Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 168 / Thursday, August 29, 2013 / Proposed Rules 53375 

proposals regarding the items for which 

the comment extension was granted. 

Because the other items in the NOPR 

may affect the manner in which 

manufacturers perform the test 

procedures for compliance with the 

amended energy conservation 

standards, which DOE understands 

some manufacturers may begin using 

well in advance of the September 15, 

2014 compliance date, DOE believes it 

necessary to finalize those proposals as 

expeditiously as is feasible. 

Accordingly, DOE may finalize a rule 

that addresses all issues other than 

Items 2 and 15 (i.e. the icemaking test 

procedure and additional testing 

requirements for built-in refrigerators) 

prior to the resolution of these two 

items. 

DOE also notes that the extension of 

the comment period for these two items 

will not exceed the 270-day comment 

period limit imposed by EPCA. See 42 

U.S.C. 6293(b)(2). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 23, 

2013. 

Kathleen B. Hogan, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy 

Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2013–21115 Filed 8–28–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL 

DEVELOPMENT 

22 CFR Part 226 

RIN 0412–AA71 

Partner Vetting in USAID Assistance 

AGENCY: United States Agency for 

International Development. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The United States Agency for 

International Development (USAID) 

proposes to amend its regulation 

governing the administration of USAIDfunded assistance awards to implement 

a Partner Vetting System (PVS). The 

purpose of the Partner Vetting System is 

to help ensure that USAID funds and 

other resources do not inadvertently 

benefit individuals or entities that are 

terrorists, supporters of terrorists or 

affiliated with terrorists, while also 

minimizing the impact on USAID 

programs and its implementing 

partners. In order to apply the PVS to 

USAID assistance, USAID proposes to 

amend 22 CFR Part 226. The Office of 

Management and Budget has approved 

a 30 day comment period. This 

proposed regulatory revision is a key 

requirement of the Agency’s plan for the 

pilot program and any other vetting 

programs. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

September 30, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Because security screening 

precautions have slowed the delivery 

and dependability of surface mail to 

USAID/Washington, USAID 

recommends sending all comments by 

electronic mail or by fax to the email 

address or fax number listed directly 

below (please note, all comments must 

be in writing to be reviewed). 

Electronic Access and Filing. You 

may submit written electronic 

comments by sending electronic mail 

[email] to: 

M.OAA.RuleMaking@usaid.gov. 

Please submit comments as a 

Microsoft Word file avoiding the use of 

any special characters and any form of 

encryption. 

Surface Mail (again, not advisable due 

to security screening): Michael Gushue, 

M/OAA/P, USAID/Washington, 1300 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20523. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Gushue, Telephone: 202–567– 

4678, Email: mgushue@usaid.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Executive Summary 

The Purpose of Regulatory Action: 

The purpose of this regulatory action is 

to amend 22 CFR Part 226, 

Administration of Assistance Awards to 

U.S. Non-Governmental Organizations, 

to add new pre-award and award terms. 

The new terms will implement 

procedures for a new Partner Vetting 

System. 

A Summary of the Provisions: There 

are two provisions included in this 

amendment to 22 CFR Part 226. The 

first is an application provision, Partner 

Vetting Pre-Award Requirements, which 

delineates the vetting process and the 

applicant’s responsibilities for 

submitting information on individuals 

who will be vetted, prior to award. The 

second is an award term, Partner 

Vetting, which sets forth the recipient’s 

responsibilities for vetting during the 

award period, and the partner vetting 

process that takes place after award. 

Costs and Benefits: USAID has 

determined that this Rule is not an 

‘‘economically significant regulatory 

action’’ under Section 3(f)(1) of 

Executive Order (E.O.) 12866. However, 

as this rule is a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ under Section 3(f)(4) of the E.O., 

USAID submitted it to OMB for review. 

This regulatory action will help 

USAID meet its fiduciary 

responsibilities by helping to ensure 

that agency funds and other resources 

do not inadvertently benefit individuals 

or entities that are terrorists, supporters 

of terrorists, or affiliated with terrorists. 

USAID estimates that Partner Vetting 

will add an additional 15 minutes to 

each of the 10,120 grant applications. 

We estimate the annual cost of 

implementing partner vetting for 

assistance is $31,676 for applicants, and 

$391,810 for the annual cost to the 

government. 

B. Background 

USAID is implementing a PVS pilot 

program for USAID assistance and 

acquisition awards. It is expected that 

this pilot program, which includes 

vetting of both acquisition and 

assistance solicitations and awards, will 

provide USAID (and the Department of 

State) with a more comprehensive 

understanding of ways to mitigate risk 

in the provision of foreign assistance as 

well as the feasibility and utility of 

implementing PVS worldwide. Because 

the pilot is intended to help further 

refine and adjust PVS, the need for any 

future amendments to USAID’s 

assistance regulation, related to 

implementation of PVS, likely will not 

be determined until after the assessment 

of the PVS pilot program. The intention 

of the PVS is to help ensure that USAID 

funds and other resources do not 

inadvertently benefit individuals or 

entities that are terrorists, supporters of 

terrorists or affiliated with terrorists, 

while also minimizing the impact on 

USAID programs and its implementing 

partners. USAID established the PVS as 

a new system of records pursuant to the 

Privacy Act of 1974 on July 17, 2007 (72 

FR 39042). On May 6, 2009, USAID set 

the final effective date for exempting 

portions of the PVS from provisions of 

the Privacy Act as August 4, 2009 (74 

FR 20871), although the Agency did not 

implement PVS at that time. USAID 

initiated rule-making to revise its 

acquisition regulation, 48 CFR chapter 

7, publishing its final rule for making 

PVS applicable to acquisitions on 

February 14, 2012 (77 FR 8166) with an 

effective date of March 15, 2012. 

At the time USAID initiated 

rulemaking for acquisition, USAID 

determined that its assistance 

regulations could accommodate preaward vetting without revisions. 

Subsequently, however, as USAID 

refined its intent for PVS and clarified 

its goals and purpose, the Agency 

concluded that in order to apply PVS to 

assistance to the same extent as to 

acquisition by allowing for post-award 

vetting, the Agency needed to revise its 

assistance regulation, 22 CFR part 226. 

USAID’s previous rule making 

generated numerous comments 


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regarding the proposed PVS program. 

As part of the rule making process for 

the Final Rule for Partner Vetting in 

USAID Acquisitions (77 FR 8166), 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 14, 2012, USAID provided a 

comprehensive response to all of the 

comments received during that rule 

making period. USAID seeks comments 

through this proposed rule to help 

ensure the successful implementation of 

PVS to USAID assistance by minimizing 

the impact on the Agency’s programs 

and recipients while still protecting 

against the possibility that USAID funds 

could benefit terrorist groups. 

Need for partner vetting. USAID set 

forth the rationale and need for partner 

vetting previously in its notice 

establishing PVS (72 FR 39042) and 

notice of proposed rulemaking for its 

acquisition regulation, 48 CFR chapter 7 

(74 FR 30494). As stated therein, USAID 

already has taken a number of steps, 

consistent with applicable law and 

agency policy, to help ensure that 

agency funds and other resources do not 

inadvertently benefit individuals or 

entities that are terrorists, supporters of 

terrorists or affiliated with terrorists. 

USAID recognized, however, that more 

can be done to ensure adequate due 

diligence in certain situations, and 

established PVS to complement its 

requirements for terrorist financing 

clauses, terrorist financing 

certifications, and review of public lists 

of designated groups and individuals. 

USAID functions in areas of high 

terrorist activity, and vetting enables the 

Agency to enhance oversight of tax 

payer dollars by accessing intelligence 

and law enforcement databases as a 

further safeguard of program funds. 

USAID currently conducts vetting 

programs in certain high [threat or 

risk—choose one] areas of the world. 

These vetting programs have proven 

successful in preventing funds going to 

unintended recipients and provide a 

further deterrent to individuals 

associated with terrorism applying for 

contracts and/or grants from USAID. 

However, USAID functions in other 

parts of the world where the risks differ 

from these locations. The Agency 

intends to use the PVS pilot program to 

inform decisions about the future 

application of vetting to agency 

programs. 

Through the PVS, information 

collected from individuals, officers, 

employees, or other officials of 

organizations that seek to receive 

USAID funding will be used to conduct 

national security screening of such 

individuals and organizations to ensure 

that USAID funds do not inadvertently 

benefit individuals or entities that are 

terrorists, supporters of terrorists or 

affiliated with terrorists. To properly 

conduct this screening, it is necessary to 

collect information on ‘‘key 

individuals’’—the principal officers and 

other key employees and personnel of 

USAID contractors and recipients. 

Before USAID applies vetting to a 

particular planned award, it will 

perform a risk based assessment (RBA). 

Risk based assessment. USAID will 

perform an RBA to determine the 

likelihood that the funds, goods, 

services, or other benefits to be provided 

could inadvertently benefit individuals 

or entities that are terrorists, supporters 

of terrorists or affiliated with terrorists, 

including people or organizations who 

are not specifically designated by the 

U.S. Government but who may 

nevertheless be linked to terrorist 

activities. Key factors that USAID will 

consider in this assessment will 

include, but are not limited to, the 

nature of the program, the type of entity 

that will be implementing the activity 

(for example, U.S. Non-Governmental 

Organization (NGO), U.S. for profit 

organization, foreign NGO, foreign for 

profit organization, international 

organization), the geographic location of 

the activity, the safeguards available and 

how easily funds could be diverted or 

misused. Other considerations may 

include the urgency of the activity and 

the foreign policy importance of the 

activity. The Agency may identify 

through the RBA process that certain 

services the recipient procures from 

vendors are subject to vetting. 

Although the details of any risk-based 

assessment will be dictated by the 

specific circumstances of each activity, 

the conclusion that a particular planned 

award is subject to partner vetting will 

be clearly stated in any solicitation or 

other comparable document for that 

activity. 

The partner vetting process for 

assistance. USAID intends to apply PVS 

to assistance in a manner that protects 

the integrity of the selection process and 

also ensures that USAID’s Office of 

Security (SEC) is able to obtain 

information necessary to vet key 

individuals and protect sensitive 

information from disclosure. To 

accomplish this, no individual involved 

in the selection process, including the 

agreement officer (AO), will have access 

to the information applicants submit for 

partner vetting, other than to confirm 

the key individuals the applicants have 

submitted. When vetting is required, a 

provision in the relevant solicitation 

will notify applicants of the vetting 

requirements and procedures. The AO 

will instruct applicants when to submit 

the completed USAID Partner 

Information Form, USAID Form 500–13 

(‘‘Form’’), to the vetting official 

identified in the solicitation. Each 

Mission or office will have flexibility in 

determining the appropriate individual 

to be the vetting official, but in all cases 

the vetting official will be a U.S. citizen 

employee of USAID who is not involved 

in the selection process. In addition to 

receiving the completed Forms, the 

vetting official will be responsible for 

responding to questions from applicants 

about information to be included on the 

Form, coordinating with SEC, and 

conveying the vetting determination to 

each vetted applicant and the AO. The 

Form identifies the information required 

for the key individuals of the applicant 

and any subrecipients or vendors who 

are subject to vetting. Key individuals 

include principal officers of the 

organization’s governing body (for 

example, chairman, vice chairman, 

treasurer and secretary of the board of 

directors or board of trustees), the 

principal officer and deputy principal 

officer of the organization (for example, 

executive director, deputy director, 

president, vice president), the program 

manager or chief of party for the USGfinanced program, and any other person 

with significant responsibilities for 

administration of the USG-financed 

activities or resources. 

The AO determines the appropriate 

stage of the solicitation process for 

applicants to submit the Form to the 

vetting official as specified in the 

Request for Application (RFA) or 

Annual Program Statement (APS). 

After a vetting determination has been 

made, the vetting official notifies the 

applicant or applicants that they either 

have passed or have not passed vetting. 

For applicants who have not passed, the 

vetting official will notify the 

applicant(s) of the vetting 

determination. USAID will determine 

what information may be released 

consistent with applicable law and 

Executive Orders, and with the 

concurrence of relevant agencies. 

Concurrently, the vetting official also 

notifies the AO that all vetting 

determinations have been provided to 

the applicants. The vetting official 

indicates to the AO whether or not all 

applicants have passed vetting but will 

not provide the AO with specific vetting 

information. 

Applicants who change any key 

individuals for any reason, including 

but not limited to failure to pass vetting 

or for reasons related to their 

applications, must submit a revised 

Form to the vetting official as soon as 

possible to allow for vetting of 

individuals not previously vetted. The 

AO makes the award decision 


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independently from the vetting process. 

The AO then confirms with the vetting 

official that the apparently successful 

applicant has passed vetting and 

proceeds with award. Only applicants 

who have passed the vetting process are 

eligible for award. If the AO is ready to 

make an award but the vetting official 

is unable to confirm that the apparently 

successful applicant has passed vetting, 

the AO will wait as long as is 

practicable for the vetting official’s 

confirmation. 

The AO will proceed with an award 

to the next apparently successful 

applicant in accordance with the 

evaluation criteria, provided that 

applicant also passes vetting. 

To apply PVS to USAID assistance, 

USAID is amending 22 CFR Part 226, 

Administration of Assistance Awards to 

U.S. Non-Governmental Organizations. 

B. Summary of the Proposed Rule 

USAID is issuing a proposed rule to 

amend 22 CFR part 226 by adding a new 

subpart 226.92 to 22 CFR part 226, with 

an associated application provision and 

award term. The application provision, 

Partner Vetting Pre-Award 

Requirements, delineates the vetting 

process and the applicant’s 

responsibilities for submitting 

information on individuals who will be 

vetted, prior to award. The award term, 

Partner Vetting, sets forth the recipient’s 

responsibilities for vetting during the 

award period, and the partner vetting 

process that takes place after award. 

The amendment will also add 

definitions to subpart 226.2. 

C. Impact Assessment 

Regulatory Planning and Review 

Under E.O. 12866, USAID must 

determine whether a regulatory action is 

‘‘significant’’ and therefore subject to 

the requirements of the E.O. and subject 

to review by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB). 

USAID has determined that this Rule 

is not an ‘‘economically significant 

regulatory action’’ under Section 3(f)(1) 

of E.O. 12866. The application of the 

Partner Vetting System to USAID 

assistance will not have an economic 

impact of $100 million or more. The 

regulation will not adversely affect the 

economy or any sector thereof, 

productivity, competition, jobs, the 

environment, nor public health or safety 

in a material way. However, as this rule 

is a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

under Section 3(f)(4) of the E.O., USAID 

submitted it to OMB for review. We 

have also reviewed these regulations 

pursuant to Executive Order 13563, 

which supplements and explicitly 

reaffirms the principles, structures, and 

definitions governing regulatory review 

established in Executive Order 12866. 

This regulatory action is needed for 

USAID to meet its fiduciary 

responsibilities by helping to ensure 

that agency funds and other resources 

do not inadvertently benefit individuals 

or entities that are terrorists, supporters 

of terrorists or affiliated with terrorists. 

NGOs will provide information on key 

individuals when applying for USAID 

grants or cooperative agreements. This 

information will be used to screen 

potential recipients and key individuals. 

The screening will help ensure that 

funds are not diverted to individuals or 

entities that are terrorists, supporters of 

terrorists or affiliated with terrorists. 

The final benefit to the public will be 

the increased assurance that Federal 

funds will not inadvertently provide 

support to entities or individuals 

associated with terrorism. 

Although the primary benefit of 

vetting will be to prevent the diversion 

of USAID funds, implementing partners 

will benefit when their subrecipients 

have also been vetted and the prime 

recipient is working with legitimate 

organizations. In addition, as the vetting 

program becomes better known in the 

community, it will deter organizations 

associated with terrorism from applying 

for assistance funds. 

We estimate that 10,120 assistance 

applicants currently spend 2,024,000 

hours filling out paperwork for grant 

applications. We estimate the additional 

requirements for Partner Vetting will 

add 15 minutes to each application. 

This number is calculated based on the 

fact that the NGOs are already providing 

the majority of information used for 

screening. The calculation takes into the 

account the additional pieces of 

information required for vetting. There 

are no start-up, capital, operation, 

maintenance, or recordkeeping costs to 

applicants as a result of this collection. 

The collection is essentially a clerical 

task involving employees whose wage 

rates we estimate average $12.50 dollars 

per hour. Therefore we estimate that the 

cost of implementing partner vetting is 

$3.13 for each application. USAID 

estimates the total burden hours for the 

pilot program for both acquisition and 

assistance at 11,000 hours. Based on 

data from 2009, 2010 and 2011, 

acquisition accounts for approximately 

77% of all awards and assistance 

accounts for approximately 23% of all 

awards. USAID therefore estimates the 

assistance portion of the total burden 

hours for the partner vetting pilot 

program at 2,530 hours. The estimate for 

the annual cost of implementing partner 

vetting for assistance is $31,676 (15 

minutes * 10,120 burden hours * $12.50 

per hour). We estimate that the 

government’s cost to process assistance 

applications for the partner vetting pilot 

program is $391,810 annually. This 

estimate is based on labor costs for four 

GS–13 positions ($147,680 annually for 

each position) in the USAID Office of 

Security (SEC), five GS–13 vetting 

officials ($147,680 annually for each 

position), and five foreign service 

nationals ($74,880 annually for each 

position). USAID estimates that these 

positions will expend approximately 

23% of their total annual hours on the 

assistance portion of the partner vetting 

pilot program. One of the goals of the 

partner vetting pilot program is to 

further understand the actual costs of 

implementing partner vetting in various 

environments. While the figures above 

reflect USAID’s best estimates of 

government costs to implement the pilot 

program for assistance, the actual 

figures may be different. The pilot 

program will be used to inform our 

estimates of the costs of partner vetting 

in various environments. 

We estimate that the total cost for this 

proposed rule for implementing the 

partner vetting pilot program is 

$399,716. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.), USAID has 

considered the economic impact of the 

rule on applicants and has determined 

that its provisions would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The proposed regulations would add 

the requirement for partner vetting of 

key individuals for applicants of 

USAID-funded assistance awards into 

the existing partner vetting system. 

USAID estimates that completing an 

assistance application in response to a 

Request For Application takes 200 

hours. USAID considers the additional 

15 minute burden on applicants as de 

minimis and that this does not 

significantly increase the burden on 

grant applicants. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The changes to 22 CFR Part 226 use 

information collected via USAID Partner 

Information Form, USAID Form 500–13, 

which was approved in accordance with 

44 U.S.C. 3501 by the Office of 

Management and Budget on July 25, 

2012 (OMB Control Number 0412– 

0577). 

If this information collection is not 

conducted, then USAID will be unable 

to use all available means to adequately 

screen applicants for federal funding 


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assistance and risks inadvertently giving 

support to an individual or entity 

associated with terrorism. As for 

frequency, the information will be 

collected at the time of application for 

USAID assistance funds and will only 

be collected again if the grant is a multiyear award, in which case it will be 

collected annually; if the key officials 

within the NGO change, in which case 

it will be re-collected as soon as 

possible after the change; or if other 

unique circumstances warrant. 

During the initial pilot program, it is 

estimated that approximately, 44,000 

NGOs will apply for USAID funds for 

programs implemented in the five PVS 

pilot countries and will require vetting. 

Each NGO will submit one vetting form 

per grant application and the duration 

of each USAID grant is typically one 

year. Thus, the total annual responses 

are also estimated to be 44,000. The 

projected time per response for this 

information collection is a total of onequarter hour per response. The total 

annual hours are 11,000. These numbers 

were calculated based on the fact that 

NGOs already are providing the majority 

of information used for screening. The 

calculations take into account the 

additional information required. 

Completing a grant application in 

response to a Request For Application 

takes many hours. The additional 15 

minute burden on applicants is clearly 

de minimis and does not significantly 

increase the burden on grant applicants. 

List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 226 

Foreign Aid, Non-profit 

Organizations. 

Regulatory Text 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the U. S. Agency for 

International Development proposes to 

amend 22 CFR part 226 as follows: 

PART 226 [AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for 22 CFR 

Part 226 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 22 U.S.C. 2381(a) and 2401. 

Source: 60 FR 3744, Jan. 19, 1995, unless 

otherwise noted. 

■ 2. Amend § 226.2 by adding the 

following definitions: 

§ 226.2 Definitions 

* * * * * 

Key individual means the principal 

officer of the organization’s governing 

body (for example, chairman, vice 

chairman, treasurer and secretary of the 

board of directors or board of trustees); 

the principal officer and deputy 

principal officer of the organization (for 

example, executive director, deputy 

director, president, vice president); the 

program manager or chief of party for 

the USG-financed program; and any 

other person with significant 

responsibilities for administration of the 

USG-financed activities or resources, 

such as key personnel as identified in 

the solicitation or resulting cooperative 

agreement. Key personnel, whether or 

not they are employees of the prime 

recipient, must be vetted. 

* * * * * 

Key personnel means those 

individuals identified for approval as 

part of substantial involvement in a 

cooperative agreement whose positions 

are essential to the successful 

implementation of an award. 

* * * * * 

Vetting official means the USAID 

employee identified in the application 

or award as having responsibility for 

receiving vetting information, 

responding to questions about 

information to be included on the 

Partner Information Form, coordinating 

with the USAID Office of Security 

(SEC), and conveying the vetting 

determination to each applicant, 

potential subrecipients and vendors 

subject to vetting, and the agreement 

officer. The vetting official is not part of 

the office making the award selection 

and has no involvement in the selection 

process. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Add § 226.92 to subpart F, to read 

as follows: 

§ 226.92 Partner Vetting. 

(a) It is USAID policy that USAID may 

determine that a particular award is 

subject to vetting in the interest of 

national security. In that case, USAID 

may require vetting of the key 

individuals of applicants, including key 

personnel, whether or not they are 

employees of the applicant, first tier 

subrecipients, vendors, and any other 

class of subawards and procurements as 

identified in the assistance solicitation 

and resulting award. When USAID 

conducts partner vetting, it will not 

award to any applicant who does not 

pass vetting. 

(b) When USAID determines an award 

to be subject to vetting, the agreement 

officer determines the appropriate stage 

of the award cycle to require applicants 

to submit the completed USAID Partner 

Information Form, USAID Form 500–13, 

to the vetting official identified in the 

assistance solicitation. The agreement 

officer must specify in the assistance 

solicitation the stage at which the 

applicants will be required to submit 

the USAID Partner Information Form, 

USAID Form 500–13. 

(c) Selection of the successful 

applicant proceeds separately from 

vetting. The agreement officer makes the 

selection determination separately from 

the vetting process and without 

knowledge of vetting-related 

information other than that the 

apparently successful applicant has 

passed or not passed vetting. 

(d) For those awards the agency has 

determined are subject to vetting, the 

agreement officer may only award to an 

applicant that has passed vetting. 

(e) For those awards the agency has 

determined are subject to vetting, the 

recipient must submit the completed 

USAID Partner Information Form any 

time it changes: 

(1) Key individuals, and 

(2) Subrecipients and vendors for 

which vetting is required. 

(f) USAID may vet key individuals of 

the recipient, subrecipients and vendors 

periodically during program 

implementation using the information 

already submitted on the Form. 

(g) When the prime recipient is 

subject to vetting, vetting may be 

required for key individuals of 

subawards under the prime award when 

prior approval in accordance with 22 

CFR 226.25(c)(8) for the subaward, 

transfer or contracting out of any work. 

(h) When the prime recipient is 

subject to vetting, vetting may be 

required for key individuals of vendors 

of certain services. The agreement 

officer must identify these services in 

the assistance solicitation and any 

resulting award. 

(i) When vetting of subawards is 

required, the agreement officer must not 

approve the subaward, transfer, or 

contracting out, or the procurement of 

certain classes of items until the 

organization subject to vetting has 

passed vetting. When vetting of vendors 

is required, the recipient may not 

procure the identified services until the 

vendor has passed vetting. 

(j) The recipient may instruct 

prospective subrecipients or vendors 

who are subject to vetting to submit the 

USAID Partner Information Form to the 

vetting official as soon as the recipient 

submits the USAID Partner Information 

Form for its key individuals. 

(k) Pre-award provision and award 

term. 

(1) The agreement officer must insert 

the pre-award provision Partner Vetting 

Pre-Award Requirements in Appendix B 

of this part in all assistance solicitations 

USAID identifies as subject to vetting. 

(2) The agreement officer must insert 

the award term Partner Vetting in 

Appendix B in all assistance 

solicitations and awards USAID 

identifies as subject to vetting. 


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■ 4. Add Appendix B to Part 226, to 

read as follows: 

Appendix B to Part 226—Partner 

Vetting Pre-Award Solicitation 

Provision and Award Term 

Partner Vetting Pre-Award Requirements 

(a) USAID has determined that any award 

resulting from this assistance solicitation is 

subject to vetting. An applicant that has not 

passed vetting is ineligible for award. 

(b) The following are the vetting 

procedures for this solicitation: 

(1) Prospective applicants review the 

attached USAID Partner Information Form, 

USAID Form 500–13, and submit any 

questions about the USAID Partner 

Information Form or these procedures to the 

agreement officer by the deadline in the 

solicitation. 

(2) The agreement officer notifies the 

applicant when to submit the USAID Partner 

Information Form. For this solicitation, 

USAID will vet [insert in the provision the 

applicable stage of the selection process at 

which the Agreement Officer will notify the 

applicant(s) who must be vetted]. Within the 

timeframe set by the agreement officer in the 

notification, the applicant must complete and 

submit the USAID Partner Information Form 

to the vetting official. The designated vetting 

official is: 

Vetting official: 

lllllllllllllllllllll

Address: 

lllllllllllllllllllll

Email: 

lllllllllllllllllllll

llllllll (for inquiries only). 

(3) The applicants must notify proposed 

subrecipients and vendors of this 

requirement when the subrecipients or 

vendors are subject to vetting. 

Note: Applicants who submit using nonsecure methods of transmission do so at their 

own risk. 

(c) Selection proceeds separately from 

vetting. Vetting is conducted independently 

from any discussions the agreement officer 

may have with an applicant. The applicant 

and any proposed subrecipient or vendor 

subject to vetting must not provide vetting 

information to other than the vetting official. 

The applicant and any proposed subrecipient 

or vendor subject to vetting will 

communicate only with the vetting official 

regarding their vetting submission(s) and not 

with any other USAID or USG personnel, 

including the agreement officer or the 

agreement officer’s representatives. The 

agreement officer designates the vetting 

official as the only individual authorized to 

clarify the applicant’s and proposed 

subrecipient’s and vendor’s vetting 

information. 

(d)(1) The vetting official notifies the 

applicant that it: 

(i) Has passed vetting, 

(ii) Has not passed vetting, or 

(iii) Must provide additional information, 

and resubmit the USAID Partner Information 

Form with the additional information within 

the number of days the vetting official 

specified in the notification. 

(2) The vetting official will include 

information that the USAID determines 

releasable. USAID will determine what 

information may be released consistent with 

applicable law and Executive Orders, and 

with the concurrence of relevant agencies. 

(e) Reconsideration. (1) Within 7 calendar 

days after the date of the vetting official’s 

notification, an applicant that has not passed 

vetting may request in writing to the vetting 

official that the Agency reconsider the vetting 

determination. The request should include 

any written explanation, legal documentation 

and any other relevant written material for 

reconsideration. 

(2) Within 7 calendar days after the vetting 

official receives the request for 

reconsideration, the Agency will determine 

whether the applicant’s additional 

information merits a revised decision. 

(3) The Agency’s determination of whether 

reconsideration is warranted is final. 

(f) Revisions to vetting information. (1) 

Applicants who change key individuals, 

whether the applicant has previously passed 

vetting or not, must submit a revised USAID 

Partner Information Form to the vetting 

official. This includes changes to key 

personnel resulting from revisions to the 

technical portion of the application. 

(2) The vetting official will follow the 

vetting process of this provision for any 

revision of the applicant’s Form. 

(g) Award. At the time of award, the 

agreement officer will confirm with the 

vetting official that the apparently successful 

applicant has passed vetting. The agreement 

officer may award only to an apparently 

successful applicant that has passed vetting. 

Partner Vetting 

(a) The recipient must comply with the 

vetting requirements for key individuals 

under this award. 

(b) Definitions. As used in this provision— 

‘‘key individual,’’ ‘‘key personnel’’ and 

‘‘vetting official’’ have the meaning contained 

in 22 CFR 226.2. 

(c) The Recipient must submit a USAID 

Partner Information Form, USAID Form 500– 

13, to the vetting official identified below 

when the Recipient replaces key individuals 

with individuals who have not been 

previously vetting for this award. Note: 

USAID will not approve any key personnel 

who have not passed vetting. The designated 

vetting official is: 

Vetting official: 

llllllllllllllllllll

Address: 

llllllllllllllllllll

Email: 

llllllllllllllllllll

llllllll (for inquiries only). 

(d)(1) The vetting official will notify the 

Recipient that it— 

(i) Has passed vetting, 

(ii) Has not passed vetting, or 

(iii) Must provide additional information, 

and resubmit the USAID Partner Information 

Form with the additional information within 

the number of days the vetting official 

specifies. 

(2) The vetting official will include 

information that USAID determines 

releasable. USAID will determine what 

information may be released consistent with 

applicable law and Executive Orders, and 

with the concurrence of relevant agencies. 

(e) The inability to pass vetting as 

described in the this award term may be 

determined to be a material failure to comply 

with the terms and conditions of the award 

and may subject the recipient to suspension 

or termination as specified in 22 CFR 226.61. 

(f) Reconsideration. (1) Within 7 calendar 

days after the date of the vetting official’s 

notification, the recipient or prospective 

subrecipient or vendor that has not passed 

vetting may request in writing to the vetting 

official that the Agency reconsider the vetting 

determination. The request should include 

any written explanation, legal documentation 

and any other relevant written material for 

reconsideration. 

(2) Within 7 calendar days after the vetting 

official receives the request for 

reconsideration, the Agency will determine 

whether the recipient’s additional 

information merits a revised decision. 

(3) The Agency’s determination of whether 

reconsideration is warranted is final. 

(g) A notification that the Recipient has 

passed vetting does not constitute any other 

approval under this award. 

Alternate I. When subrecipients will be 

subject to vetting, add the following 

paragraphs to the basic award term: 

(h) When the prime recipient anticipates 

that it will require prior approval for a 

subaward in accordance with 22 CFR 

226.25(c)(8), the subaward is subject to 

vetting. The prospective subrecipient must 

submit a USAID Partner Information Form, 

USAID Form 500–13, to the vetting official 

identified in paragraph (c) of this provision. 

The agreement officer must not approve a 

subaward to any organization that has not 

passed vetting when required. 

(i) The recipient agrees to incorporate the 

substance of paragraphs (a) through (i) of this 

award term in all first tier subawards under 

this award. 

Alternate II. When specific classes of 

services are subject to vetting, add the 

following paragraph: 

(j) Prospective vendors at any tier 

providing the following classes of services 

lllllllllllllllllllll

lllllllllllllllllllll

lllllllllllllllllllll

must pass vetting. Recipients must not 

procure these services until they receive 

confirmation from the vetting official that the 

prospective vendor has passed vetting. (End 

of award term) 

* * * * * 

Angelique M. Crumbly, 

Agency Regulatory Official, U.S. Agency for 

International Development. 

[FR Doc. 2013–20846 Filed 8–28–13; 8:45 am] 

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