In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

December 14, 2009. 

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 303) entitled 

‘‘An Act to reauthorize and improve the Federal Financial 

Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999.’’, do pass 

with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement 

4 Act of 2009’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Reauthorization. 

Sec. 3. Website relating to Federal grants. 

Sec. 4. Report on implementation. 

Sec. 5. Strategic plan. 

Sec. 6. Data standard requirements. 

7 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

8 Section 11 of the Federal Financial Assistance Man9 agement Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

10 is amended— 

11 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND

12 SUNSET’’; and 
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘and shall cease to be effective 8 

2 years after such date of enactment’’. 

3 SEC. 3. WEBSITE RELATING TO FEDERAL GRANTS. 

4 Section 6 of the Federal Financial Assistance Manage5 ment Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

8 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following 

10 new subsections: 

11 ‘‘(e) WEBSITE RELATING TO FEDERAL GRANTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

13 and maintain a public website that serves as a cen14 tral point of information and access for applicants 

15 for Federal grants. 

16 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—To the maximum extent pos17 sible, the website established under this subsection 

18 shall include, at a minimum, for each Federal 

19 grant— 

20 ‘‘(A) the grant announcement; 

21 ‘‘(B) the statement of eligibility relating to 

22 the grant; 

23 ‘‘(C) the application requirements for the 

24 grant; 

25 ‘‘(D) the purposes of the grant; 
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1 ‘‘(E) the Federal agency funding the grant; 

2 ‘‘(F) the deadlines for applying for and 

3 awarding of the grant. 

4 ‘‘(G) all applications received for the grant, 

5 set forth in the single data standard adopted 

6 under section 9(b); and 

7 ‘‘(H) all reports relating to the use of the 

8 grant, set forth in the single data standard 

9 adopted under section 9(b). 

10 ‘‘(3) USE BY APPLICANTS.—The website estab11 lished under this subsection shall, to the greatest ex12 tent practicable, allow grant applicants to— 

13 ‘‘(A) use the website with any computer 

14 platform; 

15 ‘‘(B) search the website for all Federal 

16 grants by type, purpose, funding agency, pro17 gram source, and other relevant criteria; 

18 ‘‘(C) apply for a Federal grant using the 

19 website; 

20 ‘‘(D) manage, track, and report on the use 

21 of Federal grants using the website; and 

22 ‘‘(E) provide all required certifications and 

23 assurances for a Federal grant using the website. 
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1 ‘‘(4) USE BY THE PUBLIC.—The website estab2 lished under this subsection shall, to the greatest ex3 tent practicable, allow members of the public to— 

4 ‘‘(A) view the items described in paragraph 

5 (2); 

6 ‘‘(B) navigate easily among and between the 

7 items described in paragraph (2) and other sup8 porting materials; 

9 ‘‘(C) download grant applications and re10 ports, in the single data standard adopted under 

11 section 9, individually or as a single data set; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(D) access individual grant applications 

14 and reports at web addresses that are distinct, 

15 permanent, unique, and searchable. 

16 ‘‘(f) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—Nothing in this 

17 section shall be construed as requiring the publication of 

18 information otherwise exempt under section 552 of title 5, 

19 United States Code (popularly referred to as the ‘Freedom 

20 of Information Act’).’’; and 

21 (3) in subsection (h), as so redesignated, by 

22 striking ‘‘All actions’’ and inserting ‘‘Except for ac23 tions relating to establishing the website required 

24 under subsection (e), all actions’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 The Federal Financial Assistance Management Im3 provement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended 

4 by striking section 7 and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 7. EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 9 months after the 

7 date of the enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance 

8 Management Improvement Act of 2009, and every 2 years 

9 thereafter until the date that is 15 years after the date of 

10 the enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance Manage11 ment Improvement Act of 2009, the Director shall submit 

12 to Congress a report regarding the implementation of this 

13 Act. 

14 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each report under subsection 

16 (a) shall include, for the applicable period— 

17 ‘‘(A) a list of all grants for which an appli18 cant may submit an application using the 

19 website established under section 6(e); 

20 ‘‘(B) a list of all Federal agencies that pro21 vide Federal financial assistance to non-Federal 

22 entities; 

23 ‘‘(C) a list of each Federal agency that has 

24 complied, in whole or in part, with the require25 ments of this Act; 
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1 ‘‘(D) for each Federal agency listed under 

2 subparagraph (C), a description of the extent of 

3 the compliance with this Act by the Federal 

4 agency; 

5 ‘‘(E) a list of all Federal agencies exempted 

6 under section 6(d); 

7 ‘‘(F) for each Federal agency listed under 

8 subparagraph (E)— 

9 ‘‘(i) an explanation of why the Federal 

10 agency was exempted; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a certification that the basis for 

12 the exemption of the Federal agency is still 

13 applicable; 

14 ‘‘(G) a list of all common application forms 

15 that have been developed that allow non-Federal 

16 entities to apply, in whole or in part, for mul17 tiple Federal financial assistance programs (in18 cluding Federal financial assistance programs 

19 administered by different Federal agencies) 

20 through a single common application; 

21 ‘‘(H) a list of all common forms and re22 quirements that have been developed that allow 

23 non-Federal entities to report, in whole or in 

24 part, on the use of funding from multiple Fed25 eral financial assistance programs (including 
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1 Federal financial assistance programs adminis2 tered by different Federal agencies); 

3 ‘‘(I) a description of the efforts made by the 

4 Director and Federal agencies to communicate 

5 and collaborate with representatives of non-Fed6 eral entities during the implementation of the re7 quirements under this Act; 

8 ‘‘(J) a description of the efforts made by the 

9 Director to work with Federal agencies to meet 

10 the goals of this Act, including a description of 

11 working groups or other structures used to co12 ordinate Federal efforts to meet the goals of this 

13 Act; and 

14 ‘‘(K) identification and description of all 

15 systems being used to disburse Federal financial 

16 assistance to non-Federal entities. 

17 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—The second report 

18 submitted under subsection (a), and each subsequent 

19 report submitted under subsection (a), shall include— 

20 ‘‘(A) a discussion of the progress made by 

21 the Federal Government in meeting the goals of 

22 this Act, including the amendments made by the 

23 Federal Financial Assistance Management Im24 provement Act of 2009, and in implementing the 

25 strategic plan submitted under section 8, includ-
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1 ing an evaluation of the progress of each Federal 

2 agency that has not received an exemption under 

3 section 6(d) towards implementing the strategic 

4 plan; and 

5 ‘‘(B) a compilation of the reports submitted 

6 under section 8(c)(3) during the applicable pe7 riod. 

8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE PERIOD.—In this 

9 section, the term ‘applicable period’ means— 

10 ‘‘(1) for the first report submitted under sub11 section (a), the most recent full fiscal year before the 

12 date of the report; and 

13 ‘‘(2) for the second report submitted under sub14 section (a), and each subsequent report submitted 

15 under subsection (a), the period beginning on the date 

16 on which the most recent report under subsection (a) 

17 was submitted and ending on the date of the report.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Financial Assistance 

20 Management Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 

21 note) is further amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating sections 8, 9, 10, and 11 as 

23 sections 9, 10, 11, and 12, respectively; and 

24 (2) by inserting after section 7, as amended by 

25 this Act, the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 8. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the 

3 date of the enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance 

4 Management Improvement Act of 2009, the Director shall 

5 submit to Congress a strategic plan that— 

6 ‘‘(1) identifies Federal financial assistance pro7 grams that are suitable for common applications 

8 based on the common or similar purposes of the Fed9 eral financial assistance; 

10 ‘‘(2) identifies Federal financial assistance pro11 grams that are suitable for common reporting forms 

12 or requirements based on the common or similar pur13 poses of the Federal financial assistance; 

14 ‘‘(3) identifies common aspects of multiple Fed15 eral financial assistance programs that are suitable 

16 for common application or reporting forms or re17 quirements; 

18 ‘‘(4) identifies changes in law, if any, needed to 

19 achieve the goals of this Act; and 

20 ‘‘(5) provides plans, timelines, and cost estimates 

21 for— 

22 ‘‘(A) developing an entirely electronic, web23 based process for managing Federal financial as24 sistance, including the ability to— 

25 ‘‘(i) apply for Federal financial assist26 ance; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) track the status of applications 

2 for and payments of Federal financial as3 sistance; 

4 ‘‘(iii) report on the use of Federal fi5 nancial assistance, including how such use 

6 has been in furtherance of the objectives or 

7 purposes of the Federal financial assistance; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iv) provide required certifications 

10 and assurances; 

11 ‘‘(B) ensuring full compliance by Federal 

12 agencies with the requirements of this Act, in13 cluding the amendments made by the Federal Fi14 nancial Assistance Management Improvement 

15 Act of 2009; 

16 ‘‘(C) creating common applications for the 

17 Federal financial assistance programs identified 

18 under paragraph (1), regardless of whether the 

19 Federal financial assistance programs are ad20 ministered by different Federal agencies; 

21 ‘‘(D) establishing common financial and 

22 performance reporting forms and requirements 

23 for the Federal financial assistance programs 

24 identified under paragraph (2), regardless of 

25 whether the Federal financial assistance pro-
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1 grams are administered by different Federal 

2 agencies; 

3 ‘‘(E) establishing common applications and 

4 financial and performance reporting forms and 

5 requirements for aspects of the Federal financial 

6 assistance programs identified under paragraph 

7 (3), regardless of whether the Federal financial 

8 assistance programs are administered by dif9 ferent Federal agencies; 

10 ‘‘(F) developing mechanisms to ensure com11 patibility between Federal financial assistance 

12 administration systems and State systems to fa13 cilitate the importing and exporting of data; 

14 ‘‘(G) developing common certifications and 

15 assurances, as appropriate, for all Federal finan16 cial assistance programs that have common or 

17 similar purposes, regardless of whether the Fed18 eral financial assistance programs are adminis19 tered by different Federal agencies; 

20 ‘‘(H) minimizing the number of different 

21 systems used to disburse Federal financial assist22 ance; and 

23 ‘‘(I) applying the single data standard 

24 adopted under section 9 to Federal grants and 

25 grant applications. 
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1 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing and imple2 menting the strategic plan under subsection (a), the Direc3 tor shall consult with representatives of non-Federal entities 

4 and Federal agencies that have not received an exemption 

5 under section 6(d). 

6 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

8 after the date on which the Director submits the stra9 tegic plan under subsection (a), the head of each Fed10 eral agency that has not received an exemption under 

11 section 6(d) shall develop a plan that describes how 

12 the Federal agency will carry out the responsibilities 

13 of the Federal agency under the strategic plan, which 

14 shall include— 

15 ‘‘(A) clear performance objectives and 

16 timelines for action by the Federal agency in 

17 furtherance of the strategic plan; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the identification of measures to im19 prove communication and collaboration with 

20 representatives of non-Federal entities on an on21 going basis during the implementation of this 

22 Act. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The head of each Federal 

24 agency that has not received an exemption under sec25 tion 6(d) shall consult with representatives of non- 
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1 Federal entities during the development and imple2 mentation of the plan of the Federal agency developed 

3 under paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after 

5 the date on which the head of a Federal agency that 

6 has not received an exemption under section 6(d) de7 velops the plan under paragraph (1), and every 2 

8 years thereafter until the date that is 15 years after 

9 the date of the enactment of the Federal Financial As10 sistance Management Improvement Act of 2009, the 

11 head of the Federal agency shall submit to the Direc12 tor a report regarding the progress of the Federal 

13 agency in achieving the objectives of the plan of the 

14 Federal agency developed under paragraph (1).’’. 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sec16 tion 5(d) of the Federal Financial Assistance Management 

17 Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended 

18 by inserting ‘‘, until the date on which the Federal agency 

19 submits the first report by the Federal agency required 

20 under section 8(c)(3)’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)(7)’’. 

21 SEC. 6. DATA STANDARD REQUIREMENTS. 

22 (a) DATA STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.—The Federal 

23 Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 

24 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is further amended— 
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1 (1) by redesignating sections 9, 10, 11, and 12 

2 as sections 10, 11, 12, and 13, respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 8, as added by this 

4 Act, the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 9. DATA STANDARD REQUIREMENTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) DATA STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Director of the Office 

8 of Management and Budget shall adopt a single data 

9 standard for the collection, analysis, and dissemina10 tion of business and financial information for use by 

11 private sector entities in accordance with subsection 

12 (b) for information required to be reported to the Fed13 eral Government, and a single data standard for use 

14 by agencies within the Federal Government in accord15 ance with subsection (c) for Federal financial infor16 mation. 

17 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF DATA STANDARDS.— 

18 The single data standards required by paragraph (1) 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) be common across all agencies, to the 

21 maximum extent practicable; 

22 ‘‘(B) be a widely accepted, non-proprietary, 

23 searchable, computer-readable format for business 

24 and financial data; 

25 ‘‘(C) be consistent with and implement— 
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1 ‘‘(i) United States generally accepted 

2 accounting principles or Federal financial 

3 accounting standards (as appropriate); 

4 ‘‘(ii) industry best practices; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) Federal regulatory requirements; 

6 ‘‘(D) improve the transparency, consistency, 

7 and usability of business and financial informa8 tion; and 

9 ‘‘(E) be capable of being continually up10 graded to be of maximum use as technologies and 

11 content evolve over time. 

12 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF SINGLE DATA STANDARD

13 FOR PRIVATE SECTOR.— 

14 ‘‘(1) OMB GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of the Federal Finan16 cial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 

17 2009, the Director of the Office of Management and 

18 Budget shall issue guidance to agencies on the use 

19 and implementation of the single data standard re20 quired by subsection (a) for information required to 

21 be reported to agencies by the private sector. 

22 ‘‘(2) AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—To the maximum ex24 tent practicable and consistent with the guidance 

25 provided by the Office of Management and Budg-
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1 et under paragraph (1), the head of each agency 

2 shall require the use of the single data standard 

3 required by subsection (a) for business and fi4 nancial information reported to the agency by 

5 private sector companies. 

6 ‘‘(B) IMPLEMENTATION.—The head of the 

7 agency shall begin implementing the requirement 

8 of subparagraph (A) within one year after the 

9 date of the enactment of the Federal Financial 

10 Assistance Management Improvement Act of 

11 2009. 

12 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION OF SINGLE DATA STANDARD

13 FOR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) OMB DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 1 

15 year after the date of the enactment of the Federal Fi16 nancial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 

17 2009, the Director of the Office of Management and 

18 Budget shall develop the single data standard re19 quired by subsection (a) for use by agencies within 

20 the Federal Government for Federal financial infor21 mation. 

22 ‘‘(2) OMB GUIDANCE.—Not later than 18 

23 months after the date of the enactment of the Federal 

24 Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act 

25 of 2009, the Director shall issue guidance to agencies 
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1 on the use and implementation of the single data 

2 standard developed under paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC ACCESS TO DATA.—The head of each 

4 agency shall ensure that information collected using the sin5 gle data standards required under this section is accessible 

6 to the general public in that format to the extent permitted 

7 by law. 

8 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Within one year after the date of the 

9 enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance Management 

10 Improvement Act of 2009, the Director of the Office of Man11 agement and Budget shall submit to the Committee on 

12 Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Rep13 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

14 Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the status 

15 of the implementation of this section. 

16 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means any ex18 ecutive department, military department, Government 

19 corporation, Government controlled corporation, inde20 pendent establishment, or other establishment in the 

21 executive branch of the Government (including the 

22 Executive Office of the President), or any independent 

23 regulatory agency, but does not include— 

24 ‘‘(A) the Government Accountability Office; 

25 ‘‘(B) the Federal Election Commission; 
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1 ‘‘(C) the governments of the District of Co2 lumbia and of the territories and possessions of 

3 the United States, and their various subdivi4 sions; or 

5 ‘‘(D) Government-owned contractor-operated 

6 facilities, including laboratories engaged in na7 tional defense research and production activities. 

8 ‘‘(2) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, MILITARY DE9 PARTMENT, GOVERNMENT CORPORATION, GOVERN10 MENT CONTROLLED CORPORATION, INDEPENDENT ES11 TABLISHMENT.—The terms ‘Executive department’, 

12 ‘military department’, ‘Government corporation’, 

13 ‘Government controlled corporation’, and ‘inde14 pendent establishment’ have the meanings given those 

15 terms by chapter 1 of title 5, United States Code. 

16 ‘‘(3) INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCY.—The 

17 term ‘independent regulatory agency’ has the mean18 ing given that term by section 3502(5) of title 44, 

19 United States Code.’’. 

20 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR USE OF SINGLE DATA STAND21 ARD BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Section 5 of the Federal Fi22 nancial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 

23 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following new subsection: 
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1 ‘‘(e) SINGLE DATA STANDARD REQUIREMENT.—To the 

2 maximum extent practicable and consistent with the guid3 ance provided by the Director under section 9, each Federal 

4 agency shall require the use of the single data standard 

5 adopted under section 9(b) for— 

6 ‘‘(1) all applications for Federal financial assist7 ance; and 

8 ‘‘(2) all reports on the use of Federal financial 

9 assistance that the agency requires non-Federal enti10 ties to submit.’’. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 303 

AMENDMENT