IB 

Union Calendar No. 481 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5049 

[Report No. 114–619] 

To provide for improved management and oversight of major multi-user 

research facilities funded by the National Science Foundation, to ensure 

transparency and accountability of construction and management costs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2016 

Mr. LOUDERMILK (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology 

JUNE 13, 2016 

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 April 26, 2016] 


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•HR 5049 RH

A BILL 

To provide for improved management and oversight of major 

multi-user research facilities funded by the National 

Science Foundation, to ensure transparency and accountability of construction and management costs, and for 

other purposes. 


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•HR 5049 RH

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 ‘‘NSF Major Research 

5 Facility Reform Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 Director of the Foundation. 

10 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

11 means the National Science Foundation established 

12 under section 2 of the National Science Foundation 

13 Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861). 

14 (3) MAJOR MULTI-USER RESEARCH FACILITY.— 

15 The term ‘‘major multi-user research facility’’ means 

16 a science and engineering infrastructure construction 

17 project that exceeds the lesser of 10 percent of a Direc18 torate’s annual budget or $100,000,000 in total 

19 project cost that is funded in the major research 

20 equipment and facilities construction account, or any 

21 successor thereto. 

22 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT OF LARGE FACILI23 TIES. 

24 (a) LARGE FACILITIES OFFICE.—The Director shall 

25 maintain a Large Facilities Office. The functions of the 


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1 Large Facilities Office shall be to support the research di2 rectorates in the development, implementation, and assess3 ment of major multi-user research facilities, including by— 

4 (1) serving as the Foundation’s primary resource 

5 for all policy or process issues related to the develop6 ment and implementation of major multi-user re7 search facilities; 

8 (2) serving as a Foundation-wide resource on 

9 project management, including providing expert as10 sistance on nonscientific and nontechnical aspects of 

11 project planning, budgeting, implementation, man12 agement, and oversight; 

13 (3) coordinating and collaborating with research 

14 directorates to share best management practices and 

15 lessons learned from prior projects; and 

16 (4) assessing projects during preconstruction and 

17 construction phases for cost and schedule risk. 

18 (b) OVERSIGHT OF LARGE FACILITIES.—The Director 

19 shall appoint a senior agency official as head of the Large 

20 Facilities Office whose responsibility is oversight of the de21 velopment, construction, and transfer to operations of major 

22 multi-user research facilities across the Foundation. 

23 (c) POLICIES FOR LARGE FACILITY COSTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall ensure that 

25 the Foundation’s polices for developing and mainVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Jun 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5049.RH H5049

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1 taining major multi-user research facility construc2 tion costs are consistent with the best practices de3 scribed in the March 2009 Government Accountability 

4 Office Report GAO-09-3SP, or any successor report 

5 thereto, the Uniform Guidance in 2 C.F.R. part 200, 

6 and the Federal Acquisition Regulation as appro7 priate. 

8 (2) COST PROPOSAL ANALYSIS.— 

9 (A) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—The Direc10 tor shall ensure that an external cost proposal 

11 analysis is conducted for any major multi-user 

12 research facility. 

13 (B) RESOLUTION OF ISSUES FOUND.—The 

14 Director, or a senior agency official within the 

15 Office of the Director designated by the Director, 

16 shall certify in writing that all issues identified 

17 during the cost analysis, including any findings 

18 of unjustified or questionable cost items, are re19 solved before the Foundation may execute a con20 struction agreement with respect to the project. 

21 (C) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The Di22 rector shall transmit each certification made 

23 under subparagraph (B) to the Committee on 

24 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

25 Representatives, the Committee on Commerce, 


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1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the 

2 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

3 Representatives, and the Committee on Appro4 priations of the Senate. 

5 (3) INCURRED COST AUDITS.—The Director shall 

6 ensure that an incurred cost audit is conducted at 

7 least biennially on any major multi-user research fa8 cility, in accordance with Government Auditing 

9 Standards as established in Government Account10 ability Office Report GAO-12-331G, or any successor 

11 report thereto, with the first incurred cost audit to 

12 commence no later than 12 months after execution of 

13 the construction agreement. 

14 (4) CONTINGENCIES.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided for 

16 in subparagraph (C)(ii), the Foundation shall— 

17 (i) provide oversight for contingency in 

18 accordance with Cost Principles Uniform 

19 Guidance in 2 C.F.R. part 200.433, or any 

20 successor thereto, and the Federal Acquisi21 tion Regulation as appropriate, except as 

22 provided in this paragraph; and 

23 (ii) not make any award which pro24 vides for contributions to a contingency reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Jun 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5049.RH H5049

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1 serve held or managed by the awardee, as 

2 defined in 2 C.F.R. part 200.433(c). 

3 (B) UPDATING POLICY MANUAL.—The 

4 Foundation shall update its Large Facilities 

5 Manual and any other applicable guidance for 

6 contingencies on major multi-user research fa7 cilities with regard to estimating, monitoring, 

8 and accounting for contingency. 

9 (C) FOUNDATION REQUIREMENTS.—The 

10 policy updated under subparagraph (B) shall re11 quire that the Foundation— 

12 (i) may only include contingency 

13 amounts in an award in accordance with 

14 Cost Principles Uniform Guidance in 2 

15 C.F.R. part 200.433, or any successor there16 to, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

17 as appropriate; and 

18 (ii) shall retain control over funds 

19 budgeted for contingency, but may disburse 

20 budgeted contingency funds incrementally to 

21 the awardee to ensure project stability and 

22 continuity. 

23 (D) AWARDEE REQUIREMENTS.—The policy 

24 updated under subparagraph (B) shall require 

25 that an awardee shall— 


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1 (i) provide verifiable documentation to 

2 support any amounts proposed for contin3 gencies; and 

4 (ii) support requests for the release of 

5 contingency funds with evidence of a bona 

6 fide need and that the amounts allocated to 

7 the performance baseline are reasonable and 

8 allowable. 

9 (E) CURRENT AWARDEES.—The Foundation 

10 shall work with awardees for whom awards with 

11 contingency provisions have been made before the 

12 date of enactment of this Act— 

13 (i) to determine if any of their use of 

14 contingency funds represents out-of-scope 

15 changes for which Foundation’s prior writ16 ten approval was not obtained; and 

17 (ii) if out-of-scope changes are found, 

18 to identify any financial action that may 

19 be appropriate. 

20 (5) MANAGEMENT FEES.— 

21 (A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

22 term ‘‘management fee’’ means a portion of an 

23 award made by the Foundation for the purpose 

24 of covering ordinary and legitimate business ex25 penses necessary to maintain operational staVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Jun 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5049.RH H5049

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1 bility which are not otherwise allowable under 

2 Cost Principles Uniform Guidance in 2 C.F.R. 

3 part 200, Subpart E, or any successor regulation 

4 thereto. 

5 (B) LIMITATION.—The Foundation may 

6 provide a management fee under an award only 

7 if the awardee provides justification as to the 

8 need for such funds. In such cases, the Founda9 tion shall take into account the awardee’s overall 

10 financial circumstances when determining the 

11 amount of the fee if justified. 

12 (C) FINANCIAL INFORMATION.—The Foun13 dation shall require award applicants to provide 

14 income and financial information covering a pe15 riod of no less than 3 prior years (or in the case 

16 of an entity established less than 3 years prior 

17 to the entity’s application date, the period begin18 ning on the date of establishment and ending on 

19 the application date), including cash on hand 

20 and net asset information, in support of a re21 quest for management fees. The Foundation shall 

22 also require awardees to report to the Founda23 tion annually any sources of non-Federal funds 

24 received in excess of $50,000 during the award 

25 period. 


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1 (D) EXPENSE REPORTING.—The Founda2 tion shall require awardees to track and report 

3 to the Foundation annually all expenses reim4 bursed or otherwise paid for with management 

5 fee funds, in accordance with Federal accounting 

6 practices as established in Government Account7 ability Office Report GAO–12–331G, or any suc8 cessor report thereto. 

9 (E) AUDITS.—The Inspector General of the 

10 Foundation may audit any Foundation award 

11 for compliance with this paragraph. 

12 (F) PROHIBITED USES.—An awardee may 

13 not use management fees for— 

14 (i) costs allowable under Cost Prin15 ciples Uniform Guidance in 2 C.F.R. part 

16 200, Subpart E, or any successor regulation 

17 thereto; 

18 (ii) alcoholic beverages; 

19 (iii) tickets to concerts, sporting, or 

20 other entertainment events; 

21 (iv) vacation or other travel for non22 business purposes; 

23 (v) charitable contributions, except for 

24 a charitable contribution of direct benefit to 


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1 the project or activity supported by the 

2 management fee; 

3 (vi) social or sporting club member4 ships; 

5 (vii) meals or entertainment for non6 business purposes; 

7 (viii) luxury or personal items; 

8 (ix) lobbying, as described in the Uni9 form Guidance at 2 C.F.R. 200.450; or 

10 (x) any other purpose the Foundation 

11 determines is inappropriate. 

12 (G) REVIEW.—The Foundation shall review 

13 management fee usage for each Foundation 

14 award on at least an annual basis for compli15 ance with this paragraph and the Foundation’s 

16 Large Facilities Manual. 

17 (6) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall sub19 mit to Congress a report describing the Foundation’s 

20 policies for developing and managing major multi21 user research facility construction costs, including a 

22 description of any aspects of the policies that diverge 

23 from the best practices recommended in Government 

24 Accountability Office Report GAO-09-3SP, or any 


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1 successor report thereto, and the Uniform Guidance in 

2 2 C.F.R. part 200. 

3 (7) NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Director shall ensure 

4 that the Foundation shall take the enforcement ac5 tions specified in 45 C.F.R. 92.43 for noncompliance 

6 with this section. 

7 SEC. 4. WHISTLEBLOWER EDUCATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall be subject to 

9 section 4712 of title 41, United States Code. 

10 (b) EDUCATION AND TRAINING.—The Foundation shall 

11 provide education and training for Foundation managers 

12 and staff on the requirements of such section 4712, and pro13 vide information on such section to all awardees, contrac14 tors, and employees of such awardees and contractors. 


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srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 481 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5049 

[Report No. 114–619] 

A BILL 

To provide for improved management and oversight 

and management costs, and for other purposes. transparency and accountability of construction the National Science Foundation, to ensure of major multi-user research facilities funded by 

JUNE 13, 2016 

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


srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS