I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5583 

To streamline and harmonize Federal research regulations on institutions 

of higher education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2016 

Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. 

HULTGREN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To streamline and harmonize Federal research regulations 

on institutions of higher education, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘University Regulation 

5 Streamlining and Harmonization Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The partnership between the Federal Gov2 ernment and institutions of higher education, affili3 ated medical centers, and independent research in4 stitutes has been enormously beneficial for the Na5 tion, providing economic growth, a highly skilled 

6 workforce, and discoveries that have improved peo7 ple’s lives. 

8 (2) Regulation of federally funded research in9 stitutions, when done efficiently, serves to ensure 

10 that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and that 

11 human and animal research subjects are treated 

12 ethically. 

13 (3) A survey conducted by the Federal Dem14 onstration Partnership in 2012 found that 42 per15 cent of faculty time related to the conduct of feder16 ally funded research at research institutions is spent 

17 on activities other than research, with 19.3 percent 

18 specifically related to administrative activities. 

19 (4) A study of the Federal regulatory impact on 

20 institutes of higher education led by Vanderbilt Uni21 versity involving 13 public and private universities 

22 estimated that the total cost of compliance with re23 search regulations for all research institutions 

24 ranged from 11 to 25 percent of total research exVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5583.IH H5583

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1 penditures and reached an estimated 10 billion dol2 lars across the country. 

3 (5) Advances in technology, recordkeeping, and 

4 internal controls allow awardees to document 

5 charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages in 

6 increasingly efficient ways, including through payroll 

7 certification, which can increase accountability and 

8 reduce burdens relative to personal activity reports. 

9 (6) Past efforts by the Federal Government, in 

10 particular through the Uniform Guidance imple11 mented by the Office of Management and Budget in 

12 2014, have made progress in reducing regulatory 

13 burdens. However, problems still remain as noted by 

14 the National Academies’ report in September of 

15 2015, which found that ‘‘continuing expansion of the 

16 Federal regulatory system and its ever-growing re17 quirements are diminishing the effectiveness of the 

18 nation’s research investment by directing investiga19 tors’ time away from research’’. 

20 (7) Streamlining research regulations and mov21 ing toward harmonized regulations based on data22 driven cost-benefit analyses across Federal research 

23 funding agencies will help maximize the impact of 

24 research dollars while minimizing waste, fraud, and 

25 abuse. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

4 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 

5 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (2) FEDERAL RESEARCH FUNDING AGENCY.— 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Federal research funding 

8 agency’’ means a Federal agency that has an annual 

9 extramural research budget of greater than 100 mil10 lion dollars. 

11 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

12 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

15 (4) RESEARCH INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘re16 search institution’’ means an institution of higher 

17 education, a medical center affiliated with an institu18 tion of higher education, independent research insti19 tution, or other nonprofit organization that receives 

20 funding from a Federal research funding agency for 

21 research purposes. 

22 SEC. 4. RESEARCH POLICY BOARD. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of25 fice of Management and Budget, in coordination with the 

26 Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 


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1 shall establish a Research Policy Board (in this section 

2 referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) to review proposed Federal 

3 regulations as well as major policies and guidance gov4 erning the conduct of scientific and engineering research 

5 at research institutions. 

6 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall be composed of 

7 no more than 15 members, including— 

8 (1) representatives from nonprofit associations 

9 representing research institutions; 

10 (2) administrators from research institutions; 

11 (3) stakeholders from the scientific and engi12 neering research community, including at least one 

13 externally funded researcher who does not hold an 

14 administrative position; and 

15 (4) senior research policy officials from Federal 

16 research funding agencies capable of addressing a 

17 broad range of policy issues regarding the conduct 

18 of academic research and with significant input into 

19 that agency’s decisionmaking regarding the regu20 latory process, including representatives from— 

21 (A) the National Institutes of Health; 

22 (B) the National Science Foundation; and 

23 (C) the Department of Defense. 

24 (c) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Board from or25 ganizations outside the Federal Government shall serve in 


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1 a representative capacity and shall not be appointed as 

2 a special government employee or receive a salary as a 

3 Federal employee, but may receive travel expenses, includ4 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with ap5 plicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 

6 title 5, United States Code. 

7 (d) CO-CHAIRS.—The Board shall be co-chaired by— 

8 (1) the Associate Administrator for the Aca9 demic Research Enterprise, appointed pursuant to 

10 subsection (g); and 

11 (2) a member of the Board who satisfies the 

12 criteria described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of 

13 subsection (b), appointed by the President. 

14 (e) DUTIES.—In general, the Board shall— 

15 (1) provide advice to the Director of the Office 

16 of Management and Budget, the Director of the Of17 fice of Science and Technology Policy, and the heads 

18 of Federal research funding agencies on actions that 

19 each could take to make Federal regulation of the 

20 academic research enterprise more efficient and less 

21 burdensome; 

22 (2) promote a comprehensive approach to regu23 lating the academic research enterprise at the Fed24 eral level and to improve and maintain a Federal 

25 regulatory environment that is conducive to efficient 


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1 performance of the Federal-university research part2 nership, including identification of regulations that 

3 are duplicative or impose significant costs or unnec4 essary burdens; 

5 (3) meet not less than semiannually; 

6 (4) facilitate efforts within the Federal Govern7 ment to coordinate new and existing regulations, 

8 policies, guidance, and application and reporting for9 mats; 

10 (5) review existing regulations, policies, and 

11 guidance documents that may be outmoded, ineffec12 tive, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, with the 

13 goal of modifying, streamlining, or repealing, as 

14 needed; 

15 (6) identify legislative mandates that Federal 

16 agencies and research institutions believe are unnec17 essary or outdated; 

18 (7) recommend ad hoc working groups to ad19 dress particular regulations, policies, and guidance 

20 documents reviewed or identified by the Board under 

21 paragraph (5) or (6) governing the research enter22 prise that are under development or targeted for re23 form; 

24 (8) provide for coordination of regulations 

25 among Federal agencies and maximize consultation 


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1 with the groups affected by Federal research regula2 tions at an early stage; 

3 (9) assist research agencies in fostering a cul4 ture of integrity at research institutions in order to 

5 achieve the highest standards in institutional and in6 dividual behavior; and 

7 (10) submit to the Committee on Health, Edu8 cation, Labor, and Pensions, the Committee on 

9 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the 

10 Committee on Homeland Security and Government 

11 Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Energy 

12 and Commerce, the Committee on Science, Space, 

13 and Technology, and the Committee on Oversight 

14 and Government Reform of the House of Represent15 atives, an annual report on progress made by the 

16 Board toward reforming and streamlining research 

17 regulations, policies, and guidance documents, and 

18 make such report publicly available. 

19 (f) SUBMISSION OF REGULATORY PLANS.—The head 

20 of each Federal research funding agency shall— 

21 (1) provide to the Board a regulatory plan, to 

22 be updated annually, with regulations, policies, and 

23 guidance documents that the agency head expects to 

24 issue in proposed or final form during the upcoming 

25 fiscal year to facilitate review by the Board; 


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1 (2) include, to the extent possible, alternatives 

2 to be considered and preliminary estimates of costs 

3 and benefits of the items contained in the plan; and 

4 (3) submit to the Board draft regulatory ac5 tions, policies, and guidance documents as the docu6 ments become available. 

7 (g) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE ACADEMIC

8 RESEARCH ENTERPRISE.—Not later than one year after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, after 

10 consultation with the Director of the Office of Manage11 ment and Budget and the Director of the Office of Science 

12 and Technology Policy, shall appoint from among the cur13 rent full-time equivalent employees or individuals em14 ployed pursuant to the Intergovernmental Personnel Act 

15 of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4701 note) within the Office of Infor16 mation and Regulatory Affairs an Associate Administrator 

17 for the Academic Research Enterprise. The Associate Ad18 ministrator shall— 

19 (1) serve as a liaison between the Office of In20 formation and Regulatory Affairs and the Office of 

21 Science and Technology Policy; 

22 (2) act as Co-Chair of the Board; 

23 (3) meet with representatives from Federal 

24 agencies, research institutions, and other Federal 

25 and non-Federal stakeholder entities relevant to the 


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1 Federal research enterprise several times per year; 

2 and 

3 (4) establish working groups from the members 

4 of the Board, which may include non-Board mem5 bers with relevant expertise to working groups as 

6 recommended by the Board, to address particular 

7 regulations, policies, and guidance documents gov8 erning the Federal research enterprise that are 

9 under development or targeted for reform by the 

10 Board. 

11 (h) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Research Policy 

12 Board shall be treated as an advisory committee subject 

13 to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

14 (i) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 

15 than 24 months after the establishment of the Board, and 

16 every 24 months thereafter, the Comptroller General shall 

17 submit to Congress and make publicly available a report 

18 that— 

19 (1) assesses the performance of the Board, in20 cluding the quality of collaboration between the non21 Federal and Federal members of the Board to advise 

22 on the regulatory process (including the develop23 ment, reform, and harmonization of regulations, 

24 policies, and guidance documents), including wheth25 er— 


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1 (A) the Federal agency heads presented 

2 the regulatory plans required by subsection (f); 

3 (B) the non-Federal members had the op4 portunity to effectively comment on such plans; 

5 (C) the comments had an impact on the 

6 final rules developed; and 

7 (D) working groups were established as re8 quired by subsection (g)(4); 

9 (2) makes recommendations for improving col10 laboration, as necessary, for accomplishing the re11 quirements of this section; 

12 (3) assesses the degree to which Federal re13 search funding agencies and the Office of Manage14 ment and Budget take into account the input of the 

15 Board when promulgating new regulations, policies, 

16 and guidance documents, or harmonizing or reform17 ing existing regulations and policies; and 

18 (4) considers any other issues which the Comp19 troller General may find relevant to the performance 

20 and purposes of the Board. 

21 (j) SUNSET.—The provisions of this section shall ex22 pire ten years after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS TO SUBRECIPIENT MONITORING 

2 UNDER THE SINGLE AUDIT ACT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

4 Management and Budget shall exempt prime grant-receiv5 ing institutions from the monitoring of a subrecipient’s 

6 single audit of institutional systems and business practices 

7 related to the requirements under chapter 75 of title 31, 

8 United States Code, if— 

9 (1) the prime and subrecipient are research in10 stitutions subject to audits under such chapter; and 

11 (2) the subaward is for the performance of 

12 work that is required to be listed on a recipient’s 

13 schedule of expenditures of Federal awards. 

14 (b) SINGLE AUDIT DEFINED.—In this section, the 

15 term ‘‘single audit’’ means the practices related to the re16 quirements under chapter 75 of title 31, United States 

17 Code, as implemented in part 200 of title 2, Code of Fed18 eral Regulations. 

19 SEC. 6. MICRO-PURCHASE THRESHOLD FOR PROCURE20 MENT SOLICITATIONS BY RESEARCH INSTI21 TUTIONS. 

22 (a) MICRO-PURCHASE THRESHOLD.—Except as pro23 vided in subsection (b), the threshold for purchases by re24 search institutions using Federal grant funds without re25 quiring competitive quotations shall be not less than 

26 $10,000, adjusted periodically to account for inflation. 


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1 (b) REVIEWS AND AUDITS REQUIRED FOR HIGHER

2 THRESHOLD.—The Director of the Office of Management 

3 and Budget may revise the threshold for purchases re4 ferred to in subsection (a) to be greater than $10,000 if 

5 the Director determines that procurement system reviews 

6 and single audits support the higher threshold. 

7 (c) STRATEGIC SOURCING AGREEMENTS.—For pur8 chases referred to in subsection (a), the Director shall en9 courage research institutions to use strategic sourcing 

10 agreements to assure favorable pricing on high volume, 

11 low-cost purchases. 

12 (d) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION FOR PROCUREMENT BY

13 NONCOMPETITIVE PROPOSALS.—For a purchase referred 

14 to in subsection (a) that exceeds the threshold applicable 

15 under subsection (a) or (b), the Director may allow the 

16 purchase to be carried out through solicitation of a pro17 posal from only one source, but only if the procurement 

18 is necessary for research, scientific, or other programmatic 

19 reasons, such as instances in which the purchase is for 

20 a specialized service or of a necessary quality that is avail21 able only from a single vendor, or if only one vendor can 

22 deliver in the required time frame. 

23 (e) UNIFORM GUIDANCE.—The Director shall revise 

24 the Uniform Guidance to conform with the requirements 

25 of this section. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 


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1 the term ‘‘Uniform Guidance’’ means the uniform admin2 istrative requirements, cost principles, and audit require3 ments for Federal awards contained in part 200 of title 

4 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 

5 SEC. 7. SHARED DATABASE OF RESEARCHER INFORMA6 TION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Office of 

8 Science and Technology Policy shall establish a working 

9 group within the National Science and Technology Council 

10 with the responsibility to coordinate Federal research 

11 funding agency policies in developing a central database 

12 of researcher information, including researchers’ expertise, 

13 employment, education, and professional accomplish14 ments, for use by research institutions in applying for re15 search grants from Federal scientific funding agencies. 

16 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The working group shall— 

17 (1) identify the policy issues and barriers that 

18 must be addressed in developing such a database; 

19 (2) ensure that the database provides a single 

20 source of information for research profiles across 

21 Federal research funding agencies, including, to the 

22 extent practicable, information on researchers’ cur23 rent and pending Federal support, expertise, employ24 ment, education professional accomplishments, and 

25 other items as appropriate; 


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1 (3) work to reduce the administrative burden 

2 associated with Federal grant submission and re3 porting requirements by use of the database across 

4 Federal research funding agencies; 

5 (4) ensure that the database developed is the 

6 least burdensome possible for research institutions 

7 applying for Federal grants that still allows for the 

8 collection of information necessary for Federal re9 search funding agencies; 

10 (5) determine whether the database can be 

11 made more efficient through linkages to databases 

12 developed under the public access plans of Federal 

13 research funding agencies (pursuant to the memo14 randum on ‘‘Increasing Access to the Results of 

15 Federally Funded Scientific Research’’ published by 

16 the Office of Science and Technology Policy on Feb17 ruary 22, 2013); 

18 (6) determine how to best leverage resources on 

19 researcher information from non-Federal sources 

20 such as researcher identifiers; 

21 (7) ensure that the database cross-references 

22 other Federal award databases, including any sys23 tem of award management operated by the Govern24 ment Services Administration; and 


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1 (8) recommend a Federal research funding 

2 agency to administer the database. 

3 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

5 transmit a report to the Committee on Health, Education, 

6 Labor, and Pensions, the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Homeland 

8 Security and Government Affairs, the Committee on En9 ergy and Natural Resources, and the Committee on Armed 

10 Services of the Senate, and the Committee on Armed Serv11 ices, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Com12 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Com13 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

14 of Representatives, describing the actions taken develop 

15 the database described in subsection (a). 

16 SEC. 8. MODIFICATION OF DUTIES OF INSPECTORS GEN17 ERAL AT RESEARCH AGENCIES. 

18 (a) UNRESOLVED INSPECTOR GENERAL REC19 OMMENDATION.—The head of any Federal research fund20 ing agency that has received a recommendation from the 

21 Inspector General for that agency that the Inspector Gen22 eral determines has not been adequately resolved, shall an23 nually provide to such Inspector General a written expla24 nation why the recommendation has not been acted upon 


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1 and the status within the agency of resolving the rec2 ommendation. 

3 (b) AGENCY DETERMINATION.—If the head of a Fed4 eral research funding agency receives a recommendation 

5 described in subsection (a) and determines that the rec6 ommendation has been adequately resolved, the head of 

7 that agency shall be exempt from the requirements of sub8 section (a) for that recommendation and any substantially 

9 similar recommendation after providing the Inspector 

10 General for that agency with a written explanation of the 

11 determination of the head of the agency. 

12 (c) UNSUSTAINED FINDINGS.—For each audit of a 

13 research institution conducted by an Inspector General, 

14 the Inspector General shall include in each public report, 

15 including the semiannual report required under section 5 

16 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), only 

17 such disallowed costs found in the audit which are sus18 tained by the head of the agency. 

19 SEC. 9. REVIEW OF PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT ESTI20 MATES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

22 Management and Budget shall— 

23 (1) periodically review estimates of the hours 

24 spent by research institutions to meet the burdens 

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1 mitted in accordance with subchapter I of chapter 

2 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly re3 ferred to as the Paperwork Reduction Act); and 

4 (2) determine whether the estimates of hours 

5 are reasonable and based on consistent metrics 

6 across Federal research funding agencies. 

7 (b) AGENCY RESPONSE TO BURDEN HOUR ESTI8 MATES.—During the development of burden hour esti9 mates, the head of the Federal research funding agency 

10 developing the estimate shall be required to respond to all 

11 comments regarding the reasonableness of burden hour es12 timates. 

13 (c) FINDING.—If the Director determines that the es14 timates of hours described in subsection (a) for a par15 ticular Federal research funding agency is not reasonable 

16 and consistent, the head of the agency shall submit to the 

17 Director— 

18 (1) revised estimates; or 

19 (2) if the estimates are not revised, a justifica20 tion for such estimates. 

21 (d) BURDEN DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

22 ‘‘burden’’ has the meaning given that term in section 3502 

23 of title 44, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 10. PUBLIC ACCESS WORKING GROUP DUTIES. 

2 Section 103(b) of the America COMPETES Reau3 thorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6623(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 

7 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(11) examine the procedures of Federal 

11 science agencies regarding requirements for pro12 viding public access to the results of federally funded 

13 research and identify methods for reducing the bur14 dens of compliance on funded researchers, university 

15 research administrators, publishers, and others im16 pacted by agency public access policies.’’. 

Æ 


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