IB 

Union Calendar No. 738 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4887 

[Report No. 115–947] 

To modernize Federal grant reporting, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2018 

Ms. FOXX (for herself, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. ISSA, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Government Reform 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Mr. WALKER, Mr. DESJARLAIS, and Ms. KELLY of 

Illinois 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 29, 2018] 


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A BILL 

To modernize Federal grant reporting, and for other 

purposes. 


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

3 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grant Reporting Effi5 ciency and Agreements Transparency Act of 2018’’ or the 

6 ‘‘GREAT Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

8 The purposes of this Act are to— 

9 (1) modernize reporting by recipients of Federal 

10 grants and cooperative agreements by creating and 

11 imposing data standards for the information that 

12 grants and cooperative agreement recipients must re13 port to the Federal Government; 

14 (2) implement the recommendation by the Direc15 tor of the Office of Management and Budget, under 

16 section 5(b)(6) of the Federal Funding Accountability 

17 and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note), 

18 which includes the development of a ‘‘comprehensive 

19 taxonomy of standard definitions for core data ele20 ments required for managing Federal financial assist21 ance awards’’; 

22 (3) reduce burden and compliance costs of recipi23 ents of Federal grants and cooperative agreements by 

24 enabling technology solutions, existing or yet to be de25 veloped, by both the public and private sectors, to betVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Sep 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4887.RH H4887

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1 ter manage data recipients already provide to the 

2 Federal Government; and 

3 (4) to strengthen oversight and management of 

4 Federal grants and cooperative agreements by agen5 cies through consolidated collection and display of 

6 and access to open data that has been standardized, 

7 and where appropriate, transparency to the public. 

8 SEC. 3. DATA STANDARDS FOR GRANT REPORTING. 

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

10 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 63 the following 

11 new chapter: 

12 ‘‘CHAPTER 64—DATA STANDARDS FOR 

13 GRANT REPORTING 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘6401. Definitions. 

‘‘6402. Data standards for grant reporting. 

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

‘‘6404. Agency requirements. 

14 ‘‘§ 6401. Definitions 

15 ‘‘In this chapter: 

16 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ has the mean17 ing given that term in section 552(f) of title 5. 

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

19 data elements’ means data elements that are not pro20 gram-specific in nature and are required by agencies 

21 for all or the vast majority of Federal grant and co22 operative assistance recipients for purposes of report23 ing. 


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

2 Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 

3 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL AWARD.—The term ‘Federal 

4 award’— 

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

6 value for a public purpose of support or stimula7 tion authorized by a law of the United States, 

8 including financial assistance and Government 

9 facilities, services, and property; 

10 ‘‘(B) includes grants, subgrants, awards, 

11 and cooperative agreements; and 

12 ‘‘(C) does not include— 

13 ‘‘(i) conventional public information 

14 services or procurement of property or serv15 ices for the direct benefit or use of the Gov16 ernment; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) an agreement that provides 

18 only— 

19 ‘‘(I) direct Government cash as20 sistance to an individual; 

21 ‘‘(II) a subsidy; 

22 ‘‘(III) a loan; 

23 ‘‘(IV) a loan guarantee; or 

24 ‘‘(V) insurance. 


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1 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

2 the head of the standard-setting agency. 

3 ‘‘(6) STANDARD-SETTING AGENCY.—The term 

4 ‘standard-setting agency’ means the Executive depart5 ment designated under section 6402(a)(1). 

6 ‘‘(7) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each State 

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

8 commonwealth, territory or possession of the United 

9 States, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 

10 ‘‘§ 6402. Data standards for grant reporting 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION OF STANDARD-SETTING AGEN13 CY.—The Director shall designate the Executive de14 partment (as defined in section 101 of title 5) that 

15 issues the most Federal awards in a calendar year as 

16 the standard-setting agency. 

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

18 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

19 chapter, the Secretary and the Director shall establish 

20 Governmentwide data standards for information re21 ported by recipients of Federal awards. 

22 ‘‘(3) DATA ELEMENTS.—The data standards es23 tablished under paragraph (2) shall include, at a 

24 minimum— 


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1 ‘‘(A) standard definitions for data elements 

2 required for managing Federal awards; and 

3 ‘‘(B) unique identifiers for Federal awards 

4 and entities receiving Federal awards that can 

5 be consistently applied Governmentwide. 

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

7 subsection (a) shall include core data elements and may 

8 cover any information required to be reported to any agency 

9 by recipients of Federal awards, including audit-related in10 formation reported under chapter 75 of this title. 

11 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards required to 

12 be established under subsection (a) shall, to the extent rea13 sonable and practicable— 

14 ‘‘(1) render information reported by recipients of 

15 Federal grant and cooperative agreement awards fully 

16 searchable and machine-readable; 

17 ‘‘(2) incorporate standards developed and main18 tained by voluntary consensus standards bodies; 

19 ‘‘(3) be consistent with and implement applica20 ble accounting and reporting principles; and 

21 ‘‘(4) incorporate the data standards established 

22 under the Federal Funding Accountability and 

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


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1 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the data stand2 ards under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Director 

3 shall consult with, as appropriate— 

4 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of the Treasury, to ensure that 

5 the data standards incorporate the data standards 

6 created under the Federal Funding Accountability 

7 and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note); 

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

9 awards; 

10 ‘‘(3) recipients of Federal awards and organiza11 tions representing recipients of Federal awards; 

12 ‘‘(4) private sector experts; 

13 ‘‘(5) members of the public, including privacy 

14 experts, privacy advocates, and industry stakeholders; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(6) State and local governments. 

17 ‘‘§ 6403. Guidance applying data standards for grant 

18 reporting 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

20 date of the enactment of this chapter— 

21 ‘‘(1) the Secretary and the Director shall issue 

22 guidance to all agencies directing the agencies to 

23 apply the data standards established under section 

24 6402 to all applicable reporting by recipients of Fed25 eral grant and cooperative agreement awards; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the Director shall prescribe guidance apply2 ing the data standards to audit-related information 

3 reported under chapter 75. 

4 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE.—The guidance issued under this sec5 tion shall— 

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

7 ‘‘(A) minimize the disruption to existing re8 porting practices for agencies and for recipients 

9 of Federal grant and cooperative agreement 

10 awards; and 

11 ‘‘(B) explore opportunities to implement 

12 modern technologies within Federal award re13 porting; 

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

15 categories of grants if the Director publishes a list of 

16 such exceptions, including exceptions for Indian 

17 Tribes and Tribal organizations consistent with the 

18 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

19 Act; and 

20 ‘‘(3) take into consideration the consultation re21 quired under section 6402(d). 

22 ‘‘§ 6404. Agency requirements 

23 ‘‘Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment 

24 of this chapter, the head of each agency shall ensure that 

25 all of the agency’s grants and cooperative agreements use 


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1 data standards for all future information collection requests 

2 and amend existing information collection requests covered 

3 by chapter 35 of title 44 (commonly referred to as the Pa4 perwork Reduction Act) to comply with the data standards 

5 established under section 6402, consistent with the guidance 

6 issued by the Secretary and the Director under section 

7 6403.’’. 

8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

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

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

11 chapter 63 the following new item: 

‘‘64. Data Standards for Grant Reporting ................................................... 6401’’. 

12 SEC. 4. SINGLE AUDIT ACT. 

13 (a) AMENDMENTS.— 

14 (1) Section 7502(h) of title 31, United States 

15 Code, is amended by inserting before ‘‘to a Federal 

16 clearinghouse’’ the following ‘‘in an electronic form 

17 consistent with the data standards established under 

18 chapter 64,’’. 

19 (2) Section 7505 of title 31, United States Code, 

20 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

21 subsection: 

22 ‘‘(d) Such guidance shall require audit-related infor23 mation reported under this chapter to be reported in an 

24 electronic form consistent with the data standards estab25 lished under chapter 64.’’. 


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1 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guid3 ance requiring audit-related information reported under 

4 chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code, to be reported 

5 in an electronic form consistent with the data standards 

6 established under chapter 64 of title 31, United States Code, 

7 as added by section 3. 

8 SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATION OF ASSISTANCE-RELATED INFOR9 MATION; PUBLICATION OF PUBLIC INFORMA10 TION AS OPEN DATA. 

11 (a) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 4 

12 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary and the Director shall enable the collection, public 

14 display, and maintenance of Federal award information as 

15 a Governmentwide data set, using the data standards estab16 lished under chapter 64 of title 31, United States Code, as 

17 added by section 3, subject to reasonable restrictions estab18 lished by the Director to ensure protection of personally 

19 identifiable and otherwise sensitive information. 

20 (b) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

21 and the Director shall require the publication of recipient22 reported data collected from all agencies on a single public 

23 portal. Information may be published on an existing Gov24 ernmentwide website as determined appropriate by the Di25 rector. 


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

2 disclosure to the public of information that would be exempt 

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

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

5 Act’’). 

6 SEC. 6. EVALUATION OF NONPROPRIETARY IDENTIFIERS. 

7 (a) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—The Director and 

8 the Secretary shall determine whether to use nonproprietary 

9 identifiers under section 6402(a)(3)(B) of title 31, United 

10 States Code, as added by section 3(a). 

11 (b) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In making the de12 termination required pursuant to subsection (a), the Direc13 tor and the Secretary shall consider factors such as accessi14 bility and cost to recipients of Federal awards, agencies 

15 that issue Federal awards, private-sector experts, and mem16 bers of the public, including privacy experts and privacy 

17 advocates. 

18 (c) PUBLICATION AND REPORT ON DETERMINATION.— 

19 Not later than the earlier of 1 year after the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act or the date on which the Secretary 

21 and Director establish data standards pursuant to section 

22 6402(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code, as added by sec23 tion 3(a), the Secretary and the Director shall publish and 

24 submit to the Committees on Oversight and Government Re25 form of the House of Representatives and Homeland SecuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Sep 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4887.RH H4887

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1 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report ex2 plaining the reasoning for the determination made pursu3 ant to subsection (a). 

4 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

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

6 award’’, and ‘‘Secretary’’ have the meaning given those 

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

8 added by section 3(a). 

9 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

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

12 is not otherwise required pursuant to any Federal law, rule, 

13 or regulation. 


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Union Calendar No. 738 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4887 

[Report No. 115–947] 

A BILL 

To modernize Federal grant reporting, and for 

other purposes. 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS