcome measures, as defined in 

22 section 1115(h) of this title; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) are required by agencies for all or the 

2 vast majority of recipients of Federal awards for 

3 purposes of reporting. 

4 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means the 

5 Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 

6 ‘‘(4) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Exec7 utive department’ has the meaning given the term in 

8 section 101 of title 5. 

9 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL AWARD.—The term ‘Federal 

10 award’— 

11 ‘‘(A) means the transfer of anything of 

12 value for a public purpose of support or stimula13 tion authorized by a law of the United States, 

14 including financial assistance and Government 

15 facilities, services, and property; 

16 ‘‘(B) includes a grant, a subgrant, a cooper17 ative agreement, or any other transaction; and 

18 ‘‘(C) does not include a transaction or 

19 agreement— 

20 ‘‘(i) that provides for conventional 

21 public information services or procurement 

22 of property or services for the direct benefit 

23 or use of the Government; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) that provides only— 
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1 ‘‘(I) direct Government cash as2 sistance to an individual; 

3 ‘‘(II) a subsidy; 

4 ‘‘(III) a loan; 

5 ‘‘(IV) a loan guarantee; or 

6 ‘‘(V) insurance. 

7 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

8 the head of the standard-setting agency. 

9 ‘‘(7) STANDARD-SETTING AGENCY.—The term 

10 ‘standard-setting agency’ means the Executive depart11 ment designated under section 6402(a)(1). 

12 ‘‘(8) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each State 

13 of the United States, the District of Columbia, each 

14 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 

15 States, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 

16 ‘‘§ 6402. Data standards for grant reporting 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION OF STANDARD-SETTING AGEN19 CY.—The Director shall designate the Executive de20 partment that administers the greatest number of pro21 grams under which Federal awards are issued in a 

22 calendar year as the standard-setting agency. 

23 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS.—Not later 

24 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this chap25 ter, the Secretary and the Director shall establish 
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1 Governmentwide data standards for information re2 ported by recipients of Federal awards. 

3 ‘‘(3) DATA ELEMENTS.—The data standards es4 tablished under paragraph (2) shall include, at a 

5 minimum— 

6 ‘‘(A) standard definitions for data elements 

7 required for managing Federal awards; and 

8 ‘‘(B) unique identifiers for Federal awards 

9 and recipients of Federal awards that can be 

10 consistently applied Governmentwide. 

11 ‘‘(b) SCOPE.—The data standards established under 

12 subsection (a)— 

13 ‘‘(1) shall include core data elements; 

14 ‘‘(2) may cover information required by law to 

15 be reported to any agency by recipients of Federal 

16 awards, including audit-related information reported 

17 under chapter 75 of this title; and 

18 ‘‘(3) may not be used by the Director or any 

19 agency to require the collection of any data not other20 wise required under Federal law. 

21 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards established 

22 under subsection (a) shall, to the extent reasonable and 

23 practicable— 
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1 ‘‘(1) render information reported by recipients of 

2 Federal awards fully searchable and machine-read3 able; 

4 ‘‘(2) be nonproprietary; 

5 ‘‘(3) incorporate standards developed and main6 tained by voluntary consensus standards bodies; 

7 ‘‘(4) be consistent with and implement applica8 ble accounting and reporting principles; and 

9 ‘‘(5) incorporate the data standards established 

10 under the Federal Funding Accountability and 

11 Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 

12 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the data stand13 ards under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Director 

14 shall consult with— 

15 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of the Treasury to ensure that 

16 the data standards established under subsection (a) 

17 incorporate the data standards established under the 

18 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 

19 Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note); 

20 ‘‘(2) the head of each agency that issues Federal 

21 awards; 

22 ‘‘(3) recipients of Federal awards and organiza23 tions representing recipients of Federal awards; 

24 ‘‘(4) private sector experts; 
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1 ‘‘(5) members of the public, including privacy 

2 experts, privacy advocates, auditors, and industry 

3 stakeholders; and 

4 ‘‘(6) State and local governments. 

5 ‘‘§ 6403. Guidance applying data standards for grant 

6 reporting 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

8 date of enactment of this chapter— 

9 ‘‘(1) the Secretary and the Director shall jointly 

10 issue guidance to all agencies directing the agencies to 

11 apply the data standards established under section 

12 6402(a) to all applicable reporting by recipients of 

13 Federal awards; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the Director shall prescribe guidance apply15 ing the data standards established under section 

16 6402(a) to audit-related information reported under 

17 chapter 75 of this title. 

18 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE.—The guidance issued under sub19 section (a) shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) to the extent reasonable and practicable— 

21 ‘‘(A) minimize the disruption of existing re22 porting practices of, and not increase the report23 ing burden on, agencies or recipients of Federal 

24 awards; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) explore opportunities to implement 

2 modern technologies in reporting relating to Fed3 eral awards; 

4 ‘‘(2) allow the Director to permit exceptions for 

5 classes of Federal awards, including exceptions for 

6 Federal awards granted to Indian Tribes and Tribal 

7 organizations consistent with the Indian Self-Deter8 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

9 5301 et seq.), if the Director publishes a list of those 

10 exceptions and submits the list to the Committee on 

11 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

12 Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

13 of the House of Representatives; and 

14 ‘‘(3) take into consideration the consultation re15 quired under section 6402(d). 

16 ‘‘(c) UPDATING GUIDANCE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than once 

18 every 10 years, the Director shall update the guidance 

19 issued under subsection (a). 

20 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.—In updating guidance 

21 under paragraph (1), the Director shall, to the max22 imum extent practicable, follow the procedures for the 

23 development of the data standards and guidance pre24 scribed under this section and section 6402. 
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1 ‘‘§ 6404. Agency requirements 

2 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date on which guid3 ance is issued or updated under subsection (b) or (c), respec4 tively, of section 6403, the head of each agency shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) ensure that all of the Federal awards that 

6 the agency issues use data standards for all future in7 formation collection requests; and 

8 ‘‘(2) amend existing information collection re9 quests under chapter 35 of title 44 (commonly known 

10 as the ‘Paperwork Reduction Act’) to comply with the 

11 data standards established under section 6402 of this 

12 chapter, in accordance with the guidance issued by 

13 the Secretary and the Director under section 6403 of 

14 this chapter.’’. 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

16 table of chapters for subtitle V of title 31, United States 

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

18 chapter 63 the following: 

‘‘64. Data standards for grant reporting .................................... 6401’’. 

19 SEC. 5. SINGLE AUDIT ACT. 

20 (a) AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (1) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 7502(h) of 

22 title 31, United States Code, is amended, in the mat23 ter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘in an elec24 tronic form in accordance with the data standards es-
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1 tablished under chapter 64 and’’ after ‘‘the reporting 

2 package,’’. 

3 (2) REGULATIONS.—Section 7505 of title 31, 

4 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(d) Such guidance shall require audit-related infor7 mation reported under this chapter to be reported in an 

8 electronic form in accordance with the data standards es9 tablished under chapter 64.’’. 

10 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guidance 

12 requiring audit-related information reported under chapter 

13 75 of title 31, United States Code, to be reported in an elec14 tronic form consistent with the data standards established 

15 under chapter 64 of that title, as added by section 4(a) of 

16 this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. CONSOLIDATION OF ASSISTANCE-RELATED INFOR18 MATION; PUBLICATION OF PUBLIC INFORMA19 TION AS OPEN DATA. 

20 (a) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 5 

21 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 and the Director shall, using the data standards established 

23 under chapter 64 of title 31, United States Code, as added 

24 by section 4(a) of this Act, enable the collection, public dis25 play, and maintenance of Federal award information as 
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1 a Governmentwide data set, subject to reasonable restric2 tions established by the Director to ensure protection of per3 sonally identifiable information and otherwise sensitive in4 formation. 

5 (b) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

6 and the Director shall require the publication of data re7 ported by recipients of Federal awards that is collected from 

8 all agencies on a single public portal, which may be an 

9 existing Governmentwide website, as determined appro10 priate by the Director. 

11 (c) FOIA.—Nothing in this section shall require the 

12 disclosure to the public of information that would be exempt 

13 from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States 

14 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information 

15 Act’’). 

16 SEC. 7. EVALUATION OF NONPROPRIETARY IDENTIFIERS. 

17 (a) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—The Director and 

18 the Secretary shall determine whether to use nonproprietary 

19 identifiers described in section 6402(a)(3)(B) of title 31, 

20 United States Code, as added by section 4(a) of this Act. 

21 (b) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In making the de22 termination under subsection (a), the Director and the Sec23 retary shall consider factors such as accessibility and cost 

24 to recipients of Federal awards, agencies that issue Federal 

25 awards, private sector experts, and members of the public, 
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1 including privacy experts, privacy advocates, transparency 

2 experts, and transparency advocates. 

3 (c) PUBLICATION AND REPORT ON DETERMINATION.— 

4 Not later than the earlier of 1 year after the date of enact5 ment of this Act or the date on which the Director and the 

6 Secretary establish data standards under section 6402(a)(2) 

7 of title 31, United States Code, as added by section 4(a) 

8 of this Act, the Director and the Secretary shall publish and 

9 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov10 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Over11 sight and Reform of the House of Representatives a report 

12 explaining the reasoning for the determination made under 

13 subsection (a). 

14 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 

16 Act, shall be construed to require the collection of data that 

17 is not otherwise required under any Federal law, rule, or 

18 regulation. 

19 SEC. 9. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

20 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

21 requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this 
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1 Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts 

2 otherwise authorized. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H.R. 150 

AMENDMENT