This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

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new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

81439 

Vol. 80, No. 250 

Wednesday, December 30, 2015 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

2 CFR Part 2900 

RIN 1205–AB71 

Uniform Administrative Requirements, 

Cost Principles, and Audit 

Requirements for Federal Awards 

Technical Amendments 

AGENCY: Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Final rule; technical 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: This final rule implements 

technical amendments to the 

Department of Labor’s (Department or 

DOL) adoption of the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

Guidance in the Uniform Administrative 

Requirements, Cost Principles, and 

Audit Requirements for Federal Awards 

to Non-Federal Entities. The Department 

is making technical amendments in this 

final rule; all regulatory language 

included here is consistent with either 

the policies in the Uniform Guidance or 

the Department’s existing policies and 

practices. 

DATES: Effective Date: December 30, 

2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Adele Gagliardi, Administrator, Office 

of Policy Development and Research 

(OPDR), at 202–693–3700 (voice); or 

202–693–2766 (facsimile). These are not 

toll-free numbers. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The Preamble to this rule is organized 

as follows: 

I. Background—Provides a Brief Description 

of the Development of the Final Rule and 

a Summary of the Technical Changes. 

II. Administrative Information—Sets Forth 

the Applicable Regulatory Requirements. 

I. Background 

The Department implements, in this 

final rule, technical amendments to 2 

CFR 2900 which supplemented the final 

guidance Uniform Administrative 

Requirements, Cost Principles, and 

Audit Requirements for Federal Awards 

published by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) on December 26, 

2013, (Uniform Guidance, available at 

78 FR 78589). The Department 

published 2 CFR part 2900 as part of 

OMB’s joint interim final rule at 2 CFR 

part 200 (Interim Final Rule, available at 

79 FR 75867) which implemented in 

regulations the final guidance published 

earlier by OMB. 2 CFR part 2900 has 

Department specific policies and 

procedures for financial assistance 

administration which were approved by 

OMB and supplements the information 

in 2 CFR part 200. 

The Uniform Guidance followed on a 

notice of proposed guidance issued 

February 1, 2013, (available at 78 FR 

7282), and an advanced notice of 

proposed guidance issued February 28, 

2012, (available at 77 FR 11778). The 

final guidance incorporated feedback 

received from the public in response to 

those earlier issuances. Additional 

supporting resources are available from 

the Council on Financial Assistance 

Reform at www.cfo.gov/COFAR. 

The Uniform Guidance delivered on 

two presidential directives; Executive 

Order 13520 on Reducing Improper 

Payments (74 FR 62201; November 15, 

2009), and February 28, 2011, 

Presidential Memorandum on 

Administrative Flexibility, Lower Costs, 

and Better Results for State, Local, and 

Tribal Governments, (Daily Comp. Pres. 

Docs.; http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/

DCPD-201100123/pdf/DCPD201100123.pdf). It reflected more than 

two years of work by the Council on 

Financial Assistance Reform to improve 

the efficiency and effectiveness of 

Federal financial assistance. For a 

detailed discussion of the reform and its 

impacts, please see the Federal Register 

notice for the issuance of the final 

guidance (78 FR 78589). 

The Department provided additional 

language in 2 CFR part 2900 beyond that 

included in 2 CFR part 200, consistent 

with the Department’s existing policy, 

to provide more detail with respect to 

how the Department intended to 

implement the policy, where 

appropriate. The Department is not 

making any new policy with the 

technical amendments in this final rule; 

all regulatory language included here is 

consistent with either the policies in the 

Uniform Guidance or the Department’s 

existing policies and practices as 

explained in 2 CFR part 2900. 

This final rule incorporates minor 

changes to 2 CFR part 2900 to add 

citations or correct citation errors in 

§§ 2900.1, 2900.5, 2900.7, and 2900.13. 

In addition, non-substantive deletions 

and additions of a word or phrase were 

made to §§ 2900.3, 2900.13, 2900.15, 

2900.16, and 2900.21 to clarify the 

language in the section. Finally, 

typographical errors were corrected in 

§§ 2900.5 and 2900.20. 

Accordingly, the regulations in 2 CFR 

part 2900 are amended to include 

updated information. 

II. Administrative Information 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Ch. 

3506; 5 CFR 1320 Appendix A.1) (PRA), 

the Department reviewed this final rule 

and determined that there are no new 

collections of information contained 

within the rule. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

requires an agency that is issuing a final 

rule to provide a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis or to certify that the 

rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. This final rule 

implements technical amendments to 2 

CFR 2 part 900 which supplemented 

OMB final guidance issued on 

December 26, 2013. Therefore, this final 

rule and will not have a significant 

economic impact beyond the impact of 

the December 2013 guidance. 

Executive Order 12866 Determination 

Pursuant to Executive Order 12866, 

OMB’s Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) designated 

the joint interim final rule at 2 CFR 200, 

which included Department specific 

policies and procedures for financial 

assistance administration at 2 CFR part 

2900, published on December 19, 2014, 

(Interim Final Rule, available at 79 FR 

75867) not to be significant. This final 

rule implements technical amendments 

to 2 CFR part 2900 and introduces no 

new policy issues, economic impacts, or 

new burdens; therefore, pursuant to 

Executive Order 12866, this action is 

not a significant regulatory action and 

was not submitted to OMB for review. 

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81440 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 250 / Wednesday, December 30, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

553) Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking 

and Waiver of Delayed Effective Date 

(a) Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking—In 

General 

Under the Administrative Procedure 

Act (APA), the Department generally is 

required to publish a notice of proposed 

rulemaking and provide the public with 

an opportunity to comment on proposed 

regulations prior to establishing a final 

rule. However, as noted earlier in the 

background preamble, OMB offered the 

public two opportunities to comment on 

the Uniform Guidance, first through an 

advanced notice of proposed guidance 

and, second, through a notice of 

proposed guidance. OMB considered 

over 300 comments submitted in 

response to each of these notices. OMB 

has directed agencies to adopt the 

uniform guidance in part 200 without 

change, except to the extent that an 

agency can demonstrate that any 

conflicting agency requirements are 

required by statute or regulations, or 

consistent with longstanding practice 

and approved by OMB. As explained 

above, the Department published agency 

specific supplemental information that 

was approved by OMB in 2 CFR part 

2900. This final rule only makes 

technical amendments to 2 CFR part 

2900. Finally, OMB made clear that the 

requirements in 2 CFR part 200 

(including the audit requirements in 

subpart F) and 2 CFR part 2900, will 

apply, starting on December 26, 2014, 

giving recipients of all types of financial 

assistance advance notice of when the 

regulations would become effective. 

Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), 

there is good cause for waiving 

proposed rulemaking as unnecessary. 

(b) Waiver of Delayed Effective Date—In 

General 

Generally, the Department is subject 

to the APA requirement to delay the 

effective date of its final regulations by 

30 days after publication, as required 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(d), unless an 

exception under subsection (d) applies. 

Under 5 U.S.C. 553(d), the 

Department may waive the delayed 

effective date requirement if it finds 

good cause and explains the basis for 

the waiver in the final rulemaking 

document or if the regulations grant or 

recognize an exemption or relieve a 

restriction. In the present case, there is 

good cause to waive the delayed 

effective date for three reasons. 

First, OMB informed the public on 

December 26, 2013, that agencies would 

be required to adopt the Uniform 

Guidance and make it effective by 

December 26, 2014. The public had 

significant time to prepare for the 

promulgation of those interim final 

regulations. 

Second, while those interim final 

regulations were based on a new, more 

effective method for establishing 

government-wide requirements, the 

substance of the regulations are, in most 

cases, virtually identical to the 

requirements that exist in current 

agency regulations. Finally, this final 

rule makes technical changes to the 

Department’s agency-specific 

supplemental information at 2 CFR part 

2900 that was made effective along with 

2 CFR part 200 on December 27, 2014. 

Delaying the implementation of these 

technical amendments would cause 

errors that were discovered in 2 CFR 

part 2900 to be in effect for an 

additional 30 days causing unnecessary 

confusion to recipients of Federal 

financial assistance. Based on these 

considerations, the Department has 

determined that there is good cause to 

waive the delayed effective date for 

these final regulations. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

Determination 

Section 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(Unfunded Mandates Act) (2 U.S.C. 

1532) requires that covered agencies 

prepare a budgetary impact statement 

before promulgating a rule that includes 

any Federal mandate that may result in 

the expenditure by State, local, and 

tribal governments, in the aggregate, or 

by the private sector, of $100 million or 

more in any one year. If a budgetary 

impact statement is required, section 

205 of the Unfunded Mandates Act also 

requires covered agencies to identify 

and consider a reasonable number of 

regulatory alternatives before 

promulgating a rule. OMB has 

determined that this final rule will not 

result in expenditures by State, local, 

and tribal governments, or by the 

private sector, of $100 million or more 

in any one year. Accordingly, the 

Department has not prepared a 

budgetary impact statement or 

specifically addressed the regulatory 

alternatives considered. 

Executive Order 13132 Determination 

The Department has determined that 

this final rule does not have any 

Federalism implications, as required by 

Executive Order 13132. 

Plain Language 

The Department drafted this rule in 

plain language. 

List of Subjects in 2 CFR Part 2900 

Accounting, Administrative practice 

and procedure, Appeal procedures, 

Auditing, Audit requirements, Cost 

principles, Grant programs, Grant 

programs—labor, Grants administration, 

Labor, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Under the authority of the 5 U.S.C. 

301, the Department of Labor amends 2 

CFR part 2900 as follows: 

PART 2900—UNIFORM 

ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, 

COST PRINCIPLES, AND AUDIT 

REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL 

AWARDS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 2900 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 2 CFR 200. 

■ 2. Revise § 2900.1 to read as follows: 

§ 2900.1 Budget. 

In the DOL, approval of the budget as 

awarded does not constitute prior 

approval of those items requiring prior 

approval, including those items the 

Federal Awarding agency specifies as 

requiring prior approval. See § 200.407 

and § 2900.16 for more information 

about prior approval. (See 2 CFR 200.8) 

■ 3. Amend § 2900.3 by revising the 

introductory text to read as follows: 

§ 2900.3 Questioned cost. 

In the DOL, in addition to the 

guidance contained in 2 CFR 200.84, a 

Questioned cost means a cost that is 

questioned by an auditor, Federal 

Project Officer, Grant Officer, or other 

authorized Awarding agency 

representative because of an audit or 

monitoring finding: 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Revise § 2900.5 to read as follows: 

§ 2900.5 Federal awarding agency review 

of merit of proposals. 

In the DOL, audits and monitoring 

reports containing findings, issues of 

non-compliance or questioned costs are 

in addition to reports and findings from 

audits performed under Subpart F— 

Audit Requirements of 2 CFR 200 or the 

reports and findings of any other 

available audits. (See 2 CFR 

200.205(c)(4)) 

■ 5. Revise § 2900.7 to read as follows: 

§ 2900.7 Payment. 

In addition to the guidance set forth 

in 2 CFR 200.305(b), for Federal awards 

from the Department of Labor, the nonFederal entity should liquidate existing 

advances before it requests additional 

advances. 

■ 6. Revise § 2900.13 to read as follows: 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 250 / Wednesday, December 30, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 81441 

§ 2900.13 Intangible property. 

In addition to the guidance set forth 

in 2 CFR 200.315(d), the Department of 

Labor requires intellectual property 

developed under a competitive Federal 

award process to be licensed under a 

Creative Commons Attribution license. 

This license allows subsequent users to 

copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the 

copyrighted work and requires such 

users to attribute the work in the 

manner specified by the recipient. 

■ 7. Revise § 2900.15 to read as follows: 

§ 2900.15 Closeout. 

In addition to the guidance set forth 

in 2 CFR 200.343(b), for Federal awards 

from the Department of Labor, the nonFederal entity must liquidate all 

obligations and/or accrued expenditures 

incurred under the Federal award. For 

non-Federal entities reporting on an 

accrual basis and operating on an 

expenditure period, unless otherwise 

noted in the grant agreement, the only 

liquidation that can occur during 

closeout is the liquidation of accrued 

expenditures (NOT obligations) for 

goods and/or services received during 

the grant period. 

■ 8. Revise § 2900.16 to read as follows: 

§ 2900.16 Prior written approval (prior 

approval). 

In addition to the guidance set forth 

in 2 CFR 200.407, for Federal awards 

from the Department of Labor, the nonFederal entity must request prior 

written approval which should include 

the timeframe or scope of the agreement 

and be submitted not less than 30 days 

before the requested action is to occur. 

Unless otherwise noted in the grant 

agreement, the Grant Officer is the only 

official with the authority to provide 

prior written approval (prior approval). 

Items included in the statement of work 

or budget as awarded does not 

constitute prior approval. 

■ 9. Amend § 2900.20 by revising the 

introductory text to read as follows. 

§ 2900.20 Federal Agency Audit 

Responsibilities. 

In the DOL, in addition to 2 CFR 

200.513, the department employs a 

collaborative resolution process with 

non-federal entities. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. Revise § 2900.21 to read as 

follows: 

§ 2900.21 Management decision. 

In the DOL, ordinarily, a management 

decision is issued within six months of 

receipt of an audit from the audit liaison 

of the Office of the Inspector General 

and is extended an additional six 

months when the audit contains a 

finding involving a subrecipient of the 

pass-through entity being audited. The 

pass-through entity responsible for 

issuing a management decision must do 

so within twelve months of acceptance 

of the audit report by the FAC. The 

auditee must initiate and proceed with 

corrective action as rapidly as possible 

and should begin corrective action no 

later than upon receipt of the audit 

report. (See 2 CFR 200.521(d)) 

Signed at Washington, DC, this 23rd day of 

December, 2015. 

Thomas E. Perez, 

Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2015–32725 Filed 12–29–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Parts 429 and 431 

[Docket No. EERE–2014–BT–TP–0055] 

RIN 1904–AD41 

Energy Conservation Program: Test 

Procedures for Commercial Prerinse 

Spray Valves 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: On June 23, 2015, the U.S. 

Department of Energy (DOE) issued a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) 

to amend the test procedure for 

commercial prerinse spray valves. That 

proposed rulemaking serves as the basis 

for this final rule. Specifically, this final 

rule incorporates by reference relevant 

portions of the latest version of the 

industry testing standard from the 

American Society for Testing and 

Materials (ASTM) Standard F2324–13, 

‘‘Standard Test Method for Prerinse 

Spray Valves,’’ including the procedure 

for measuring spray force. This final 

rule also adopts a revised definition of 

‘‘commercial prerinse spray valve,’’ 

clarifies the test procedure for products 

with multiple spray settings, establishes 

rounding requirements for flow rate and 

spray force measurements, and removes 

irrelevant portions of statistical methods 

for certification, compliance, and 

enforcement. 

DATES: The effective date of this rule is 

January 29, 2016. The final rule changes 

will be mandatory for representations 

starting June 27, 2016. The 

incorporation by reference of certain 

material listed in this rule is approved 

by the Director of the Federal Register 

as of January 29, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Docket: The docket, which 

includes Federal Register notices, 

public meeting attendee lists and 

transcripts, comments, and other 

supporting documents/materials, is 

available for review at regulations.gov. 

All documents in the docket are listed 

in the regulations.gov index. However, 

some documents listed in the index, 

such as those containing information 

that is exempt from public disclosure, 

may not be publicly available. 

A link to the docket Web page can be 

found at DOE’s rulemaking Web page at: 

https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/

appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx

?ruleid=119. This Web page will contain 

a link to the docket for this document 

on the www.regulations.gov site. The 

www.regulations.gov Web page will 

contain simple instructions on how to 

access all documents, including public 

comments, in the docket. 

For further information on how to 

review the docket, contact Ms. Brenda 

Edwards at (202) 586–2945 or by email: 

Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mr. James Raba, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies Office, EE–5B, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–8654. Email: 

commercial_pre-rinse_spray_valves@

ee.doe.gov. 

Ms. Johanna Jochum, U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of the General 

Counsel, GC–33, 1000 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585– 

0121. Telephone: (202) 287–6307. 

Email: Johanna.Jochum@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final 

rule incorporates by reference into part 

431 the following industry standard: 

ASTM Standard F2324–13, (‘‘ASTM 

F2324–13’’), Standard Test Method for 

Prerinse Spray Valves, approved June 1, 

2013. 

Copies of ASTM Standard F2324–13 

can be obtained from ASTM 

International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, 

West Conshohocken, PA 19428, or by 

going to http://www.astm.org/Standard/ 

standards-and-publications.html. 

See section IV.M. for additional 

information about this standard. 

Table of Contents 

I. Authority and Background 

A. General Test Procedure Rulemaking 

Process 

II. Summary of the Final Rule 

III. Discussion 

A. Definitions 

1. Commercial Prerinse Spray Valve 

2. Spray Force 

B. Industry Standards Incorporated by 

Reference 

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